Angel by Katie Price Page A

opportunity she'd been
given. It was time to say goodbye to the old Angel
and embrace the new.
    Her dad had sat in silence during the drive to the
station but at the last minute he hugged Angel
tightly to him and gruffly told her to take care of
herself. And she had made things up with Tony, as
Gemma had threatened to dump him if he didn't
stop being so uptight about his sister's choice of
career. So it was with a much lighter heart than
during the past few weeks that she came to London.
And here she was now, in the capital. Close to
Camden with its great weekend market, which
Angel loved browsing through to discover a vintage
top or dress, something that no one else would
be wearing, and within walking distance of
Hampstead with its chic bars and cafés. She was
close to Hampstead Heath, so she could get away
from people and noise and cars and escape into
open space if she wanted to. The first few days, she
couldn't wait to go exploring, getting such a buzz
from being on her own, in her own flat, in the city.
She felt free as she walked around. There were no
memories here and no people to remind her of the
past and the small world she had left behind. But it
was also strange, suddenly being free to do
whatever she wanted – she could go to bed
whenever, wake up when she liked, eat whenever
she wanted without her mum nagging her to come
down from her room. It was both liberating and
terrifying.
    But Carrie kept nagging her to go out
socialising.
    'Listen, darling, it's not enough to be good at
your job, there are hundreds of other girls out
there who are models. In order to stand out you
need to get noticed by the press, make a name for
yourself,' she told, or rather ordered, her when
Angel dropped by her office.
    Since the pictures of her striptease had appeared
in the paper, she'd become a hot property and
Carrie was keen to cash in on her success.
Practically every other day Angel had a casting or a
shoot. Today she'd done a shoot for a lingerie
catalogue with three other glamour girls and it had
been a real eye-opener.
    One of the girls, Andrea, a dead ringer for
Thandie Newton, was lovely, down to earth, funny
and not at all full of herself. The other two – Lisa
and Vicki – were absolute bitches who had made it
their mission to be as unpleasant as possible to
Angel from the minute she had walked into the
studio, barely bothering to say hello to her, and
looking her up and down as if she was something
they'd stepped in.
    'How long have you been modelling for, then?'
demanded Lisa when they were in the dressing
room, getting ready. She was an overly made-up
blonde, who would have been pretty if she hadn't
looked as if she was trying so hard.
    'Nearly two months now,' Angel replied.
    Lisa sniffed dismissively. 'It must be beginner's
luck then, you getting on Page 3 so soon. Don't
expect it to last, though.'
    'Who thought up your name?' asked Vicki, the
other model, a blonde clone of Lisa.
    'No one, it's my name,' Angel answered, not
liking the way the girls were looking at her. It made
her feel as if she was back in the school playground.
    'Leave her alone, you two,' Andrea called out.
'You were new to this game once yourselves, about
a hundred years ago!'
    The blonde clones shot Andrea an evil look and
then tottered out onto the balcony together to have
a cigarette and no doubt carry on with their
bitching.
    'Ignore them,' Andrea told her. 'They're just
jealous. And while they're having a fag let's grab the
best thongs.'
    Angel was very relieved that Andrea was there
because Lisa and Vicki didn't get less bitchy during
the shoot. There were snide little digs about her
hair (' Brunette – isn't that a bit last season' ), her nails
(' Oh, we didn't know the natural look was in' ) and her
breasts ('Ever thought of having a boob job?'). But
Angel had the last laugh when Dawn, the
photographer, a very straight talker, used her and
Andrea more than the other two and told Vicki
she'd put on weight.
    As Angel and Andrea