My Italian Nightmare

Chapter 22: Hopelessly Devoted

Everyone seemed to hold their breath, now staring at Freyja.
"YOU GOT IT ARI!", she yelled and Cecile started screeching, "You'll be flying to freaking Los Angeles my dear", she concluded and handed me back my phone. A wave of relieve rushed through my body and I grinned from one ear to another.
"I'm so happy for you." Stephan had leaned it and mumbled it close to my ear. I turned my face to him and smiled. His eyes were sparkling and the two dimples on his face had emerged along with his smile. "Thank you", I said and hugged him tightly.

I will be going to Los fucking Angeles, I thought and still couldn't believe my luck.

***

The rest of the day I was in an euphoric state and couldn't stop smiling and humming. I couldn't believe it! I had never been outside of Europe and now I would just fly to LA? Without having to pay for it? That was just so incredible. The e-mail told me to meet with the organizer of the trip after my classes, so I went into the main building after university at 4pm, feeling excited and curious about meeting the other person that got a ticket. I knocked on the door and was called in.

"Hello Arian, it's a pleasure to see you!" It was Ms Wagener, the head of the fashion design department. I knew her well, because I'd helped on several events and exchanges, always keeping in contact with my lecturers and the staff.
"Hello Ms Wagener! Good to see you, too.", I replied.
"Why don't you have a seat?", she smiled at me and waved her hand to an empty chair in front of her desk. I took her offer and sat down. She opened her mouth when someone knocked on the door again and she invited them to come in. A guy came in shyly and took the seat next to me. "Hello Tom. I'm sure you've met Arian?"
My head spun around a little too fast to look at the man next to me and I realized it was the same guy that I had literally just met two days ago. What a coincidence! I would have never thought that Tom would be chosen to visit the Gucci Event. It was probably conceited to think so, just because he didn't seem to have a sense of fashion. He obviously must have a sense of fashion, or he wouldn't study fashion design. Maybe he just felt more comfortable in normal...boring...clothes. I smiled at him widely and he smiled back, his cheeks turning slightly red.
"Yes, we've just talked a couple days ago", Tom said and nodded.
"Great. So you two are the lucky students who get to represent our academy at the Gucci Love Parade. You will fly there on the 2nd of November, check into a hotel, everything will be provided for you. On the 3rd you will attend the parade and have your chance to make connections. But don't forget to have a little fun as well." She smiled encouragingly.
"Then on the 4th, you'll have a day to explore LA, because it would be a shame to not be able to experience this amazing city a bit. Have either of you ever been to LA?" I shook my head, but Tom nodded.
"Well, I'm sure you can show Arian around then", Ms Wagener said and Tom smiled at me again.
"You'll be flying back home on the 5th. But I'll send out another e-mail with all of the information. Also - it would be great if you could document your trip a little – just take some photos and videos of the show and LA, so the board knows it's not a waste of money to send you on this trip." She shrugged her shoulders a little and I nodded understanding.
"Any more questions so far?"
I gulped a bit because I was a bit nervous about it, but I cleared my throat and asked: "What are we expected to wear at the event? I do own nice clothes but I don't know if it will fit in with the kind of high fashion pieces that will be worn there..."
I blushed a bit because I was embarrassed to be a fashion student that almost exclusively bought clothes at thrift stores instead of designer stores.
"Oh, yeah, I totally forgot about that", Ms Wagener said and took a deep breath, "You will receive a complete Gucci wardrobe for the event - a loan of course - but you don't have to worry about not being appropriately dressed for the event. My mouth fell open and I stared at her wide-eyed. "Are you...are you...serious?", I breathed and Ms Wagener chuckled a bit. "Arian, my dear, I wouldn't allow myself to make a joke about that. As I said - it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. I'm very proud that we chose two of our best and most engaging students for this trip. I'm sure, you'll have the time of your life." I looked at Tom who seemed just as stunned and we grinned widely.
"Well, then", Ms Wagener stood up and nodded, "if you have any further questions later on, let me know through e-mail."
We thanked her and left her office, walking down the stairs and out of the building together.
"Well this is funny right?", Tom said as we strolled about the campus towards our bicycles.
"Yeah, I mean what are the odds?", I agreed and stopped at my bicycle to unlock it.
"We will have such a great time. And I'm so excited to show you around LA", Tom said and smiled. I looked up at him and nodded. "It will be awesome, yeah. And it's good to not be on my own, I would surely get lost.", I joked.
"Yeah, no worry, I'll protect you", Tom said and laughed. Then he got slightly nervous again and put his hands into his jeans.
"Do we want...do we want to exchange numbers then? So we can keep in touch until the event."
"Yes, totally", I said genuinely. "Just give me your phone, I'll type my number in." Tom smiled gratefully and fetched his phone out of his jeans.