When Love’s In Fashion

A helpful attendant pointed Sascha to her seat, which was as Elly had said, right at the front. She checked her watch as she sat down. She had around fifteen minutes to wait before the show was about to start. She started absent-mindedly browsing the internet on her phone and checking her emails, not that she was expecting anything interesting.

“Hello there,” Sascha startled at the voice as she hadn’t realized anyone had taken the seat next to her.

“Uh…hi,” She said a little dumbly, the woman who had spoken was quite possibly the most beautiful woman that Sascha had even seen. She wanted to slap herself for sounding so stupid.

“Surely a woman like you can’t be here alone?” Sascha felt her skin flushing red at this woman’s obvious flirtations.

“I…um…my best friend is in the show,” Sascha said quietly, so quietly in fact that the woman had to lean in a little closer to be able to hear her. Not Sascha’s intent but she wasn’t complaining.

“Oh! You must be Alexandra Rowan, am I correct?” Sascha immediately made a mental note to kill her best friend for revealing her full name to anyone.

“It’s Sascha, but yeah that’s me.”

“Well it’s wonderful to finally meet you Alexandra,” Sascha was mildly ticked off that this woman had still used her full name but decided not to say anything else, she didn’t want to come off as rude to someone who obviously worked closely with her best friend, “I’ve heard so much about you,”

“Are you a model too?” Sascha asked and then immediately regretted it as she’d basically just admitted to this woman’s face that she thought she was gorgeous. The woman grinned but before she could reply her phone lit up and she checked it quickly.

“Sorry, I need to go. May I see you after, Alexandra?” Sascha nodded and the woman smiled at her once more before walking away. Sascha watched her all the way until she had disappeared into the backstage area. Sascha let out a deep breath as she tried to digest what had just happened.

Did that gorgeous woman really just come and flirt with her? And why had Elmira never mentioned knowing a woman who was so obviously Sascha’s type in every way?

Her thoughts were cut short as the lights in the room dimmed and an announcer appeared on the stage to introduce the show. Sascha watched with polite interest as the music blared and men and women took their turns at stalking down the catwalk like dangerous beautiful predators.

She would be lying if she said she wasn’t trying to spot the woman who had spoken to her before the show but she hadn’t had any luck. Maybe she would be in the same part as Elly?

When Sascha heard the designer Atalia Tirtzah introduced, she perked up and sat up straighter in her chair, ready to support her best friend. She may not understand what she did but she was proud of her success and wanted to be there for her if she could.

As soon as she saw her she clapped loudly along with everyone else and as they briefly made eye contact Sascha gave her a smile and a thumbs up. Even she had to admit her best friend had presence and the right attitude to take a runway by storm, compared to the other ‘plus size’ models on display, she blew them all out of the water.

Looking closer at the clothes, she was sure Elmira would ask her about them after, Sascha frowned slightly. She was a little surprised by how normal they were for one, including jeans and t-shirts with a few dresses. Just as Elly had told her, everything had a design including a very distinctive looking dog. Why? Why would a designer create all these clothes based around a dog? Was she a crazy dog woman or something? Sascha really didn’t get how Elmira could have called her a ‘genius’.

There was a white summery looking t-shirt including the dog with a surfboard and blue stripes which she guessed, were supposed to be the sea, bright red shoes with dog faces on the front, there was even jewelry and accessories all with that very same dog.

The only design that Sascha could admit she liked was a black hat which Elly wore during one of her walks, with subtle whiskers sown on and little dog ears on the top. That was cute.

Sascha stood and clapped along with everyone else in the crowd as the show came to end and all the models returned to the stage. Her heart stopped when the models separated, leaving a gap in the middle of the stage, and the woman who had spoken to Sascha walked through them smiling widely and waving at the audience.

Was she really..?

Holy sh*t. She was Atalia Tirtzah. That’s how she knew Elmira and why Sascha hadn’t seen her as a model in the show.

Oh god the crazy dog woman was gorgeous. Atalia said a few words but Sascha couldn’t take them in, her mind too busy buzzing with the sudden knowledge it had acquired. It shut down completely when Atalia winked directly at her before exiting the stage.

Sascha was back at the bar with a second glass of champagne when Elly found her. She pulled her into a tight hug, congratulating her on the show and her excellent performance.

“Thanks Sascha! So I hope you don’t want to leave yet because there’s someone I want you to meet.”

Before Sascha could protest, Elly had taken her hand and was easily weaving her way between people and before she knew it Sascha was once again face to face with Atalia Tirtzah.

“Hello again Alexandra,” Elly’s eyes widened and she hit Atalia on the shoulder, looking betrayed.

“You didn’t tell me that you’d met!”

“We met shortly before the show.” She flicked her gaze up to meet Sascha’s eyes, “I’m afraid I didn’t get to properly introduce myself.” She held out her hand which Sascha took, “I’m Atalia Tirtzah and this was my show. What did you think?”

Sascha seemed to have been struck mute by the feel of Atalia’s hand on her. Her skin was so smooth and the silver rings adorning her fingers felt so cold against her. As their grip loosened and Sascha pulled her hand away she finally managed to say, “I don’t get it.”

 For the second time that night Sascha wanted to slap herself. Why on earth had she said that? That was so embarrassing, Atalia must think she was such an idiot. Even Elly looked like she couldn’t believe that was what Sascha had chosen to say.

Atalia however, had her eyebrows raised and her eyes were shining with amusement.

“Oh really? What didn’t you get?”

“Uh…I’m sorry…I didn’t mean…”

“It’s perfectly alright, I don’t mind. Please tell me,”

“Well…why a dog?” Atalia giggled. Actually giggled! Sascha felt her heart melting slightly at the sound.

“Because I love my dog.” She answered simply. “And when I was having trouble creating, Fido Castro was always there and began to inspire me. You didn’t like it?”

“I didn’t say that!” Sascha was quick to establish, “I just didn’t understand the whole dog thing. I’m sorry, I’m such an idiot.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

Elmira was watching their interactions with a devious grin, “Sooo, I’m going to the after party with some of the other models. See you at home Sascha!” Before Sascha could stop her she was gone.

“Does that mean you’re free for me to buy you a drink?” Atalia asked her.

“Don’t you need to go to the party?”

Atalia shrugged her shoulders, “Not necessarily, I think I’ve found something I would much rather be doing,” Her eyes were dark and Sascha felt a red flush creeping from her cheeks and down her neck and the possible second meaning of the words, “Would you care to join me?”

“Yeah, I’d like that,”

Following Atalia out of the warehouse Sascha couldn’t help but thinking that her evening had gone far better than she had ever expected it to. She was going to have to thank Elly for that later.

“So you named your dog Fido Castro?”

Atalia’s answering laugh was music to Sascha’s ears.