More Than Fashion (11 page)

“Now we’re even,” I said and walked out.

CHAPTER TEN

T
here was no phrase that elicited more groans and sighs on
Behind The Seams
than “team challenge.”

Even as an adult, I had terrible memories of being picked last on teams, and it wasn’t like I’d done very well on the show so far. I didn’t expect anyone to want me as their first or even second choice.

“Gavin, since you won the last challenge, you get to choose your partner first,” Lola said.

He tapped his lips, and I couldn’t help but remember how they tasted. I waited for him to call out Dawn or Trina or even Tom, since the two of them seemed to get along well. I’d overheard them discussing their tattoos during lunch breaks.

“I’ll pick Julie.”

His words didn’t register at first until Trina nudged me forward. I moved to stand beside him, frowning. Why had he picked me? No, how
dare
he pick me? I had finally evened the score between us, finally taken back some power from him, and now he’d done
this
. He’d chosen me out of all the other designers, even though he could have picked whomever he wanted.

Yet, as annoying as it was, it was also a relief to be chosen.

Dammit, now I owed him again.

He didn’t look at me as I took my place at his side, but I was already dreading this challenge after what I’d done last night. How awkward would it be, working with him after I’d given him a blowjob and then taken off? Would he bring it up? Or pretend it hadn’t happened?

Lola pursed her lips as I joined Gavin. “Trina, you’re the next team leader.”

“Dawn.”

No surprise there. Dawn gave a little squee and moved to Trina’s side, her flowing dress trailing behind her. I was happy they got to work together, even if I was a little jealous. I’d give my left boob to work with either of them instead of Gavin.

The rest of the designers paired up one by one until finally Derrick chose Nika, who looked particularly sullen at being picked last. Once the teams were settled, Kiara Jones walked into the design room, wearing a short pink dress that hugged her curves. She smiled and waved at all of us. “Hi, everyone!”

We all muttered a “hi” in response. It was strange to see her outside of the runway show, but not uncommon for the judges to sponsor certain challenges.

“My next movie
Fear the Reaper
comes out October 10, just in time for Halloween. It’s about a reaper who goes on a killing spree at a high school prom. For this challenge, we want you to make a look fit for the movies and perfect for Halloween.”

Ah, the Halloween challenge. Always one of my favorites to watch because the dresses tended to be more fantastical. It was a little weird to be designing something for Halloween when it was the middle of August, but I guess that was how TV worked. They’d film the episode now, but air it in a few months.

Kiara held up one of those black plastic witch cauldrons used to hold Halloween candy. “We have five different movie genres in here. Your team will randomly pick one, and you’ll have to make a costume for the heroine in that kind of movie. Feel free to go big for this one! Make it dramatic, make it fun, or make it scary! As long as it fits your genre and looks good, the judges will be happy. You have two days and two hundred dollars.”

She had each of the team leaders come up one by one and pick a piece of paper from the cauldrons. Derrick and Nika got horror, Molly and Paige got fantasy, Dawn and Trina got fairytale, and Jeff and Tom got sci-fi.

I held my breath as Gavin reached his hand inside, but completely deflated when he read off, “Historical.”

Well, shit. That was the worst one he could have chosen. I’d have killed for sci-fi or even horror. I’d have even taken fairytale. Gavin and I were so not the designers for historical. We both had more modern styles—his more structured and edgy, and mine more geek chic. How could we possibly translate that into a historical look?

They sent us to our workstations to brainstorm ideas. Gavin pulled up a stool and sat, which put him at about eye level with me for once. He grabbed the sketch pad and a pencil. “All right, we’re doing historical. Any ideas?”

“None. You?”

“Not a single one.”

“We are so fucked.”

“I suppose we should pick a historical period first.” He propped his elbow on the table and idly played with his hair as he thought, flashing his tattooed hand.

“Why a rose?” I blurted out.

“Pardon?”

I touched the back of his hand where the red rose had been inked into his skin. “Your tattoo.”

“Rose is my sister’s name.” He pulled his hand away, resting it on the sketch pad like he didn’t want me touching him. Probably upset about last night. Fine, we’d stick to business. I shouldn’t have asked him anything personal in the first place.

“1920s? 1940s?” I suggested.

“Both too expected.”

I blew out a long breath. “You have any better ideas?”

“Not really.” He sighed. “Why couldn’t we have gotten sci-fi?”

“I know. That would have been perfect for us.”

I looked over at Tom and Jeff on the other side of the room, who were quietly discussing something on their sketch pad. Tom had an elegant, minimalistic aesthetic, while Jeff had an experimental, modern style, so sci-fi was a good fit for them. They’d probably win.

But I wasn’t giving up that easily. I tried to think of what Gavin and I could bring to a historical look. Maybe I could draw upon my cosplay skills here. “Um, I can make a mean corset.”

“That could work. But if we do medieval or Renaissance, it might look too much like what the others are making for the fantasy or fairytale looks.”

True. Gah, if only we’d been given fantasy, I had a ton of ideas for—oh!

“I have an idea!” I grabbed Gavin’s arm before I realized what I was doing. “We could make a steampunk dress!”

“Steampunk?” He didn’t seem nearly as excited as my genius idea warranted.

“It’s like Victorian-era sci-fi, with corsets and clockwork and gritty colors and…”

“I know what it is. But I don’t think that really counts as historical.”

“Why not? They said to do a movie costume. They said it could be over-the-top and dramatic. I even saw some bronze goggles back in the accessory room. And like you said, if we do a generic period piece, it will be too predictable, too expected, too boring. This will make us stand out.”

“We’ll definitely stand out…but I’m not sure if they’ll love it or hate it. They could fault us for not sticking exactly to our genre.”

I threw up my hands. “Then by all means, come up with your own idea. I haven’t heard you offer anything better.”

“No, I like this idea, but I think it’s risky. It could very well get us in the bottom.”

“Well, I’m used to being there. But I’d rather get there making something fun than something that bores me to tears.”

He shook his head. “Fun. Bah. I hate that word. Americans are always using it. You’re all so damn excitable. Why does everything have to be
fun
?”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, it won’t be fun at all. It will be very serious because we’re serious artists who make serious clothes. No fun on this team, no sir.”

“All right, love. We’ll have a
little
fun. Not too much though. Let’s not get carried away here.”

We figured out our design, bouncing ideas off each other, compromising so that the design represented both of us. We decided to give our steampunk look more of a Wild West feel so we could do something sexier and give it more of a movie vibe. Eventually we nailed down a sketch we were both excited about and divided up tasks so we would contribute equally over the next two days.

And for a few minutes, I completely forgot what a total pain in the ass he was.

Once inside the fabric room, we spent far too long arguing over which fabrics to get, then split up once it was finally settled so I could get the boning and buckles. I would be making the corset, which would probably take me both days, so Gavin would make the shirt underneath and the skirt. Tomorrow we would combine the pieces and work on the details and finishing touches.

Back at our workstations, we laid out all our materials and began measuring the fabric. Since Gavin was the team leader, we’d be using his Valkyrie model, which sadly meant another two days without Carla. I needed to talk to her about all of this Gavin mess, but I didn’t have any way to contact her. I was on my own.

I missed my phone so bad. And the Internet, gah. I was going through serious withdrawals. I missed checking up on all my friends on social media, playing silly quizzes, and browsing the latest gossip and news headlines. I had no clue what was going on in the world, with my friends, or with my family.

But at the same time it was kind of…nice. I could focus on the present, on the people around me, and on my own headspace without all the drama of the rest of the world interfering. Maybe it was good to unplug sometimes.

“You know,” Gavin said, as he cut into the brown fabric we’d bought. “If we win, one of us gets to use the private suite again.”

I should have known he would bring up last night eventually. “Uh-huh…”

“Shall we continue what we started the other nights?”

I sighed and gave up on trying to hide our previous encounter from the cameras, since he couldn’t seem to let it go. “There’s nothing to continue. The first night I was drunk and horny, and you happened to be in the right place at the right time to get me off. Last night I was just returning the favor. Now we’re even, and we’re done.”

“Ouch,” he said, placing a hand over his heart. “You crush me. I was starting to think you might actually like me.”

I snorted. “Don’t get your hopes up.”

He pointed his scissors at me. “You can’t deny you enjoyed yourself.”

I ignored that comment and instead asked, “Is that why you picked me for your team? Because of last night?”

“No. I picked you because you’re a great designer and our design aesthetics could work well together. And because, believe it or not, I like you.”

“You
like
me?”

“Sure. You’re like a baby T-rex.”

“Full of hate, but in a cute way?”

“No, small yet fierce. And you have a mean bite.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “And short arms?”

“I didn’t say it, but I did have to help you get that fabric down…”

“Hey, it’s not my fault they put everything good up so high only giants like you can reach it.”

“Aha, so you’re just using me for my body.”

“You know it.”

“I can live with that.” His grin sent a flush through my entire body, and I grabbed the measuring tape from around my neck and turned to my corset.

No more flirting. Back to work.

A loud giggle caught my attention at the next workstation—Dawn, covering her mouth as she laughed at something Trina had said. Trina looked especially dashing today in black suspenders and a pinstripe bow tie, a nice contrast to Dawn’s vintage floral dress and golden hair. Trina winked at me and grinned. I gave her a thumbs-up.

Gavin and I worked for hours side by side, sometimes in silence, sometimes asking for the other’s advice or offering an opinion. My corset was beginning to come together nicely. I couldn’t do a true Victorian-style corset in such a short amount of time, but I was going to do my best to make a simpler one with the same look. It wouldn’t cinch the model’s waist as much as a real corset and wouldn’t be as durable, but whatever, it only had to last one runway show.

Meanwhile, Gavin was working hard on the skirt, which would be a real show-stopper if he could pull it off. The keyword here being
if
. He’d promised me an adjustable length skirt and his sketch looked like a blueprint for some complicated feat of engineering, but I wasn’t confident it would work. Still, he was a great designer, so I was willing to let him try.

“Lunchtime is in five minutes!” Kelsey called out, breaking me out of my working trance. “You’ll send one of your team members for the first shift, then you’ll switch off for the next one.”

“I’ll go,” I said. “I’m at a good stopping point.”

Gavin kneeled by our dress form with a pin in his hand, trying to get the location of the ruffles on the back perfect. “Bring back some good intel.”

“Like what?”

“Anything we can use to win. Someone must have a dark secret we can exploit. Other than you, of course.”

“You’re ruthless. What house did the Sorting Hat put you in? Slytherin?”

“Which one is that again?”

“Oh my god, how do you not know this?”

He shrugged. “I never read the books. I saw the first
Harry Potter
movie, but that’s it.”

“But you’re English. Aren’t those books required reading over there?”

“That’s exactly why I never read them. Too much hype.”

“You have no idea what you’re missing. As soon as the show ends, we’re getting you a box set of all the books.”

“We?” He grinned. “See, you do like me.”

“You,” I corrected, shaking my head. “I’m going to lunch.”

He laughed and stuck his head under the dress, bringing back memories of our first night together. That man was always getting under my skirts.

Molly, Trina, Jeff, and Derrick were also taking this lunch shift. While I grabbed my food from the buffet, I overheard Jeff telling Derrick, “It’s hard to interact with your fans when you have so many. Once you hit ten thousand followers on Twitter, it just feels so
impersonal
. Not like the small, intimate feel of five thousand.”

It took all of my self-discipline to not upend my entire plate on Jeff’s head. Like any one of us wouldn’t
kill
to have even five thousand Twitter followers. He was such a freaking humblebragger. How could Derrick stand it?

The guys took one table, while Trina, Molly, and I took the other. “I saw you and Dawn getting cozy,” I said.

“Mmhmm,” Trina said with a slight grin.

“Good for you two,” Molly said with a warm smile. Her hair was so big today it practically needed its own zip code. “And Julie, how are things going with Gavin?”