Today is Friday and Denise's birthday party. I would have really loved to go, but my fashion show and the long journey prevent it.
I arrived here in Milan yesterday and now I'm being made up by make-up artists.
I'm a bit nervous because I haven't walked on a catwalk too often yet.
"Leya, here you are," my manager says out of breath as he comes rushing in my direction.When he reaches me, he holds on to my chair for a moment to get his breathing back under control.
"What happened?" I ask him a little anxiously. I hope nothing bad has happened.
"There's great news," he says and then pauses again for a little longer.
"Well... The model who was supposed to open the show has just twisted her foot during rehearsal. She can't walk anymore and is on her way to the hospital. The designer told me to please tell you that you are going to open the show now and be ready in 30 minutes because that's when it starts. He said he has faith in you and believes you can do it without practicing once," he says with great enthusiasm.
I am just silent for a few seconds, trying to process all the information I have just received.
I'm supposed to open the show? Without practising once before?
"I don't know if I should do that," I answer him and immediately I see the confusion in his eyes."Of course you should do it. This is your chance to become one of the biggest models. It would be stupid not to do it," he says again.
"Yeah. You're probably right," I reply, looking nervously at my hands.
"Don't worry Leya. You can do it. I believe in you and so does everyone else."
I just nod and concentrate on kneading my hands again.
Twenty-five minutes later, I'm standing behind the process, dressed, waiting for the sign to go out.
My breathing has become more and more irregular by now and I am really nervous.
"It's time. Here we go," says the assistant behind the entrance.
I take another deep breath and then finally go out.
"Omg. Wow. Leya, I'm speechless. I am thrilled. You were fatastic and that white long dress. You look like an angel in that," my manager says excitedly.
I like the dress too. It's long, elegant and bright white and has a slit so that one leg peeks out when you walk. It is really beautiful.
After the show is over and all the guests have left, Lukas, my manager, comes to me again.
"I have a surprise. You've been texting me for the last few weeks that you really want to go to someone's birthday party in Dortmund. There's a taxi waiting outside to take you straight to the airport. The flight leaves in an hour, so hurry."
"Omg are you serious? Where are my things? I have to change immediately," I say in panic and try to find my things.
Lukas never makes jokes, so I'm pretty sure he's serious.
"You don't need your clothes. The designer gave each model the outfit he wore, so don't waste time and go. I'll take your stuff back to London with me and your plane ticket is already on your phone."
I take my bag, my phone, hug him once and then run quickly, well as well as I can in high heels, to the exit.
I am now sitting in my plane seat by the window and take a deep breath.
I was the last one to get on the plane. I ran through the airport like a madwoman and pushed my way everywhere. People complained and looked at me funny, but that's nothing I haven't experienced before.
Even when I got on the plane, people looked at me strangely and then I noticed that I was still wearing this long white dress with high heels.
I look as if I had just fled my own wedding and was now building a new life in a foreign country.
If I had that idea, I think I would flee somewhere in the Caribbean and not to Germany.
The plane takes off and I close my eyes, as I do every time I sit on a plane.
When we land, I go to the toilet to see how I look. After all, I don't want to get there dishevelled if I don't know who is there.
I fix my hair a bit, but my make-up still looks good.
It is now 10:30 pm and I slowly walk out of the airport.
I have to find a taxi that will take me to the address.
"You can drop me off here, please," I tell the driver at the nearest petrol station to Denise's house.
I don't want him to maybe know anything about the party and then know her address.
So I pay, get out and head off in that direction.
All the time I was so excited I didn't notice that I didn't have a jacket and it was far too cold to walk around without one.
Now I run again, hoping not to freeze.
When I reach the house, I am really relieved.
I am 100% sure that I will be sick tomorrow.
I ring the doorbell once and a few seconds later Denise opens the door.
She just looks at me with wide eyes.
"Surprise," I say and smile at her.
She says nothing, but just takes me in her arms.
"Oh God. Child, you're freezing to death," she says and quickly pulls me inside.
"How did you manage it after all?" she asks me happily now.
I tell her everything and she sends me upstairs for a moment so that I can warm up a bit in the bathroom on the radiator.
She said that she would wait downstairs with her guests and that I should take as much time as I needed.
So I take a blanket, which she has also given me, wrap myself in it once and sit down in front of the hot heater.
Half an hour later I am warm enough to finally go downstairs.
All the people there haven't seen me yet, because you can't see the dining and living room from the entrance and the stairs.
I walk down the stairs and of course someone comes towards me.
"Oh hey. We haven't seen each other in a while," says Jobe, who was about to run into the kitchen.
"Why are you here anyway?" he finally asks me, a little confused.
"Because of your mother. I didn't think I could come at first, but I made it after all," I answer and look once in the direction of the living room.
"Are there many people in there?" I finally ask him, my gaze still fixed on the door.
"Yes, actually there are. But they're all quite nice. At least I think so, I haven't talked to half of them yet," he says and shrugs.
"Shall we go in together?" he finally asks me and I just nod in agreement.
So we go into the hall and I stop at the door for a moment.
I thought there would be many of them. But so many? How do they all fit in here?
A few minutes later after Jobe left me, Denise is standing by me again and introduces me to countless people, none of whom I can remember anyway.
It goes on like this for a quarter of an hour until I finally look around the room in search of help.
I see people. People dressed in white who are far too busy with themselves to notice me.
My eyes continue to look at almost every person in this room until they finally meet his.