Cruel Summer

by Lisa Cardwell

  “Good.” He grabbed a couple outfits that were draped on the nearest table. “You need to try these on,” he said as he held the wooden hangers towards me.

  I barely got a chance to look at what was in my hand before he spun me around and pushed me towards a curtained-off cubicle in the middle of the room that I knew hadn’t been there before. Was that where I was supposed to change?

  “Uh…” was about all I could get out before the curtain swished back closed behind me.

  There was a little black leather bench in the corner, and I sat down, hanging the clothes on the mini-rack set off to the side. No mirror anywhere. Obviously, Rico wanted to be front and center for the grand unveiling.

  Here we go, I thought as I slid my sandals off and pulled my shirt over my head.

  “Which one first?” I asked as I looked at the brightly colored collection of fabrics in front of me.

  “The red dress,” I heard Lorna call.

  Easy enough to find.

  I stepped out of my denim shorts, laid my own stuff on the bench, and carefully pulled the dress off the hanger.

  It was gorgeous. A dark, matte red silk with a spaghetti-strap top that widened out at the waist. I slid it on carefully and found it was longer than I expected, falling halfway to my ankles. I did up the side zipper and peeked from the corner of the curtain to find Rico and Todd waiting nearby.

  “Any problems?” Todd asked, probably fearing I’d caught the silk in the zipper or, much worse, broken it.

  “No.” I took a deep breath before I pulled the curtain back and stepped barefoot back into the midst of the workroom, trying not to look as nervous as I felt. My fingers were trembling, and I bunched my hands into fists to try and calm my nerves.

  I stopped a few steps away from Rico. He stood with his fingertip tapping his chin. He motioned for me to turn around, so I did, slowly turning away and whispering a silent prayer as I glanced up at the ceiling, putting a weak smile on my face as I turned back to face him, bracing for whatever his reaction might be.

  Somehow, I wasn’t sure the total silence was a good thing.

  Then, Rico smiled at me. “Perfect.”

  He looked very pleased.

  I let myself inhale a deep breath, the smile on my face relaxing as I moved to look in the full-length mirror they’d set up while I was changing, trying to figure out where he’d gotten perfect from. After all, I was still me, messy ponytail still in place. But when I saw the reflection staring back at me, I had to admit that maybe, I was a little too hard on myself. Rico’s clothes could make anyone gorgeous.

  Suddenly, Todd produced a stool for me to stand on while he crouched down to examine the hem.

  “Is it too long?” I asked as I watched him toy with the ends of the dress, pulling a box of pins from his pocket. Leave it to me to be shorter than your average ‘it girl.’

  Rico shook his head in answer. “Don’t worry, Chey. We’re fitting it to you, not the other way around. That’s why we wanted the dress first. While we get everything put together for the shoot later, the dress can be altered.”

  “Later?” I thought this was supposed to be more of a test shoot than the real deal; at least, that’s what Sor and I had figured over the webcam, but suddenly, this felt a lot more real than a practice run, especially when Lorna appeared with a smile and carefully pulled out my ponytail, fluffing my hair out.

  Todd pulled a pin from between his lips and concentrated on folding the fabric by my left knee. “The photographer’s coming by in two hours. They’re already working on the set up on the roof.”

  The roof? My heart rate suddenly ratcheted up a few notches.

  Should I have mentioned my teensy, tiny aversion to heights?

  “Great. Love rooftops,” I said, hoping I sounded more confident than I suddenly felt.

  I looked back down at Todd and found him marking something on a post-it before slapping it on a dress bag.

  “That’s it. Let’s try the black dress next, Chey.” Rico held out his hand to help me down.

  ***

  I slipped on a pair of yoga pants Lorna had given me on my way to the dressing room after the final fitting for the last dress and pulled my T-shirt over my head before I headed back into the main room. Rico was laying out a handful of designs on a nearby empty table, and attached to every page was one of the pictures of me from the first fashion show.

  “Enrique’s just getting set up.”

  “What’s all this?”

  He pulled out a chair for me, and I took a seat. “These, Chey, are my latest designs. All inspired by you.”

  The beginnings of a heated blush crossed my face, and I set my tote bag down at my feet, pulling a couple of papers closer. More amazing dresses. Each matched a color I had on in the clipped photo.

  “Wow, Rico, I can’t believe this.” This still seemed so unreal to me, I had to keep from pinching myself every time I stepped out of my little cozy dressing room.

  “Which one do you like best?”

  He moved more sketches in front of me. I noticed little swatches of fabric attached to each at the bottom. I stopped myself from reaching out to touch them.

  My eyes moved from sketch to sketch, still in awe that I’d inspire anyone to create anything.

  “It’s hard to pick,” I replied honestly, though I was partial to the black and white, one-shouldered design right in front of me. It seemed similar to the red dress I’d first tried on, with the same flared skirt.

  “Just what a designer wants to hear.” He smiled as he took a seat beside me. “Enrique should be done soon, and then, we’ll get to work. That okay with you?”

  “Fine.” I reached for another design to examine. I was a little more at ease and couldn’t wait to get in front of the camera. ’Course, that was now. Who knew what I’d feel like the moment I had the lens aimed my way? I’d probably want to run for the safety of my dressing room.

  A knock came at the door, and I looked up to see Todd standing there.

  “Enrique’s all set up and awaiting our face.”

  I stood up anxiously, brushing a hand over my yoga pants absently. “Okay, then…”

  That was clearly my sign to go.

  I followed Todd out of the room and through the back, up a small flight of stairs I didn’t know existed, into a make-up room where Enrique was busy opening up a huge plastic case with enough make-up tucked inside to make Sorche jealous.

  “There you are. Have a seat.” He motioned me in with a warm smile.

  Todd took off, leaving us alone, and I took a seat in the large black plastic chair, noticing there were a few photos taped around the mirror, one of me from the fashion show and a couple shots of another model.

  “What are those for?”

  Enrique set out a handful of brushes before grabbing a couple small eye shadows and setting them in front of me on the counter.

  “Those, my dear, are the look we’re going for. That’s the hair…” He tapped the model’s photo, then mine. “And that is the make-up look. Just a little more dramatic.”

  He smiled, testing a small amount of eye shadow on the top of his hand. He picked up another and repeated the process over top then nodded to himself, pushing the other shadows further back. He leaned against the counter. “Nervous?”

  Who, me?

  “A little.”

  “Relax. You’re in good hands.”

  “You’re doing make-up, too?” I asked, trying to get comfortable and forget what I was about to do.

  He nodded. “I’m a bit of a jack of all trades. Lorna figured you’d probably be more comfortable with just one of us working our magic.”

  I laughed anxiously as he pulled a few more tools out of the make-up case. How well she knew me already. “She’s right about that.”

  I sat in the make-up chair, a plastic cape draped around me, while Enrique played with my hair. I had my cell phone in front of me, and I scrolled through the incoming messages. A couple good luck ones from Sorche and
Dad and three from JT, reminding me he’d see me after the shoot that night. I had a feeling he had a standing invitation to come by the shoot, but wasn’t going to. Maybe he thought he’d make my nerves worse.

  But I didn’t feel like listening to him right now. If he’d left me a message an hour ago, that meant he was still alive and I didn’t need to think he’d disappeared off the face of the Earth, even if he’d bailed on me last night.

  The phone vibrated again, and a brand new message from Sor popped up, asking what I was doing.

  I smiled and texted her back a reply, taking a couple quick selfies and one of the photos on the mirror to show her the look they were going for, and set the phone back down just as Lorna came in, carrying a couple of steaming coffees.

  “How’s our girl?” she asked as she held one out to me.

  Enrique looked up.

  “She’s good. Very quiet, though.” He nudged my shoulder, making me laugh.

  I smiled at him in the mirror in front of us. “Don’t want to disturb a genius at work.”

  He laughed and went back to trimming the ends of my hair.

  I looked into the blackness of my coffee. I couldn’t lean forward to set it down or move much, not without risking jostling Enrique and losing a handful of my hair via an accident with his scissors.

  “Just wanted to make sure nerves aren’t getting the best of you.” Lorna leaned against the table in front of me.

  “I’m okay right now.”

  “Good.” She smiled, glancing at my cell as it beeped again, signifying another incoming message.

  I glanced down and saw JT’s name again, sighing softly to myself as I covered the screen as quickly as I could.

  Lorna sat on a nearby chair. “So JT isn’t around today.”

  “So I noticed.” I flipped my phone over as carefully as possible while trying my best not to move, wondering if she’d recognized his number on the incoming calls list.

  “Something happen between you two?”

  “Not really.”

  “I’m butting in,” she said, before taking a sip of her coffee.

  “No, you’re not. You’re his family, and I work for Rico, so…”

  “So?”

  I let out a deep breath. “Sor and I went out last night and…”

  I glanced in the mirror, wondering what I should and shouldn’t confide in Lorna. Adriana didn’t seem like an option. She’d been a shoe-in to be the face of the line before I arrived…or before she got in trouble, or both. I never really asked. And I really didn’t want to know.

  She was just something I’d have to get used to and hope she moved on to another target soon. “He was supposed to join us and never did, couldn’t even be bothered to call or text.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I think, though, he thinks we’re still on for tonight.” I tapped the back of my cell phone absently.

  “Well, you could be busy, you know. After a first photo shoot, we should celebrate. Take you out for a nice meal somewhere… Rico and I would love to do that, you know.”

  Enrique leaned forward. “And what about me? Aren’t I helping to make the photo shoot a success?”

  Lorna laughed. “And you’d be invited, of course.” She smiled. “What do you say, Chey?”

  “Let me think about it?”

  She nodded, getting to her feet. “I’ll go grab the wardrobe and start to bring it in. Rico’s decided we’re going to start with the black dress and work from there.” She set her mug of coffee down. “How long do you think you’ll need?” she asked Enrique, who was still snipping away at random ends.

  He leaned forward, and I caught his smile. “Hair is almost done. I just need about twenty minutes to curl it. I’d say another twenty for make-up. Tell him she’ll be dressed in forty-five. Work for you, Chey?”

  I met my own anxious stare in the mirror. “You’re the boss.”

  ***

  I peeked over the edge of the rooftop. Wow, we really were high up, weren’t we?

  Not like we were up super, super high—it wasn’t like people looked like ants and cars looked like toys—but it was far enough for my liking.

  I was suddenly very glad for the high ledge bordering the four sides of the building.

  Something cool and soft wrapped around my shoulders, and I glanced over to see Todd smoothing the edges of a shawl around me.

  “You gotta keep warm,” he said with a smile.

  He’d clearly mistaken my trembling over the height as being chilled.

  “Thanks. I’m just not used to heights.” I nodded towards the edge.

  Todd leaned forward beside me, looking down with a shudder. “Honestly, me, either. Best thing to do is look straight ahead.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “You can wait over there. It shouldn’t be much longer.” He pointed to a few directors chairs lined up off to the side of the chaos going on.

  I followed his directions, picking up a small bottled water and a straw since I was under Enrique’s strict orders not to muss up his hard work, and took a seat in one of the empty chairs. Lorna joined me and handed me a magazine to flip through while we waited for Rico to make the last few adjustments to get his vision just right.

  “We’re ready for you, Chey.” Rico motioned for me to join him.

  I set down my mini bottled water with the pink bendy straw and headed to the doorway they were using for the set of shots.

  I waited for them to put the small towel that I’d sit on down so not to get the dress all dirty.

  Rico led me to the perch, a towel the exact same color as my dress marking the spot I was supposed to occupy. “Have a seat.”

  The moment I sat, Rico went to work and began to fan the dress out around me, creating a slight wrinkled effect with his hands in the skirt, and Enrique joined us, toying with my hair, adding a touch of spray as he tousled it.

  Tousle, by the way, my word of the day. It was the look Rico and Enrique had agreed on before I’d even arrived that morning. I had to admit with the breeze up there on the roof, it proved definitely a wise choice.

  “Are we ready yet?” I heard the photographer call out.

  Enrique handed me my shoes, a pair of strappy metallic heels, and stepped away.

  In the blink of an eye, I was suddenly all alone in front of the camera, a dozen or so pairs of eyes staring straight at me.

  My heart leapt into my throat, and I pushed aside my urge to get up and bolt.

  I bent forward to slide one of my shoes on while the other dangled from my finger, suddenly aware of the loud click-click-click of the camera.

  I glanced up, startled, as the music that had been on low since we’d moved up to the roof grew louder as someone cranked the volume.

  “Lean forward, Chey…let the shoe dangle more…arms folded across your lap. Great!”

  The photographer, whose name I suddenly remembered as Jeff from a quick introduction on the stairs, came towards me with the camera.

  For one moment, I was absolutely terrified, and then I remembered Dad’s words that morning. Have fun. And realizing how unreal it was that I found myself in the midst of my first photo shoot, completely on my own for what seemed like the first time in my life, I burst out laughing to rid myself of the last butterflies in my stomach.

  “Perfect!” Rico called, giving me the thumbs up from over Jeff’s shoulder.

  My smile grew bigger as the click-click-click of the camera picked up speed.

  ***

  I carefully put the red dress back inside its dress bag, glad to see it hadn’t gotten dirty from me sitting on those steps for so long. It had seemed like an eternity. After one last check, I carefully zipped up the garment bag. The rest of the clothes from the shoot were back on the rack outside of my curtained-off dressing room, but this one, my absolute favorite piece, I’d kept inside with me for the entire set of changes, almost as if for luck.

  It was the one piece of clothing that had made me feel
different, like I wasn’t just playing make believe anymore.

  Slipping it over my arm, I slung my tote bag over my shoulder and emerged back into the middle of the room to find Lorna, Todd, Rico, and Enrique all applauding, almost a re-enactment of the scene when we finished the shoot, when the entire crew had started to clap.

  I blushed and bowed my head, embarrassed by the unexpected attention. “You guys are crazy.”