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ONCE THEY RETURNED TO THE HOTEL, IT was nearly noon. originally, the cab had taken them straight back to their hotel, but they had started fooling around and ended up right by the statue of liberty. neither of them had great interest in it, so they agreed to quickly snap a photo of the building, then enjoy the rest of the day.
when sharky opened the door to the hotel room, tatiana went zooming past him, in hopes of claiming the shower before he could. they agreed to go on a small lunch date— as friends, or frenemies if you would. so tatiana wore a simple white midi dress, and a white cardigan over it. sharky, who had a similar idea, wore a plain white linen top, and white cargo shorts.
as sharky quickly slid on a pair of air forces, tatiana finished up spritzing some perfume around her outfit, not before doing a couple more around the room, she loved to leave her scent. as they stopped out, the smell of her perfume hit sharky's nostrils strong. it was a bittersweet reminder of their relationship and the past, as well as it's unfortunate ending.
as they walked down the road, to a nearby restaurant, tatiana told sharky about the last time she had come to new york city, which was early in high school.
"well, i mean.. i wasn't really forced, yknow..? i was good at it, and it was fun, but it was my parents that were signing me up for these.." tatiana told sharky about the beauty pageants she would compete in as a child.
"but after around fourteen or fifteen years old, i had to stop because they only let thinner teens compete.." she continued. she explained the nature of pageanting, because while it seemed toxic, it really wasn't. they were known to empower girls and their passions, as well as maintaining their looks. after all, many pageants valued what was on the inside, as much as what was out the outside.
"oh, wow.. didn't it hurt your feelings though, when they didn't let you..?" he cautiously asked, as tatiana waved her hands and to show him.
"not really, by then i was pretty comfortable in myself, and i knew that it didn't mean i was ugly, it just meant i wasn't for pageants. it was nothing, really.." she told him, letting out a sweet laugh at the end.
