Chapter One
"Chloe, hurry up and get out here! You’re on next!"
Chloe Woodward grimaced and struggled to re-fasten the clasps on the neckline of her shirt. She grasped her long blonde hair with one hand, and wiped her mouth clean of vomit. Taking a deep breath, she opened the bathroom’s stall door. Her modeling coach, Emily Jensen, stood waiting
for her, her hands placed angrily on her hips. "Did you do it?" she demanded.
Chloe nodded, and swallowed hard. "I did it," she whispered. She hated throwing up her meals, but it was Emily’s orders. And Emily was beautiful, so she must be right.
Emily glared at her, her emerald green eyes piercing Chloe’s ego.
"Good," she said simply. "You know you shouldn’t have eaten that dessert at the before-show party."
Chloe nodded, and lowered her eyes.
"Now get out there," Emily demanded, pointing to the bathroom door.
"You’re on next, and you better not have gotten any vomit on the clothes."
Chloe ducked around Emily’s physique and scurried out of the bathroom. On the way to the runway, she cursed herself for disappointing Emily once again.
"Chloe Woodward!" came a stern voice a few meters in front of her.
Chloe straightened her back, and walked towards the woman who’d called her name. She was holding a clipboard and a highlighter, and she crossed out Chloe’s name as the girl approached her. "I’m Chloe," she said, trying to sound assertive.
The woman looked at her through horn-rimmed glasses and smiled curtly.
"You’re up," she said. Waving her hand, she cued music.
Chloe nodded in thanks, and made her way to the runway’s curtain. An extended version of ‘Everybody’ by the Backstreet Boys began to play, Chloe’s own choice, and the curtains parted.
Strobe and white lights blinded her as Chloe’s face turned serious. This was an important show, and she had to do her best. As Brian Littrell’s voice broke through the bass sound, Chloe made her way down the runway, sporting her unique talent to be seductive and innocent at the same time. She was aware that there were modeling scouts in the audience, looking for young girls like herself to appear in magazine ads and publicity flyers. She wasn’t sure, but there had been a rumor of an agent for music videos present in the crowd. Chloe’s heart soared as she remembered this thought. She was at the center of the circular runway right on time, just as the lyrics demanded "Am I sexual?" Chloe knew her job. She stopped at the edge of the ramp, smoothed her hand over her waist, thrust out her chest sensually. She almost laughed, thinking about how silly she looked. A seventeen year old girl pretending to be the sexiest woman alive.
She was about to turn around and make her way back, when the white lights went out, allowing her to see the crowd sitting below the raised ramp. Her eyes widened in surprise. She surveyed the enormous sitting area for a fraction of a second, wondering who the scouts might be, who was looking at her with interest. She was losing time.
With an invisible sigh, Chloe spun her head around and sauntered back up the other side of the ramp. She was nearly offstage when a pair of beautiful blue eyes caught her eye. She stopped dead in her tracks.
Chloe knew those eyes. They belonged to Nick, her Nick. Chloe’s heart leaped into her throat, and memories of her heartbreak from two years before flooded her soul. Nick! she thought desperately, wanting to run to him. He’s here!
It was nearly 15 seconds later when Chloe’s thoughts were interrupted with a hissing of her name from behind the curtain. It was Emily. "What are you doing?" she screeched, reaching to pull Chloe backstage. "You almost had it! You’re ruining yourself by standing there! Get back here!" With a final pull, Emily managed to pull Chloe behind the
curtain.
Chloe, in a daze, said nothing. Her mind was overflowing with bewildered confusion. My baby, she thought desperately. Was it him, or was I just imagining it? She squinted, her eyes adjusting to the dark lights backstage. "I’m sorry," she managed to say to Emily. "I…I thought
I saw someone I knew."
"That’s no excuse!" Emily screeched. "You just ruined your chances to get discovered! This is only a yearly event, and you blew it!" With an exasperated sigh, her modeling coach stormed off.
Chloe was left standing alone in the darkness. Tears formed in her eyes. Not those of disappointment, but those of pain and heartbreaking memory. It was nearly two years after her tragic betrayal, and yet the pain was still fresh in her heart. She’d managed to forget for awhile, but this mysterious person’s eyes in the crowd has brought it all back again. With a confused whimper, Chloe turned around again and peeked out the curtain. She stared in the direction of the blue eyes, but the person had disappeared. Chloe scanned the crowd frantically, wondering now if it had just been a figment of her imagination. Illusion or not, however, Chloe’s memories were real.
Disappointment surging through her, Chloe made her way back to wardrobe to change back into her street clothes. She’d ruined her chances of being discovered at this September scouting show, but right then, she didn’t care. Tears streamed down her face as she entered the spacious rectangular room and tore off the designer’s clothes. Assistants screamed at her to be careful with the pieces, but Chloe paid no attention. She wanted her baby back more than anything right then, and could have cared less what anyone else thought of her.
Chloe pulled on her jeans and sweater, laced up her boots and stormed out of the building into downtown Toronto. Wrapping her arms around herself against the chill of a September evening, she made her way to the bus stop.
A light snow began to fall, and Chloe cursed the bitter weather. She stood shivering at the bus stop a few minutes later, a scowl on her face. The bus was late, and there was no shelter. Chloe closed her eyes and jumped up and down gently, trying to warm herself up. In her mind, she saw the blue eyed mystery man stand up from his place in the crowd
and walk towards her. It was Nick, and he was smiling. In Chloe’s imagination, he opened his mouth to speak.
"Baby, can you see me?"