Halloween Party ~ Story Time

I know, I didn't post a story in months, and then I get to post two of them very close to each other. I cannot help it, I got inspired xD I was messing up with the diorama I made for the tinies when I came with the idea for this... and since I wanted to redo that little black dress of Coco and also use the amazing spider-web shawls my mother made, I thought this was a perfect opportunity to do so!

So, I apologize for any writing mistakes, typos or wrong tenses... you know English is not my main language. Anyways, have a photo and the story is under the cut!

The Halloween Party

The room was small, but masterfully organized: each item was in a perfect place, and the light was enough t brighten the place but not blind with its light. When she moved to Paris in search for more modeling jobs, Venezia had chosen to rent this small one-room apartment. She loved it, as it also came with stylish and modern furniture that moved around -like the bed or one of the kitchen’s counters- to change the space and turn her living into a bedroom. She loved that apartment, mostly because the rent was affordable but also because it was beautiful. However, on that day, it felt like the darkest and more air-choking prison. The soft morning light had turned into blazing heat in the very same moment she opened that fancy envelope just to find the most terrible news. She had been invited to attend to MOMO’s Halloween Gala, and she was expected to wear a ‘couture costume’.

She had frozen in place after reading, stunned by a mix of overflowing joy at being considered enough for attending, but the most utter despair at realizing she had nothing to wear and no idea about where to start. She would probably had to attend with someone, or face the fashion reporters, and she had done none of that. After standing, invitation in hand, for what felt like an eternity, she had started pacing her small loft.

Venezia was frustrated about her situation and each second that passed without a solution appearing in front of her, only made it worse. She was well aware of MOMO’s parties, but she had thought that only the Dolls -the most famous and well-paid models- attended. She did not expected this situation and it only made her realize two things. First, she had never participated in such an event; and second, she will probably had to go to the New Year party as well.

“And what is that, anyways!?” she half shouted half whined, thinking on the most crucial aspect of the invitation: she had to wear a ‘couture costume’. And it also made her understand two more facts: one, she had no idea what that kind of clothing or costume was or how to get it; and two, she will probably have to get another one for the possible New Year party. That was more stress than she could handle.

The only thing that she knew, was that the outfit must come from MOMO. She was one of her models and it was their party, so it was reasonable to think that the clothing must also come from them. Venezia let out an exasperated sight, and dropped onto the bed with the whole weight of her existence over her shoulders. She had just realized a third important and stressing fact: she had no idea of how to proceed to obtain such outfit. Did she have to simply go and ask it? But to who? Was it going to be provided and delivered to her without her moving a finger? That was very improbable, to say the least. It was probably an easy task for someone that was friends with a designer, but she barely knew some of them by name and did not had the courage to go and ask them for an outfit… if that was what she was expected to do at all.

It was just too much. She threw herself backwards on the bed, dropping the invitation to the floor without any regards. She stared at the blank ceiling for an unnumbered amount of seconds, and then suddenly rolled, pressed her face against her pillow, and screamed as hard as she could, hoping the cushion will muffle it enough. At least, she knew her neighbors were probably out for work already, and nobody would hear her.

*

It was dark, quiet and full of nothing. But soon, something started to vibrate. That noise became stronger at each moment and acted as an anchor that brought her back to reality from her deepest dreams… and also, towards her despair. She softly rubbed her eyes with her right hand, saddened by the sudden remembrance of the party invitation and lost herself in her thoughts. Her phone started to vibrate, slightly scaring her off, and making her realize that that was what had awakened in the first place. She grabbed it from the night stand, hoping it will be a message from Nadia, both reprimanding her and offering a solution.

Nonetheless, and to her surprise, it was a message from Coco. “May I invite you to a chat group?” said the first message ; after two minutes of no answer, she had received a second one. “It is important!”. Softly and calmed, Venezia put her phone down on the bed, and stared at the wall. That emptiness did not provide any answer, so she turned her gaze to a bowl of fruits on the kitchen counter. Those colors also did not help her confused state of mind, so she resorted to thinking. Did Coco knew she had been invited to that damnable party? Or even more… Was Coco the responsible of that invitation? Her left eye twitched at the last thought, but she waived her hand in silent, as to push those thoughts away. She took her phone, and answered. “Of course, send the invite in!”

The invitation came in faster than Venezia expected, as if Coco was already waiting for her answer to invite her. She accepted it, and soon realized that the other person on the chat was Lily: that seamstress from MOMO who had a fascination with Coco, prepared all of her outfits, and who was also one of the most famous seamstress of the house. What was Coco planning? Would she became her princess charming coming to her rescue to provide her a ‘couture costume’? Venezia rolled her eyes at the thought. Maybe Coco had taken more part on than invitation that the black-haired wanted her to have.

“Venezia, Lily has an offer for us!” wrote Coco, as an introduction for the chat. Venezia was now sitting on her bed, staring at her phone. As the chat said, ‘Lily is writing a message’ and, apparently, that woman did not knew that she had to make short sentences and press the send button more often. Her patience was running short when another message from Coco came in. “MOMO decided to invite outstanding models this year as well, and I was told you were invited…” . The dark-skinned woman smiled. Maybe Coco had not orchestrated that invitation, but she did have enough contacts inside the brand to find out everything that was happening. But what was with this chat? Since Lily was still writing, Venezia started typing an answer. However, she got interrupted when a ridiculously long message appeared on her screen. She erased what she had written, and scrolled upwards to reach the beginning of the text.

The message was long and written with an amount of typos that said one of two things: either the phone keyboard was too small for Lily -or her long nails prevented her from writing- or her orthographic knowledge was almost non-existent. Venezia decided herself for the first option –those nails were just way too long. How could she even sew with those? She started reading and realized that Lily had no ability to summarize. She had written with great detail and precision how it all had started that morning, when she was purchasing props at a store. Apparently, she had found some faux spider web that inspired her for a dress. She had rushed to her apartment and started sketching. However, she had too many ideas and ended up with two designs. From her own words, Lily was never able to choose between outfits, and so started thinking on who could wear the second dress. After brainstorming a little, which apparently was no use since she could not remember all of MOMO’s models, she had written to Coco offering her one dress -without excuses- and asking if she knew somebody. Coco had replied that she did, in fact, and had set up the chat with Venezia. The last sentence made the model smile, as Lily stated she had ‘squee’ at the thought of sewing for her…

She was not sure if that sound had been from joy and surprise, or from despair and embarrassment, but she guessed that Lily wouldn’t be writing there if she did not want to sew for her. Another long message came in while she was reading the first one, but she took a moment before continuing. Why would have Coco recommended her? Why was so good to her? They had been sharing coffees and going out weekly both to shopping and to gym since that first date that happened more than five months ago… and Coco had always been so kind and friendly.

In fact, with the passing of times and dates, Venezia had come to know that Coco was prone to keeping a non expressive façade, or making small gestures, especially on public. However, when they were alone, she would smile and even her voice was more expressive. It hadn’t happened from the first day, but over time. She could also guess that she herself had changed as well: she didn’t doubt all of the other woman’s actions, and dared to share some thoughts that, to her surprise, were well received and usually shared or agreed to.

Venezia closed her eyes, pulling those thoughts away again, and started reading Lily’s second message. “So, I want to make dresses for you two, with the same theme but different from each other. What do you say?”. She straightened herself, attempting to clear her thoughts, but those were interrupted by an incoming message from Coco. “What do you think of the idea, V?” So Coco was aware of the plan before inviting her to the chat.

Venezia felt a mix of worry but also joy, and she could not settle for one emotion or the other. Did she had to be worried about Coco knowing that much of MOMO’s internal decisions? Was she using her? Or was this simply interest and wanting to help? She had been used and betrayed so many times on her short life that her trust did not came easily… and maybe she was wrong at trusting Coco. However, that very same thought made her heart crush from sadness.

She lost track of how many minutes she spent thinking, when her phone started to vibrate insistently on her hands. This was not a message: Coco was calling her. Venezia stared at the screen, full of doubt. What would she say? She had provided a dress and a way out, and done something that she didn’t even had to do, but the black-haired model was also worried this would be a favor she would have to return in the future. It could even give Coco enough material to blackmail her! She pressed two fingers on her forehead, thinking, and accepted the call.

“V… is everything allright? Are you mad?” Coco’s voice was low and had a tint of worry and anguish on it. Was her such a good actress, or was it genuine? Venezia opted for believing in the second option, especially when Coco kept talking, eager to clarify. “I thought we could maybe assist together… as costumes will be similar but not equal…” a pause, and then she added. “I’m so sorry. I did not want to bother you, I just thought…”

“Thank you” Venezia interrupted her. “What?” came the voice from the other side of the phone call. “I was desperate as I didn’t knew what to do, and you… you just saved my career. I cannot thank you enough”.

A pause, and this time it was Coco who fell silent. Venezia waited, still unsure from leaving her heart to talk before her head could process all the information. “Would you come with me, then?” her voice sounded perfectly put, but Venezia thought she felt it strained. “Of course! It would mean a lot to me!”. On the other ide, Coco sighed full of relief. If Venezia was honest with herself, she had thought that Coco would bring someone with her -probably a male model, or even an actor or singer. She knew this was not something romantic as she had often seen designers arriving together to MOMO’s parties, often wearing each other’s designs, or models assisting with their seamstress and praising their work to the fashion press.

Venezia’s phone vibrated again, and she moved it so she could face the screen. On the miniature that appeared on the top part she could see that Lily was flooding the chat group with detailed descriptions and photos of the outfit sketches she had prepared.

“V, you do not have to say yes. You can refuse”. Coco had given her that nickname one day at the gym, while she was cheering for Venezia at an attempt to lift a heavier dumbbell while doing squats. After that, Venezia had been prone to call her Cocomiel, speaking Spanish in an almost public setting in more time that she couldn’t remember. Nevertheless, she also knew that sting of regret and self-doubt Coco was feeling. Maybe they were more similar than she had original thought of. “I won’t be mad, I just wanted to help” Coco added.

In Venezia’s eyes, that was the real Coco. She had a perfect face and almost not emotions except polite smiles that looked perfect on any photo from any angle… but she cared for people, she was lonely, and always secretly worried or offending someone or pushing them away where she could not reach them. Even if she did that on purpose, often thinking people could use her fame. Coco never let those emotions show, but Venezia had had those feelings and fears as wells -as she has just done minutes before-, and was kin to read other people’s intentions. But today, she simply lacked words, and her throat tied on an impossible knot. In one day, she had gone in an emotional roller coast from utter desperation to awareness of having a friend that thought that she may be on a hurry, without herself saying a word.

“Nobody ever did something like this for me” she finally said, without being able to control the words that mindlessly came from her. “I have no words or means to express how much this means to me. I want to go with you to that party!” “It is a deal, then!” Coco answered, with her voice changed by a smile. “But I believe we need to check those messages from Lily, or she will stress”.

“Let’s go, then. And… thanks for calling” Venezia answered. They finished the call, and Venezia dropped herself on the bed, forgetting about the sketches and messages from Lily. Another moment of silence overwhelmed her but, instead of screaming, she turned around to grab her trusty stuffed dog, hugged it, and started rolling on the bed, laughing from joy and excitement. She was not alone anymore. She had a friend.

Did you saw the background? I had the idea of a fake red caret for so long. Spent a week trying to make the background and get a store that would print it in A1 without me crossing the dang city over... only to have the first background ruined, because the guy used the PDF instead of the JPG with awesome quality. Nevermind the told me they'll have it ready for me to pick it up, only to get there and find out the forgot to print it D: But, they did not charge me that failed background, so I sent the JPG again, and got this pretty new one printed!

And this is all for today!! I do hope you have enjoyed this, and I apologize for the wall of text... I simply really enjoyed writing this! As you can guess, the next one will be the New Year party, for which I plan to use the patterns book that my hubby got me. Much excite! Anyways, hope you'll have a spooky Halloween full of sweet treats! Best wishes :D