Rank 3
Joker was a little concerned as he made his way through the winding halls of the modelling agency offices. Alice's prior text had been professional, matter-of-fact, and straight to the point. This time, rather than assume his attendance, she had made it an option. And even through text, an air of trepidation had been palpable.
Walking into the studio, Joker caught Alice pacing back and forth nervously, ignoring his entrance entirely for a moment before he announced himself with a little knock on the doorframe.
"Oh, you actually came! I wasn't sure you would, after how I acted last time." Alice muttered, just loud enough to be heard despite looking down and away, not meeting Joker's eyes out of shame. With no response forthcoming from her guest, Alice finally looked up and elaborated. "You know, chasing you and your friend out like that. It was really rude of me."
...
"Don't worry about it."
"What was that about?"
...
"It's just…. Fashion is a really competitive industry. So, whenever some pretty little model waltzes on in here, I can get a little… cagey. That's all it is." explained Alice. "I went and assumed the worst of your friend, and kicked you both out like that."
Alice let out a big breath, not quite a sigh, but relief and recentering all in one. "Alright, now that the apology's out of the way, we can get down to business. I have some serious work for you today, but I think you'll enjoy it!" Alice said with a wink.
Rather than saddle him with a pile of fashionable fabrics, the fashion designer took the stack of clothes herself, skipping back to the changing room and leaving Joker to stand around awkwardly. Alice's high-pitched voice came from inside the changing room, occasionally interrupted by grunts of changing clothes. "I can figure out the fit of the clothes just fine by myself, but mannequins and a mirror can only do so good a job at showing me how it looks. Besides, a private fashion show from an idol ought to be a better apology than just saying I'm sorry."
When Alice emerged, her elaborate layers of pastel frills were gone, replaced by a far simpler blue and white dress. Stripes down to her shins replaced the puffed-up shorts, a straightforward lone of buttons adorned her chest in lieu of the large heart with a bow. Without all her layers and poof, Joker was made aware of just how small Alice was.
"Well, don't keep me in suspense. Am I cute, or adorable?" came Alice's cheeky prompting.
...
"Cute."
"Adorable."
"My eyes!"
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"I'm gonna choose to interpret that as you being blinded by my good looks, for your sake." Alice deadpanned. Then her voice grew wistful. "Besides, I don't really care much how this one looks to other people. It's my favorite; I'm wearing it for me."
Sensing Joker's inquisitive look, Alice jerked out of her reminiscence. "Oh, a similar kind dress is what inspired me to get into fashion in the first place. I used to be a pretty shy girl, so finding my passion was a real shot of confidence. I even asked out my crush the very next day wearing that dress!"
...
"It is a nice dress."
"Good for you."
"So you're taken…"
...
"Well, I'm flattered to hear you so disappointed, but don't despair!" Alice joked, before continuing in a more somber tone. "It uh, didn't work out. But better to have loved and lost or whatever, right? Haha…"
The cheer and laugher were incredibly forced, bringing down the mood even more than Alice's recounting of her failed love life. "A-anyways, that's all in the past! You aren't here for sadsack Alice, because she's not here anymore! Just your everyday whimsical wonderland Alice! Now buckle up, because I've got a few more outfits I do want a second opinion on."
The rest of the afternoon was consumed by outfits that were both increasingly fashionable and elaborate.
AN: I've been going through some of my older work, and I have no clue how younger me thought 5k words was a bare minimum word count for a chapter. It's really jarring going from that to this, which is by design a series of short interconnected vignettes.