FALLING HARD: THE BAD BOY AND ME

PROLOGUE: DANDELLION - 1

[NOTE: This story is an attempt to portray a dark romance. Hence, there will be content that is not fit for some of the readers. I apologise beforehand.]

(PRESENT)

CULTURE

Flabbergasted!

I looked at the model. She was smiling wickedly.

"Who is she and what does she want?" I couldn't help but ask myself. Knowing that she was GG, the model that I had hired was pointless. Tall with a slim but hourglass figure, heart-shaped lips, slender hands, flawless skin and almond-shaped eyes - she was more than the mask of GG. There stood a gorgeous human being that had disclosed the secret of my design even before I could present it to the judges of the NTFD. Her betrayal was shining bright in her face that was glowing with the make-up she had put on. Neat side-bun, thick eye-lashes, red lips, wearing the dress that I had designed, an orange body-hugging gown, she looked flawless. She was beautiful just like a goddess, but she was a traitor. And her sexy smile was taunting me.

She had pulled all the strings of my brain. I was literally shaking in anger. I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. But I could do nothing even when Lucy Lee was echoing my words through her speech.

"I was inspired by the happiness when creating this wonderful piece of art. What is more inspiring than the warm rays of the morning sun? I took inspiration from the orange lights that disperse around the morning sky! Warm and loving, orange is the color of strength and courage. Just like a fresh dawn, my design brings in courage to face the world head on."

With a snap of her fingers, the light turned off. The entire ramp stage turned dark and the dress glowed red! The model walked like a fierce cat while Lucy Lee continued with her oration.

"Nature is incredible. And our mere human eyes only catch a glimpse of what we see momentarily. But my design tries to portray the impossible. I have tried to showcase the dawn and dusk in this dress. And I am just as happy as most of the audience present here tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, please accept my creation - Daughter of fire!"

The entire auditorium roared in excitement. That dress was actually a stunner. Nobody here would know the pain that I had to endure while creating the dress. The way Lucy Lee described my dress matched my own description to a large extent, because I had named it "MAYA". My dress was purely a deception. It had its own duality. The dress was just like the dawn but once there was darkness, it glowed like a firefly. From orange to red, the dress that I had designed engulfed all the hues of the day and the night. But just like the design, MAYA - the deception, somebody had deceived me without any specific reason.

"Did she have her own duality?" I wondered out loud backstage, not knowing what to present right after Lucy Lee's Daughter of fire.

***

Blood boiled inside me when somebody else was getting a standing ovation for plagiarising my design. The theme for the competition this time was "Nature" and I knew better that she had wooed the crowd with her presentation. I clenched my jaws tight, trying hard to control my anger, my eyes fixed on the big screen showcasing the prestigious Fashion competition, "NEXT TOP FASHION DESIGNER". I was supposed to be recognised for the design I worked so hard on. However, I was stripped of that recognition. And it was GG who was responsible for bringing me down tonight.

I was next in line after Lucy Lee. It was such a prestigious competition and all I had was a replica of what she had just offered to the hungry crowd. I wanted to run away from the competition right then, but that would be cowardice. I gulped hard thinking about my terrible past.

I had fled like a coward and I had been bearing the consequences of that decision until now. I had thought that running away would solve all my problems, but more than making me, it broke me into ten thousand pieces. I could never be whole after that.

I didn't want history to repeat itself after 5 years. I looked at GG with disbelief. Uttering even a word to her was useless. She was ruthless. No matter what I did, I knew that it would never affect her. She had that same disgust for me in her eyes that was once plastered on the faces of the crowd protesting against me - against our family. Her eyes reflected that same rage, that same determination to burn me alive.

Mockery!

She belittled me with that smile. She belittled me with those enraged eyes.

"What have I even done to her?" Analyzing her facial expression, I tried to recall everything that had happened in the past. However, that was also useless.

...

"GG is fired!", I declared to my team. There were people who booed my statement but I was their boss. I had already faced enough mockery in my life. I already had enough of that cruelty and bitterness. My statement was final and I needed it to be implemented at the earliest.

My manager tried reasoning but to no avail. Everybody should know that I have stopped caring about opinionated people.

"Culture Fezong, I have set the stage and now I would love to see your doom!" GG whispered when she passed me by. She must have hated me so much, so that in order to bring me down, she had placed her booming career on the edge like that. I thought and thought, but I found no ties connecting us.

"Why do you resent me so much?" I asked, even though I suspected who she was. But she walked away, not bothering least to answer my question. She left me hanging there just like an old web devoid of any spiders. I was left there with my suffocating thoughts.

*****

"Time is money!" I have learned that in the hardest way. But more than that, creativity counts in fashion design. And right now, I need both time and creativity to save myself from my downfall. I needed to be quick with whatever I had to do.

"I want Emma to replace GG. Be quick with the arrangement." I said, prying at an unfinished dress hanging on the dresser. It needed final touch ups but that was not the dress I intended to display at a competition as such. It was really close to my heart. It was an abstract of my unsuccessful affair with my own brother. I felt goosebumps thinking about his handsome face all over again. Sadness spread throughout my senses as I began to sew the hem of my unfinished gown. Betrayal was all that I got throughout my life. I couldn't help but shed a few tears remembering how gruesome Darren used to be. But I had loved him until that day. I would love him forever.

.....

I hardly had an hour in my hand to fix the crack that GG had made in the masterpiece that I had created. The orange gown with thigh-high slits that glowed red when the lights went off - to the world it must be just another dress made by an amateur fashion-designer, but for me it was my hope to g. I nearly turned insane thinking about the idea of creating a dress like that. From choosing the fabric to cutting the cloth, from sewing the dress to adding special jewels, I worked day and night on that dress only to find that GG had disclosed the entire design to someone else. Sadness filled me even more.

My life had been a joke. What she had done to me proved that I was still a weakling. I thought fleeing to Paris would save me and help me earn a name for myself. I wanted to prove to the stereotypical society that I too was capable. However, reality was laughing at me. GG had pushed me back to the same disgusting pit from which I thought I had run away.

I fled away, in that I was a weakling. But society would be wrong to tag me as one, because my intention was to save the people I loved the most. I was brave even if I had taken that path which a coward would take.

"Ma'am! We have made the arrangement!" Chloe, my assistant, a woman in her early forties, entered with a pile of documents in her hand. She had made the changes even at the knick of time. My model had backstabbed me but she must have known that her career was going to end even before her tasting the drink of epitome, glamour and success.

"Good job, Chloe. You are such a life saver!" I couldn't thank her directly but I know she got my point.

"It's showtime ma'am!", she said, looking at the recently finished dress beside me with questioning eyes. No wonder she didn't have faith in the plain white gown which looked lifeless in comparison to my earlier design, "MAYA".

"Wish me luck woman!" I tapped her shoulder in assurance, not knowing as to who needed that assurance more, Chloe or me. Even if I didn't have any chance to win the competition with this gown, I was relieved that I had eventually made up my mind to finally share my untold story with the world.

'You can do this Culture." I sighed and smiled widely at my assistant, who reflected my smile in amusement.

********