You Saw Me

37

We met with Harry in a loft where he was currently working on outfits for several artists. He greeted Henry with a warm hug, and they had a little chat, Englishman to Englishman.  He was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a loose shirt on top, making it hard to imagine him as someone who would dress a guy like Henry in sequins, feathers and glitter. Truely, you cannot judge a book by its cover. Henry put his arm around me and softly nudged me forward. "Harry, this is Ellie," he beamed at me.

Harry smiled warmly at me and shook my hand. "Lovely to meet you, Ellie. You are beautiful!"

I blushed, much to Henry's amusement. "She still doesn't know that", he winked at Harry.

I made a face at him and turned my attention to Harry. "It's a pleasure to meet you too. I'm honored you'll help me. I'm a bit of a lost cause, I'm afraid".

Harry laughed and linked his arm with mine. "Darling, you'll come to see that it's all there already, you just haven't seen it yet".

I looked back at Henry, who was nodding and sending me a goofy look. In that moment, it felt like my own version of 'Pretty Woman,' where Richard Gere, a wealthy gentleman, takes Julia Roberts, a prostitute, shopping, and she becomes more refined. However, in my case, we needed to add a dash of 'prostitute' and remove a pinch of 'ladylikeness.'

Harry took all my measurements and sat down next to me at his work table. He opened his laptop and started browsing through an online lookbook he had with Henry's outfits.

"We tend to go rather wild with Henry", he laughed, browsing past all the sequins, bodysuits, and glamour. Henry was beautiful no matter what he wore. His smile, his hair, his body and those shining, beautiful eyes were wonderfully complimented by the outfits he wore, both for live shows and events. 

"What stands out to you?" he asked me, interrupting my absorption in Henry's portraits.

I gestured to ask for his permission to scroll through the album on the screen. He nodded and moved the laptop closer to me. I scrolled a few pages to a photo of Henry in a black bodysuit with a white stripe going down his torso and legs. "I really like this. The contrast between black and white makes it classy, but the fit makes it fun". 

Harry nodded and started taking notes. "Yeah, that one's a nice choice! Designed by a Spanish brand, Palomo. Good taste, Ellie. Would you like me to browse pantsuits or dresses? A fun idea could be to dress one of you in all black and the other in all white. Or perhaps we could create a pattern that starts on one of you and finishes on the other, keeping it black and white..." Harry was already immersed in a creative thought process.

We browsed through different shapes and cuts of gowns and dresses, but in the end I was most drawn to wearing a pantsuit. 

"I think it would look nice, if it was tailored to be quite tight fitting. What do you think about that?" Harry asked, looking at me over the brim of his glasses. 

"I think I trust your judgment," I replied, more like a question than a statement. Harry laughed and wrote more notes. Then he called for Henry, who had been entertaining a group of seamstresses in the other end of the loft.

Henry came and sat down next to me, caressing my back while listening intently to Harry's plans. He nodded and hummed in agreement, adding little ideas himself. "How about we go for a black suit with white accessories for Ellie and a jumpsuit for me?", he suggested. Harry did a quick drawing and I was impressed how easily he got the ideas down on sketch. 

"Love, are you comfortable going shirtless?", Henry asked, catching me off guard. 

"Shirtless? How do mean?", I blurted out obviously giving away my nerves. 

Henry laughed lovingly. "I mean, you'll of course be wearing underwear, but when your blazer is closed, it'll look like you're naked underneath." He smirked at me. "Maybe we can get it very low cut, like almost down to her belly button?", he said addressed to Harry. 

Harry nodded and sketched on his pad. He turned it, so we could see his idea so far. It looked good, perfect actually. The suits would be made of matching black sequin fabric. The accessories would differ and, of course, the cut of the suits, but we would look like we were a match. 

"It's perfect", I muttered under my breath, staring at the sketch. Henry stroked my back and kissed me on the temple. "Do you think I can bear this at my age?" I asked Harry. 

He huffed and made a gesture as if to dismiss my question. "Darling, what age?"

Henry grabbed the pen from Harry and asked if he could add something. He drew a heart on the chest of his suit, which was just a white outline, and then a heart on the chest of my jacket that was filled in. 

"I want them to see where my heart is", he whispered. Harry smiled and padded Henry on the shoulder. 

"Brilliant!", he exclaimed and hugged us both. "Now let me get to work on this."

We said goodbye and went down to wait for the valet to fetch Henry's car. In the street, quite a few photographers had gathered, waiting for us to come out of the building. I panicked slightly, not knowing how my hair was or if I looked okay. Henry grabbed my hand and said, "You're beautiful, Ellie. Fuck 'em". He sent me a cheeky smile, and we left the building, blinded by flashing cameras.