Page 105 of Falling for You
Remy nods, taking a sip of his beer. ‘Sorry, Nate,’ he says. ‘I just didn’t want to get it wrong.’
I clap his shoulder. ‘I appreciate that, mate. Everyone is different, though,’ I add.
Remy holds his beer bottle towards mine and we clink them together. Moments later, the lights go down, leaving just a pool of light on the stage. Strobes of electric pink and blue strike across the stage and a fog machine starts sendingclouds of smoke through the room. Around us, the girls start to scream in delight, throwing themselves in the air and pulling out their phones.
‘Please welcome to the stage …’ a voice booms through the speaker ‘… Stevie Trixx!’
The whole place erupts and Remy looks at me in shock.
I cock my head, a smug grin splitting my face as Stevie glides onto the stage. ‘She’s a star.’
And I’m not being biased. Stevie is wearing an incredible, emerald-green gown. It has streams of fabric billowing in different directions and a corset coated in stones, which glisten when the light catches them. She’s wearing a white-blonde wig, which twists above her head, and heels so thin and pointy that it makes my insides squirm.
Mom definitely didn’t used to own heels likethat.
As the music starts, Stevie starts to flip and twist her body. The audience goes wild, and as I get to my feet and pull Remy up to join me, I notice someone standing on the other side of the bar and my heart stops.
I don’t believe it. I was right.
It’s Annie.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Annie
For goodness’ sake, why am I cryingagain?
I dab the heel of my hand against my eyes, but they well up again almost immediately. I can’t help it. I’m so full of emotion that it’s literally spilling out of my eyes.
Stevie Trixx came on stage about thirty seconds ago, and I can’t stop staring at her. She’s amazing, there’s no doubt about that. She’s split-leaping and jumping across the stage, dancing and spinning and making the crowd go wild. But it’s not just that: she’s wearing the outfit I made for her … and she looks incredible.
It fits her so much better than I could have imagined. It cinches her waist perfectly and billows out around her like cascades of water. The monkey on the back of the cape sparks every time the light catches it, like it’s winking at the audience. Stevie was beside himself when I gave it to him. I guess, to him, I was just a random girl in a sewing shop that Jade vouched for. He was so desperate, I think he would have taken anyone’s arm off who had a functioning sewing machine. I’d asked him if I could play around with the design a bit, promising to keep it to the Wicked Witch ofthe West. And well, I don’t think he was expecting what I gave him. He was gobsmacked. So much so that he insisted on giving me, Penny and Tanya tickets to see his show that same night, saying I had to see him wear it in person. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a client actually wear the costume rather than just getting a static photo. I could see the way it fitted her body properly, how it moved, how it caught the light, how it bent with her curves.
I take a sip of my prosecco and laugh as Tanya screams, throwing her arm in the air.
‘God, she is so amazing,’ Penny shouts in my ear. ‘And she looksinsane. I can’t believe you made that.’
‘I didn’t make all of it,’ I yell back. ‘I just tweaked it.’
Penny nudges me in the ribs. ‘Annie, that costume has you written all over it.’
I laugh. She’s right. I was so emotional yesterday when I was making it that I let myself go a bit wild with it. Normally, when I’m working on a commission I’ll pull it back a bit, make sure that it isn’ttoo‘me’, in case it’s too much for the customer. But I didn’t care with this one. I only panicked when I was waiting for Stevie, back at the fabric shop, in case I’d ruined his dress and, therefore, his career and – in my anxious, dramatic state of mind – his life. But it was the opposite: Stevie said it was the best dress he’d ever had.
It’s a miracle I didn’t burst into tears right in front of him.
I finish my prosecco as Tanya hands us both another glass. We decided that I’d take a few days to really think about Pam’s offer and not make any rash decisions. So, with that in mind, I decided that I really didn’t want to talk about it.Instead, I would just like to pretend that none of these big, scary life choices were happening to me, and actually, Penny, Tanya and I were staying in our flat and renewing the lease for another ten years.
I pull out my phone and take a picture of Stevie to send to Mum and Dad. God, they’lllovethis. If they lived nearer then I would have got them tickets. Although I—
‘Annie?’
I almost drop my glass in shock as there, standing metres away from me, is Nate.
A whole tsunami of emotions crashes over me. Love, excitement, fear, hurt, anger, humiliation. I’m so paralysed by all the feelings coursing through me that I freeze to the spot.
Penny eyes me and then turns to Nate. ‘Hey,’ she says. ‘I’m Penny.’
‘Nate.’
