Betrayed Chapter 10

I peeked out through the curtain at the edge of the stage. Lance and Susan were seated at the end of the catwalk. They were the special guest M.C.s who would announce the models, the outfits they wore, and the vendors they represented. Their presence had guaranteed press coverage, plus a camera crew from the local independent television station that televised the team's games. Gee, no pressure there. If this was, indeed, the time they had selected to destroy me, they would do so in print and on the ten o'clock news - for everyone in metropolitan Chicagoland to see.
Sipping piña coladas in Fat Tuesdays on Duval Street, clad only in a skimpy string bikini and high-heeled sandals, would be just as good as the charter-boat thing, wouldn't it?

It was daunting to stand backstage and listen to the applause the first models were receiving. The butterflies in my stomach had metamorphosed into vultures who were thumping away with their wings and picking me apart at the same time. I received my cue and hit the runway in white calfskin corset, collar, and forearm-length gauntlets with black patent trim, matched with white calfskin lace-up thigh boots with black patent scrollwork overlays and five-inch stiletto heels. Dianna had coached me on 'Attitude' and I had it to burn. Look at me wrong and I'll bite it off at the root!

Angie was right behind me in a purple calfskin corset mini-dress with matching platform sandals. Dianna followed Angie in a red patent corset combination like mine, with coordinating thigh boots. The applause from the previous models had continued to wane as I took the stage. By the time all three of us were on catwalk – just a second or two - the only sound was the music pounding from the loudspeakers. The seconds seemed like hours. I could tell Susan remembered me from the previous weekend. She looked none too pleased to see me again. I couldn't detect so much as a glint of anything else, but you never knew with Susan.... It was the silence of everyone else that was really damning.