Him & I

Blonde and Red

"Please gentleman, as soon as everyone is settled we will get started."

Breathe Y/n, breathe.

In...and out. One more time.

In...and out.

"Alright ladies places, places please." I look at the manager as he gets all the girls' attention to get into our spots. He's pacing up and down the hallway making sure where everyone is nice and touching up before the curtains rise for them.

I look down at the beautiful dress that was specifically made for me, Every woman had a designer to find what would help them stand out while also completing their appearance. It feels out of place for me to wear something so expensive and formal. I'm not used to this sort of treatment.

"Wow, you look gorgeous my love." I turned behind me to see Nao looking at me. Nao is one of the high-level fashion designers who specifically picked me to make my dress for the auction. During our first meeting, she took me under her wing when I first came here. Ever since we've been inseparable.

"Thank you, Nao," I say walking towards her for a hug. I wrap my arms around her and try to bring her as close to me as possible. She wraps her left arm around the back of my neck and wraps her right arm around my back. This will be the last time seeing her. This will be the last time I'll ever be able to hug and feel her warmth. Her protection. Her love.

She breaks first and places her hands around the back of my upper arms. She then brings one of her hand's up to caress the left side of my cheek. Nao did treat me like I was her younger sister. Whenever we were able to see each other, we talked about many things.

She opened up to me about how she became a high-level designer for luxury brands. She eventually left to start her brand. Her brand became very well-known worldwide and started to appear for major fashion events like fashion week.

Because Nao's brand became popular, the people here wanted it. Nao said at the beginning she didn't even know what she was signing up for because they were very vague about the job.

She didn't have a choice on leaving because of the huge salary and promotion this organization has done for her brand. She says that there were a few times she wanted to quit and run away, but there were girls in this world that needed her guidance for this life and life in general. Even if she couldn't do anything for them to leave, she just hopes that her advice and stories help them to survive.

Nao helped me to visualize what a normal life was like outside of this one. She made it sound thrilling and meaningful. Her life stories before this one help me to be hopeful about the life I wish to have in the future. But she and I know that wishing for a normal life isn't possible, at least not in this life.

I don't remember much about what my life was like before coming here. Maybe it's all from the isolation of being away from reality for too long. Isolation caused me to daydream about what would happen if I had returned home. I would think about what my family's reaction would be like. Did I even have a family? 

Sometimes in my dreams, I would see shadow figures holding my hand and pulling me with them. I feel happy and excited about where we're going. But before I can see it, I wake up. This dream has been replayed so many times and it never finishes. It's almost like my body refuses to see what is there. Or maybe it's protecting me from something I'm not ready to see yet.

"I'm gonna miss you Nao." Nao smiles with tears running down her eyes. I knew she was trying to pull through for my sake, but I could already see it through her. "Don't say that love, we'll see each other again." Nao and I both knew that after I get bought off, we wouldn't see each other anymore. It was part of the job for her. It sucked because both Nao and I had gotten close in such little time, but we promised each other that we would never forget each other and that we would cherish the memories we had of each other.