the office today. I had some things to do around town. Can you do me a favor today?”
“Sure,” I replied. “What is it?”
“I need you to grab that sheer dress and alter it back to fit you instead of Kerynne.”
I could feel my face making a weird look while I read his text. Why in the world would he want me to alter that dress back to fit myself? Those pieces weren’t even really being worn anymore.
“How come?” I asked.
“Remember how I said the store Closet Magic had a conflict and couldn’t do a window display? Well, they’ve been able to free up a window to do it after all.”
“That’s awesome!” I texted. “I can head right over there to start setting up the display.”
“No, there’s no need for that. I’ve had my design team handle it since you already have your hands full,” Arlo said.
That seemed a little odd. All of the windows were done by my crew of helpers and me from F.I.T. Why wouldn’t he want us to do the one at one of the most prominent stores?
“Okay,” I answered, still feeling a little weird about it. “But why the dress?”
“I need you to wear it in the window, just for a minute or two. There’s one shot that I want to take there with that dress that needs a model, and we don’t have any models,” he said.
“Yeah, but remember what happened the last time I tried to fill in as a model?” I added the eye roll emoji to my text for extra dramatic effect.
“Yep, I do,” he said. “And I also remember seeing you in that sheer dress, which is exactly why I want you to do it. Please?”
I hesitated for a minute, but when he texted another “please,” I gave in.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll go back to your office and pick up the dress to alter. When do you need me to wear it?’
“Tomorrow.”
I took the dress home and didn’t hear too much else from Arlo. He seemed either very busy or distant. His texts appeared to have a good tone to them, though, so I wasn’t too worried that anything was wrong. I mostly just wanted to get back over to be with him. I worked on the dress for most of the day. There weren’t many alterations to make, but I had to be careful of those I did make. The fabric was too delicate to withstand much pulling. When I finally had the dress perfectly altered. I tried it on and looked in my bedroom mirror at myself.
The dress was truly a perfect creation. It made me look much more beautiful and ethereal than I was. I loved this dress and all the memories that came with it, and I smiled at myself in the mirror about the fact that I got to wear it again and would have professional pictures taken of me in this dress tomorrow. Kerynne would probably think of something hateful to say about it. But she wasn’t the one who got to wear the design again tomorrow; I was. Her jealousy didn’t affect me anymore. The only two thoughts in my head now were about standing inside one of the storefront windows to model my favorite dress, and how I was going to somehow talk to Arlo about what I had blurted out last night.
I did a little more work at home, sketching out some retail versions of the sheer dress that we could pitch to stores for the mass consumer. It had been meant as a one-of-a-kind statement piece for the runway show, but it now seemed much too pretty to just leave on a hangar without at least trying to make it live on in a more accessible form.
By the end of the night, I was tired and getting ready for bed when Arlo texted again.
“I hope the alterations went well. Can you meet me at Closet Magic tomorrow at ten in the morning?”
“Sure,” I answered.
“Great! Goodnight then, Hensley,” Arlo texted. “Oh and wear the dress when you come.”
Wear the dress?
How was I supposed to wear the dress in the city? I had planned to change into the dress once I got there inside one of the store’s fitting rooms. It wasn’t exactly like I could commute around the city in a practically see-through outfit that was so prone to ripping that I probably would even have the first shred of fabric on by the time I got to his office.
“Whatever,” I said