A Beauty and a Beat

Chapter Three

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As the familiar tune of  Locked Out of Heaven began, I stood backstage, dressed in sexy, red lingerie, a bow on my head, and big red heart-shaped wings. It was only dress rehearsal and yet I bounced with a mix of nerves and excitement. I watched Erin walk out before me, she was opening up the Calendar Girls section.

I took a deep breath before I got the cue to walk out. I headed out, walking confidently, a little smirk on my face to show my dimples. I looked out into the empty audience ahead of me, noticing the familiar face of Justin Bieber.

I bit my lip, as I neared the end. I winked at him before I blew a kiss into where the camera was set up. I turned around, walking back to where I came from, my cheeks turning into a light shade of red that I was glad that he couldn’t see.

As I was changing out of my last outfit, I overheard a conversation with an intern and Todd Thomas. “So there’s a problem.. Jessica got injured and cannot open the-”. “So who’s the replacement?”, Todd spoke, clearly frustrated by the situation. The poor intern, a petite blond with glasses, stuttered. “I-I don’t know, Mr. T-Thomas”. I watched as Todd continued to yell at the blonde, tears forming in her eyes.

“Well you better know. Find a model before we start that section or you’re fired”, he spoke angrily before walking off. I watched the intern as she wiped away her tears quickly.

“Who have you found?”, Todd returned seconds later, way sooner than the blonde must’ve been expecting. “Uh-uhm.”, she stuttered again. I felt bad for the poor girl. Todd was a kind, funny guy any other time except for VSFS. It was 2012 and the pressure of keeping the show known for its history got to him every time. He was a pain in the ass to any employee before the show.

“You know what? Since you can’t do this right, I’ll have to”. I watched as he searched around the room before his eyes met mine. He turned around, saying something to the blonde that I could not hear before he walked away again. The blonde hurriedly walked over to me, an outfit in her hand. “Simone Battle, I need you to get dressed in this outfit. You’ll be replacing Jessica in opening the PINK section”.

Once I was adjusted and ready in my outfit, I followed behind the blonde intern who’s name I forgot as I headed toward where I needed to be. “Ah, I knew I made the right choice. Simone, baby, you look more stunning in this than the first girl”. I laughed at his compliment, “Thank you. It’s a little tight, though”. “Oh, it’s supposed to be, babe. Maybe we can loosen it up some though. You already have huge tits, they don’t need to be up to your eyeballs”, he spoke loosening the top. “There you go, darling. Now, come over here with Mr. Bieber”. My eyes widened, “Uh, what?”. “You’ll be opening the section with Justin, babe”.

“Ok, Justin, this is Simone. Simone, you know Justin”, Todd introduced us. “We’ve met”, Justin spoke licking his lips and looking my body up and down as if I was a piece of meat. I rolled my eyes, causing Todd to chuckle. I looked around at the stage set as Todd explained to me what was going on. “Ok, let’s get the track ready”, and with a clap of his hands, he pushed us into our positions and exited the stage. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath to clear my head. “Nervous, sexy?”, Justin whispered to me, a smirk evident on his face. I laughed at him. “You’re quite the flirt aren’t ya?”. “You have an incredibly beautiful accent. Is it British?”, he said looking into my eyes. “Yes, it is”, I replied giggling.

He searched my face, the expression on his showing he was deep in thought. “What?”. “Oh, nothing”, he said with a smirk. Before I could respond, the familiar beginning of Beauty and a Beat played through the speakers.