Barbie: Beyond the Trip

Valen-Times

The Fab Five

Nimble fingers danced over the sheer silkiness of the blue satin, inspecting its edges for any unwelcome imperfections that may need to be snipped away from the perfect final product. Thread so fine guided by manicured fingers found its way to the eye, praying to be worthy of the metallic utensil that would majestically transform the solid rectangle of cobalt smoothness into a masterpiece worthy of ogling and applause as it floated gloriously down the red carpeted runway upon another humanoid vessel...

The fibers moved into position... poised just over the minuscule opening, held perfectly frozen by its owner... closer and closer it came... closer... easy does it... almost—

"YO! RAFA!"

—Aaaaaaand missed it by a mile, rocketing the thread past the needle in a fabulous display of awkward acrobatics that would make any monkey trapeze artist jealous...

"Ugh... BROOKLYN!", Rafa whined, glaring over his shoulder at the loudly rude and boisterous interruption. He scoffed and gestured roughly back towards his material, "Knock first?!"

Brooklyn's eyes widened apologetically, realizing she may or may not have messed up his task. Backing up two steps, she cleared her throat, and graciously knocked three times on the threshold's frame...

Rafa simply rolled his eyes, huffing with annoyance... He nudged his head for her to enter. And enter she did, with the biggest grin across her face.

"Soooo... whatcha up to?", she innocently peered over his shoulders to gaze upon his project.

Narrowing his eyes a bit towards the other girl, Rafa was clearly still irritated at the abrupt barging.

"I am trying to tailor this gorgeous fabric into the most avant garde gown you have ever seen in your life!", he boasted, puffing out his chest... But then exhaled heavily, his eyes glaring rather deadly towards her, "At least until you chose to interrupt my work"

Wincing again, Brooklyn coughed nervously and whispered a quick, "Sorry"

Silence... Rafa spun back to work, meticulously training the fine fibers through the needle's eye, praying for the–

"Soooooo... whatcha doin' later?"

Rolling his eyes yet again, harshly setting down his instruments, Rafa had to pause his work...

"Well, I was hoping to be finished with this, but alas, it doesn't seem to be going that way, does it?"

Brooklyn could tell he was a bit irritated... Maybe it was a hunch? Maybe it was his eye rolls? Maybe it was the tone of his voice. However, she would not be deterred from her own task. Grinning widely, she swooped in and leaned against his desk anyway, crossing her arms casually.

"When's it due?"

Rafa was now employed at one of the more prestigious fashion design companies in New York City; somewhat of a dream of his... It also meant a lot of work. "Busy" was his middle name and "busting his butt to churn out design after design" was now his game... Whether they were his or not, he was now in charge of seeing to it that they would be perfect.

High price to pay for the high payment he received in return...

"I need to finish three dresses by Monday", he sighed, feeling more overwhelmed after each question the girl posed.

Staring at the man thoughtfully, Brooklyn's smirk grew.

"Soooooo... not tomorrow?"

Lifting his other brow with suspicious interest, Rafa agreed, "No, not tomorrow..."