His First Love Modeled My Winning Design

Evander Parker never told people what I did for a living unless they asked. And if someone did ask, he always answered before I could. "She runs a small studio and does some clothing design." To him, the high-end intimate apparel I design was nothing more than "something sexy for the bedroom". We'd been together for 3 years. He'd always been courteous and considerate with everyone else, but when it came to me, his prejudice was impossible to miss. "Elowen, what you do isn't design." I opened my studio last year. This year, through my own hard work, I won the National Intimate Apparel Design Competition Gold Award. I gave him an invitation to the awards show as soon as I received it. All he said was, "It's not really appropriate for me to attend something like that." A second later, Chloe Reed texted him. Chloe: Evander, I'm doing my first runway show since coming home. Want to come? Chloe, a famous model and a regular at major fashion weeks, was also his first love. At the awards show, the runway lights came up, and Chloe stepped out wearing my Gold Award-winning design. Only then did he realize that the woman he'd always dismissed as unfit for the stage was the one everyone had come to see that night. ***** I pushed open the door to a private lounge at the bar. The lights were low, casting the room in an intimate haze. Evander frowned at me. "Why are you so late?" "It was pouring, and traffic was backed up," I said as I sat down beside him. "What has Elowen been up to lately?" Jason Brooks, Evander's childhood friend, asked with a teasing grin. "Same as always," Evander replied without much interest. "She runs a small studio and does some clothing design." "Oh, Elowen's still designing those things to 'spice things up'?" Jason waggled his eyebrows at me. "So Elowen's basically an expert on s*x now? No wonder she's got Van wrapped around her little finger." The room erupted in knowing laughter, punctuated by lewd noises. "Elowen must really know what Van likes in bed. Van, you lucky bastard!" "With a body like Elowen's, I wonder if she tries those outfits on for Van herself." The blood drained from my face. Instinctively, I reached for Evander's hand. But Evander pulled his hand away as if he hadn't heard a word. My heart grew colder by the second. I knew he agreed with them. He had always thought my high-end intimate apparel designs were nothing more than "trying to be sexy", just something to "spice things up". His prejudice ran deep, but I still hoped my skill and achievements might change Evander's mind. So I took the invitation to the National Intimate Apparel Design Competition awards show out of my bag and handed it to Evander. "My design won an award. Will you come?" Evander didn't even look at it. He tossed it into the trash can beneath the coffee table. "It's not really appropriate for me to attend something like that. You're not getting any younger. You should find something respectable to do instead of chasing attention with gimmicks and taking shortcuts." Gimmicks. Attention-seeking. That was all he saw in the career I loved. He had never been willing to spend even a little time trying to understand me, much less let me finish speaking. "Come on, Elowen, don't tempt Van into making a mistake!" Jason roared with laughter. "If Van sees that stuff and can't control himself, you'll be the one who has to put out the fire!" Everyone roared with laughter, their filthy remarks crashing over me like a wave. I turned and caught the faint curl of Evander's lips. He liked the joke too. It felt as though an invisible hand had closed around my throat. The air seemed to leave my lungs along with the last of my love for him. When he noticed me staring, he coughed twice, almost guiltily, and waved a hand at the others. "That's enough." Just then, Evander's phone buzzed. The moment he looked at the screen, his expression softened with a tenderness I'd never seen before. The message appeared on the screen. Chloe: Evander, I'm doing my first runway show since coming home. Want to come? "Chloe..." Evander murmured. Chloe, a famous model and a regular at major fashion weeks, was also his first love. He had never tried to hide the fact that he idolized his first love. In fact, he often compared me to her. "What she does is art. What you do is nothing but attention-seeking. You should learn to do some real design work. Who besides men would pay for your stuff? It has no place on a real runway." "Van, Chloe's flight lands at 2 a.m.," Jason said with a grin. "We're all old friends. Shouldn't we throw her a huge welcome-home party?" "Absolutely. Of course we should." Evander drained his glass in one gulp. Then he turned to me. "Head home by yourself. I'll come find you when I'm done." "But it's pouring outside, and I can't get a cab..." I said, hoping Evander would offer to take me home. "Then wait until the rain stops. Figure it out yourself." He didn't offer to have a driver take me home. He didn't even try to think of another solution. He simply told me to figure it out myself. I'd fought my way through the storm because he'd ordered me to come, and now one casual sentence from him was enough to send me straight back out the door. Jason gave me a mocking look, then turned to Evander. "You're just leaving like that? Aren't you worried Elowen will get jealous?" Evander didn't even turn around. "As if she has any right to be jealous." Then he slammed the door behind him, leaving me alone in the private lounge, cold to the bone. What he didn't know was that Chloe, his first love, would still have to walk her first show back in the "sexy gimmick" lingerie designed by someone he considered "unfit for the stage".