“Deal.”
He smiled at me, and I was excited to get the dresses back to my workshop and get them fitted for me. I reached into the garment rack and pulled out the two dresses marked for the woman who had quit.
“Hang on,” Arlo said as he grabbed one of them back before I had it completely off the rack. “I think you should wear this one.”
I couldn’t believe it when I saw him pull off the sheer ivory dress that was meant to be Kerynne’s pinnacle piece for the show.
“I can’t wear that one,” I laughed.
“Why not?”
“Well, for starters, it’s already set to be Kerynne’s. The makeup artist and hairstylist are planning her looks accordingly, and Kerynne is featured in all the press releases with the pictures from the photoshoot wearing that dress. And also, she looks way better in it than I do, so she’s definitely the best one to showcase that dress.”
“I don’t think she looks better in it than you do,” he said.
I shook my head and went ahead to take the two dresses that were initially in my hand.
“Thanks,” I said. “But I’ll stick with these two. Maybe someday I’ll be able to wear a dress as stunning as that one, but for right now, I’ll try to make these ones look as good as they can on the runway.
Arlo conceded and put the sheer dress back onto the rack. It was funny, though, because I felt like I had a connection to that dress if such a thing were even possible. It was the first piece that I had created for the show, and that dress and I had already been through a lot. I had tried it on for Arlo, and I could remember the feeling of his hand on my back that afternoon as clearly as if it were happening again now. I had splattered blood from the cut on my hand all over it when I was so upset about Arlo being angry with me. And I was pretty sure that dropping off that dress to Arlo’s office last night, had something to do with him coming to look for me at the night club. If it was possible to be attached to an inanimate object, then this dress was definitely attached to me.
12
Chapter Twelve (Arlo)
I was meeting up with Hensley for coffee after work today. I wanted to ask her about how her alterations were coming and offer her some extra compensation for all the extra work that she had been doing, but mostly I just wanted to see her. I couldn’t get my mind off of her all day.
When I woke up this morning and opened my eyes to find Hensley curled up in my arms against me, it felt so natural, so perfectly utopian, that I felt as if I had woken up to the future I wanted. I knew that sounded too crazy to tell her, which was why I just needed to take her back to her apartment and take some time to think.
I didn’t want to hurt our friendship nor our working relationship, and Hensley seemed to have a bit of a thing for Cai. The last thing that I wanted to do was blurt out something that would bring everything else crashing down. But I found it harder and harder to keep from saying anything to her about the feelings that plagued me relentlessly. After the runway show, I would talk to her and see what happened.
When Hensley showed up at my office later in the afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised to see her. I knew that she still wanted to fill in for the model, and she was right; there was no reason why she shouldn’t. I thought she’d had enough of a taste of what Cai and his crew were like, to realize for herself whether or not she belonged in that circle. I just hope she realized that she didn’t. As far as modeling at the show, I would be there the entire time, so it wasn’t like Cai would be able to get away with touching her or slipping her drugs, not at a public event where he knew I would be watching. It was a shame, though, that the most beautiful dress, the one that looked indescribably stunning on Hensley, would have to be worn by Kerynne. I wished that I could see it again on Hensley, even just once. The image of her in that dress still burned in