from hollywood hills to stamford bridge, sheva demsky lands herself an acting job in london, embodying an english women's football star in a movie directed by wilma woodward. she must watch, learn about and study the game, but also the dynamics off...
I half-kept my promise of not leaving so soon when the sun came up, but now it was 10am, and sam's first morning off in a while.
"I have to go but I don't want you to hate me. sam!"
she groaned and rolled over, a pillow replacing my body which was originally under her.
"I have to go to vogue offices. like. right now." I said in a louder whisper now.
"can I come?" she asked, with no expectation.
I pondered for half-a-second, but didn't have time to think.
"if you can be ready in 5 minutes, sure."
I had no faith that she'd actually want to come, in the same way she had no faith that I'd say yes to her coming. I guess we both surprised each other that day. not only did she get ready in record time, but she actually seemed excited to be experiencing something entirely new. the teacher/student roles had finally reversed.
we drove into vogue house, I noticed paparazzi were camping outside before I even opened my car door. sam, she seemed like someone that would hate this kind of lifestyle, and I couldn't say I'd blame her. I was ashamed of it. camera's flashed on an already bright day, hearing the repetitive clicks was always anger inducing when I was with someone who didn't ask for this life at all. I grabbed sam's hand and pulled her through the crowd, not caring that the tabloids will write an absurd headline about our hands being clasped together, but rather the fact she was a small woman being swarmed by an enclosing crowd of vultures.
after signing in, we sat in a mild awkwardness, drinking in last nights harsh exchange of words mixed with the aftermath of probably the best moment of intimacy I can at least say I've ever had. the silence at vogue headquarters didn't help, with the occasional heel clacking against tile and muffled small talk at the check in desk. I looked over to sam who's eyes had eventually closed, she sat in her slightly oversized t-shirt and shorts, in no way accommodating the damp weather. I smiled to myself remembering just how flustered she was trying to be ready in time, the fact she just threw anything on to come and spend the day with me, despite being this tired, made me think she actually does like me.
sam's eyes occasionally fluttered open, by and by, she gave up trying to sleep and studied the art work and prints on the walls.
"who's anna wintour?" she croaked in her sleepy voice.
I side eyed her, her question was an instant distraction from the emails in front of me. I was now taking a moment to try to think of the recognisable cultural impact of one anna wintour.
"have you ever seen the devil wears prada?"
she looked at me even more confused.
I let out an "oy vey," and she laughed.
"the met gala? big sunglasses? bobbed hair? vogue?" she nodded with an "ah yes" but I wasn't confident in her realisation. with the silence broken she piped up again.
"thank you for holding my hand earlier, and thank you for staying. I know none of this is easy for you."
her acknowledgement put me at rest. none of this was easy for me, for reasons that would make me sound superficial in admittance. I was grateful that sam was career-driven, even though I hadn't said it out loud, she had a natural understanding that me coming out would be damaging to something I had worked on since before I had my first crush.
I just laid my head on her shoulder, taking her hand in mine once more. each day with her and a team of girls who are so unapologetically themselves, was warming me up to openly being who I am. she rubbed circles on my hand, noticing my deep breaths which came with my contemplations.
minutes that felt like hours passed and I was called in to do my interview and shoot with sam watching on making something that had become natural to me, nerve inducing. I wondered if my presence triggered the same for sam on the pitch.
sam's pov
hours went by, but I didn't have much to complain about. I caught sheva's eye a couple of times, she shook her head while I scoped out the snack table and took full advantage of being waited on. initially a man approached me with macarons and called me madam, and I heard sheva snorting from behind him, knowing this was so out of my comfort zone, but I embraced it entirely for her entertainment. it's not everyday you're a guest at vogue.
I watched on as she worked with the camera, a lot more natural now than a few hours prior when paparazzi invaded her world. she was an absolute knockout, and it wasn't hard to see why I was falling for her.
I stole kisses in every interval, every time her makeup had to be touched up, or her hair transformed into a new look. it was clear that we liked each other. to us, to everyone around us, but I was still so scared to officially ask her out on a date or how we would litigate just how we'd go about this. as colleagues, as somebody who's still closeted, as somebody who's fresh out of a breakup, as an actress and as an athlete.
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Liked by mbrighty04, shevademsky and 184,543 others samanthakerr20 thank you for inviting me wherever food and dogs are ❤️ @shevademsky shevademsky 😅💕 erincuthbert_ where's my invite? 😭😭 ↳ shevademsky you were my first choice but sam stole it 😔 shevafansuk is it just me or does this feel like a soft launch 👀
a/n: hi! sorry for the short chapter. I'm hoping to get something up later on too ☺️ the visuals and interview for sheva's vogue spread will come later in the story, so I'm not neglecting that. i hope everyone has a great weekend 💜
