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“…You’re kidding. That much?”
“Apparently the female pilot and the American flight attendant they hired negotiated for it. I’m just along for the ride.”
“Make the most of it, Aria.”
When she appeared on set in North Hollywood the next day, her taxi already taking off toward the next gig, Arianna swore she had forgotten how to say anything in English. Nobody around her spoke Mandarin, and they definitely didn’t speak Malay, which she now swore was the only language she understood as she was surrounded by native English speakers and cameras powerful enough to capture every pore on her face.
She had assured her contact over the phone that she was fine with English. Fluent, even! Wasn’t that why she was one of Royal Asia’s finest?
I am so screwed.
“Miss Song?” A demure woman with a headset and a tablet in her hand approached the flight attendant dressed in her layover clothes. She had been told to bring her kebaya and makeup to change into when she arrived, but now? She barely knew where she was! “Miss Song!”
“Oh! Yes! That’s me!”
She had a feeling the day would be a whirlwind of new people and instructions, but Arianna was surprised at how slowly a shoot went by when she wasn’t doing anything. After being guided to the styling department, where she changed and did her hair and makeup before the professionals took over, she sat in a chair in front of the brightly lit vanity while waiting for her call time. Every model was to be photographed separately before the group shots, and Arianna was last on the list.
She didn’t dare touch any of the stylists’ implements. They had her exactly the way they wanted her for the cameras, even if Arianna thought her skin was a bit pale and her eyeshadow a bit… garish. They had agreed to keep her hair the way she always wore it, though, and that was the win Arianna would take.
“Well! Look who it is! We’ve met before!”
Arianna nearly leaped out of her seat when another woman so loudly proclaimed her words. It took her a second to recognize the American flight attendant behind her, dressed in Royal Asia’s North American uniform of pencil skirt and matching jacket. Yet Sherry owned the look as wholly her own, as she had at the mixer in the Royal Asia lounge a few weeks ago.
“Oh! Hi!” Arianna turned in her seat, hand over her heart. “Sherry, right?”
“She’s got it, doesn’t she? I had heard you were the one here representing the Asian contingent. Was pretty glad to hear it. Have they shot you yet?”
Shot me? Arianna didn’t ask what that meant. She only needed a minute to realize it referred to cameras, not firearms. “No. I think I’m last.”
“Cool. I went on first. It was a lot of fun. You ever done something like this before?”
“No way.”
“Really?” Grinning, Sherry pulled up another chair and sat with Arianna. “Can I tell you a secret? About when we met last?”
Arianna directed her head away from the bright lights shining on her face. “Of course.”
“My colleagues and I were excited to meet you. You know, one of the reasons we decided to leave our former companies and work for Royal Asia is because we heard they were hiring some of the best on the other side of the Pacific. Real Singapura Girls. We had to meet you.”
When the knowledge of what Sherry meant dawned on Arianna, she gasped. “Really? You know Singapura Girls?”
“Honey, who doesn’t? In this business?”
“I didn’t think we were so popular with Americans.”
“You’re popular with everyone. My coworkers and I could barely contain ourselves knowing we would meet some of the most beautiful women in the industry. When we saw you guys coming down the moving walkway… we were blown away by how cool you were. Absolutely tongue-tied.”
“That’s not possible!”
“Huh?”
“Because that’s how we felt about you!”
It was one of those things that stayed with Arianna long after the conversation occurred. They think we’re beautiful and cool… yet that’s what we aspire to be when around them. How could Sherry think anyone else was breathtaking when she was right there? She looks like a model already. Tall, slender, with a jawline to break hearts and hair that stole every eye in the room. Arianna confessed to feeling positively dowdy around a woman like Sherry. In turn, Sherry told her that American flight attendants everywhere looked up to professionals like Singapura Girls because of what they represented.
Wasn’t this exactly what the company had wanted during the mixer? At least Arianna was rested up enough now to enjoy it.
Sherry claimed that she wasn’t about to be moved away from the LA-Seattle route anytime soon, but she still wanted to exchange contact information with Arianna. “It’s important we keep a closed circle going,” she had explained while Arianna searched for her phone. “We’ve all got to stick together. Otherwise, corporations attempt to stiff us what we’re due. Did you see how little they were going to pay us originally?”
