Temptation Waits

Logan raised his foot from the pedal on the sewing machine, ceasing the noise. The sound of his cell phone ringing in the kitchen became audible. He roused himself from his chair and carefully made his way around the machine so as not to disturb his work before hurrying into the kitchen and snatching his phone off the counter.

"Hello?!" he nearly shouted, afraid of not catching the call before it went to voicemail.

"Logan?"

He sighed.

"Hey, Mom."

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" she asked.

Yes.

"No, I'm just working."

"Oh, well I won't keep you away for long. I know how you don't like to be interrupted."

"It's cool. I could use a break. So what's up?"

"I just wanted to check in on things, I haven't heard from you in awhile. How's the line coming?"

"Great," Logan replied, going to the fridge and snagging a bottle of beer from within. "I've still got a lot to do, but I'll be able to pull everything together."

"We're all really excited to see what you've been working on. And in Elle magazine nonetheless! I still can't believe it."

"You know you'll get to see it before the magazine comes out. It's one of the advantages of being family."

"Still. It's so exciting to have your line featured in such a popular read."

"Yeah," Logan nodded, twisting one of the rings that adorned his fingers. He was growing impatient. Break needed or not, there was work to be done.

"So, onto the next reason I called. How is the model search going?" his mother asked.

"I haven't even started," Logan sighed. He was still yet to even consider the new face for his line. The choice was important, for whomever he chose would be revealing his new work to the world for the first time on the runway and in Elle, and promoting it from then on out.

"Well, I want to run an idea past you."

"No, Mom, you cannot model my line," Logan said, grinning as he heard his mother chuckle on the other end.

"Not me. Do you remember Edith Carraway?"

He frowned, racking his brain for a face.

"She lived down the street from us when you were growing up. You two spent some time hanging out in high school," his mother prompted.

"Oh, you mean Edie?" Logan asked, suddenly remembering.

"Yeah. The Carraways moved to Boise your senior year, but I ran into Edie's mother at the grocery store while she was back in town visiting some old friends. She said that Edie is living in Vegas now struggling with a modeling career--"

"Oh, no. Mom, I know you think it would be sweet if I hired her, but I haven't seen the girl in almost 10 years. I have no idea what she looks like now and I can't just choose her because we used to be loose friends in high school."

"Just listen. Mrs. Carraway said that Edie has turned to stripping because she can't make the rent. She's trying so hard to become a model but her career just won't get off the ground. I think it's so sad to see things like that happen to good girls. Her mother showed me a recent headshot of her, she's really quite pretty."

"Well maybe she should get a real job and quit taking off her clothes for money. It's really quite simple," Logan snapped, suddenly becoming irritated with the situation.

"Logan. You can't tell me you don't feel for her. What if I had Mrs. Carraway just email you some photos?"

"Mom, it doesn't work like that. I can't just decide based off of a photo. She lives hundreds of miles away. It's not my responsibility to help her. I haven't spoken to her since our junior year of high school. I'm not hiring a charity case for my first big line."

"Well I'm going to send the pictures anyway. It won't hurt you to look. If you decide you want to see more of her, her mother will fly her out to New York."

"You got her mom pushing for this, too?" Logan groaned. "I can't believe this."

"The way I see it, you're not only helping someone in need, but you're helping yourself, too. If you decide on a model now, you can focus completely on finishing the line. Besides, remember that you'll have to spend more time with this girl than you might think. If you choose a random New York model, she could turn out to be a huge bitch and ruin all your fun."

Logan snorted. "Yeah, whatever."

"I'm just asking you to think about it. It breaks my heart to hear about situations like hers."

He sighed.

"Alright. I'll think about it. But I'm not promising anything."

"Great. I'll have the photos sent to you by the end of the evening."

"Okay."

"I'll talk to you later, son."

"K. Love you."

"Ditto."

Logan pressed end, resisting the urge to slam his iPhone onto the counter. His family had always been supportive in his fashion career, but never this meddlesome. He took a swig of his beer, picturing Edie in his mind. When she was 16, she had been awkwardly thin, nearly breastless and with a complete disregard for makeup. How could someone without a real sense of fashion be the face for his line? Though she had been pretty when they had known each other, "pretty" wasn't enough. He needed spectacular. Mind blowing. Eye catching.

He took another deep drink of his beer before meandering back into his work room to resume sewing. It was going to be a long night.