"Glad you like it here Aubrey," Bello said. "And I say, you are looking more beautiful than your photos."
Kevin blushed. "Thank you Mr. Bello, it means a lot to hear it from you in person. You're looking handsome yourself."
"No need for complements, and please call me Tory," he took Kevin by the hand. "Now I believe I was going to show you around town before our big shoot tomorrow."
"Yes please," Kevin smiled, "I've never been to New York before. I'm as happy as a boy on his first date. Uh, I mean a girl on her first date."
Kevin had been working with the Bello Modeling Agency in a satellite location for some time now. The job was fantastic, from the work culture to the pay and the benefits. After being thrown into the world of modeling after the Pool Incident Kevin was terrified of becoming Aubrey at first. It didn't help that he heard from some of her other modeling friends that sexism and abuse from the male managers and photographers was rampant within the industry. Bello Modeling was considered a godsend to the models, but getting in was hard.
At Bello the models come first, and everything else was second. The models are what sold the product, they weren't just fancy mannequins to dress up. And the slightest hint of sexism or misogyny from an employee wouldn't be tolerated. Positive body image was another thing they supported, if a model put on a few pounds then that was fine, as long as she wore the clothing confidently and took pride in her body, she could keep on working.
Kevin felt Aubrey's friends envy the moment he got the offer. They were more astounded by the job offer than he was, he didn't care that the letter had Bello's signature on it. He was just happy he didn't have to keep on being an "Instagram whore" as he called it. All her advertisers would pay him only based on impressions, so he constantly had to be putting content up and go on photo shoots with Chad. On top of it all he had to deal with the barrage of dick picks in his inbox. Once Kevin lost Chad he was thrown into a loop and couldn't support himself 100% just on Instagram posts alone, fortunately the Bello offer came in a few weeks later.
What surprised Kevin the most about the offer wasn't the money or the prestigious company name, but that the reason why he was chosen as a model was for his work. The photos they cited in the letter that made Bello decide he wanted Kevin on board were photos he took, not the Aubrey before him, not even ones Chad took, they were straight up photos he did with his own two hands. He had no idea he was such a natural model.
A few months after working at the satellite location Bello personally called up Kevin and invited him to their headquarters in New York City. Bello wanted to personally know each of his "Beauties" as he called them, and Kevin immediately took the offer.
"So when do I get to meet the other Beauties?" Kevin asked.
"Tomorrow at the shoot. Is there any Beauty you're most eager to meet?" Bello asked.
"Hmm, I really want to meet Bianca, she's so pretty! Oh, and Tiffany I hear is fantastic as well, the way she holds her self is so strong and inspiring. And I hear Jamie is just hilarious to be around."
"You'll meet them all my sweet Aubrey," Bello smiled, his hands still firmly grasping Kevin's. At that moment Kevin felt a deeper connection between him and the modeling mongol, like Mr. Bello knew where Kevin was coming from and appreciated him less for the beauty of Aubrey, and more for the person he really was. Maybe Mr. Bello had a secret like Kevin's too, at this point he was wiling to believe anything was possible.
And off they went to hit the town and later the photo shoot.
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