Jane shrugged at me in question and I returned it with one of my own. We couldn’t quit yet, there was still some time to go.
And then… the most miraculous of things happened. A trio of women strode directly for me. For a moment, I panicked that they were from the event committee but they didn’t have the official lanyards.
“Is this where the Every Girl show is?” one of the women asked with a British accent, her dress from the current Chanel collection.
“It sure is, please take a seat and we’ll get started soon,” I replied. My heart was thumping so loudly, I was about to die of a heart attack.
I hoped they had defibrillators in France.
They did, right?
It took a few more anxious minutes but then everyone started to trickle in. One by one, our seats were filled. And they didn’t stop coming. The seats were quickly circled by people needing to stand so they could watch the show.
I hurried over to Jane and the models with news I couldn’t contain. “Did you see who is sitting in the front row?”
“Oh, you mean Anna Wintour?” Jane said, like it was no big deal.
“You know who she is?” That was almost as shocking as seeing the Editor-in-Chief of American Vogue magazine waiting for our show to begin.
“A good businesswoman does her research. Of course I know who she is. Did you also notice model Gisele Bundchen, head of acquisition for Macy’s Department Store, Princess Mary from Denmark, and more celebrities than the Oscar’s out there?”
Oh. My. God.
“We’d better get this show on the road,” Jane continued, completely unfazed. How was she not freaking out about this? Seriously.
I managed to nod my head but that was about it. I returned to the runway area and took my position, ready to get the models walking.
It was a bit difficult without music so I stood in the middle of our cleared area and clapped my hands to get everyone’s attention. They settled down after a little while.
“Welcome to Every Girl Inc, I’m sorry about the last minute venue change,” I started, speaking in the loudest voice I could muster. Which was actually pretty loud. Go figure. “However, we feel this courtyard better represents our brand and everything we believe in. Because every girl needs to be everywhere.”
I stood back and we kicked things off. The first model was a bit wobbly in her heels on the uneven pavement. I clenched my teeth the first time she tripped. By the fourth time, I let it be whatever it was going to be.
The clothes shone on the girls. We had no idea who they were or even if they realized how monumental this was for us, but they wore the clothes and that was what mattered. We had a whole range of outfits from summer dresses to tailored slacks and blouses that looked good on every body shape. There wasn’t one gaunt face or bone sticking out. Curves and natural glows, that’s what made our clothes look so special.
Halfway through, Jane grabbed my arm and tugged me away. “I’ve got a surprise,” she whispered in my ear. I let her lead me reluctantly.
“I need to supervise.”
“The show’s almost over, we need to change.”
“What?” My face scrunched up in confusion. Once again, I had no idea what Jane was talking about.
She pulled me into the alleyway where two garment bags were folded over our suitcases. She pushed one into my hand. “Quickly change into this so we can do our walk to end the show.”
It was traditional for the designers of the label to walk last in the fashion parade. I didn’t think anyone would really care enough about us for Jane and I to partake in the tradition.
When I opened my mouth to say as much, Jane cut me off. “Just do it.”
I didn’t want her to yell at me so I opened the bag and prepared to change – hoping nobody was looking our way. When I pulled out the dress, I actually gasped.
It was the beautiful fancy dress I had designed and it was made with the silver material I had begged to get at the fabric markets. It fell right to the floor, the fabric shimmering even in the low lights like liquid lead. I needed the tight bustier to hold me together.
And it was the most stunning piece of artwork I had ever seen.
My eyes welled with tears as I turned back to Jane. “You made this… for me?”
She pulled hers out of the bag. It was the other design I had drawn and in the same silver material. “And for me. I wanted to surprise you.”
I hooked one arm around the girl and pulled her in for the biggest hug of her life. I couldn’t believe how much work she had put into the dresses, they were absolutely perfect. It must have taken her hours to hand sew most of the seams.
“I don’t know what to say,” I admitted. “Thank you really doesn’t cut it.”
“Thank you is fine. Because without you, Every Girl Inc wouldn’t even exist.”
“We’re a team, Jane.”
She smiled warmly, her eyes sparkling with the held-back tears too. “How about we get dressed and go close this show with a bang?”
I held my fist up. She bumped it. We got dressed.
We were still awesome.
Joining the end of our line of models, we made our way to the runway for our moment. Except we didn’t just shine in our spotlight, we sparkled. And shimmered. And radiated.
Jane was gorgeous in her dress. I never would have guessed her usual beige, baggy clothes hid a spectacular figure underneath. Her cleavage was pushed up, her waist cinched, and the skirt fell all the way to the floor.
And she thought guys wouldn’t think of her as date material?
FYI – they would be drooling over her right now.
We made our journey all the way to the end of the runway where we hugged and finally took in everything that was happening. We had put our hearts and soul into the show and it was about to end. If nobody enjoyed it, then that was their problem because we couldn’t have done any more.
As I scanned the faces watching us, they were all smiling. Their hands were clapping and a few even whistled.
And then they stood up, giving us a standing ovation. I held onto Jane to stop myself trembling. It was overwhelming, the amount of love flowing our way was too much.
We soaked it up as the flashes from dozens of cameras almost blinded us. My smile was fixed on my face, I couldn’t remove it even if I wanted to. Maybe the wind had changed and I would stay that way forever.
Through the flashes and faces, I caught a glimpse of some people I knew. My heart stopped.
CHAPTER 10
Mom, Holly, Beau, and Chace were staring back at me. They had pushed the people aside to stand behind the last row of chairs. I had no idea how they had travelled all the way to Paris but I didn’t much care. They were here, they were seeing everything I was.
It was amazing.
Looking closer, there were more recognizable faces. Jane’s parents – both of them – were standing with my mom. Next to them was the grumpy old guy and a few other members of the fashion council.
I leaned over to Jane. “Your parents are here, look.” I pointed through the crowd and she gripped my waist even tighter than before.
“On my God. They’re here. They are really here,” she whispered.
And that’s when the tears started falling in earnest. We soaked up our applause before sweeping our gowns around to return back to our alleyway.
But we didn’t get far. The moment our show was officially closed, we were swarmed by people from the audience. Business cards were thrust our way, along with requests for meetings and contact details. Famous people demanded to know where they could buy the clothes – they were even happy to wait and get them off the models.
If it wasn’t for Beau, Chace, and Holly coming to help keep them under control, we might have drowned in the sea of people.
Every Girl Inc had officially arrived. And we were set to take over the world.
It took us two hours to get everything back to normal. After the crowd let us go, we helped the models change back in their clo
thes and thanked them profusely for their help. At least we knew the French word for thank you. They seemed just as happy as we were.
Still wearing our silver dresses, we were in the alleyway and finally alone with our loved ones.
Well, almost. The grumpy old guy and his fashion council buddies approached us first. “Miss Winx, I have to say congratulations. I’m impressed.”
“Thank you,” I said sincerely. “If you didn’t change your mind about our business, we wouldn’t have been able to come.”
“You’re welcome. But, tell me, why aren’t you inside in the tents?”
I could have lied. I probably should have lied. But I didn’t. “We were kicked out because we didn’t have real models for the show.”
He didn’t even bat an eyelid. “I should have known. Don’t ever change, Miss Winx. This industry is ready for a shakeup.”
Well, I was totally the girl for that.
After the fashion council left, I was embraced by my mom and Holly. “How did you get here?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Davis called and said their private jet was leaving for Paris and we could come with them if we wanted to,” Mom explained happily. This was her first time overseas too. I knew what it meant to her.
“And we wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Holly added.
“Where are the kids?” I asked, suddenly in a panic. My brothers and sister could get up to all sorts of trouble without strict supervision.
“Mrs. Reed is looking after them. They were very annoyed about missing out.”
I’m sure they were.
Ethan and Billy were probably plotting their revenge as we spoke.
They stepped away so I could speak with Chace. He had hung back, staying pretty quiet. “What did you think of the show?”
He grinned. “I’ve never seen a fashion parade before. It was actually pretty cool.”
“Thanks for coming.” My cheeks blushed as his eyes wandered over me, taking in the stunning dress. He was wearing a suit, it looked pretty darn good on him too.
“I was worried you might start throwing innocent books at people. Thought somebody better look out for you.” His light blue eyes sparkled with mischief.
I got the feeling that Chace would be around to look out for me for a very long time. It made my knees go a little bit weaker under the heavy dress.
Beau was just finishing up with Jane, both of them blushing after a cute little awkward hug. Bless them.
But the true reunion in that alleyway was between Jane and her parents. Jane had absolutely lit up when she saw them in the crowd. Even now, she was still luminous.
I gave her a wink and she nodded in return. In a way, we both got what we wanted that day. I was officially a fashion designer, my clothes loved by everyone. Jane got the attention of her parents – probably even their utmost respect too. I was so happy for her, just as much as she would be for me.
It had all started with a fashion design competition and two strangers – one who could design and one who could sew. We had no idea what it would lead to.
From there, Every Girl Inc hadn’t just flourished into a successful business, it had cemented our friendship and inspired our future. At that moment, I had no doubts in my mind that we were going to revolutionize the industry and achieve everything we set out to do.
And none of it could have been possible without a little fashion fraud.
Also by the Author:
A Hairy Tail
Cinderella is Evil
The Fairy Tales Retold Series
The Star Kissed Series
Ashes to Ashes
A World Without Angels
Angel’s Uprising
Gifted
The Project Integrate Series
Love Songs
Dark Eyes: Cursed
Celestial
Through a Tangled Woods
Trouble
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Send Jamie an email at [email protected]
Jamie Campbell grew up in the New South Wales town of Port Macquarie as the youngest of six children. A qualified Chartered Accountant, she now resides on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
Writing since she could hold a pencil, Jamie’s passion for storytelling and wild imagination were often a cause for concern with her school teachers. Now that imagination is used for good instead of mischief.
Visit www.jamiecampbell.com.au now for exclusive website only content.
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