Model Behavior

After a long day of trying on piece after piece, to make sure each of them fit her perfectly, Delaney was ready to be back at her flat, sipping on some coffee and watching reruns. With her feet aching from the heels she was forced to wear, she wanted nothing more than to crash until she had to start the process all over again the next day.

“Delaney,” Louis called behind her, just as she was about to slip out the door and away to freedom. “Can I see you for a minute?”

Delaney froze with her hand on the doorknob, her legs suddenly shaking. The last time she’d talked to Louis he had scolded her, and she was more than worried it would happen again. She had come to know Louis not as the sweet designer from her dreams, but as a nightmare rivaling Janice Dickinson. He had a venomous tongue, wasn’t afraid to use it, and didn’t care who he hurt. All of those things were a bad combination, especially around Delaney.

“Of course,” she said, still eager to please her designer. “What do you need?”

He waved her over and she took slow steps, her heels clicking against the ground. The design room was empty, so the clack of her shoes was the only sound filling it and she suddenly found herself wishing she’d worn something that made less noise.

“Can you slip on this dress please?” He held up a floral one with a retro neckline. “I need to line a hem and you’re the only model still here.”

Delaney nodded her head, and took the garment from his hand. He didn’t turn around and she suddenly became nervous, realizing he wasn’t going to leave for her to change. She should have known, as she’d been in the design room for several days and all the models were anything but modest. She’d even had to openly change many times herself and had grown more accustomed to it, but somehow that moment was different.

His eyes were directly on her and she couldn’t pretend that he wasn’t watching. There was nowhere else for her to direct her attention to, because they were alone, and she couldn’t excuse herself to change because it would only further to show him how inexperienced she was.

With a deep breath, she reached her hand behind her back, her fingers clawing against the zipper. Her eyes had shut themselves and when she reopened them, she found him with a bored look on his face and his shoe tapping at the floor. She tried to hurry, but the zipper wouldn’t come undone and she couldn’t get her hand at the right angle to loosen it.

“Need help?” he asked, his voice laced with his annoyance.

Her cheeks reddened and she nodded her head softly. “Please.”

She spun around, so her back was facing him, and he moved his hand to the metal zipper. With his fingers attached to it, he slid them down her back, slowly opening her garment and revealing the skin beneath. She sucked in a breath, suddenly more nervous than before, and turned back around to meet his bored eyes. It was clear it didn’t have the same effect on him as it did on her, and that only succeeded in making her more nervous.

Her dress dropped to the floor when she moved the fabric to her hips, and she stepped out of it as quickly as she could. She held the dress out in front of her, and before she could slip her feet through it, he pulled it from her grasp, as gently as he could.

Her breath hitched in her throat, causing it to grow tight. She was standing in front of him nearly naked and the one garment she was supposed to put on he had just taken away. She didn’t know what he was playing at, but it caused her heart to race.

Louis held the dress out in front of her, but she was frozen, her mind still hooked on the fact that he’d taken it from her. He waited several seconds before clearing his throat.

“Well,” he said, as he shook the dress in front of her. “Are you going to step through?”

Her mind snapped awake, and she quickly nodded her head, her brown hair shaking as she did. Her first foot stepped through the hole, setting her off balance, and she nearly fell to the floor. She didn’t mean to, but she grabbed onto his shoulder to catch herself, and his eyes moved to her hand the second she did.

The both of them paused, with Delaney shocked by the fact she’d just touched him and her mind fearful of what he would say about it, so she braced herself for the lashing he was about to give her.
Her hand pulled away slowly, with her body shaking.

“It’s alright,” he said, as he shook his head. “You can leave it if you need to balance.”

Her teeth tugged at her bottom lip and she gave a soft nod, before placing her hand gently back to his shoulder. She put her other foot through the dress as quickly as she could, so she wouldn’t have to worry about their bodies touching anymore, even though the touch was so insignificant.

She hiked the dress over her hips, and he quickly moved to the back to zip it up, as if they’d gone through the process a thousand times before. It was the designer and model relationship and even though she was new, she knew what it was.

Louis took a step back, and she turned to face him, her hair whipping around her as she did. Her blue eyes met his and for a split second they looked soft, kind and so unlike they did before.

“That looks lovely on you,” Louis said, his voice shaky. There was a glint in his eye that Delaney couldn’t quite place, no matter how hard she tried to make sense of it. He paused for a few moments, simply taking her in, before he brought his hand to his chin. “You should wear it for the show.”

“It’s Madison’s piece. I couldn’t –“

“I want you to wear it,” he interrupted. “It looks better on you.”

Delaney bit her lip again, causing it to go as red as her cheeks. She couldn’t decide if it was a compliment to her, or just a compliment to his piece, but either way it was the nicest thing he’d said to her.

His eyes were still on her, floating over every inch of her face, and he gave a quick shake of his head to pull himself together.

“Let’s get this pinned up so I can get the hell out of here.”

Just like that, the switch had been flipped, and Louis was back to his guarded self. Delaney had only seen it for a moment – the Louis behind the walls he put up – but she knew it was there. She knew behind all the rude words and pointed stares he gave was someone who cared.

And he couldn't stay that way forever.