Barbie: In City of Love

Fashion or Battle dilemma?

Barbie's POV

"Barbie! Wake up!"
I groaned in protest as I felt my blanket getting pulled off.

I sat up sleepily and saw Nikki.
I yawned.
"What time is it?" I asked.

"It's 11 a.m! What were you doing last night that you're so sleepy now?" Nikki asked, causing me to grin sheepishly.
Having fun with Ken. What else? I answered in my head.

"Today morning I met up with the Ava Adams....fashion designer and the organizer of this fashion contest," Nikki started explaining excitedly, "She told me that the round one of the competition is in three days. The theme for it is party dress. She also told me that I need models wearing my works and presenting them before the judges."

I smiled knowingly. I knew exactly where this was going.
"Sure, Nikki. I'll be your model," I replied and shrugged casually, causing Nikki to squeal in excitement.

"Come on! I need to get everyone's measurements," with that she grabbed my hand dragged me out of my bed.

"Let me get breakfast first," I smiled as I yawned again, "Can't model on an empty stomach and you can't design if you're starving."

Nikki shrugged casually and nodded.
"You got a point there," she replied and with that we headed downstairs towards the dining hall.

There I saw all of our friends gathered around a table, waiting for us.
I took my seat next to Ken.

I was digging into my eggs when Ken fed me some bacon. He gave me a cheeky smile and a wink.

"You two were too busy pretending to be “just friends” and now in just six months you're acting like a married couple already," Patricia joked as she gave us a smirk.
I rolled my eyes and grabbed my glass of orange juice and started drinking.

Patricia however continued
"I just hope you two are taking the precautions for certain activities."

At that statement, I started coughing violently.
Did you have to say that while we were down here and while I was drinking.

I finally managed to catch my breath and Ken patted me on the back.
"Are you okay, hun?"
I nodded in response and gave Patricia a frustrated look.

But to be completely honest, Ken and I decided to take our relationship slow. We didn't want to rush anything....
It was for the best to take the next steps when we both were ready...and that step when we were married.
Yeah we also did talk about marriage...

And that was something we both wanted....having a family together.
But then I had a worrisome thought.
What if some criminal decides to use my family against me? What if they hurt the children I'll have with Ken?

I decided to shake off the bad feeling I had. I would do anything to keep my family safe.
And besides I'd cross that bridge when I have to.

I shook my head to get rid of the negative thoughts.
Then I tried to pay attention to what my friends were chatting about.

"Hold your horses, Nikki! You want us to model for you?" Patricia asked, a little surprised. Then she stared at the ground and stuttered, "I....I don't think I'm the right option for the job."

That raised the alarms in my head. Patricia wasn't the type of person to back down from a challenge. Something wasn't right.

"Are you kidding me?" Stella laughed and patted her shoulder, "You're exactly the right option! You're in great shape."

Sarah nodded in agreement and winked at her.
"Besides....you have something those artificial models don't," Sarah added, "Natural beauty. You don't need any makeup or anything. You look perfect just the way you are."
Patricia gave a shy smile and shrugged.