Arlo and I stood back a bit and watched, to give the photographer room to work his magic along with the clearly commanding presence of the two models. Every once in a while, he would stop to give Cai and Kerynne a water break, and when he did, he would let Arlo and I come to peek into the camera to see some of the shots.
“I have to hand it to you guys,” the photographer said, “this whole shoot looks amazing. You’re going to generate quite a buzz of excitement with these pictures. I wouldn’t be surprised if these get tossed around the internet between some of the industry greats for days.”
Arlo smiled and tipped his head toward me. “That’s all thanks to Hensley here,” he said, giving me way more credit than I deserved.
“Not at all,” I said modestly. “I’m only a single cog in the machine; there were so many other people that made all this possible.”
“Yeah, like us,” Kerynne said as she and Cai put down their water bottles and got back into position. “We’re ready, let’s go.”
About halfway through the shoot, some of the press that Arlo had called in arrived. And with them, a few of the industry’s top designers came in to see what the fuss was all about afterword had leaked about the shoot.
“Are you kidding me with this?” one of the designers said.
I knew who he was. He owned an entire building near Union Square that housed a five-story clothing boutique and was one of the most prestigious and cutting-edge designers of the time. For a moment, my heart sank. He sounded as if he were about to hurl a mouthful of insults and critique at my designs. Arlo turned around to look at him, and I just put my head down to save myself from embarrassment. I tried to mentally prepare myself to be truly saddened by a harsh jab at my concepts for the runway show. I thought that I had done such a great job on the designs, and my heart was about to be broken.
“This!” he said as he walked up closer to Cai and Kerynne, without even caring that we were in the middle of a shoot. He walked right in front of the camera and clasped his hand over his mouth, with the other hand on his hip. “This is the best stuff I have seen since—well, I can’t even remember!”
I lifted up my head in shock and watched as he walked full circles around both models.
“I am in awe, Arlo. I am in absolute and unbelievable awe. If the rest of your show is this good, you’ll take the front seat on driving this year’s fashion trends, without a doubt.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was impossible to think that this famous designer was wowed by my work. I was literally jumping up and down on the inside of my skin.
Arlo smiled. “Let me introduce you to the designer for the entire line,” he said. “This is Miss Hensley Ward.”
The man practically ran across the floor of the shoot to take my hand and clasp it between both of his, which he then held up to his chest. “You are going to be a legend,” he said with excitement. “Your work is breathtaking. Not breathtaking like a beautiful face, breathtaking like a galaxy.”
I was so excited that I could barely breathe. “Thank you,” I said as I felt the thrilled happiness beam out of me.
He wasn’t the only one to come up to me during the shoot. Reporters and industry reps, so many people I had idolized ever since I first decided to go into fashion, and then even more I had never seen nor heard from before—all of them fawned over my designs. I didn’t know what to make of all the attention, but I couldn’t have possibly been happier about how much everyone seemed to love my work. Even Cai was smiling about it and seemed to strike some more intense poses to really work the outfit as more and more people came by to rave about what they were wearing. The only person who didn’t seem so happy about it all was Kerynne. The more the shoot got interrupted with onlookers praising my designs, the more jealous she started to get. We were just about to wrap the extremely successful shoot when Kerynne decided to pull a stunt.
I could see it coming a mile away, even if no one else could. She went from being perfectly fine to looking around and making sure Arlo was going to be watching. Then she sent Cai to go fetch her some water so that he wouldn’t be right next to her, and she started to make a noise that was a cross between a whimper and a moan. As soon as Arlo turned around to see what the noise was, Kerynne pretended to pass out. I saw it happen as if it were in slow motion.
All I could see was my beautiful, delicate dress about to be ripped to shreds against the floor simply because that damn girl was jealous and wanted attention. Thankfully, Arlo saw her start to sway on her tiny feet, and he ran toward her and caught her just before she bottomed out. I wasn’t keen on the fact that he had his arms around her, but I was happy at least that my design had been saved, especially since it was my favorite out of all the pieces and would be impossible to recreate in time for the show.
Arlo scooped Kerynne up in his arms, and she let her head fall against his chest as her legs dangled over the side of his arms. Man, she was milking this. I couldn’t believe Arlo couldn’t see it for what it was, a pitiful and childish cry for attention.
“What happened?” Cai asked as he came around the corner with Kerynne’s requested water in his hand.
“I think she’s just a bit lightheaded from the shoot,” Arlo answered. “Can you drive her home?”
“Not tonight,” Cai said. “Sorry, but I’m late for a party already.
He had already taken off his outfit and changed into his street clothes, making him look like he would fit right in with the whole underground-nightclub vibe. Cai really was a damn attractive man. He handed me the outfit and smiled before leaving.
Arlo stood there with Kerynne still draped in his arms. I could see her one eye open just a crack as she tried to pretend that she was too weak to be set down on her feet.
“Hensley,” he said as he walked toward me carrying Kerynne. “I hate to ask you to do this, but would you mind staying to finish cleaning up for me? Most of the stuff is already taken care of, but the faux forest still needs to be broken down.”
“Sure,” I said. “No problem. But where are you going?”
“I’ll need to take Kerynne home since there doesn’t seem to be anyone else willing to give her a ride back to her apartment.”
“Can’t you just call her a cab?” I asked.
“No. For starters, she’ll ruin this dress in a cab. And secondly, I would never put any half-dressed woman in the back of a cab. Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll make sure I get the dress from her before I leave her apartment. I’ll bring it to you in the morning.”
He picked up her street clothes, which she pretended to be too weak to put on until she got home and could have her roommate help her change, and then he carried Kerynne out to her car. Now, since everyone else had already left, I was the only one here to break down an entire set. It wasn’t just the dress that I was worried about; it was also Arlo with a half-naked Kerynne in his arms as he headed to her place. I told myself I was overthinking. Kerynne had a roommate who would help her get changed.
Arlo would probably wait in the living room, take the dress, and then leave. But I didn’t really think I was overreacting this time because Kerynne was totally fine, and she had other plans for when they got back to her apartment. Arlo leaving wasn’t one of them. It didn’t matter, though. I was here on my own, and I had to get things cleaned up and put away. I was a little mad that Arlo had asked me to do it. I was the fashion designer, not the set builder. Didn’t he have people who took care of these kinds of things?”