13. Natalia
“Hey, Francesca, how can I help you?” I say, answering my phone.
“I need a favor,” she asks. She needs a favor from me. That’s strange, she’s never asked me for one before.
“Sure, what is it?”
“I don’t know if I’m supposed to talk to your agent or something, but my friend at Vogue needs a last-minute model for a photo shoot today.”
“Vogue?” I squeal.
“I know you’ve worked with them before, and I know you are busy, but I thought I would try. I wouldn’t have asked unless it was dire,” she says.
“Today?”
“Yes,” she pleads.
“What time?” I ask.
“One-ish.”
That’s not long. “Let me see if I can move some things around. Can I call you back in five?”
“Sure,” she says before hanging up.
“Hey, babe,” Dom says, picking up his phone.
“Francesca just called me to do a last-minute photo shoot with Vogue, I must cancel lunch. I’m sorry,” I tell him.
Dom squeals down the phone. “Vogue. Yes, you can’t say no to that, babe. Go. Then tell me all about it.”
“I will,” I say before saying my goodbyes and hanging up. I call Francesca back and tell her I’m in. She texts me the address, and I jump into my car and head to the studio.
It doesn’t take me long to get to the address where I park underneath and head to reception. I tell the girl who I am, which she already knows. She gushes about how much of a fan she is, and I pose for some photos with her before she shows me to the studio where she walks me into makeup. The makeup girls quickly get to work doing their thing before the stylist comes in and introduces herself to me. She is vague about what the shoot is, but I ignore it as it’s Vogue.
Once my makeup is done, the stylist’s assistant comes in and escorts me out to the shoot. Once I turn the corner and see what the theme is, I want to die. There are rows and rows of wedding dresses all lined up for me.
It’s a wedding theme shoot.
Oh no.
“When we were told that we were able to get you last minute, we were so excited, and the fact that today is a wedding shoot and you’ve just come out as being newly married,” the stylist says excitedly to me. I give her my most professional smile. “You said that you got married in Vegas and didn’t get to wear a wedding dress, so we thought that seeing as this is being filmed and shot for the Vogue website, we would turn it into you wedding dress shopping.” My stomach sinks. This was a moment I thought I would get with my friends and my mother, not with Vogue. The reality of my Vegas wedding hits me and my eyes well up with tears. Oh no. Keep it together, Nat. You cannot ruin your makeup.
“Wow, what a great idea,” I tell them. They look relieved by my words. So, I decide to distract myself with the dresses as I try to get my emotions in check. They are all gorgeous, stunning gowns, but I’m not really taking notice of what I am looking at.
“Do you mind if we start filming?” one of the girls asks.
“Sure. What do you want me to do?” I ask.
“Maybe talk about the kind of dress you had in mind, what your dream wedding would be like. So many readers idolize your style so listening to you talk about your big day would be so inspiring to others,” she explains.
That’s a lot, so many questions that I had never thought much about.
“Ready, three, two, one.” The interviewer launches into her spiel and I pose and smile through gritted teeth as I search through the racks of couture wedding dresses. She introduces the segment and then turns to me and talks about my wedding, my fake wedding. She explains to the camera how I got married in Vegas and that I’m here today to recreate my day. Everything is then a blur as I answer her questions. Honestly, I think I blacked out at some point because the next thing I know, someone is helping me into a wedding dress.
Ten dresses later, and I’m in the last one, this strapless, feather ballgown. It’s not my choice, but none of the dresses I chose today I would wear. I didn’t want the first time I went wedding dress shopping to be on camera and without my family. I’m treating this as if I’m wearing white evening gowns.
“For this last dress, you should have a groom for the photo.” The stylist grins as I look up and see Alessandro walking toward me looking handsome in a black suit.
What the hell is he doing here?
The closer he gets, the closer I see the smug smile on his face.
No.
He wouldn’t, would he?
My stomach turns at the thought, and the anger begins to boil beneath my skin. Keep it together, Nat. You are almost there.
“Here is your handsome husband. We couldn’t complete the shoot without him in it. Thanks so much for coming at the last minute,” the stylist says to Alessandro.
“Anything for my beautiful wife,” he says, which makes all the women swoon and me want to vomit.
“Can I get you two to stand over there?” the photographer says, pointing us to where he would like us to be.
“Hey, sweetie,” he says, kissing my cheek as he greets me for the audience. I grimace at his touch which he notices as I haul up the layers of my dress and walk over to the spot we have been directed to.
“Can you wrap her in your arms?” the photographer asks Alessandro as he stands behind me and wraps his arms around my body.
“You look like a swan,” he whispers as the flash of the camera goes off. I ignore him. “Did you choose this dress? It’s not very you,” he mumbles as we pose for the photos. The photographer calls out other positions he wants us in, and we do it. I end up facing him, cupping his cheek with my hand.
“Did you organize this?” I ask him through gritted teeth.
“Yes,” he answers as he stares down at me with those slate-green eyes. “Payback for the interview.” My stomach turns and coils beneath the boning at his remarks, the corset tightening as I try to suck in a breath. “Can’t believe you set your brothers on me today.” What is he talking about? My brothers? I never sent them anywhere. “They don’t have a lot of faith in you to convince me to change my mind.” His words hit their intended target, my chest. The corset tightens as I struggle to breathe. He spins me around and dips me as he kisses my neck for the camera. The sound of the flash going off echoes in my ears. When he brings me back up, the room starts to spin. “Nat, are you okay?” Alessandro asks as he stares down at me. I shake my head.
“I need to get out of this dress,” I tell him as panic starts to take over.
“Guys, that’s a wrap,” Alessandro tells them. I can hear people moaning and arguing, but it all goes silent once Alessandro raises his voice and tells them in no uncertain terms the shoot is done, he is taking his wife, as she doesn’t feel well, and they are leaving. One of the assistants directs him to the dressing room where he slams the door in her face. He unzips my dress, and the stupid gown of feathers falls to the floor, leaving me in nothing but my underwear, but I don’t care because I can breathe again. I suck in a couple of deep breaths letting the cool air rush over me. Then I grab my clothes and start to get dressed.
“Natalia, are you okay?” he asks.
Tears well in my eyes as my anger takes over. “Get the hell out of this room,” I roar at him. The intensity of my words stills Alessandro, and I can see it takes him a split second to realize I’m not joking as he unlocks the door and closes it behind him. Oh, thank God. I try to suck in some breaths as I feel a panic attack coming on. I try to quickly get dressed and focus on my breathing.
Keep it together.
You just need to say thank you, you feel sick, and get the hell out of here. I center myself before I turn the handle of the dressing room. I’m greeted by Alessandro who is standing there with a frown on his face.
“I told them you weren’t feeling well and were going to go home,” he explains.
I’m thankful for that, but I don’t say anything. I crouch over and disappear out of the studio ignoring him calling after me. The lift isn’t there, so I decide to take the stairs down to the garage.
“Natalia, wait,” Alessandro calls out.
“Leave me alone,” I call back, knowing no one can hear me as I quickly rush down the stairs. I try to concentrate on not missing one as the tears I’ve been holding back start to fall.
“No. Are you okay?” he calls out.
“Please, go. I don’t want to speak to you,” I yell as I make it down the stairs. Opening my purse, I pull out my keys as I run toward my car.
“Nat, wait. What’s going on?” Alessandro asks as he makes it to the bottom of the stairs and is now rushing behind me.
I ignore him and try to unlock my car, but before I get to hear the beeps, he’s on me. His hands grab me and swing me around, his cheeks flushed as he’s rushed after me.
“Leave me alone,” I yell at him, unable to stop myself from breaking. There’s confusion on his face as he stares at me losing my mind in the underground parking garage. He tries to reach out to me, but I push him away.
“Natalia?” he says my name quietly as if he’s trying not to spook me.
“Don’t,” I say, pointing at him.
“What’s happened?” he asks.
“What’s happened?” I yell at him. “You took a really important moment in my life, one that I’ll never get back, and cheapened it as a way to get one up on my family.”
Alessandro stares at me, confused by my words.
“Trying on wedding dresses was something I wanted to do with my family, not with strangers on a photoshoot. I realize that us getting married in Vegas has now ruined weddings for me. I’ll never be able to get those firsts back ever again. That whenever I get married again, it will forever be tainted by Vegas. By you. I guess you win.”
Alessandro stares at me blankly. “I had no idea.”
I wipe the tears from my cheeks. “Neither did I till the moment those people asked me what my dream wedding would be like, and when I thought about it all I could see was us drunk in Vegas and making a mockery out of something that should have been special.”
“This could have all been avoided if you had just got your family to step away from the deal,” he says.
I stare at him in shock. I can’t believe he is saying this right now to me.
“Fuck you, Conti.” I take a step and square up at him. “I’m going to make your life a living hell. You’re going to wish you signed those annulment papers.” And with that, I turn away from him and head to my car.
I flip him off as I drive past him.
Revenge is going to be so sweet.