Twice Over

Chapter 127 - Prevaricate

prevaricate
verb
1. speak or act in an evasive way.

After a long sleepless night and much stressing about my own dress for the show, Grandma Overmeyer came through for us the next morning, when her personal assistant arrived with three dress boxes for Eyva, Mum and I. The note that came with them read: "I took it upon myself to manage your dresses for the show. Please ask Tania, my assistant, if you require anything further. Jewellery and shoes match their respective dresses, please do not mix them up. My gift to you, my lovely girls. Grandma."

Beautiful dresses from designers like Jenny P, Valenti Couture and Monique Hill, all priced between five to ten thousand each, they were stunning.

"Go Grandma!" Eyva cooed as the dresses were unboxed carefully. "White for Mum, black for me, that leaves red for... You! My older sissy. Wow, I wonder what subtext there is in that little hot number for my hot Little Sissy?" Eyva threw my dress box at me, grabbed her own while I was trying not to drop the thousand dollar gift, then she ran away, laughing like crazy.

How could she tell the red dress was for me? Grandma had kindly glued sticky notes on the top of each box with our names on them. My dress was definitely the red one. I was a little worried about what her underlying message was to me as well. I sighed, too much to think about at the moment anyway.

"Mrs H, please can you place the white dress box on Mum's bed, please?" I called out as I took my own box to my room with the help of a maid.

Aider, one of the upstairs maids, helped me unbox my red dress and kindly hung it up for me. The dress was amazing, not overly expensive looking at all, but made from quality lace and tulle, with tiny glittering European crystal beads sewn into the lace. It was a typical sleeveless A line dress with a high laced neckline and had this cute little belt around the waist. Rubies embellished the belt latch. The boxed shoes and jewellery matched the square shaped ruby embellishment perfectly.

"It looks custom made." I breathed in wonder.

"It was, Ms Lily. Mrs Overmeyer Senior knows the designer personally. Please enjoy your day."

"OK, thank you, Aider." I murmured as the maid quietly left. I was still stunned by the beautiful dress.

A phone call knocked me out of my daydreaming and back to reality with only one day left until the show. So much to do and I got busy doing it.

Grant and Patricia arrived before lunch and we spent most of the day running around the venue and house sorting out many little things. The staff seemed to triple for the day of rehearsal, and the catering kitchen was chaotic as could be.

When the models arrived after lunch, I decided it was time for me to go out and join Ms Claire and her team sorting out the models and their attire for the night. I left the house and met up with the team of models arriving at the venue entrance under the umbrellas as a staff member showed them in. We all stood out of the sun, inside the newly built marquee, introduced ourselves and waited until the wonderful event manager arrived with her team. Ms Claire arrived via the house entrance, her two ladies following closely behind her and she winked at me before she began.

"All right ladies, we have a little under half a day until a full dress rehearsal at eight this evening. By that time you will be familiar with your make up and hair, dress changes, your cues and the cat walk. Safety first – I don't want anyone twisting an ankle, or heaven forbid, falling into the lake and drowning. So you will follow procedures, site safety protocols and keep to a professional standard in your role as a model for our clients. Any questions?" Ms Claire Godfrey was a professional at event management. Just by looking at her I could tell she'd managed a few fashion shows before, or at least worked under other's who had.