Chapter Three - Beautiful
Like the clouds you drift me away, far away, yeah, and like the sun, you brighten my day, brighten my day, yeah - Akon
She was armed and dangerous. Well, as dangerous as she could be behind the scenes at a runway show.
She had a massive clip board stuffed in the crevice of her small arm with a picture of each model, as well as their pieces and the order in which they were to walk. A thin black headset rapped around her small head with a mouth and ear piece so she was able to stay in contact with the other producers of the show.
Tugging a rack of gowns that collectively weighed more then she did, Alice walked to the back of the stage where the models were dressing.
Half dressed models tried to hold statuesque like poses while make-up stylists tried to buff away any imperfections. Plus hovering hairdressers had brushes and combs strapped to their waists, with bottles of hair spray in their hands like they were preparing for war.
There was only forty-five minutes until the show started. Needless to say, everyone was in panic mode.
One of the assistant designers had just called in on Alice's headset claiming he had a "code blue" situation.
"What's the problem Hayden," Alice asked the young man. His wavy brown hair was cut above his ears. With his strong jaw bone, he could have made bank as a model, but he only measured five seven.
"Alice, we can't find Elle's left heal!" he shouted, his face so fire engine red; he looked like he was having a heart attack.
Then realizing who he was speaking with, he looked down at his black dress shoes in embarrassment. Alice had no time for a shoe situation. Assistants were so annoying. Alice didn't know if she should
a) Tell him to use the brain God had given him and figure it out
b) Fire his butt for wasting her time
c) Help him with his current predicament
d) Laugh in his face and walk away
Deciding to be Mother Teresa like, Alice opted for c. "And you looked everywhere?"
"Yes, I'm sorry. It must have gotten lost in the racks when they were moved," he said trying to muster up an excuse for being unprepared.
"I don't want to hear excuses. Do you have the shoe in another size," Alice said trying to come up with something off the top of her head.
"Yes, but they're an eight and she is a ten," he said not fully understanding.
"I don't care," Alice responded quickly. "Sorry hon, you're going to have to squeeze," She said turning to the nervous looking model. She was rod thin and couldn't be more then seventeen.
Giving the young girl an apologetic smile, Alice turned the heal of her six inch Monolos towards the make-up artists that had called for help before the shoe shortage.
As she walked to the left side of the stage where the mirrors and make-up was set up, Alice heard a louder beeping in her ear signally an incoming call.
Hitting the ear piece button Alice waited for the call to come in.
Three seconds later, Alice heard the quick accented voice of her boss, "Aulice do you mind dressing de rest of de men? I have to say hello to Victoria and Sarah Jessica."
Yes as in Beckham and Parker.
"Yes of course I'm on my way," Alice said into the mouth piece as she jogged to the opposite side of the hall to the men's section.
Half naked men didn't really bother Alice anymore. At first she was like a hormonal fifteen year old, giggly and skittish. She got use to the scene after her second show. Goose bumps didn't rise on her skin when her hands brushed across their faces to clear their hair. All of the men were tall with chiseled features, just part of the job.
When she got to the male section, she saw her thirty year old boss throwing a pair of slacks at a model. He was dressed in his usual crisp white button down, dark jeans and black dress shoes (Kline obviously.)
His Brazilian sun kissed face turned up in a smile of relief when he saw Alice running on the balls of her feet towards him.
"Oh thank goodness," Francisco said as Alice ripped her purple pen out from under the clip of her clip board. "I have dressed Franco, Daniel, Nicolas, Liam, and Brooklyn," he counted as Alice placed a small check next to the names. There were ten male models total. Alice only had thirty minutes, but she would get the job done - she always did.
"I've got it covered, don't worry," Alice said before he ran out the back double door to the audience.
Looking down at her clip board, Alice saw the names of the preceding models. "Noah, Joel, Ayden, Landon, and Jasper please grab the first outfit in your bag and then I will be around to style the pieces for you," Alice spitted out, not bothering looking up from the board.
After dealing with the make-up mayhem, Alice sprinted back to the male section in the far right corner. Thanks to Rosalie and the five mile power runs she made Bella and Alice complete, she was barely out of breath.
Finally styling four of the models to the picture presented, Alice looked down at the only name without a check.
"Jasper," she shouted. The man heard his name called and his head shot up like a bomb out of a canon. When his dark sapphire - blue eyes met her hazel ones, her voice got caught in her throat. His wavy sandy-blond hair bounced around his sun-darkened face from the sudden movement. A pair of dark green trousers covered his long legs, leaving his chiseled chest bare.
Alice could not think straight. Her head was screaming at her to go dress the man because she only had twenty minutes left, but her body was currently paralyzed. What was wrong with her? She had looked at guys with only boxers on and didn't have this reaction. Her mouth started to get dry, trapping the words that needed to come out. She needed a Vitamin water stat!
Finally recovering, Alice walked over to the model and lifted her papers to find his picture. Flipping through it twice, Alice realized his pictures weren't there, which meant she didn't know how Francisco wanted his clothes styled. Crap.
"What's wrong Ma'am," he said, noticing Alice rip through the pages in her clipboard like she was trying to find her homework with a teacher standing over her. His words were blanketed by a heavy southern accent. Oh lord, this only made him more irresistible.
"I can't find your info," she said quickly. Thinking even faster, she pressed a French manicured finger to her ear piece, and waited for her call to go through.
"Francisco, sorry to interrupt but I don't have Jasper's Polaroid. How did you want his first look styled?" she asked still flipping pages.
"Top two buttons undone, with de blazer over top," he said breathlessly. He must have been running back down to the stage.
"Got it," she replied lifting the button down and blazer from the bag. "Throw this on please," Alice said to the man in front of her. She was surprised the words actually came out clearly, rather than a bunch of stuttering.
Responding to her orders quickly, Alice watched as Jasper's biceps flexed while he pushed his long arms into the sleeves of his black button down and as he pulled on the matching blazer.
"Tuck the shirt in please," she commanded. Alice had to look away when Jasper unbuttoned his pants and revealing the tan skin above the top of his white CK boxers.
When he was finished, Alice noticed the collar of his blazer was flipped up in the back. Despite her six inch heals, she still had to stand on the tips of her toes to reach around his neck.
With her head right next to his neck, she could smell the honey notes in his cologne. Being this close to him made Alice's heart bounce around in her chest – it made her palms sweaty.
Not being able to help it, Alice spread her hands over his broad shoulders wiping away the lint on his black blazer. Or that's what she wanted him to think.
Stepping back to admire her work, she saw Jasper's pronounced cheek bones turned up in a smile revealing a set of straight, Tide white teeth as her eyes raked over his long body.
Smiling her best flirty smile back at him, Alice got lost in the depth of his eyes. They were like the depths of the ocean, the sky right before the sun went down.
The familiar beeping of her earpiece, snapped her back.
"Alice, you've got ten minutes," she heard the low voice of the tech producer announce.
"I'm lining them up now Jim," Alice answered turning away from the cute x 10 guy she was just having a smile contest with. It was harder then handing the last pair BCBG Max Azria sunglasses back to the salesperson and saying "No thank you, I found a better pair at Target." Not that Alice would ever do such a thing. Pul-ease!
"Aaaattention," Alice shouted as she climbed five steeps up the medal ladder keeping her legs together to insure no panty-peaking. It was Whitney Port season three of the Hills style, but better.
"When I call your name, get in a line in front of Olivia and Payton on the right side, they will put you in order," Alice announced pointing to the two blond-haired assistant producers with clip boards and headsets strapped to their heads like Alice's. "Carla, Franco Gabriele, Daniel, Belina, Nicolas, Madison, Liam, Kina, and Brooklyn." She could be pretty loud when she had to – her size didn't do her justice.
"The names I didn't call please follow me to the opposite side," she said as she climbed down the stairs.
"I will only repeat this order twice, so if you don't catch it ask someone else, or feel the wrath of a caffeinated Francisco Corta," she said to the other ten models.
"Okay I need Eva, then Noah, followed by Addison, Joel, Sophia, Ayden, Elle, and Landon. The finale of each three sets will be Mia, and then Jasper," Alice shouted out like a drill sergeant.
Realizing Jasper was in her group almost made Alice break out into a happy dance. Knowing she would get some strange glances, she controlled her excitement.
A guy like that was probably taken; he was the finale for crying out loud, the spot reserved for the best model casted. It was like thinking Zac was single. Yeah right. Vanessa already snatched him up like the last purple Birkin; try again in some other lifetime sucker.
As her models got in line, Alice called over to her assistants to make sure they were ready. She always felt the need to stay on top of everyone, maybe it was her inner control freak.
"Olivia, Payyyton?" she said into her now gloss covered mouth piece.
"We're set Alice," she heard one of the girls say through her ear piece.
"Jim, we're ready to go," Alice announced to the man in the control booth.
"Copy that. I'll give you a count down Alice," he said. "Okay lights Bill," she heard him say.
Overhead lights went down, lights underneath the fifty foot runway lit…and…show time.
"Ready?" Alice said, lifting her head so she could see into the seasoned model's eyes. The model nodded in response causing the scarf on her neck that connected to the edge of the gown to fall. Alice pulled it back into place and gave the model a supportive smile.
"Alright Alice, in five, four, three…" Jim said.
Counting the two seconds in her head, Alice grabbed the model's rail-thin arm and pushed her on the runway.
Obligated to do at least two interviews, Alice glossed her lips, straightened out her hem, and strutted out into the hall.
The hall outside of the runway was crowded with eager camera men, models, business men, celebrities, and pushy photographers that were thankfully held back with a fence that they weren't allowed to cross. Caged in like animals.
"Miss Brandon…Miss Brandon…Miss Brandon," she heard numerous reporters call out. Being the main producer of the show, reporters were always eager to hear about the problems backstage and with the designer.
Alice glided over to the most important-looking reporter. He was wearing a classic three piece gray suit. Frameless glasses covered his tired brown eyes. With a pen and pad in hand, he looked like he was going to pounce.
"Miss Brandon," he said, smiling at her when she approached. "Evan Park, Vogue Daily Post."
Boy did she know to pick the important ones. Alice got ready for the predictable questions; they always came in three phases.
Phase one: Opinion?
"Miss Brandon, Would you mind giving us your professional input on the previous collection?" the reporter asked.
"The collection this season was very regal. All of the pieces had a minimal like quality to them. I believe that the gowns towards the end of the program exemplified this characteristic the best," she answered confidently. It was all the truth. Alice could imagine Jacky O strutting out in the navy tailored pencil skirted suits.
Phase one: COMPLETE
Phase two: Show problems?
"How was the preparation like for an event of this magnitude?"
"As always the process of selecting models that have the attributes that Francisco likes to portray in his shows is always a challenge, however, I do believe my team and I were able to accomplish that task," Alice answered.
Phase two: COMPLETE
Phase three: Problems with designer?
"One last question if I may Miss Brandon," the reporter said as he looked up from his pad, already two pages full. "Did Mr. Costa run into any problems throughout the show, from start to finish?"
They always asked this question to the producer, like they thought they would get more dirt from them as opposed to the designer. Yeah right!
"Francisco went through the same process as most designers do when their pieces are being presented. I do believe that Francisco puts an added level of stress upon himself to unsure the best quality for his customers. He knows what people expect in his collections, but never fails to exceed those expectations," Alice answered. Her mother always said that she should go into law, always being able to weasel her way out of difficult situations.
Phase three: COMPLETE
"Thank you so very much for your time Miss Brandon," the kiss up reporter said.
"Of course, please enjoy the rest of your evening," she said smiling a toothy smile and turning on her heal to face the next pushy reporter.
She had sent her assistants to gather the clothes and place them in their appropriate racks, so all Alice had to do was steam the last four gowns, and then she could head out.
Bella and Rosalie were hilarious. They were standing awkwardly against the back wall watching the clean up scene in front of them unfold. Alice made them promise that if they wouldn't touch anything, they could come backstage with her.
As they watched numerous gowns being pulled away on racks their eyes continued to pop even farther from their head. They were like twelve year olds at a Jonas Brothers concert.
While Alice was on her third gown, she heard Bella in the background whisper "Ehmygoodness, that's gorgeous!"
Bella and Rosalie were gawking at the finale gown. It was a silver metallic floor length gown that had two inch straps and a long V – shaped plunging neckline.
"B, you're not tall enough for the neckline of that dress," Alice said in a matter of fact manner, turning around and smiling to let her know that she was just kidding.
"Pul-ease you're like four inches shorter shrimp," Bella said giggling.
"Hey I got you in here remember! The only person that it would fit right would be Rose," Alice said. "Plus, I've got a steamer and I know how to use it," She said pointing the hot end of the rod towards her friend.
With that the girls busted out laughing like they were watching a Will Farrell movie.
"Alright, I'll meet you guys in the hall, let me just put these gowns back," Alice told her friends as she pulled the rack to the back of the room.
Even though the majority went to the after party in Soho, there were still some models in the back hall trying to find the clothes they came in wearing, so Alice wasn't the only one still there. Separating the gowns back on the racks, she heard a familiar soft southern voice from behind her.
"Excuse me ma'am?" Just of the sound of his voice made Alice giddy. She smiled as she turned on her heal, already having a strong feeling who it was.
"Do you happen to know where they put all of our jackets…I'm Jasper by the way?" He said looking down at his shoes shyly. But it only made him cuter to Alice.
"Oh yeah, they um put them behind the make-up carts in the uh closet…and I'm Alice," she said, lifting her small hand for him to shake. Real smart, Alice thought to herself as she bit her bottom lip between her white teeth and then hating her self for not re-glossing.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Alice, thank you for your help," he said, brushing his soft lips across the knuckles of her hand.
Offering up a shy smile, he walked out of the room to get his coat, leaving Alice more stunned than when she heard that Audrina was leaving the Hills.
I hope you guys enjoyed reading that chapter as much as I did writing it because I was doing an Alice sized happy dance the entire time. Who caught the military inferences? Get it???? Because Jasper was a Major in the Civil War (Well I thought it was funny.)
Thank you so much for all of the alert/favorites/reviews. I appreciate it x 100!
As always thanks for reading
xoxo
Lex
P.S. Now review like Michael Kors' life depended on it!