by K. A. Linde
The dress was everything on Francesca’s tall frame. A floor-length gown hugged her hourglass figure. The bottom half was a see-through black-and-silver mesh that wisped and circled perfectly on her figure while half-concealing her tall black heels. It had a heart-shaped plunge neckline and sleeves that snaked loosely around her biceps. It was the only thing in the line that Trihn had never worn, and seeing it on Francesca made Trihn think that no one else should ever wear it.
Francesca walked out in that dress, and it was as if the world erupted. The audience roared its approval. Everyone was on their feet. Trihn stared with her mouth agape at what she was witnessing.
This, this right here, made all her hard work worth it. What she’d had to endure to get that sketchbook back from Neal for this design, the long hours at the studio, the sleepless nights, it was all for this moment.
Bryna and Stacia ran back to Trihn when it was over and practically tackled her.
“You were amazing!” Bryna said
“That dress!” Stacia cried. “I need one just to wear around the house.”
“It really was stunning,” someone said behind her.
Trihn whipped around with her eyes wide. “Chloe!”
“Hey!” she cried. “Surprise! I brought you a present.”
Damon appeared from around the corner with a huge smile on his face. Trihn forgot everything else. She only saw her boyfriend standing there. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He was supposed to be in LA, filming a music video. He’d been gone for a week already, and she’d missed him so much.
“Damon,” she said, throwing herself into his arms.
“Hey, love.” He kissed the top of her head and breathed her in.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, stepping back.
“You think I could have actually missed this?”
“But you’re supposed to be filming,” she insisted.
“We wrapped up early,” Chloe told her. “We thought it’d be fun to surprise you. Plus, the song is releasing tomorrow, and Damon wanted to play it for you before it went up.”
Bryna narrowed her eyes at Chloe. “Up to the same antics as ever, Chloe?”
“What are you talking about?” Chloe asked.
“We heard the song,” Trihn said, meeting Damon’s eyes. “A radio station leaked it early.”
“Shit, I wanted to play it for you first,” Damon said.
“Come on, girls. Everyone, get onstage, so I can announce the winner,” Teena said, breaking the moment.
Damon looked like he wanted to say something more, but Trihn briefly kissed him on the lips.
“You can play it for me later,” she said before walking away to the fate of her career.
“AFTER CAREFUL CONSIDERATION by the judges, we announce the winner of the eleventh annual Teena Hart Fashion Show…Trihnity Hamilton.”
Trihn’s hand went to her mouth, and she felt her legs turn to Jell-O. “Oh my God,” she cried.
The crowd applauded, and her designs were paraded out onto the runway one more time to showcase the winning talent. Francesca took Trihn’s hand in her own and raised it high overhead. Trihn laughed brightly and wrapped her friend in a big hug. Cameras went off all around them. The audience rose to their feet once more to celebrate, and then it was all over.
As Trihn stepped offstage, she truly realized what this moment meant. Her designs were going to be on a runway in New York City. She would be competing for a spot in Bloomingdale’s. There was still a chance her dreams could all be realized. Despite leaving NYU’s fashion school and walking away from this very possibility, it was within her reach all over again.
Backstage was a mess of a cleanup. Trihn was so busy that she didn’t even have time to talk to Damon about the song issue. In fact, Damon and Chloe basically got bombarded by people who realized who they were. Chloe had to step out with her bodyguard, Mateo, to get some breathing room, which was perfectly fine with Trihn.
By the time she was finished and all the models had changed out of the clothes, Teena took ahold of her designs for safekeeping, and Trihn was free to go. Everyone was standing around, waiting for her, even Gates, his date, and her friends.
“All ready!” Chloe said, appearing out of nowhere. “Let’s go!”
“Wait, what?” Trihn asked.
Damon sidled up next to her. “Well, this was supposed to be a surprise, but it seems the radio ruined part of it.”
She looked up at him with wide eyes. “And here I thought you were the surprise.”
Damon wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Well, this whole night was supposed to be about you anyway. I’m so proud of you. You deserved to win everything and more.”
They followed the group to a giant stretch limo that Chloe had waiting for them. It just barely fit their entire entourage as it whisked them down the Strip and to a private club where Chloe had reserved a booth with bottle service.
The place was a standard nightclub with high-tech lights and loud music. Girls were dancing on platforms scattered throughout the room, and scantily clad girls were taking drink orders and pouring drinks at tables. This place was exceptionally elite. Trihn could see a dozen other celebrities in the VIP area, and everyone seemed to be in their element.
Trihn took a seat next to Damon, and Chloe plopped down on the other side of him. Across from them in the booth, Bryna was talking rapidly with Gates. His date didn’t even seem to mind. She and her friends were standing around and dancing with drinks in their hands. Stacia was eyeing Chloe’s bodyguard, who was pretending not to notice the attention.
Chloe had a girl pour out tequila shots, and everyone took one. Chloe nudged Damon and winked. He laughed at her and just shook his head.
Chloe raised her glass high. “To Trihn and her amazing clothes!”
Trihn raised her glass with a smile. Her boyfriend was here. She had just won a major fashion show. She was on top of the world.
Yet when she looked between Damon and Chloe, Trihn couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
She tipped the shot back without a second thought, ignoring the burn in her throat. She gestured for the girl to pour another round as Chloe leaned in and whispered something in Damon’s ear. He smiled down at her and said something back that Trihn couldn’t quite hear. Chloe laughed and nodded back.
“I think now is perfect,” Chloe said with a coy smile.
Trihn’s stomach plummeted, and she tried to remind herself that they were just friends. That was all.
Trihn quickly reached for her shot and stood, raising her own glass. “To Chloe and Damon’s new single.”
Everyone reached for their glasses and took the shot with her. Bryna kept glancing between Chloe and Trihn with concern on her face. It was bad when even Bryna was worried.
Trihn plopped back down in her seat and looked away from Damon and Chloe. She was about to get up and join Gates’s date when she felt Damon touch her arm. “Trihn, you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
He laced their fingers together and kissed the top of her hand. “I’m sorry that you heard the new song on the radio first, but I thought you’d like to hear it again with me.”
Trihn’s eyes flickered to Chloe, who seemed preoccupied with staring at Bryna and Gates. Her eyes were wide with wonder and something else Trihn couldn’t quite place. At least she wasn’t staring at Damon.
“And with Chloe?” she asked.
He shrugged. “She requested it.”
Just then, the DJ started speaking, “And with a special request put in, here’s the new one by Damon Stone and Chloe Avana, ‘We Never Met.’”
Damon started singing the song directly to Trihn. He only had eyes for her. It was as if they were sitting in his apartment again with him strumming along on his acoustic guitar as he poured out his heart and soul. She stared into the endless depths of his dark eyes and felt herself melting all over again. Just hearing him sing it to her changed everything.
; Then, Chloe tugged on his arm, leaning into him with big puppy-dog eyes. “Damon, come on. Sing with me.”
He shrugged Chloe off, never tearing his eyes from Trihn, as he continued singing. Trihn’s eyes darted to Chloe behind him, and she just looked annoyed that she wasn’t the center of attention. Her eyes kept shifting around the booth from Damon to Bryna and Gates, as if she wanted everyone to pay attention to her.
Chloe leaned into Damon and tried to pull him toward her again, but Damon simply ignored her.
He stood and held his hand out for Trihn. She placed her hand in his, ignoring Chloe’s frustrated expression. When she stood, he twirled her in place, despite the intense backbeat and the dance music. He lightly held her in his arms, and their bodies moved together, as if they had been made to. Their movements had always been synchronized. They’d danced together long before they had fallen in love.
This felt right to Trihn, being in his arms like this with just his body pressed against hers, her hand in his, and him singing to her.
The song ended, and the people around them applauded Chloe and Damon’s new song. Chloe smiled all around, happily taking the praise. Damon never broke eye contact with Trihn. There was so much in that unspoken communication.
“I’m so excited that Damon is going to be coming on tour with me!” Chloe announced casually.
Trihn tore her eyes away from Damon to look at Chloe. “What?”
“Christ, Chloe,” Damon growled.
“What?” she asked, seemingly oblivious.
“You’re going on tour?” Trihn asked.
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “Let’s go somewhere and talk.” He glared at Chloe as he pulled Trihn from their booth.
Trihn could hear Bryna shrieking at Chloe before she and Damon were even out of VIP. Trihn would not want to be the one the other end of that conversation.
Damon pulled her out to the outdoor patio, which was mostly abandoned because of the heat. There was a bartender at a bar, and a few people were scattered around. Damon wasn’t recognizable yet, like Chloe and Gates were, so they were fine to grab their own couch and fend off the staff who wanted to get them drinks.
Trihn sat in perfect silence while Damon seemed to scrutinize her face.
“Talk to me,” he encouraged.
“What do you want me to say?”
“What you’re feeling. That look on your face when Chloe said I was going on tour with her…” He sighed, clearly frustrated. “I never wanted to be the person to cause you to look like that.”
“I just don’t know why this is the first I’m hearing about all of this. The tour, the song, this big surprise with Chloe?” She shrugged. “Why didn’t you tell me the song was ‘We Never Met’? Or ever play it for me?” she asked.
“Honestly, I wanted to surprise you. I wanted to play it for you first, so I could look you in the eyes and sing your song to you.”
She shook her head. “I appreciate that, but it just kind of sucks being the last to know.”
“I wrote this for you. I thought you’d be happy.”
“I am happy—for you! I’m so excited that my boyfriend has a song on the radio.”
“You don’t really seem happy.”
Trihn sighed. “It’s not about the song. It’s about being the last to know. I mean, you did a music video to this song. Tell me that it’s not in a nightclub and you and Chloe somehow find each other.”
Damon didn’t say anything for a minute. “It’s what that song is about,” he finally said.
Trihn rolled her eyes. “That’s what I thought.”
“I legitimately thought that you’d be happy about this.”
“And that’s why you hid it?”
“I didn’t mean to hide it. I wanted to surprise you. I guess I should have told you,” he said, flipping off his hat and fiddling with it. “You get kind of wrapped up in everything in LA once you’re there. You don’t stop to think that something could be a bad move.”
“Wrapped up in things like Chloe?” Trihn couldn’t stop the pang of jealousy that hit her.
“Yeah,” he admitted. “Sometimes.”
Her eyes snapped to him, filled with anger. “Seriously?”
“Not like that!” he amended quickly. “I just mean, with her enthusiasm for the music and the industry. She makes everything out to be an adventure, and you just get sucked into her Chloe vortex. She planned this whole thing for you, you know?”
“And you don’t find it strange that she’s planning surprises for your girlfriend so that she can announce to everyone that you’re going on tour with her? Not to mention, her leaning into you and grabbing on you,” she said in a rush. “Is that normal in this Chloe vortex, too?”
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “No. I don’t know what’s up with her tonight.”
“Really? I think it’s pretty obvious myself.”
“She’s not into me, if that’s what you’re insinuating.”
“That’s exactly what I’m insinuating. The first time I met her, she was this lonely girl who couldn’t even get close to the guy she was on tour with because she was having panic attacks and worried about being seen in public with people. Now, suddenly, she’s everywhere with you.”
“It is just business,” he told her.
“Does she know that?”
“Yes. She knows that because I am here with my girlfriend, who, for some reason, seems to be insanely jealous even though I’ve made it clear from day one that she is the only person I want,” Damon said, his tone sharp.
“How could I not be jealous? You know I have trust issues, and now, she’s with you all the time. She seems very comfortable with touching you. I think it’s crazy to ask me not to be worried about that,” she told him.
Damon stood and shook his head. “You have nothing to worry about. Can’t you see that I’m standing here with you? That I want you? I sang the song to you. I came back to Vegas for your fashion show for you. Chloe doesn’t even factor into my universe, outside of music.”
“Well, the way she was acting tonight doesn’t exactly give me a vote of confidence.”
“I’m standing here, telling you that you’re the one, that I love you, and that no other girls exist to me, and all you see is the bad.”
“I don’t just see the bad. I see reality.”
“Your reality,” he said, pointing his hat at her. “And your reality is skewed. You are so desperately terrified of me being Preston that you don’t even realize that you’re pushing me away.”
“I’m not afraid of you becoming Preston! I just don’t trust her,” she said.
“Then, trust me!”
“I would if you were honest with me!”
Damon shook his head. “One song. One surprise. And I’m back at square one. I’m sorry. I just can’t do this.”
He turned to start walking away, but she grabbed his arm.
“What?” she asked in shock. “What are you saying?”
“I’m going to go back to LA tonight with Chloe.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Are you…are you breaking up with me?”
He dropped his head and then kissed her forehead. “No.” He sighed heavily. “I love you, Trihn. I do. But until you let go of the past, I don’t know that you’ll ever trust me. And what is love without trust?”
She opened her mouth to say something to stop him, but he just kissed her again.
“We have a lot of promotion to do for the album and the tour. This was always going to be a short trip, but I wish it had ended under better circumstances.”
“Damon,” she whispered, “I love you.”
“I know.” He kissed the top of her head again. “I love you, too.”
And then he turned and walked away from her, taking her heart with him.
TRIHN STARED BLANKLY up at her ceiling.
She had been lying in bed all night, trying to figure out where everything had gone so horribly wrong. At some point, she must have drifted off from
exhaustion, but when she awoke again, she continued staring and mostly stressing.
Damon was the best thing that had ever happened to her. That much, she was pretty certain of. He loved her for the person that she was, not the one who had crawled into a hole and buried her head after having her heart bruised and broken. He was there for her when she needed someone. He had fought for her from day one.
And she had run him off, too.
He’d said they weren’t broken up, yet she felt numb, as if they had.
She had gotten so worked up about Chloe, and their argument had escalated so quickly that she hadn’t even stopped to hear what he was saying. He didn’t want Chloe. If he had, there would have been no reason for him to pretend to want Trihn. But she hadn’t been able to see that last night.
Between Chloe grabbing on to him, them laughing together, and the thought of the music video and tour, Trihn’s blood had boiled, frying any rational thought.
Chloe just seemed starved for attention from a real human being. She acted…young. That was the only word Trihn could use to describe her. Despite growing up while acting in Disney and then moving to Hollywood for music and film, she still seemed so…young.
And Trihn had just let the whole thing get to her instead of seeing how much Chloe probably just needed a friend, and Damon was a good guy.
He wouldn’t cheat on Trihn. He knew what that would do to her, and he wasn’t that guy. He wasn’t Preston.
Maybe Damon was right. Maybe she had been comparing him to Preston, comparing everyone to Preston. And all that had done was drive her completely insane.
Preston was her first boyfriend, her first love. But it had been a charade. Maybe he had been into her. Maybe it had all been a game. She didn’t even want to know at this point. But what she did know was that it hadn’t been anything like falling in love with Damon.
When she had started dating Neal, she had been so afraid to let other people in. She’d never told Neal about what had happened with Preston. She’d never let Neal see her vulnerable like that. And in turn, she had let him emotionally abuse her. Their relationship was like trying to fit a round piece into a square hole.
