18. Chapter Eighteen #3
I sucked in a sharp breath of disappointment before making sure to plaster on a smile as Mickey leaped into the air in joy.
Enzo, Zara, and I clapped as did everyone else in attendance.
Looking out at the crowd even my mother was applauding but her sad eyes were on me.
I blew her a kiss to say it was okay even though it very much wasn’t okay at all.
The losers were escorted offstage while Mickey was given a big fake check, a handshake from Carlton along with a frilly decorative plaque with his name engraved on it as a new student at the Barrons Academie.
Things were kind of blurry after that. There was a fucking confessional to tape in the privacy of a small trailer where I did my best to not be too shitty and sour.
Being able to hug it out with Mom before having a camera shoved in my face had helped.
Nothing eased the pain of a loss better than a mother’s arms. It still hurt but not quite so deeply.
Mom met me amid a crowded swatch of trailers that were already being hooked to trucks to haul away. It was truly all over and done with.
“Kinder,” she cooed as I gathered her into my arms.
“I let Dad down,” I coughed out as I buried my face into her shoulder. Even with a foot of height on her she was and would always be the strongest. Tears I’d been holding back escaped.
“Nonsense, oh honey, that’s not at all true.
” She pulled back to look at me. I turned away.
“Kinder, look at me. Look at me, baby.” So I did.
More tears rolled down my cheek/ She reached up to straighten the old hat atop my head.
“I was wondering where this got to when I was looking for dressy clothes to bring to Paris.”
“I let him and the hat down,” I whispered amid the beeping of trucks and the shouts of crew members.
She gave the hat a firm tug. “You did no such thing. Your father is incredibly proud of you. He always was and always will be. You did you very best. The homage to us on that night so long ago…well, it made me cry. Dad would have too if he had been here. Never doubt that we’re incredibly overjoyed and thrilled with your growth and talents.
You showed such dedication and worked so hard.
How could we be anything but proud. And you should be as well.
What you’ve accomplished without having a degree is beyond impressive.
This is just the beginning, honey. Your world will be a different place tomorrow I just know it. ”
“I love you so much,” I tearfully confessed before hugging her to me once more.
“And I love you. Okay. Phew. Good. Yes, we’re good. Yes?” I nodded. “Good. Okay I will meet you at the club. That lovely Camilo arranged a limo for the family. A limo! Can you imagine me in a limo?!”
Yeah, I could. And I had so wanted to gift her that kind of ride for the rest of her life. Ugh, losing wasn’t fun at all. I handed her over to Camilo who was gathering other family members just as he had us for weeks.
The three runners-up were whisked away from the Eiffel Tower to a nightclub deep in the dark bowels of the city.
Once inside we were swallowed up by media people, famous stars and starlets, and the judges.
I found my mother seated at a table with the other family members on the second floor of the club.
Fiber optic stars rotated around on the ceiling as French dance music throbbed through the marrow of my bones.
I dropped down beside Mom, nodding politely at the other family members as they greeted their melancholy offspring.
“Honey, you did great,” Mom said for the tenth time.
“What an experience! We’ll talk about Paris forever.
” She gave me a stout side then whispered into my ear.
“They said bottle service here starts at fifteen hundred Euros. Does that mean every bottle of bubbly they open costs fifteen hundred Euros?”
“Probably,” I replied, uncaring about the cost of champagne for the network. If they could afford to rent out this posh club they could afford the bar tab. “I’m going to find a bathroom. Pour me some champagne. We’ll toast to second place.”
Blech. That left a more sour taste in my mouth then the bubbly ever would but that was my reality. Rising from the round booth I gave Enzo a clap on the shoulder then, because Mom had raised me right, I offered Zara my hand. She shook it, her lower lip trembling.
I moved down a set of flashing circular steps, bouncing off a slightly tipsy Camilo who was undoubtedly more than happy to be free of us for the night.
Maybe forever. I had no clue now that the show was in the can if the network would give two shits about the losers.
Megan Thee Stallions “Dance” filled the club with such volume it made my fillings shake.
“Hey, hey!” I glanced around a twink in a tank top eying me up to see Micky barreling at me like a train. He threw his arms around me, cinching me in tightly. I hugged him back. Hard. “Fucking hell, what kind of shit is this, eh? Come on, let’s find us a place to chat.”
He drug me to a far corner of the club, where the DJ was far away, and the dance floor even farther. His hawk was lank, his brow sweaty, and his eyes glowing with joy. It bit a little like a nip from a puppy, but under my sadness was real happiness for my new friend.
“Let’s get us a couple of pints. I got something to discuss with you,” he yelled then flagged down a server who, in no time, returned from the packed bar with two cold dark bitters in slim glasses.
“Cheers mate. To us. The two least likely to win who grabbed themselves the top two spots!” We tapped our glasses then drank deeply.
“Oh hell, that’s good. Better than the fizzy shite they keep filling our glasses with. So, Kinder, you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” I wiped some foam from my lip then flicked it at him when he gave me a ‘Sure right’ kind of look. “Seriously, I’m okay. Disappointed sure but that will pass.”
“Right it will. Look, I’m going to say this right up now before I get too lit. Now that I got the cash I’m opening a boutique in London. In the posh section. You come work for me. We get on well, we both like blokes, and we can turn the fucking town on its ear with our designs. What do you say?”
“I uhm…” I didn’t know what to say. “That’s…super generous. What about the scholarship.”
“Yeah, I don’t need it. Already went to RAC so I don’t have plans on more schooling. I just really needed the money and prestige winning this will bring me.”
“Oh, well, okay. Uhm… let me think on it.”
“Sure, take a think. I know you got unsettled things with Claude and all but I wanted to let you know that you and me could be something big if we joined brands.”
“I don’t have a brand.”
“You will. By the time you leave here tonight you’ll have offers from some of the big names circling around you like sharks.
” He used his beer glass to point out at least four designers I knew making eye contact with me or gesturing for me to come join them.
Huh, maybe there was a light at the end of this dark tunnel.
“I mean to be honest your sixties look for the red carpet was much better than mine. The judges just tend to be snots about retro but I loved it. Wished I’d have made it instead of that red thing that everyone else in the world has made a hundred times. You got vision.”
“Thanks, I…thanks. I’ll think on the offer. Honestly.”
“Good, good, that’s all I can ask for.”
We finished our beers, compared notes about the rest of the designers, and then parted ways so he could talk up some skinny dude in a tight green suit. I finally used the men’s room, exiting the stall to find Carlton Hale resting his trim bum on one of the sinks.
“Hey,” I warily said as Claude’s ex-husband gave me a smile and a nod. “Thanks for backing the show and the opportunity.”
“It was our pleasure. If you have a minute I’d like to talk to you about.”
Super. This could only go well.
Not.