"Excuse me, but I said Dr. Pepper, not root beer," a woman said with a stern look on her face, pointing to her drink.

Emma apologized. "Sorry, ma'am. I'll get it right away."

Emma and Manny worked together as waitresses in a new restaurant in town. Right now, life at work was hectic. Mrs. Henderson, the owner and manager, expected everything to be perfect, so the restaurant would make a good impression.

Emma brought the woman her drink, and went back behind the counter. She thought she had gotten away with it, but luck wasn't with her. Clearly upset, Mrs. Henderson called, "Miss Nelson, that's twice this week. Am I correct?"

Emma replied, "Yes, ma'am, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"It had better not. At least not if you want your total paycheck this week," Mrs. Henderson said sternly. She clicked her tongue, and walked away.

Emma sighed, and Manny looked at her sympathetically. At the moment, Emma was looking for a new job — one that paid well, but was also fun. She didn't know what she wanted to do, but anything really, was better than this. A little alarm rang, signaling Emma and Manny's shift was over. They pulled off their name tags, and quickly walked out.

"That place is horrible," Manny said, pulling her hair into a tight ponytail.

"Tell me about it. Didn't you see Mrs. Henderson yelling at me? It's like she expects nothing less than perfection," Emma sighed as she unlocked the car.

Back at Emma's house, the girls went into their room and flipped through the magazines that were full of job offers. "Ooh! Look at this one, Manny!" Emma said as she pointed to an ad.

"Modeling? What on Earth, Emma?" replied Manny upon seeing the ad.

"Okay, maybe not the best choice, but it pays well."

"Fine. We can check it out, but I'm not promising anything."

Emma pulled her car into the narrow driveway of Enna Mae Rodgers, the owner and manager of Mae's Models. Before Emma could knock on the door, it was opened. A thin woman with a perfect tan, and perfectly curled brown hair opened it. It was Enna Mae; she looked even better in person! Emma looked at her, and noticed she was supposed to be talking. "Miss Rodgers, I'm Emma Nelson, and this is my friend Manny Santos. We saw your ad in the newspaper—"

"And you wanted to apply for a job, right? Well, come on in."

They entered the huge house, and everything was in perfect order. There was fruit on the table, and flower pots on the shelves. They sat down, and filled out forms for what seemed like hours. When they had finished, Enna Mae shuffled through the papers, and simply said, "You'll start tomorrow. Be here by 7:30am, no later, and I'll introduce you to the other girls."