More than Fashion

14

“I’m twenty-one,” I said. “And I’ve been working my ass off to get on the show for years.” That was true, even if I’d never auditioned. But I’d wanted to for as long as Behind The Seams had been on TV.

“Aw, such a baby,” Nika said in a sing-song voice, although she couldn’t be much older than I was. Thirty, at most. “So tiny, too. Like a little Asian doll. I want to put her in my pocket and carry her around.”

Derrick snort-laughed, and the harsh sound made me break one of my needles. Dammit! I swore under my breath, but that only made them laugh more.

“She’s so cute when she’s mad!” Derrick said.

That was it. I wasn’t going to let some jerks who were barely older than me treat me like I didn’t belong here. “You two sound jealous. Sorry, I can’t help it if I’m the youngest designer this season.”

Their laughter died. Derrick sat up a little straighter. “Youngest just means least experienced.”

The words stung because I secretly worried he was right, but I gave a little shrug. “Remember those words when you’re at home, watching me on the finale.”

“You’ll be lucky if you make it past this challenge,” Nika snapped.

I was firing up another comeback when a commotion in the design room distracted me. The models had arrived and were pairing up with the designers they’d been assigned to. s**t, how much time had passed? This challenge was going by way too fast.

I quickly finished my seam and rushed out. Carla was already standing at my workstation, and I was relieved to see her smiling face, even though it had only been a few hours since we’d parted. That is, until I saw the other designers introducing themselves to their models and remembered I had to pretend I didn’t know her.

“Hi, I’m Julie,” I said loudly, extending my hand.

“Carla,” she said, her lips pursed. I could tell she wasn’t a fan of this deception either.

“I’m really excited to work with you.” I tried to sound enthusiastic, but I was sure it seemed forced. “Let’s see if this dress fits.”

She took off her top and jeans, leaving her in just a bra and underwear, with zero hesitation about undressing in a room full of people. All around us, the other women did the same. Such was the life of a model, I supposed. It would all be blurred or cut out when the show was edited later, so the viewers at home wouldn’t get to see the full, half-naked glory in front of me.

I helped her get the dress on and stood back to check it out. It fit great, but I did know Carla’s body pretty well by now. I could pull it in a little on the waist, but otherwise it looked good on her. I switched off my mic and grabbed some pins to make a few adjustments, a good excuse to get close enough that no one could hear our conversation.

“Thank god you’re here,” I whispered as I brought in the waist. “Today has been a disaster.”

“How’s your head?”

“f*****g miserable. Feels like someone is pounding nails into my eyes. And my stomach feels like someone has set it on spin cycle.” I quickly glanced at Gavin’s workstation, but he wasn’t there. “But that’s not even the worst thing. That guy from last night? He’s here.”

“What do you mean, here?” She looked around the room. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure! He’s one of the other designers and he’s stationed at the next table and oh god don’t look, but he’s coming back now.”

Too late. She tried to be subtle about checking him out, but failed horribly. Not that I blamed her; he did stand out as the hottest guy in the room. Half the other models stopped whatever they were doing to eye him up, too.

“Could you be any more obvious?” I lightly smacked Carla on the arm, and she turned back to me.

“Sorry. I just can’t believe he’s on the show. Although now we know why he was at the hotel last night…”

“If you’re about to tell me I’m an i***t and I should have been more careful, trust me I’ve already yelled at myself a hundred times in my head.”

“I would never call you an i***t, Julie.”

Gavin returned to his workstation and began speaking with his model, a tall, golden blonde who looked like a warrior princess. Give her a sword and she could be Thor’s sister. Even she seemed dazzled by Gavin, launching right into the “I love your accent” spiel I’d heard from so many other girls already today.

His eyes locked on Carla for a long moment, then slid to me with a frown. He gave a faint shake of his head before turning away. s**t, he must have recognized Carla from last night. Another thing he could use against me.

I dropped a pin, and when I bent over to grab it, my head throbbed even harder. Like it just wanted to remind me how much today sucked, in case I’d forgotten. I rubbed my forehead with a soft moan as I stood back up.

Carla looked around, then sneaked something into my palm. “Here, take these.”

“What are they?”

“Heavy-duty pain pills. I had them in my emergency travel kit.”

“You are an angel sent from heaven.” Thank god for Carla’s over-the-top planning. I downed the pills and chased them with a big gulp of water. Hopefully they’d kick in fast.

“I’ve got to head to hair and makeup. Take care of yourself, okay?” She gently rested a hand on my shoulder, her dark eyes worried.

“I will.”

She looked like she was about to hug me, but then stopped herself and left with a little wave. Behind me, someone chuckled. Gavin.