Knowing Me, Knowing You

Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)

Xander laughed and shimmied as Carter touched his calf, securing pins in the back of his legs. She huffed and glared at him, prompting him to suck in his lips and hold in his giggles. As she secured another pin, he laughed again, and she swatted his shoulder as she stood up.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"I don't care. Stop moving already."

"I can't help it. I'm ticklish on that part of my leg."

"Well, I'm dealing with pining your fucking legs together, so how about you don't move so you won't stab yourself and get blood all over the damn clothes," she seethed as she sat back on her stool and finished his fittings.

"Okay, so not that I have a problem with it, but you've been cursing a lot more than usual lately, and I'm getting a little worried," Xander sheepishly commented.

"It's because they're nervous," Dante said as he finished the final touches to Trevor's fitted suit. "Whenever they get really nervous about something, they tend to curse more frequently. Like every other word more frequently."

"It's just the show the show you're nervous about, right?" Xander questioned. "Nothing else that's bringing that extra layer of anxiety?"

"Nope. Just the show, because we still haven't found two more fucking models."

"Man, I came in at the right time, then," Jessica laughed as she walked into the fashion room with Trevor following behind her. "Trevor told me that you're still down two female models, and I was able to switch my schedule around so I'll be available the day of the show. Would you two be alright with me being a model?"

Carter rolled her stool away from Xander and over to rack of clothes concealed in black dry cleaning backs. She tore out a dress and quickly rolled over to her, placing it gently in her arms, and shoving her to the dressing curtain in the corner. "Put that on. Dante, you're in charge of her alterations."

"On it," he nodded. Holding up Trevor's fitted suit, he was tempted to undress him in front of everyone and help him into wardrobe, but he knew it would be unprofessional, especially with Jessica so close by. He handed Trevor the suit and said, "Once Jessica comes out, change into that. It's been fitted, and I need to see the final project."

"Sure thing," Trevor winked as he walked over to the dressing curtain.

"I said after she finished changing. One person at a time back there."

Jessica pulled back the curtain and stepped out in a black ball gown. The sleeves were short and off the shoulders, and the length of the black dress went down to her midthigh. Over the skirt was a longer skirt that was a sheer pink with black ruffles on the bottom, showing off her legs from her midthigh to her midcalf. The belt was thin and gold.

She shyly stepped up to Trevor and pushed her hair behind her ears, smiling as she gazed up at him. "What do you think?"

Unable to form words, he merely gawked at her along with everyone else in the room. "Wow," was all he managed to say.

She giggled and patted his back. "You're up." She stepped up onto the small pedestal as Trevor walked behind the dressing curtain.

Dante circled Jessica, tapping his chin as he decided how he wanted to alter it. "Carter, do you think it would be better to take off a layer of the entire bottom or just enough for her to walk without needing to lift the bottom of the dress?"

She stood up from her stool and walked over. "I want it to be floor length that's matched with her ankles, because if you just lift the front of the dress," she said as she demonstrated it, "you're leaving a tiny train in the back that will collect dirt and possibly rip if it's caught on something, not to mention if someone steps on it. It's sheer so it should be perfectly aligned with her ankles" – she lifted the entire dress to demonstrate – "so you don't have to worry about rips that can easily be trailed up and impossible to fix. If it were something else, it would be fine, but she shouldn't have a train for this one."