guilt clenches my heart. she's right; me being irresponsible caused her even more stress than she needed. 
"i'm so sorry." 
finally, my friend gives me a small smile. "it's okay. we're going to be on time. and i know you won't do this to me ever again." she gives me a pointed look, and i feel immense relief when she laughs. she's so quick to forgive. 
"i won't, seriously. i've learned my lesson. having you mad at me for more than five seconds was way too unsettling." i look at her again. "but mostly because you don't deserve that. i'm so, so sorry." 
"i wasn't mad," georgia says, waving it off. "just a little panicked." excitement lights up her face. "i can't believe we're doing this!" 
i grin, shoving the last shoe onto my foot. "you mean you're doing this. i'm just emotional support." 
gorgeous georgia, the most stunning person i know, has been modelling for about a year now. L.A is competitive, especially in the modelling industry, but as far as i know, she's been doing pretty well for her first year. today, she has a shoot that she's been looking forward to for weeks, and she's bringing me along with her. for emotional support, like i said. yikes . . . already doing a crappy job of that, nearly giving her a heart attack. 
"what's this dude's name again?" i ask. "i feel like i should know this before we meet him." 
"nick sturniolo? are you serious, bree? how isolated is that rock you're living under?" 
"nick! right, i knew that. it was on the tip of my tongue." i ignore her last statement. "and he's a triplet," i continue, flexing my knowledge, "and he has a lipstick brand." 
"lip balm," she corrects. 
"lip balm. that's what i said." 
georgia laughs and rolls her eyes. "i can't believe you'd never heard of the sturniolos before i told you about them." she slaps her hands against the steering wheel. "ahh! i'm so nervous i'm going to explode!" 
"don't be," i reassure her. "you're going to nail it." 
georgia will be modelling for nick's lip balm brand today. she showed me some of the past shoots the brand has done, and they look really creative and exactly her style. they couldn't have picked a better model, in my humble, not-at-all biased opinion. 
"thanks. i hope so." 
the drive is long and mostly quiet. i imagine georgia is too nervous to say much, so i try to distract her every once in a while. she doesn't usually bring me to any of her shoots, but today she wanted to have someone with her. there isn't much i can do, as i'm sure there'll be hair, makeup, and costume teams to make the magic happen, but she assures me that my presence will be appreciated nonetheless. for her, at least. 
"are you sure they're okay with me coming along?" 
"i talked to nick's manager and they said it's fine. you might have to sign an NDA, though." 
i scoff. "what for?" 
"so you don't talk about what flavours will be released." 
"oh, of course," i say sarcastically. "heaven forbid i spill that the next lip balm flavour will be cherry. the whole world will erupt!" 
"it won't be cherry, he's already done cherry," georgia says, somewhat distractedly. i wonder whether or not she even picked up on the sarcasm. i decide to leave her alone for the rest of the ride. 
- 
the inside of the building is noisy with directors and other models hurrying around the set. from where i'm standing in the front entrance, i can see huge studio lights and massive backdrops and green screens. i smile at georgia, my excitement for her rising.