Page 49 of Say It Isn't So

Knox:Now, about the front row. . . you got lucky. I’m sitting behind an extremely tall dude. I think this guy missed his calling. He should be playing basketball, not sitting here doing whatever he’s doing at fashion week.

I peered back and stifled a laugh as I saw a really tall guy, but no Knox in sight. Here I thought Knox was tall at a little over six feet, but this guy easily had to have been pushing seven feet. I felt bad for everyone behind him.

Bianca:You’re right, I can’t see you. You’ll have to take a selfie and send it to me.

Knox:*sends selfie*

Oof, if they were to put a picture next to the word “sexy” in the dictionary, you’d bet your pretty, little butt, his picture would be there.I swear, he makes my toes curl.

Bianca:Now that’s a screensaver.

That sounded weird and yet my finger hovered over the save button. The temptation was strong.Uhh. . . what to do, what to do.Screw it, I was saving it. I could call it a souvenir from London.

Knox:Well, then it’s only fair I have one of you, too.

I pulled up the camera and was about to send him one when all of a sudden I heard, “Bianca.” Looking up, I saw Rina taking the pamphlet off the chair next to me.

“Hi, Rina. So I guess we’re sitting next to each other,” I stated the obvious, and sent a quick text back to Knox.

Bianca:Later.

Then I closed the screen on my phone and shoved it in my purse on my lap.

She sighed audibly as she took her seat. “Seems so.”

Well, this was awkward.

And it shouldn’t have been, right?

Well, as long as you didn’t consider knowing you were in a love triangle awkward. If you did, then yes, this was awkward, no other way to put it.

But I wasn’t going to let it be.

“So how do you know Stefan?” Let’s be real, if she was in the front row as a designer herself, she knew Stefan.

She fussed with the tassels on her purse. “He was my mentor, actually.”

I knew my mom had connected her with a designer who then plucked her from New York, I just didn’t know that designer was Stefan. “Oh,” I replied simply. Then I smiled. “Well, he must be very proud of you and everything you’ve accomplished.”

“Yes, well, it wasn’t without hard work.”

I had my own thoughts on that one—like it wasn’t just hard work, but also connections, like my mother’s—but I was keeping my mouth shut. It just wasn’t worth it, and I knew my mother would agree with me.

Just then classical music began playing and smoke appeared to rise from the floor. “The show’s starting,” I noted, never quite so happy for anything in my lifebecause, it turned out, even if I didn’t want it to be awkward that was exactly what this was.

* * *

Rina

As the third model made her way past us and continued strutting, I couldn’t seem to let go of the fact that Bianca hadn’t said anything when I made my remark about hard work. Why was that? Did she not believe me? Did she think my road had been easy? If anyone, I would’ve thought she would have known how hard it was for me since she knew where I came from.

Not that she’d understand. She was practically Long Island royalty and had been since birth.

Before the next model came out, I leaned over and whispered in her ear, “You know, you may not think much of me, but Knox does.”

Her ears perked up and her eyes left the stage, turning to me.That got her attention.

I mean, how stupid did she think I was? Maybe they weren’t a couple, but she clearly had the hots for him. It was written all over her makeup-covered face.

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