Sheryl felt extremely dejected as she came to the back stage. Sue rushed towards her and comforted,"Sher, don't think too much. It's not your fault..."
Sue could understand how Sheryl must be feeling. She tried her best to cheer her up and motivate her. Sheryl tried to stop crying and remained silent for a while. She lowered her head with a gloomy face. Sue kept patting her back to pep her up but of no avail. After a long time, she lifted her head slowly and turned to Sue downheartedly. "Of course it's my problem. Indeed, I had a terrible performance today," she spoke at last.
It was a tough fight for her to justify herself in the modeling business with such intense competition. Sheryl's age was not by her side. And on the top of that she almost messed up the rehearsal just now. When she looked at the furious Director Ang, a chill ran down her. She almost felt her modeling career to be over.
"Come on, Sher!" Sue encouraged, as she tried to help her friend get over it. No matter how much comforting words Sue spoke, it was difficult to bring her out of the depression. At last, Sheryl looked at Sue and requested,"Mimi, I'd like to stay alone for a while."
"Well... Okay, then." Sue nodded at her hesitantly as she stood up to leave. Looking at Sheryl's scowling face, she continued with concern,"Then I'll go back to the rehearsal. Call me if you need anything."
"Sure, I will," Sheryl replied. As she watched Sue walk back to the stage, she rose up, took a deep breath and decided to go for a walk.
As she took her steps forward to walk out of the venue, once again, the onstage debacle that took place during the rehearsal came crowding her mind. How just a stupid stomach ache made her so limp that she could not maintain her grace on the stage! She just lost control on her limbs and expression... She just could not hold back the pain. It made her so helpless.
She felt terrible for this mistake. She felt repented the moment again and again. Now, it would cost her a heavy price for this mistake. Being out of the show at this moment meant...
She shuddered at the very thought of the repercussions this debacle could bring upon her career and financial condition. Absorbed in her thoughts, she didn't even notice the steps. As a result, she missed a step and collapsed to the ground. Fortunately she just hurt her ankle slightly.
"What a bad day!" Sheryl grumbled. As she tried to stand up, she realized that the apparently "slight" looking injury was not really so nominal after all. She seemed to have sprained her ankle. She struggled to stand up but failed. She rolled her eyes up and cursed her stars. 'Why is everything just going against her at the eleventh hour?' She felt miserable. All of a sudden, a tender voice reached her ear,"Are you okay?"
Complete broken and bruised, Sheryl was unable to get up. She looked up to see where the voice came from. The woman's voice was as pleasing and soft as the warm breeze in the Spring.
As she raised her head, she was greeted by an exquisite looking woman. She had absolutely perfect features - slim arched eyebrows followed by long pushy eyelashes, big and beautiful eyes that were rather scary. As she sat there marveling at the perfect features of the woman, she wondered at her jaw dropping beauty. After a while, Sheryl shook herself up and thought to herself, 'She is absolutely no natural beauty. I'm sure she went through a plastic surgery.'
Sheryl was taken aback at the sudden display of concern from a stranger and replied awkwardly,"I'm... I'm fine."
"How are you feeling? Can you walk now?" the girl asked. With furrowed brows, she offered,"Let me help you."
The girl helped Sheryl to stand up and supported her to enter the hotel hall slowly. She sat Sheryl down and walked away hastily. Then she came back with medicine and a basin of hot water. She approached to treat Sheryl's feet and said,"You should not ignore the injury. Let me apply the medicine oil for you."
Sheryl felt extremely embarrassed at her warm gesture and said,"No, thank you..." "You've helped me a lot. I can't bother you anymore," she refused politely while trying to pull her feet back but in vain.
"Well, okay," the girl noticed her uneasiness and stopped insisting. With a look at Sheryl's ankle, she continued with a smile,"Your injury isn't serious. You'll recover after taking rest at home for a couple of days."
"Rest?" Sheryl mumbled to herself with a pale smile,"How could it be possible?"
'I came to Y City for work, ' she thought. It was her work that preoccupied her mind. She came here all geared up for work. She wanted to make her mark on the ramp and gather accolades for her work. Then she would go back to her daughter and give her all the happiness and love. But all this was only possible if she could just get up and work. Not being able to be with her colleagues at the rehearsal made her feel miserable. On top of that if anyone even spoke of taking rest or a break from work, Sheryl felt like screaming, 'Stop saying that word! I need to work! I am here to work!"
Looking at the tension on Sheryl's face, the girl said,"What's wrong? Do you have any problem? You can tell me. Perhaps I can help you solve your problem."
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