***A/N: If you are re-reading this starting May 2024, please note that there are enhanced scenes and details for you to enjoy :)

I have also added some music recommendations in the Comments to help you be in the mood as our characters.

Thank you for staying all these years!***

***********************************************************************************************

With her new mobile phone in hand, Vee tried to keep herself occupied by watching music videos of her favorite bands. Since she likes having free time before her actual work, she is used to arriving at the venue not less than three hours before the call time. Her habit has made her image really pleasant in the eyes of designers and their staff as they never had to stress about her not getting enough preparation time before her shows start.

Today, as she arrived much earlier than usual, she was greeted by a staff member right after she got off the service van that picked her up from the private hangar as she arrived in her private plane. She was then asked to wait for her stylist in her own dressing room while one of her assistants joined the rest of the staff who were preparing all the items needed for the fashion show - from different sets of face paint to five different outfits and props for each model.

Her room was adjacent to the common one where the rest of the guest models were huddled, and not wanting to feel isolated, she had asked her assistants to keep the room to her door open. Occasionally, models who were new in the industry would peek inside her room to greet her or take selfies with her, while the veteran ones who have already become immune to her presence simply waved her excited hellos as they were ushered by their own assistants to their own rooms.

The other room was quite crowded - everyone involved in the show was busy working on his own assignment, intent on ensuring there would be no mistakes. They seemed to only communicate with a colleague when they happened to share a task. Even with less conversations though, the large room was still filled with excited noise, but as the start of the show fast approached, the bustling noise was soon mixed with urgent call outs, panicky orders, and last-minute meetings called by the managers.

As the top paid model of one of the biggest fashion lines, Vee attends more out of the country shows than some of her model friends, thus she always missed their rants and cheers every time she had to be away, solo. They never fail to send her videos and messages wherever they are, but she still never fails to be homesick every time she has to travel without more familiar people around.

"I'm starting to think that you don't consider me as a true friend, Vee." The make-up artist cum stylist that Vee was waiting for, has finally arrived and entered the room, followed by her assistant. Her name is Lenka, model turned make-up artist, who has been working with Vee since she was 12 years old.

Vee grinned lazily while waving her phone at Lenka. She had just started watching a romantic comedy after binge-watching music videos. She tried to hide it from Lenka, but she knew that it would be useless to pretend that she wasn't bored. She and Lenka had been friends for over ten years now, and the latter could smell boredom even from ten thousand miles away. Her friend was seven years older than her and has decided to quit modeling upon getting married and having a child.

What would it take to make you smile today?" Lenka asked Vee after giving the latter a tight hug. Yes, she didn't fail to notice Vee's sad eyes despite her wide grin.

Vee simply shrugged and finally put her phone down as she stretched her limbs which were starting to get numb while she was unmoving earlier.

"You are opening the show today," Lenka said, smiling brightly. "This is the third time the Guy Perry has convinced you to walk his lingerie collection." She started giggling when Vee rolled her eyes, grinning with her tongue in between her teeth. She knew that she struck the right buttons to make her precious friend feel a little better.

Guy Perry is one of the best designers in the industry and is known for his revealing line of clothes. Despite being close friends, it took him five years to convince Vee to walk for him even with a hefty offer, and only got a nod when he made known to public that the lace products he uses on his designs were woven by a group of deaf individuals - something that sold Vee, who was a big supporter of charity institutions.

"You've always had an amazing bum, Vee." Guy would always say, while flicking his fingers against the model's behind, "and your body looks a lot sexier now that you're a full grown woman." Since his house has a resolve of not letting underaged models walk his lingerie collection, he was only able to start talking to Vee about it when she had turned eighteen. It was a gamble, since Vee was already signed for another clothing line, and she was a model known for being too cautious of not wearing anything lacey - an exact opposite of what his house designs. His lace products being bought from charities for the deaf was the only edge he had over Vee's then house.

"Woman, you say," Vee grunted, snapping back to the present but still thinking of Guy's words, "yet my Dad still sees me like a twelve-year-old." Lenka laughed as she watched Vee scroll through her mobile phone's call logs, looking for her father's number. "He called me six times yesterday and sent me about twenty-five messages!"

Not that she was complaining - Vee likes to always hear from her father especially when she is out of the country. It had become a routine for her to let the Yates patriarch hear of her whereabouts, or any member of the family for that matter. She understood her father's reasons for keeping her under close watch as though always scared of losing her, having heard hundreds of times how his world had crumbled when he lost his wife after she had given birth to Vee.

Apart from her father, Vee also has an older brother - Viktor - who loves badgering her for the most unthinkable reasons when she is not home. Just this morning when she was not in the mood yet to wake up, Viktor video called her to ask for the best tie color to match his beige coat refusing to not get any answer until he was sure that Vee was finally awake.

"Seriously, Viktor?" She had snapped, seeing her brother's silly grin on the screen of her laptop. "Get a girlfriend to help you dress up, dude!"

"Don't you think they'd rather help me get undressed?" Viktor laughed as Vee threw a pillow on the screen as though it would hurt him. "Good morning, Veevee!" And he was gone. Crazy family. She thought, but she couldn't deny that it made her feel better every time.

Her reverie could have taken that long, as Vee was surprised when she realized that Lenka was already shooing her towards the backstage to get ready for the show. She was now clad in her first item to present on the runway - a black, one piece all-lace lingerie which didn't really cover up anything that much. It was high-cut and showed off her entire thighs and crotch, and her buttocks were only partially encased in a V-web of pure lace. The bust part of the piece was cut with a very low neckline which again was shaped like a "V." She suddenly remembered Guy saying that the lingerie was patterned specifically for her.

She squirmed as she recalled how she had spent grueling hours at the gym to get her entire body toned up to look perfect in her piece. She also tried to shove the memory of her very strict diet for the past few weeks and a part of her wished she belonged to the plus size group of models who would also walk for Guy's lingerie line - a wishful thinking, though, knowing that her DNA would never cooperate with her getting some more meat on her bones. The best she could do was keep her muscles toned and whatever amount of meat she had to maintain a feminine look.

She gave herself a mental pat on the back as she turned her seductress mode on, following Lenka's usual advice of simply believing that her body shape and build were enough.

A sexy beat could already be heard being played in the background by the resident DJ of the hotel's bar. It helped Vee to set her mood for the show as last touches of design were prepared on her piece. Her tiara and red flamingo wings as props were all set, making her look like she's ready to soar. She would just wait for the floor director's cue, and while composing herself she looked around at the other models lined up behind her. Most of the girls were preoccupied, while some managed to give her either nervous or excited smiles.

She looked around for Lenka to wait for last minute touch-ups on her face and body, but her friend wasn't anywhere close. She assumed that it meant her look might have been finished and so she moved closer to the curtains, ready to start the show. She spotted Guy from a few meters away and she tried to catch his eyes for some final cues, but she noticed that his attention was somewhere else, as he was listening intently to the wireless earpiece in his left ear, seemingly flabbergasted by what he was hearing. She wondered what could have upset the designer right at this time of the show, but she chose not to overthink. She even grinned when his eyes finally traveled to her direction, but it obviously just made Guy all the more upset for some reason. He became visibly pale, the strong, colorful lights dancing around failing to hide his seemingly shocked expression.

"Everything alright?" She called out to him, smiling, but Guy seemed close to breaking down. "Hey, we're about to start!" She laughed, wondering whether Guy was just too happy to see her finally walking down the runway in his newest lace lingerie designs. He looked like he was about to say something, but the floor and show directors suddenly shouted for her to start, and Vee had to leave and start off. She noticed that Guy was trying to call her but she motioned to the stage, mouthing that she had to start walking. Knowing that they could just talk about it after the show, Vee switched her expression back to her trademark seductive poker face and started walking.

Feeling the sexy vibe of the music and hearing the classy cheers around the catwalk helped Vee to project the appropriate facial expression which would match her lingerie piece as she strutted towards the elevated aisle. She looked ahead at an imaginary someone with inviting stares and a slightly parted mouth while striking a pose before twirling and walking back to the curtains. Upon reaching the backstage, she was shocked by the complete chaos - not the usual she sees during fashion shows. Instead of being led towards a spot where her outfit was meant to be redesigned, she was quickly ushered by one of the directors to her dressing room where Guy and Lenka were both slumped on the couch, visibly shaken and with swollen eyes. The unsightly atmosphere got her all tense.

"What's going on?" She asked, while trying to calm her growing anxiety as she sat in between the two, while the rest of the fashion show team was strictly asked by Guy's assistant to carry on with the show. Vee could see everyone panicking and trying to find out what was wrong - the assistants were occupied with providing instructions to the other groups, while the show directors and stylists had to usher the models to the back stage, forced to step out of the curtains, like everything back to regular business.

Guy was now gripping Vee's hands, while Lenka was starting to fan herself with her hand. They were visibly trying to look collected, and Vee couldn't help but feel weird.

"Vee, honey," Lenka decided to start talking. "We just received devastating news..." With this, Vee's heart skipped a beat. For some reason, she suddenly felt like her world was about to crash and fall into pieces. She tried hard to shove a nasty thought far behind her subconscious and to stop herself from shaking, but her mind failed to function. "Vee - there was a huge car accident that happened back home -"

As though Lenka's statement was the cue, Vee found herself all tensed as images of all the people she cared for flashed in her head. She intentionally avoided thinking of the two most important ones, trying to convince herself that Lenka surely wasn't pertaining to them. A part of her willed her senses to shut down, refusing to hear the rest of Lenka's story, but a greater part of her somehow anticipated her friend's next words.

"...I'm so sorry, honey... Both of them..." Lenka could no longer contain herself and broke into hysterical tears. She nudged Guy, who was holding back his tears but was wringing Vee's hands so strongly that they were in danger of getting crushed.

"Vee..." there was a tinge of fear and shock in Guy's voice. "I meant to tell you this before you opened the show earlier... I'm sorry I didn't have the courage..." He looked at Vee straight in the eyes and continued, "your Dad... and Viktor... They got involved in a car crash... and they were pronounced dead on the spot."

That was it.

Vee, who was still holding onto a thin ray of hope that her friends were not going to say the words, felt tears involuntarily run down her cheeks. She could feel Lenka's shaking fingers wiping her tears with a tissue paper, sobbing yet again, while giving her a tight hug. The noise around her seemed to have died down, as though everything was suddenly muted, and all she could hear was the slow beat of her heart and the rush of her blood flowing as though disappearing down an invisible drain.

They were pronounced dead on the spot...

The words kept reverberating in her head, forcing in the images of her father and her brother sprawled on the ground, bleeding and not breathing.

No, she couldn't believe it. Viktor was just asking for her opinion on which tie to wear - just this morning!

And her father... Her Dad just sent his twenty-sixth message last night to say goodnight.

They couldn't have possibly found time to involve themselves in a car crash, right? Her brain was indignant.

"I'm so sorry, Vee..." she could hear Lenka and Guy whispering into her ears, hoping to get her recovered from shock. "Please... be strong... You have us..."

The floor director came in to check on them and worriedly announced that the last two models were about to step on the runway. Based on the programme, Vee was supposed to showcase her second piece and would come out with Guy to close the show. She was quick to read the atmosphere that no one was ready to close the show - Guy looked disheveled and while Vee was drenched in tears, her calmness was eerie, as though her entire being had just shut down. She announced her assessment that the show would be closed without Guy coming out, and that the PR officers could just come up with a brilliant excuse later on when they get asked by the media during the press conference as to what caused the disruption of the programme.

Hearing the term "media" somehow helped Vee snap back to her senses and she looked at Guy with scarily determined eyes.

"Don't miss the closing, Guy." She heard herself say, although she felt like it was someone else who spoke in her stead. Her voice was a little hoarse that she barely recognized it, but she felt like this would have been the right thing to do.

A part of her seemed to have awakened and reminded her that this was not the time to stay shocked and act helpless. Ever since she was little, her father had always instilled in her mind that death was inevitable. It had become a family mantra. Vee observed that it had somehow helped her father move on from the death of his wife, teaching his daughter not to dwell on the idea of her being the cause of her mother's passing. He had always talked about death as though it were simply a bitter game, where only the weak of heart would lose.

Vee couldn't shake the involuntary in her head. She had always heard her father say that if their family ever met another sad fate, "you must pick yourself up. Think rationally. And remember everything that I taught you..." Even with knowing that her heart couldn't take the news she just heard, a stronger force at the back of her mind was making her suppress her emotions to start thinking of something else.

Guy and Lenka, including the floor director, looked at Vee like she just sprouted another head. They couldn't fathom which part of the universe she seemed to have pulled emotional and mental strengths from. They immediately objected when she voiced her idea of going back on stage to close the show with Guy, but seeing her composed demeanor and unwavering aura, they realized that she had forced herself to recover. While they could not understand how Vee managed to turn her emotions off, they dared not oppose her for fear of seeing her break down and appear worse than how she was just a few minutes ago.

More grief could come, but not while we are in the middle of a show. Vee told herself. She stood up, forced Lenka to do the same and to freshen her up.

"Like what Dad always said," she continued, "the show must go on."