Tne Trick Is To Keep Breathing 6

Disclaimers: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities between the characters in this story and real people (appearances, names, etc.) are purely coincidental. This story may contain homosexual material, including love and sex, so if material like this is illegal in your region or if it discomforts you, please leave.

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The Trick Is To Keep Breathing

Chapter VI

Brendan opened the apartment door having finished a busy day of work at the gym. The ground beef was sitting on a plate on the kitchen island where Brendan laid his messenger bag down. He became worried because that morning, Kyle had stated that he was craving lasagne and would cook it for dinner.

"Ky!" Brendan called and began walking out of the kitchen. "You home, Babe!?"

Kyle had not responded, but Brendan found him sitting at his C-shaped desk. Kyle had his face in his hands and there were dozens of used tissues on the desk.

"Ky?" Brendan asked worriedly as he walked around the desk and kneeled beside Kyle's chair. "What's the matter?"

Kyle rested his head against the redhead's shoulder and cried softly. Brendan held him close and tight, and kissed his temple.

"What happened, Babe?" Brendan asked in a soft whisper. "Are you hurt?"

Kyle continued to cry but shook his head minutely.

"Want to go for a walk?" Brendan asked. "Go enjoy the early spring weather? We can walk to Halverson Resto for dinner."

Emotional, Kyle nodded his head and replied, "Okay."

"I'll go clean the kitchen," Brendan stated and kissed the brunette's temple again. "You either wipe your makeup off or fix it. You look like a bride whose groom left her at the altar."

Kyle laughed tearily and sniffled. He looked in his standing desk mirror, and was horrified to see his mascara and eyeliner streaking down his face. He had cried so much that his waterproof makeup was ruined.

Brendan went back out to the kitchen and wrapped the plate of ground beef in cling wrap. He also put the skillet and casserole dish in the appropriate cupboards and wiped down the countertops.

Kyle came out with a face clean of any makeup, and red eyes. The two young men donned their leather jackets, and Kyle put on a pair of aviator sunglasses to hide his red eyes.

The couple walked with Brendan's arm around Kyle's shoulders, in a silence for a few minutes. Brendan occasionally placed kisses on Kyle's wavy brown hair.

Finally, Kyle spoke. He said stoically, "My camera battery was dead. I couldn't find the extra battery so I had to wait for the first one to charge."

Brendan nodded and patiently asked, "That uncapped your bottled-up emotions?"

"While purchasing a plane ticket to San Diego for work, I found the extra battery behind my computer screen. And then a bulb in one of my light boxes burnt out and I don't have extras. And I was trying to film a video on the new features and security measures of iOS 11.2.2 but my Apple I.D. would not load on my iPhone Ten."

"Oh, Ky," Brendan said empathetically and kissed the brunette's hair.

"I'm just so tired, Bren. So, so tired. Six hours of school five days a week, shooting six videos a week, and editing, and keeping followers updated on social media. And all while figuring out my future plans."

Brendan kissed Kyle's temple once more and responded, "I can see it in your eyes, Ky. When you're not filming. When you are filming, you force something. It erases your fatigue for a moment, and then you look dark again when the camera shits off. It worries me."

Kyle sniffled again and wiped tears away, and asked, "What do you think I should do?"

"That's not up to me, Babe. I don't have a say in this. This is your hobby and career. If I did have a say, you could resent me for telling you to either slow down or keep at this pace."

Kyle stopped walking, as did the redhead. Kyle turned and buried his face in Brendan's chest. Kyle cried softly, and Brendan embraced him warmly.

"Here are some things to think about," Brendan quietly said. "You've been posting six videos per week for, what, sixteen to eighteen months? Your followers would understand if you decided to post less often, but it's your choice.
"But if you decide to remain posting six videos a week, I know without a single doubt or even a quarter of a doubt that you can handle it because you spent a whole month getting stuff arranged to pre-film twenty-two videos for our Christmas holiday. And you did that all- organizing, planning, setting, filming, editing, and posting regular videos- while attending university and cramming for finals and acing your finals.
"So you have me right here no matter what you decide to do."

Kyle had long since stopped crying. He kissed the leather fabric adorning Brendan's chest and replied, "I know. How did you do it? You got permission from Hanno to film in his gym, perfected your recipes, and worked as a trainer all while triple-majoring in dietetics, physiology, and personal training."

Brendan smiled softly at the brunette and answered, "It's all about fulfilling your dreams. You wanna know the secret? The trick is to keep breathing."

Disbelieving, Kyle asked, "Just keep breathing?"

"Yes," Brendan replied with a nod of his head. "Just keep breathing. Keep your aspirations right here in your head, and especially in your heart. Smile when you can't help but to, and cry when you feel the need to. It's okay to cry and crumble and break, as long as you remember to pick yourself back up. The amazing thing is, I am here to help you reassemble the pieces. The same way you did for me."

Kyle began to cry again, but the tear that slid down his cheek was a tear of utter happiness and devotion. Kyle tiptoed and planted a very sweet kiss to Brendan's lips.

"Fair warning," Kyle said with a laugh while zipping up the knee-high chunky-heeled boots, "I have never worn high heels before."

Willam Belli laughed and responded, "Not to worry, Hun. They are only four inches high and the heels are wider for better weight distribution. Now stand up."

Kyle inhaled deeply because he was anxious about being four inches higher in the air. When he did rise from his bed, he stumbled forward, and sideways.

"Woah!" Willam laughed and grabbed Kyle's hands. "You alright?"

"I think so," Kyle replied with laughter. "How does anybody get around in these?"

"Oh, it's not so bad," Willam waved the young man off. "Try to walk."

When he finally stood still and stable, Kyle tugged the hem of Willam's sparkly pink dress further down his thighs.

Kyle raised his arms to try keeping himself balanced. He lifted his right foot forward, and stepped down on both the sole and the top piece. Willam laughed, but cheered Kyle on to walk more.

"You're doing fine," Willam stated, amused. "For your first time. But try to remember the rule 'heel-to-toe'."

Kyle walking in heels looked like a baby deer learning to walk. It took him a minute to get the hang of 'heel-to-toe', but when he did it still did not look sexy. It did not look graceful.

Walking very slowly, Kyle asked Brendan, who was manning the camera, "How do I look, Baby?"

Brendan cocked an eyebrow and answered, "I feel like I could get you pregnant."

Willam then stated to the camera, "And now the challenge begins. Kyle gave me this butch as hell makeover and I gave him drag. We will spend an evening out on the town getting dinner, and then going dancing, and whoever takes their heels off first forfeits. Kyle is wearing four-inch heels, but because I'm used to wearing my own, I'll be wearing five-inch hells. The rules are as follows; we walk when not in the car, Kyle can't take his weave off, I can't take my false beard off, and our clothing cannot be altered. Let's go!"

While zipping up the women's grey leather jacket, Kyle groused, "God, how do women handle boobs? They're so in the way."

Out in the lobby of the apartment complex, despite walking with his arm linked with Willam's, Kyle's right foot rolled the slightest bit but it was enough to send him careening to the floor. The three laughed boisterously.

Inside Kyle's Escalade, Kyle asked, "I'm not going to make us crash wearing heels, right?"

"It's perfectly safe," Willam assured the young man with a soft giggle. "The trick is to set the heel close to the pedal to get the sole on it. Or you can forfeit right now."

Kyle laughed and said, "No, no, I got this."

Kyle took a moment to acquaint his heeled foot with the gas and brake pedals before igniting the vehicle.

Outside of Amelie Wine Bar and still filming for Willam, Brendan said, "Give us your best catwalk, Ky."

Kyle giggled shyly and nervously, but obliged. His catwalk was even less graceful and not sexy at all. And he stumbled on the third step, but caught himself.

Inside the restaurant, the three ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc each. Kyle was a little surprised that the waitress didn't ask for his photo I.D., but he had a fake I.D. in the purse that Willam had leant him so he was prepared.

While eating appetizers, Willam scratched his false beard and said, "This thing is annoying me."

Smirking, Kyle replied, "You can forfeit right now."

Willam scrunched his nose at the drag queen and responded, "I'll weather through this."

"Yeah this weave is itching somethin' fierce," Kyle said and began scratching through the dark red wig.

While signing the credit card slip an-hour-and-a-half later, Kyle said, "Okay, I give up. My feet are aching so bad! If I need toes amputated because of this, I'm sending you the bill."

Willam clapped his hands and cheered, "Yay!"

"Can we go back to our apartment to change?" Kyle begged as Willam peeled his false beard off. "I can literally feel all this bronzer contouring my face."

While walking to the Escalade, Willam stated, "We don't have to go out dancing. I just needed that on the agenda in case you lasted in heels longer than dinner. To be honest, you lasted much longer than I expected."

The time was 7:41P.M., still early, so the three decided to chill at Kyle and Brendan's apartment. Kyle did some of his homework on the large sectional while Brendan and Willam watched House of Cards on the television. Brendan also made blueberry kale smoothies.

After filming a video he was going to title 'Get Unready With Me' in which he showed his makeup removal process and talked about his childhood in depth, Kyle changed his shirt.

Back at his desk, Kyle said to his camera, "Hey, guys! What is the haps, Internet fam! Welcome back to my channel, Kyle Beauty, where I give you all the tips, tricks, lessons, products, and reviews on all things beauty.
"So in December 2016, I made a video disclosing exactly how much money I made from doing YouTube videos. I am a big believer in transparency, so I decided to make another to update you guys on my earnings. Well here we are! Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to 'How Much Money I Make'!
"Since this is a beauty channel, I decided to do a full face of glam while spilling my money secrets. I have here a bag from Sephora of all new releases! This video is in no way sponsored, see, I have my Sephora receipt right here.
"So to get started, I have a primer here by Natasha Denona."

While Kyle was cutting the tape off of the box, his cell phone buzzed with a text message. Kyle quickly took the bottle of makeup primer out of the box and showed it to the camera.

• Manny Gutierrez:
  • 'Just tried your recipe'
  • 'Great, great job!'
  • 'Fantastic!'
• Kyle Hemstad:
  • 'That is great news! I'm filming so text me later with any critique.'

Kyle then pumped some of the primer on his fingers and said while applying it, "Okay, so I've got my laptop open in front of me, and QuickTime is recording the screen. I am logged into my YouTube Dashboard where my financial details are displayed. Content creators like myself who have multiple channels do have the option of displaying their earnings from one channel or multiple channels.
"While I let the primer set in, I'll show you what I mean. On the left side of the screen, I'll click on he settings, and then click on channels. Let's look at my beauty channel first. A great feature of YouTube Dashboard, you can look at your statistics for each video, or each day, or each week, or each month, or each year. YouTube Dashboard does take a couple of days to update, so my video on the Glam-Glow face mask is not yet displayed. So let's look at the video before that one, which is 'My Hair Routine'.
"There we go. The video currently has just over one-point-three million views with twenty-one million minutes watched. That means that one-point-three million of you guys watched the video in its entirety, with a few thousand of you watching just part of it. Because the video currently has one-point-three million complete views, that video will earn me one thousand nine hundred sixty-two dollars and thirteen cents. But keep in mind that that figure is all before taxes. YouTube forbids content creators from disclosing that information."

Kyle then reached into the black and white striped bag and pulled another product out.

"I have here Kat Von D's new foundation Matte Me Down in the shade 104. I'll apply this with my trusty Beauty Blender.
"So now let's look at my potential earnings from last week. Click over here to select both of my channels and click up here to select Last Week. So from April second to the eighth, my six videos from that week have received five-point-nine million views. From that, that will be earning me eight thousand nine hundred forty-one dollars and twenty-two cents. Again, before taxes.
"Next is concealer. I have here Flawless Radiance from Cover FX in the shade Walnut Cream.
"Now let's look at last month. From March first to the thirty-first, I posted twenty-seven videos. Those videos received twenty-four-point-four million views. From that, that earned me twenty-seven thousand six hundred fifty-eight dollars and nine cents."

When Kyle was grabbing another product out of the bag, Brendan appeared at the office door and said, "Dinner in an hour. Chris and Warren are in the living room."

"I'll be down when I'm done filming," Kyle replied with a warm smile. "Should be another half hour or so."

"And I got your AMEX out of your wallet to book Meg's flight here for her birthday weekend," Brendan stated and walked back down the hall.

"To set my foundation and concealer in place," Kyle began while unpacking the product, "I have Guerlain's UltraMatte HD powder. It is a setting powder that is tan in colour but transforms to translucent to match your makeup.
"Now while my face is baking, let's look at my February statistics. From February first to the twenty-eighth, I had posted twenty-four videos. The total views for the month was twenty-three-point-two million, which earned me twenty-five thousand eight hundred thirty-nine dollars and eleven cents.
"My January earning were quite low due to the post-holiday crash in spending. I earned twenty-one thousand seven hundred forty-five dollars and eighty cents.
"December earnings is so much because it's the holiday season, so many companies increase their ad spending and customers watch a lot more. I earned thirty-three thousand seven hundred five hundred dollars and ninety-two cents in December.
"In November I earned twenty-seven thousand five hundred dollars and six cents."

Kyle spent the next ten or so minutes telling the camera his monthly earnings until April 2017. He then brushed off the excess setting powder off his face.

"Next is brows. I have Wow Brow in the shade Cocoa from Too Faced.
"Now let's look at my earnings for the year of 2017. So from January first to December thirty-first I earned two hundred sixty-four thousand one hundred two dollars and forty-seven cents. Also keep in mind that this is all earned by inserting just one ad in each of my videos. You guys all know at least four YouTube content creators who have three or four or five ads in their videos. Nothing wrong with that, I'm not judging or saying that I'm better. Earn money however you can, ya know? I'm just saying that I want you guys to enjoy my videos without having to click 'Skip Ad' every three minutes.
"Okay, time for eyeshadow. I bought these two eyeshadow palettes. This is the Aura palette from Smashbox, and this is the Aqua Serenity palette from Urban Decay. Aren't they gorgeous? I will be using these grey and violet shades from the Aura, and the metallic lilac from the Aqua Serenity.
"Now I am going to open this spreadsheet. This is a spreadsheet detailing my other earnings from charging beauty and health companies to review their products. I don't charge companies for each item, I charge for each line of product. Like the Y.S.L. Pur Couture collection counts as a single product. I charge companies five hundred dollars for each product to review.
"So in December, I received thirty-eight packages but four were from subscribers. This column lists company names. This column lists the product names. So in December, beauty and health companies sent me two hundred twenty-nine products to review, which earned me an additional one hundred fourteen thousand five hundred dollars.
"In December, I received two hundred twenty-five products from tech companies to review on my Hemstad Hardware channel. That earned me an additional one hundred twelve thousand five hundred dollars.
"In total for 2017, I made an additional two million eight hundred thirty-six thousand dollars.
"Okay, so it sounds like I make a crap-ton of money, right? Three million dollars earned in 2017 does sound amazing, but don't forget that it is taxed and fee'd. I also have expenses. My half of the apartment rent is sixteen hundred dollars, my half of the utilities averages three hundred each month, my legal fees run anywhere from- you know what? I have a spreadsheet open.
"As you can see from the dozens of tabs, this is very organized. I am not an accountant, so if any of you are accountants, I apologize if this spreadsheet irks you.
"So this spreadsheet is for is for the year 2017 and details all of my expenses. This tab details expenses for living like rent, utilities, communications, and groceries.
"This tab details transportation expenses like vehicle maintenance, gas, car washes, flights, vehicle rentals, rental fees, and accommodations.
"This tab is associated to my beauty channel expenses. Cosmetic companies don't send me everything that they have. That would be crazy expensive for them, and would cost too much to ship them all. So I've purchased makeup, hair products, skin care products, giveaways, and postage for those giveaways."

Kyle stopped brushing eyeshadow on and looked up from the camera lens because he saw someone standing in the office doorway. It was a tall brunette young man. His friend Christian Hawkings.

Kyle smiled at the young man as he walked around the desk and said, "Hey."

"Didn't mean to interrupt," Christian stated apologetically as they went in for a hug. "We've been friends for, like, five months and I've never seen the production of a video."

"No worries," Kyle replied. "Is it everything you imagined?"

Christian shrugged and answered, "How are you not blinded by the lights?"

Kyle chuckled and responded, "You get used to it. Sit in my desk chair if you want."

Taking the aforementioned seat, Christian asked, "What's the video about?"

"Money," Kyle answered. "How much I earn, and how much I spend to be a content creator."

Christian nodded and said, "Okay, I'll be quiet."

Kyle resumed applying makeup to his eyes and continued, "This tab is the expenses for my tech channel. Same deal, not every tech company sends me products and they don't send me every item they produce. So these are purchases of products and software, giveaways, postage for those giveaways, and the fees for selling some products on eBay. I don't sell everything that I don't use like some other tech reviewers, and I'm certainly not putting them down for doing that. Operating a tech channel is expensive, and it is a godsend to sell what some items because tech reviews can recoup some of what they spent.
"Now this tab is expenses that I incurred for both my channels. Like legal fees, film gear, lighting, camera operators when I need them, office furniture, computers, and external drives for data storage."

"How much did all that cost?" Christian asked as Kyle rummaged through the Sephora bag.

"What, the expenses?" Kyle asked. "You'll find out a few minutes. I'm almost done filming. What are the kids doing?"

"Warren and Bren?" Christian asked with a chuckle. "They're playing Portal II."

"From Benefit Cosmetics, I have the Precision contouring quad. It looks a bit chalky, but let's see how it applies.
"Okay, so in 2017 I earned three million two hundred forty-two thousand five hundred sixty-one dollars and seventy cents total from YouTube and reviewing products on both my channels.
"My total expenses for 2017 came to one million forty-nine thousand three hundred twenty-two dollars and eighty-six cents.
"So that means that my profit for 2017 was two million one hundred ninety-three thousand two hundred thirty-eight dollars and eighty-five cents."

Kyle put down the contouring kit and brush, and Christian whistled in disbelief.

"This is the Sultry Rouge blush in the shade Soft Rose by NARS.
"So I made this video to show you guys that I have nothing to hide. One thing that isn't in my expenses files is my half of my parents' house mortgage. I put the downpayment on the my parents' new house in Portland back in January 2016.
"Up next is highlighter. This is Becca's Subarctic Frost.
"For those of you wondering how to get started in reviewing products on YouTube as a potential career choice, it was ridiculously easy for me. It can take a while to get off the ground, and it is crazy expensive because you will have to start out purchasing all the products.
"Onto lips. I bought this lipstick by Lancome. It is the Sinful Twolip in the shade Dusty Pink.
"As you guys may know, I started this channel four years ago. I earned money by shovelling snowy driveways, raking leaves, mowing lawns, and babysitting. I bought makeup from Sephora, MAC, Ulta, and some drugstores, and left reviews online to get cosmetic companies to notice me. Just over two years ago, when I was working at Sephora, I got my first P.R. packages from Clinique and BareMinerals.
"To finish off and lock everything in place, I have the Set In Motion mist by MAC."

After Kyle had sprayed the setting mist and was fanning it dry, Christian asked, "How many videos do you usually film a day?"

"Depends," Kyle answered with a shrug. "Some days just one. Most days, two, sometimes three."

"Has anyone complained about watching a video that you filmed days prior to posting?"

Kyle laughed in amusement and replied, "Anybody will complain about anything. One thing viewers really bitch about is watching a video where I have a haircut and then the next video shows me before the haircut. That happens when I post a video on one channel and on my other channel is pre-haircut."

"How do you not let the negativity get to you?"

"Sex!" Kyle answered with a laugh.

"You and Brendan must fuck four or five times a day then."

Kyle rolled his eyes with a smile, and then said to the camera, "Okay, now to review this new makeup. The primer works well. It blurs my pores quite nicely, but it isn't the best. The foundation applied seamlessly and mattes quite a bit, which I love. The concealer has a weird chemically odour, but it performs extraordinarily. The setting powder sort of tints your makeup the slightest, slightest bit. You can't notice it unless you look really closely, so nobody will notice it. The contouring quad is a bit chalky, so you'll have to really blend that in. The eyeshadows were a bit finicky, it took a lot more time to apply, but the pigmentation is beautiful. The blush I'm not happy with because it took quite a bit of product to look this pronounced and it's not even that noticeable. The highlighter is amazing, though! It gives my skin this nice, dewy finish. And the lipstick is one of the best, nice application, and no transfer to my finger, see?
"Let's see what my guest has to say."

Visibly shocked, Christian asked, "You want me on camera?"

"Yeah," Kyle said and motioned the young man over. "Come on."

Christian rose from the desk chair and went over to the C-shaped desk where he sat on the other stool.

"Everybody, this is my friend Christian Hawkings."

Smiling shyly at the camera, Christian greeted, "Hello, Kyle Beauty fans."

"Doesn't he have the sexiest southern drawl? I met Chris and his boyfriend Warren at Banana Republic back in December. Both of them are students at Columbia University. It was the week before finals and I needed a suit for a class presentation. So did Warren, who recognized me. Surprisingly, neither Warren nor Chris talked to me about my channels or anything like that. Chris, do you remember what we were talking about?"

"Umm, you and Warren were talking about the nation's economic state, the political structure, and the stress that university students feel particularly at exam weeks."

"It was all conversations that really make you think and ponder. It was nice to be recognized by a viewer and not gush over meeting me. I'm not saying that's bad or anything, it was just an unexpected change.
"Okay, what do you think about my makeup today?"

"I'm not an expert or anything," Christian began with a nervous laugh. "I think the setting spray has a harsh spray rather than a mist. It focused the setting liquid more on some parts."

"Hmm, I didn't notice that."

"But otherwise magnificent work on everything else."

"Thanks. You guys can follow Chris on Instagram at c_hawkings09," Kyle said gratefully, and Christian went back to the desk chair. "So I have a contest that'll run for a week. Nominate on my Twitter a small beauty reviewer for me to collaborate with. They have to have more than ten thousand subscribers on their YouTube channel but less than fifty thousand. Doesn't matter where they're from, they could be from China, or Australia, or Antarctica.
"Nominations will end on April fourteen, and on that day I'll post a video here of all nominees and their beauty routines. Voting will take place on my Twitter from April fifteenth at 12:01A.M. to the sixteenth at 11:59P.M. Eastern Daylight Time.
"I will pay for the winner to fly here to New York City on May first. I will pick them up from the airport and they will stay at the Hyatt Centric Times Square. I will drive them back to the airport on May fifth. If the winner is under the age of eighteen, I will also pay for the flight of their parent or guardian.
"Why am I doing this, do you ask? Simple. I would not be where I am today without the support of all you guys. I want to give something back, something meaningful. You guys will choose the winner, and hopefully their channel grows because of this. If not, they will at least have an all-expense-paid vacation to The Big Apple.
"That is it for this video, guys. Thank you so much for joining me, and I hope you have an amazing day. Bye."

"You planning to film any more tonight?" Christian asked while Kyle turned off the light boxes.

"Nope. Filmed two videos today, so I'm set."

Out in the kitchen, Warren Altier and Brendan were standing at the island drinking red wine and chatting about vacation spots.

Kyle hugged Warren and said, "Good to see you, Ren."

"You look great," Warren complimented.

"Thank you," Kyle replied and accepted a glass of wine from his boyfriend. "How's your third semester of college going?"

"It's going great," Warren answered. "Aced all of my finals last month."

Christian offered, "I regret signing up for the spring semester. I am tired, man. I dream of snoozing in bed until noon while Ren goes off to classes."

"You'll survive," Brendan stated with an amused smile.

Kyle asked the couple, "How's the apartment hunting going?"

Christian answered, "We found an apartment in the west side. It's a studio, kinda small, but it's got a walk-in closet so it'll have lots of space for Ren's hundreds of shoes."

"We put the security deposit down and scheduled utility hookups for our move-in on May first," Warren said. "I can't wait to have complete privacy, and Columbia will be refunding some of our residence fees."

Kyle recapped the tube of lipstick and said to the camera, "Well here we have it, guys. Petra's transformation from country-girl-chic to preppy-chic. What do you think?"

Petra Gilliam smiled in shock and answered, "Umm... the dress is a bit shorter than I'm used to and shows too much cleavage."

Kyle laughed and replied, "It does not. There's barely any cleavage showing."

"Yeah, well I usually don't show any at all. And the blazer is comfortable, but too pink for my tastes. It's super pretty, though. And five-inch heels is a bit scary."

"What do you think of your makeup?"

Looking in the standing desk mirror, Petra answered, "It's actually not much different from my normal routine. The differences are the contour is softer, brows are extremely precise, and I almost never choose red lipstick. I like this look, though."

Kyle turned back to the camera and said, "That is it for this video, guys. Be sure to go check out Petra's video on her channel that we filmed that I will link in the description box down below. She transformed me from guy-glam to rugged cowboy. Thank you so much for joining me, and I hope you have an amazing day. Bye."

After ending the video recording, Kyle and Petra went out to the kitchen for a glass of orange juice. Despite her misgivings with such high heels, Petra walked gracefully in them.

Back in the office, Petra inserted her memory card in Kyle's camera and began filming.

"Hey y'all!" Petra said excitedly. "How are ya doing? I am well and truly excited because the day is finally here! I am here in New York with Kyle Hemstad! Kyle transformed me into this and I really like this look! So if you want to see how he did this, click on the link in description box to watch his video!
"Today, I'll be giving Kyle a makeover to a real cowboy! I have in this bag the outfit that we bought today. So let's get started, shall we? Guys, welcome to my channel Makeup By Petra."

While Petra was taking her memory card out of the D.S.L.R. camera to put it into her Canon handheld camera, Kyle asked, "Is there anything you wanna do while you're in town?"

"Well I'd like to see Luna Park," Petra replied excitedly as Kyle removed his gam makeup. "Check out the Statue of Liberty. And the Museum of Natural History. And Central Park. And the Empire State Building. And the World Trade Centre. And Coney Island. And the Botanical Garden. I apologize if that's a lot. We don't--"

"--We can check all those out," Kyle responded with a laugh. "You've got four whole days here left."

With Kyle's face clean of any makeup, he and Petra went into the bedroom where Kyle changed in the walk-in closet.

"Oh, my lord!" Petra called with a grin when Kyle came out of the closet. "You look so hot!"

Kyle did look pretty sexy. He wore a blue, green, and white western plaid shirt unbuttoned over a white wife beater. His beat-up-looking boot cut jeans were decorated with a brown belt sporting a huge buckle. And the outfit was completed by a pair of brown cowboy boots.

"Can you believe this is Kyle Hemstad?" Petra asked the camera. "Okay, now it's time to really give the makeover with makeup."

Petra stopped filming, and they both went back into the office. Petra put her memory card back into Kyle's D.S.L.R. and they sat on the stools.

Petra smiled at the camera and stated, "Okay, so I went through Kyle's entire collection of makeup- and there was a lot, believe me- and chose a few items. Because I am doing a cowboy makeover on Kyle, making him look rugged and dirty, and like he just finished a hard day's work out in the field, I've chosen just five single items. And they're not for just Kyle's face.
"For foundation, I went with Burberry's Fresh Glow in shade twenty Ochre. I will be using this Benefit Cosmetics' mascara in shade Beyond Brown to make a fake beard. I chose this Urban Decay single eyeshadow to use as fake dirt. Guerlain's setting mist is my personal favourite. And lastly, I have a glycerin water spray to create fake sweat."

To Be Continued

Hello! I hope you enjoyed reading this sixth instalment of 'The Trick Is To Keep Breathing'. I am having fun writing about YouTube personalities as I know next to nothing about being a YouTube 'content creator' as they call themselves.

tyler.christopher36@yahoo.com