Fallout

Vi pouts, trying her hardest to resist letting the tears fall. Erik holds her hand, squeezing gently, it pains him to see her in this state, completely out of his control, with nothing he can do to help her.

“Are you sure…? Maybe there’s just no other collections at the moment.”

Her eyes shimmer with moisture as she slowly shakes her head, sucking her lips in, the moment she speaks, she fears her resolve will crumble.

The door to Vi’s dorm opens, Erik looks back at the couple that walks in, the contrasting heights of Ari and Sai. Sai glances at Erik and he swears he can see a flash of jealousy and anger, before settling down.

‘I might have to chat with Ari about how far she’s pushing him.’

“Vi! Are you crying?” Ari asks, her eyes narrowing towards Erik. “What did you do?”

Erik shakes his head, making cutting motions at his throat, silently begging her to not play around, this is real.

She tilts her head, looking up at Sai he shakes his head and looks at Erik, this time with concern in his eyes, he asks silently what’s going on.

Erik grimaces and shakes his head, nodding towards the open laptop on Vi’s lap.

“Please just talk guys…” Vi says softly, her voice trembling.

“Aw, babe.” Ari says, climbing onto the bed and sitting on the other side of the distraught girl. “What happened? Are you okay?” Sai sits on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on Vi’s back, the group of four friends sitting on the one bed.

Vi’s lip trembles, she gestures at the laptop. Ari looks at Erik.

Erik takes the laptop and reads out the email.

Ari sucks on her cheek. “Maybe it’s just a quiet season?” Ari suggests hopefully.

Erik catches her eye and shakes his head solemnly.

Vi silently takes the laptop back, opens the last email from Blake, and hands it back to Erik.

Erik seethes. Almost taunting Vi, Blake has linked something at the end of the email, shoving it into Vi’s face, that she was easily replaced.

‘Red Bunny Collection: Hana’

“Ah… I see the difference.” Ari mutters, stroking Vi’s opposite arm.

The silence in the room is thick, Vi sitting still, not risking even the tiniest movement.

All three of them do their best to comfort her, rubbing different parts of her body, just waiting, waiting for her to be ready to talk.

“I think he’s freezing me out.” She finally says, her voice still trembling, the tears starting to well up.

“Because of the last collection?” Sai asks. “He didn’t publish that one right? The… Red bunny or something?”

She nods, sucking in her lip. “I think so.”

“That’s so fucked up?” Ari snarls. “That has to be illegal? You didn’t suck him off so he freezes you out?”

Sai clicks his tongue, getting the attention of the duo that can move. “I don’t think so… Since it’s not… Obvious. Like legally.”

Ari tilts her head, looking like a raging chihuahua. “Explain.”

Sai groans. “She didn’t have a contract, and he’s not freezing her out in a provable sense, he can easily say the opportunities are just low-key, and that he has other models currently on rotation too.” He points at the two opportunities in retail. “As long as he keeps offering one or two a month… He’s safe, legally.”

“That doesn’t sound right.”

“Do you know the laws of our land?” Sai asks.

“I suppose not.” Erik says with a grimace.

“So… I’m just going to be doing basic clothing modelling for the rest of my career?” Vi asks sadly.

“There are other photographers aren’t there?”

“Yeah….”

“But Blake has an insane reputation, he’ll black list her, her following isn’t big enough to influence other photographers.” Erik finishes for Vi, not wanting to make her talk too much.

Ari sucks on her teeth. “Let’s kill him.”

“I could hide the evidence.” Sai adds nodding.

“I’ll take care of any witnesses.” Erik says squeezing Vi’s arm.

She chuckles softly, the dam breaking as she starts to sob, her back curling inwards as the sobs rack her body. She leans into Erik and wraps her arms around his arm. “It’s so dumb… Why am I crying over this?”

Ari rubs her arms around reassuringly. “It’s not dumb, babe!”

Sai rubs her back. “It’s such bullshit, he's fucking you over for selfish bullshit reasons.”

Erik kisses her head as she wipes her tears on his sleeve. “Let it out… It’s not your fault anyway… You literally weren’t asking for much from him, he’s just being a baby because you didn’t just listen and obey his every whim.”

“I just… I really enjoyed being a model…”

Erik squeezes her arm, completely lost on what to say, all of them are lost on what to say.

“I have my uni career and stuff, I guess… But… It was just so fun, I felt so good…” She smiles ruefully, wiping her snot on her boyfriend's sleeve.

“I’ll just be another run-of-the-mill office worker…” She chuckles. “I guess I’ll make decent money.” She looks up at Erik. “And we’ll still be together, right?”

“Of course babe. You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.”

“Surely, there are other options!” Ari suggests, wanting to do anything to support Vi. “Can’t you do like? Online modelling? Independent?”

“Like Fans Lagneia?” Sai asks, “the independent modelling site?”

“Yeah! Uhm, maybe?” Ari says, squeezing Ari’s arm. “Babe. You have some fans already on your socials! They’re there for you! Not Blake, you can definitely turn this around.”

“You could even have full control of the content you make too.” Sai says, trying to join in the encouragement.

“Thanks, guys.” Vi says. “We’ll see, I guess… I just don’t want to think about it for now.”

…

The group drops the matter, staying together to comfort the girl whose career has seemingly slipped through her fingers as she drew the ire of a controlling, sadistic man.

They order pizzas and they put on her favourite movies, all three of them taking turns to massage Vi’s shoulders, her feet and her legs. Taking turns to feed her pizza, the other couple playfully turning around as Erik strips his girlfriend, putting her fluffiest pyjamas over her body, hugging her, a genuine laugh crinkling her eyes.

The four sleep in the girl’s cramped dorm room, Erik gently rubbing Vi’s hair. “I love you.”

Erik kisses her forehead. “I love you too.”

“I love my lame friends.” She chuckles softly, her purple eyes reflecting the small light from the moon outside.

“They’re pretty cool, huh?”

She sighs softly, pressing her body into him for comfort. “What did you think of Sai’s suggestion?”

“Independent modelling?”

She nods. “I hated the lack of freedom from Blake towards the end… Doing it and building my rep might work out.”

“Maybe… But maybe tonight… We just sleep, leave that decision for another day.”

“Yeah… You’re right. Thanks… For supporting me.”

“Always.”