Her Bundles Of Joy

“Yeah, we’re waiting for Brandi to arrive. Her plane just landed and she’s on her way. In the meanwhile, you can go over to the makeup team and they’ll fix your face.”

“What is wrong with my face?”

“Absolutely nothing, dear…absolutely nothing.”

Jenny flashed Nicole a mysterious smile before walking away rather slowly. She shook her head and sighed. She hadn’t known Brandi’s manager for long, but she could already tell Jenny had a quite…unique…personality. It kind of reminded Nicole of her best friend. At times, Danielle could be really weird. Speaking of whom, she had yet to show up or at least text Nicole and let her know whether she’d show up at the video shoot or not. Maybe Terrence hadn’t allowed Dani to clock in a bit later at work today. Recently, he’d been quite a nuisance in Nicole’s life. She wouldn’t be shocked if Terrence had kept Dani at work simply because she wanted to meet Brandi upon Nicole’s invitation.

Nicole wondered if this was Terrence’s way of subtly trying to make her quit. Whenever he wanted to fire someone, Terrence would make that person’s life a living hell until he or she decided to quit. That was how the man avoided having employees taking matters to court and demanding for their labor rights. If the instructors quit the job at their own will, they had no right to demand any rights. Thus, whenever he wanted someone out, Terrence would do little things like waiting at the entrance every day to complain about the person being one minute late, or bigger things like outright removing the class off of the instructor’s schedule for no apparent reason. It was a dirty move, but it was more than clear that Terrence was more interested in money than in the arts itself.

Nicole approached one of the makeup artists and tapped her on her shoulder. The lady was more than eager to push her onto the nearest chair and start working her magic. Not like Nicole needed a lot of magic, but working so much to afford her independence was bound to take its toll on the her physical appearance. The bags under her eyes were the concrete proof of how hard Nicole had been working lately. This job had come at a great time. The pay was great which meant that, at least for now, she wouldn’t have to worry too much about Terrence having taken over one of her classes. The makeup lady gave Nicole a mirror once she was done. She hadn’t covered Nicole’s face in makeup to the point of making her look like a clown, but it also didn’t look like wasn’t wearing any makeup at all. It was the perfect balance between natural and full-on makeup.

Scanning the room once she was out of the makeup section, Nicole noticed how everyone suddenly went silent. It could only mean that Brandi had arrived. The young singer was extremely popular all over the globe and it didn’t come as a surprise that the entire crew would get starstruck the moment they saw her stepping out of the luxurious elevator. Nicole herself had been at a loss of words the first night she’d met Brandi. She still got kind of nervous around the superstar, but Nicole was starting to get used to being around her.

“Hi, everyone,” Brandi greeted the staff with a beautiful smile plastered on her face. That was one of the things about the singer that got people’s attention. She was very kind and polite all the time. And most of all, it wasn’t a persona she’d created to please the media. Brandi was genuinely a nice girl who treated everyone with respect. Here she was, having just landed from a 7-hour flight, yet she greeted everyone with a smile on her face. Nicole wasn’t sure if she’d be able to do the same. She usually got really cranky when she was tired.

Nicole snapped out of her thoughts when Brandi approached her.

“Nicole, hi!” She gave her a quick hug. “I’m so glad you could make it!”

“Hi,” Nicole blushed. “Of course, I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to dance for you again, Ms. Harris.”

“I already told you to call me Brandi!” She smiled. “No, but seriously. I’m really happy you’re here. You’re an amazing dancer, having you on the team is a blessing. I might even try to get Jenny to keep you around permanently.”

Nicole’s eyes widened. “For real? B-but you already have an official dancer. She’s just sick at the moment, right?”

“I know, but she’s been slacking a lot lately. And before you think I’m an evil bi*ch—”

“I would never—”

Brandi continued. “An evil bi*ch that would fire her dancer while the woman is in the hospital, I’ll have you know that she’s not really sick. She got a boob job. The third boob job since she started working with me. I can’t keep having to find substitutes for a girl who’s out undergoing unnecessary elective procedures every once in a while.”

“Oh, I see…I don’t want to have enemies in the industry, though. I wouldn’t want to get the girl’s job and then have her come after me or something. I really appreciate your consideration. I mean, every dancer wants a chance to work with you, yet here you are asking me to work with you.”

“Well, that night after the concert, when we were out having drinks with the crew, you were extremely pleasant to be around. Not only are you crazy talented, but you’re also a really nice girl, Nicole. It’s not that hard to guess why everyone who works with me wants to hold on to you. Including me.”

Nicole wanted to pinch herself to be sure that this wasn’t a dream. Brandi continued, not knowing the effect of her words on the young dancer.

“I like to keep a very close relationship with my dancers because I think it’s crucial that we know and understand each other in order to have perfect chemistry during the dance routines. And that night I got to know a bit about you and you reminded me of a young me, trying to earn her spot in this harsh industry. I know it sounds cliche, but it’s true. We have to start recording the music video now, but I’d love to talk to you later. After we’re done here, perhaps?”

Still too dumbfounded to give Brandi a proper answer, Nicole just nodded silently. Had Brandi really just said those words to her? Was this some sort of prank?

“Oh, by the way. Where’s your soccer fan friend?”

Snapping out of her daze, Nicole shrugged. “I have no idea. She hasn’t spoken to me all day. Maybe something came up?”