"Who is calling me right now?"
✧˖°.✧˖˚▹ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ༺༄ؘ 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 2 ༄ؘ༻ₓ˚ .୧ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୭˚▹ₓ˚.✧˖°.✧
Ariani stared at the caller's name and sighed in annoyance - Thaiasia Williams, the CEO of Marine Modeling Agency and a VERY powerful person. She has a net worth of over 800 million dollars, which makes her one of the richest female CEOs in the world. Ariani picked up the call and pressed her phone to her ear. "What do you want, I was just about to take a nap!"
"Well hello to you, too, Ariani," Thaiasia sighed. "I'm kind of tired myself, so let's not let your attitude make this conversation long."
"My attitude never makes conversations long! AND I DON'T HAVE AN ATTITUDE!"
"See, this is exactly what I mean. Plus, if you don't have an attitude, then why are you screaming at the phone? You always make a big deal out of everything!"
Ariani almost grunted in anger as if she were a rhinoceros. "No, I don't! I don't make a big deal out of everything! Who's in that room with you? Is Ravon in there? What about Shaniya? Shaniya! Ravon! Do I make a big deal out of everything? I'm asking to prove a point!"
"If you keep yelling like a mad person, I'll mute you. Then I can finally have some peace and quiet to ask my question. We were supposed to be done by now," Thaiaisa said. "Now listen here. There's a brand that is short on models and they need more. Have you heard of Riley Wales?
"Duh!"
"Then you've probably also heard of her successful shoe brand."
"Of course. It's literally her name. I even own a few pairs."
"Good. Their company reached out to us and asked for a model, both for a commercial and a fashion show. You think you can do that?"
"So... all this with no pay?" Ariani knew the answer to this question, but she liked to ask dumb questions to piss Thaiasia off. She smiled as she could almost feel the successful CEO's eye roll through the phone.
"Ariani, you are 19, not 12. OF COURSE there's money involved. We'd never do anything for free and you know it."
"How much money's involved?"
"You can do just the commercial, $3,000, or just the fashion show, ten grand. Or you could do both, do the math."
Ariani's eyes lit up as her lips formed a greedy grin. "Can't they raise the prices? I ain't gon' do all that for thirteen K!"
Even though it seemed as if Ariani would get offered a lot more money for commercials and fashion shows, this was actually the most money she had ever been offered for this.
"I already asked, dumdum. That was their final offer, and you're lucky as hell I didn't go for the first one. Can you believe that they tried to persuade me to let you walk the runway for just $4,000?"
"Four K? I'm keeping the thirteen grand, thank you." Ariani laughed into the mic of her phone. "They're some crazy people."
"Word, but YOU'RE an even CRAZIER person for thinking that you's gonna keep thirteen K all for yourself," Thaiasia replied. "I have to keep at least 25%, which is..."
Ariani sighed as she waited for Thaiasia to do whatever she was doing, assumingly opening the calculator app.
"$3250."
Ariani almost whined like a baby when she heard how much money was being taken away from her. "I still don't understand why I have to give you so much money for MY work! MY HARD-EARNED MONEY GETS TAKEN AWAY FROM ME! You know what? You remind me of an ugly, stupid man! Mankind ruined everything for womankind! They took so much money from her! They took her rights! Her virginity! Her-"
"Stop turning this into a big deal, again!" Thaisia yelled into her phone, almost roaring like she was some type of wild beast. "I ain't taking no money from you! I am your manager! I am taking 𝘮𝘺 money! I'm the whole reason you're even having these opportunities in the first place! Without me, you are NOTHIN'! Read my lips! YOU ARE NOTHING."
"Shut up, dumdum. How can I read your lips when we're on call, the fuck?"
"It's an idiom. And remember my words. If I hadn't found you and your dumb mom looking for a modeling agency long ago, y'all would've been stuck on the streets, tormenting the garbage can like an NYC rat."
Thaiasia's last sentence stung Ariani's heart, so she decided to say a comeback. "But listen, listen, without-"
"I found you and your mama looking for a good modeling agency and I 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴! I caressed you like you were my daughter! I-"
"LISTEN!" Ariani yelled. Even though Thaiasia's volume was not high, Ariani's voice made her jump in her chair. "You claim that without you, I ain't nothin', dah, dah, dah, dah, but without ME, your dumbass modeling agency would be left in the dust, bitch-"
"SHUT YO' DUMBASS UP!" Thaiasia yelled. "I am SO sick and tired of you!"
Ariani exhaled deeply and tried to calm down to get on with the call. "Whatever. When's the thing happening?"
"In about a month, on May 15."
"Umm... okay. Anything else I should know?"
"No, not at the moment...*exhales deeply* not at the moment."
"Um, okay."
Ariani hung up without even properly saying goodbye.
"Everyone is always finding a way to annoy me," Ariani muttered to herself. "I can't wait 'til that one day, the day I'm FREE from these middle-aged women."
She opened social media and started endlessly scrolling, more and more, so much so that her eyes felt heavier than usual, causing her to fall into a deep, deep sleep.