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Taking a break from the claustrophobic office, Kara was wandering around the oasis of Central Park, a mass of greenery and bursts of flowers tucked into the bustling metropolitan of National City as she soaked up the sunlight. It was a warm day and tourists flooded the park, taking photos in front of the sign at the gate, flowing in and out of the zoo that took up the northern end and the vendors selling ice cream and gelato.
It was a little too crowded for her liking, but walking past people throwing frisbees and reading in the shade, shouts and laughter washing over her, it helped dissolve some of the tension in her chest. Struggling with a story, it was a welcome reprieve from the cold, hard facts waiting for her back at CatCo, and Kara took her time, one ear tuned into the loud voice of a tour guide as she walked along the shaded path.
Just outside of the zoo was a long strip of stalls and shops, selling water and magazines and tacky souvenirs, some little boutique selling gauzy shawls and floppy hats and sunglasses, a ticket booth for tram rides to National City’s other tourist attractions and boat rides on the river. Thirsty, Kara drifted towards it to get a drink, and maybe a soft pretzel if they had any, before she glanced into the open front of one of the stalls and paused.
Inside was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, and Kara’s lips parted as her eyes widened a fraction. She knew she was staring, and she probably shouldn’t be, but she couldn’t help herself. Dark hair spilling down her back, a sharp bone structure and heavy brows were completed with the piercing green eyes that found her blue ones a moment later.
Kara flushed and panicked as a smile lit up the woman’s face. Rooted to the spot, she couldn’t make a quick getaway before the woman was in the wide, open doorway, grinning at her.
“Hi, are you looking for some photos?”
“Photos? I- yeah. Yeah, I am,” Kara numbly stammered.
Jerking her head back, the woman smiled, “come on in. Is there something in particular you like? Are you going for Victorian? Frontier? Maritime?”
Eyes widening a fraction as the woman moved deeper into the store, talking over her shoulder with the expectation that Kara would follow, Kara was seized by panic.
“Um …”
Her quiet confusion made the woman laugh as she moved over to the camera equipment and looked up, eyes creasing.
“How about you take a look out back and I’ll get it all sorted out here.”
Nodding silently, ducking her head as her cheeks warmed beneath the woman’s stare, Kara quickly crossed the room, bypassing the white backdrop and the big lights trained on the spot and slipped through the door she was directed to. It was easily as big as the other half of the shop, filled with an overwhelming amount of costumes - frills and lace, leather and velvet and sequins - and Kara realised that she was supposed to be wearing one.
She’d imagined for a moment that she’d be picking some souvenir thing with her face plastered onto some green screen background, and she was mortified at the thought of putting on one of those ridiculous costumes to pose for the woman outside. Stomach lurching as she broke out in a cold sweat, Kara looked around for another exit and found herself trapped.
Of course, it would’ve been easy to just tell the woman she’d changed her mind or misunderstood, but Kara didn’t want to do that either. Flustered and cursing herself, she moved further into the room and started browsing the selection, looking for something plain and simple, something that wouldn’t embarrass her as she played dress-up for a stranger.
After looking for a few minutes, her panic growing with each second, Kara heard footsteps behind her and turned around. “How are we doing in here?”
“Oh, um, this one,” Kara blurted out, pointing to a crimson flapper costume from the 1920s.
As far as over the top went, it was one of the more subdued ones, but the short beaded dress made Kara flush as peered sideways at the photographer. Crossing over to it, the woman pulled it off the rack and smiled.
“Great choice; this is one of my favourites.”
Flushing even more, Kara took it from her and was directed towards one of the changing rooms. She quickly dragged the curtain around to block her from sight, the sound of the other woman moving around making her heart beat faster and her skin ripple with goosebumps.
With nothing else to do, Kara quietly sighed, her lips a flat line, and kicked off her shoes to work her jeans off. Within minutes, she was dressed in the sack of a slip, the beads clinking together and her loafers squeaking on the wooden floor as she angled herself this way and that, trying to tug the dress down a little bit. She was a few inches too tall to feel comfortable and she didn’t want to come out from behind the curtain but didn’t really have a choice.
The woman glanced up with open curiosity on her face, which softened into a pleased smile at the sight of Kara, which only served to make her even more flustered as she ducked her blonde head.
“Looks good. And here are your pearls,” the photographer said, holding out a string of plastic ones for Kara to wrap around her throat.
Her hair was already in a chignon and the woman handed her a matching, feathered headband and a cigarette holder to finish off the look.
“Perfect. We’re all good to go.”
Nodding, Kara tried to breathe deeply to calm herself, fighting to get her blush under control as she stepped out into the shopfront and was directed to the white backdrop. The lights were on, blindingly bright, and Kara blinked back dizzying spots as her eyes watered.
“Alright, smile for me.”
Feeling self-conscious and stupid, Kara tentatively smiled. Snapping the photo with a quiet laugh, the woman lowered her camera and arched an eyebrow at Kara.
“You don’t like having your photo taken?”
“Does anyone?” Kara shrugged, her smile turning uneven.
“Bit of an odd choice to come in here for photos then.”
Letting out a snort of laughter, Kara smiled despite herself and the woman snapped a quick photo, a grin on her own face.
“There we go!” she brightly exclaimed, smiling down at the digital screen. “You’re so pretty when you smile; your eyes crinkle at the corners.”
Mouth opening and closing soundlessly, Kara’s heart thudded in her chest as her stomach swooped with the lurching feeling of butterflies.
It took less than ten minutes for the whole photoshoot, and while she hastily changed in the back room, hanging the dress up on the rack, the photos were printed out for her. Fishing out her credit card, Kara swiped it on the machine and busied herself by looking around at the framed selection of photos, people smiling in cowboy gear or stoic in full Victorian garb.
“And you’re all done,” the woman said, folding the little envelope over to protect the photos. “Here you go.”
“Thank you,” Kara quietly said, tucking money into the tip jar.
“It was a pleasure.”
Nodding, she left quickly after that, her drink and pretzel forgotten about as she legged it back to CatCo with the photos hidden at the bottom of her bag. Flustered and tense, she couldn’t concentrate on anything back at the office.
And worst of all, she went back four days later. On her lunch break, she was at the park again, eating her sushi on a bench as the sun warmed her, when she found herself drifting back towards the zoo.
There were people in the stories this time, dressed in frontier clothing as they smiled, grouped together, their rapid-fire Russian unintelligible to Kara’s ears. Lingering in the doorway, she watched the woman work, her swishing ponytail mesmerising as she directed the tourists around. They were done a moment later and as the photographer turned around, Kara panicked, making to go. She was too slow though and recognition lit up the woman’s face.
“Hey! You again!” she smiled, plugging her camera into the laptop as the printer turned on. “Back for more?”
Shrugging in nonchalant agreement, Kara slowly stepped inside with trepidation, clutching at her bag as she gravitated towards the woman.
“What’ll it be this time?”
Looking up, Kara’s eyes landed on a man dressed as a pirate and she pointed at it. “Pirate.”
“Nice choice.”
Her lips twitched with a nervous smile as she watched the woman work, the babble of voices from the back room making Kara highly aware of the silence between them.
“So, I didn’t catch your name last time,” the photographer said after a moment, hunched over her computer as she clicked a few things and the printer started chugging.
She turned her green eyes on Kara then, expectant and friendly, making Kara’s stomach clench. Clearing her throat as she looked down at her shoes, Kara smiled as she peered back up.
“I’m Kara.”
Holding out a hand, the woman smiled as they shook, “Lena.”
Within a few minutes, they were all alone again, and Kara picked out a costume from the back, changing into the billowing shirt and buttoned coat, the pleather leggings and too-big boots. Lena came in as she was fiddling with the cuffs and gave her an amused smile before she fished out a wide buckle belt, a tricorne hat and a flintlock pistol.
“Well, don’t you look dashing,” Lena approvingly said, her eyes roving over Kara, who blushed before following her out.
This time, Lena had a small keg and a few crates with coiled rope, setting the scene, and she directed Kara to put one foot upon it in a commanding way.
“Okay, hand on your sword hilt,” Lena called out, the camera clicking as Kara obeyed.
“Now, tilt your chin.”
Jerking her head up slightly, Kara frowned and Lena smiled, letting her camera dangle around her neck as she walked over to her. Kara’s heart just about burst out of her chest as Lena reached out with two fingers to gently ease her head to the side before she brushed a strand of hair out of Kara’s face.
“Good girl,” Lena murmured, adjusting the oversized coat before backing up, reaching for her camera.
Kara thought she might pass out then and there. Instead, she came back a third time and a fourth. And a few more times over the ensuing month, just happening past the shop on her lunch breaks and catching Lena’s eye and finding herself dressed up in something else ridiculous. The next time had been a full cowboy getup, spurs and chaps and all, and the time after that a man’s frontier outfit. Then there had been the Civil War Union soldier uniform, with the rifle and the slouched kepi hat.
Each time, Kara felt more ridiculous than the last, but she kept going back because with each fleeting encounter with Lena she couldn’t get enough of her smile, of her laughter. The gentle corrective touches became bolder too, the awkward silence dissolving into jokes and gentle teasing, and Kara still blushed at everything she said, but she was more at ease posing for the camera now. When Lena came to the realisation that she wasn’t a tourist, Kara lied and told her her visits were for extra credit for her history paper on American history.
She wasted more money than she cared to admit, and she didn’t tell anyone else, the pile of printed photographs in her apartment hidden in the drawer of her bedside table. Kara told herself she wouldn’t go back again - each time she’d said it so far, she’d failed, but she did mean it this time - and this time it had been a whole week since the last session (a colonial costume with a fitted floral dress, a white collar, matching apron and bonnet that she had been mortified by) and Kara was relieved she was running out of costume options. Hopefully, even if her resolve wavered and she wound back there again, once she’d burnt through all her options that would be the end of it.
On Friday night, Alex was over for dinner, the two of them ordering pizza and bickering over which movie to watch. When the delivery guy arrived, Kara answered the door, calling over her shoulder to Alex.
“I’ve got cash in the drawer next to my bed.”
Taking the pizza off the guy, the door left wide open, Kara passed by Alex, who gave her a quizzical look of mirth as she passed over a few folded bills to the delivery guy and shut the door. Setting the pizza boxes down on the coffee table, Kara had just sunk down onto the sofa when Alex waved a stack of printed photos, an eyebrow raised expectantly as she bit back a smile.
“What’s this?”
Kara’s stomach lurched and she shot to her feet, her face flooding with red as she made a choked sound of surprise.
“You- I- it’s nothing, I just-“
Alex’s smile grew and she chuckled as she flicked through a few of them, shaking with quiet laughter as Kara stormed over to her.
“When did you get these done?”
“Give them back,” Kara exasperatedly ordered, putting her hand out.
Sensing her embarrassment and seriousness, Alex slapped the stack into her palm and chuckled again. “No, seriously, what? It’s not a fetish, is it? Period piece boudoir photoshoots?”
Rolling her eyes, her cheeks growing even redder as a hot flush swept over her, Kara scowled at her sister’s teasing.
“Very funny,” Kara replied, her voice brittle as she gave Alex a stern look. “I just- it was just a … silly lunch break thing. A tourist trap.”
Snorting, Alex flopped down onto a sofa, “Jesus, I wouldn’t be caught dead dressing up in those. Not even for a silly tourist trap.”
“Well, it was just some fun.”
“How much did these all cost?” Alex laughed, leaning forward to nudge through them.
Jerking her chin up slightly, Kara shrugged nonchalantly, “not much. I got a discount on the colonial ones.”
“You mean you went multiple times?” Alex asked, aghast and incredulous, her brown eyes shining with laughter.
Opening and closing her mouth, Kara just reached for her pizza and opened the box, taking a slice and pressing play on the movie. As she took a bite and settled in, her cheeks still rosy, Alex chuckled.
“That’s just … bizarre.”
Kara didn’t reply, pulling a face and scowling, and that was that. Until Alex showed up Saturday morning for coffee, both of them walking to Noonan’s, a block from Central Park. When Alex suggested they get them to go and walk through the park, Kara couldn’t come up with a good enough excuse to refuse and silently prayed that Lena wasn’t working.
Her luck was as bad as ever though, and as they stopped to watch a street artist, sipping their lattes, Kara caught sight of Lena walking past with her bag of camera gear. Lena saw her too and before she could hide, the photographer stepped towards her.
“Kara! Here for another photoshoot?”
Alex’s attention was caught and she turned and caught sight of Lena, her mouth falling open as realisation dawned on her and she turned to look at Kara. Pink-cheeked with equal parts delight and embarrassment, Kara stepped over to Lena as Alex lingered a few feet behind.
“Lena, hi! Um, yeah, yeah I am.”
“Let me guess, Victorian this time? It’s the only period that you haven’t photographed for your essay yet.”
She melted at Lena’s evident delight in guessing and nodding as she felt her sister’s eyes on her back. “Yeah, Victorian,” Kara said with a forced sunny smile. “I, uh, I’m just getting coffee with my sister.”
Lena’s eyebrows rose slightly as her eyes slid past Kara, and she leant past her with her hand outstretched. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Lena.”
“Alex. And it’s so nice to meet you too.”
Kara wanted to kick her sister, the smug amusement in Alex’s voice making her skin flush warm as she fiddled nervously under Lena’s gaze.
“So, you’re the one that’s been taking those photos, huh?”
“Mhm. I’ve been helping Kara out with her history project; she’s my best customer.”
“History project?” Alex quietly snorted.
“Are you here to help with it too?”
Surprise flashed across Alex’s face and Kara’s smile wavered as she reached out to clap her sister on the shoulder. “She sure is! She’s been saying how fun it looks so I thought I’d bring her along for the last one.”
“Perfect! Well, I’ll let you two finish your coffee while I open up shop. See you in a bit!”
Walking off with a casual air of ease, Lena made for the shuttered shop as Kara stared after her. And then Alex let out a loud bark of laughter, doubling over as her shoulders shook.
“Cut it out,” Kara hissed.
“Okay, now it makes sense.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kara bristled.
Straightening up, still shaking with laughter as she took a sip of coffee, Alex shook her head. “I have eyes , Kara. I guess I should’ve known the only reason someone would ever willingly get dressed up in bloomers and bonnets was to impress a woman.”
“I’m not … impressing her-“
“Kara, you’ve spent hundreds of dollars on gimmicky costume photoshoots all because of a pretty girl. What else are you trying to do?”
Blushing, Kara took a sip of her drink as Alex laughed some more. Embarrassed, Kara couldn’t even be annoyed, because it was true. Giving Alex an exasperated look, she just shook her head and threw her coffee in the trash.
“Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“To get our photos taken.”
Alex’s mouth fell open as she gave Kara a sceptical look, “you’ve got to be kidding me. In no world am I getting all dressed up and posing for photos so you can flirt with her. Just ask her out on a date like a normal person! What’s wrong with you?”
Wincing, Kara gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged, “well, I’ve already promised Lena-“
“Oh, well if you’ve promised Lena,” Alex snorted, shaking her head as her face pinched with exasperated amusement. “Jesus Christ. I can’t believe I’m about to agree to this, but … you owe me. Big time.”
“You’re the best, I love you,” Kara breathlessly gushed, giving her a wide grin as she grabbed her arm. “Okay, so I told her the history project is on a timeline of American history. I’m doing my dissertation on the evolution of fashion.”
“You’re unbelievable,” Alex muttered, clicking her tongue.
They slowly walked towards the shop and by the time they reached it, Lena was finished opening up. Sunlight streamed inside and the lights were on as Lena sat down on the desk before her laptop and attached the lens to her clunky camera.
“Hi,” she smiled, looking up, “you know the drill. I’ll come and check on you in a second; there are a few I think you’ll like.”
Nodding and smiling, Kara dragged Alex through to the back with the overwhelming amount of dresses and feathers and tulle. Browsing the rows with little interest as she waited for Lena to come and save her (Kara, admittedly, knew very little about Victorian fashion) Kara smoothed her fingers over wool and brocade and satin.
“Okay, so,” Lena said as she stepped through, “I thought that, because the Victorian era spanned so many decades, we could put one of you in an earlier style and one of you later. So, there’s this big one with the hoop skirt and layers of crinoline and this smaller one with the bustle from when the fashion became narrower. Who wants which?”
“I’ll take the bustle,” Alex blurted out, a flicker of panic on her face.
Nodding, Lena removed the outfit, the skirts heavy and dragging, the high frilly collar and the trim jacket over the top, and handed it to Alex.
“This one has a corset as well,” Lena said to Kara as she hefted the big blue one and hung it up behind the curtain, before fetching layers of petticoats and the large hoops and arranging them for her too. “It’s a bit bulky, but it’s the most authentic one I have.”
“It’s perfect,” Kara enthusiastically agreed, staring at the monstrosity with alarm. “Um … how do I do it all up?”
“I can give you a hand,” Lena nonchalantly offered, and Kara glanced sideways, catching Alex’s eager nod before she quietly agreed.
Behind the curtain, she stripped off and pulled on the thin slip, before stepping into the hoop skirt and slipping the corset on. “Um, I can’t do the laces up.”
Lena peeked around the curtain and stepped in, giving Kara a small smile as she stood behind her. Her fingers were gentle as she adjusted the fit of the corset and deftly pulled at the laces, tightening each row down to the bottom as it cinched Kara’s waist in.
Pulling the whole thing tight as Kara dragged in a wheezing, shallow breath, Lena tied it tightly and her hands lingered on Kara’s waist as she eyed her in the mirror. Kara felt flustered with her standing so close, helping her get dressed in such a ridiculous costume, and she couldn’t help but blush as Lena spoke.
“A corset suits you,” she said approvingly.
Lena helped settle the crinoline over the top and then slip the heavy blue brocaded dress over it, the weight so much that Kara’s knees nearly buckled. Lena laced it up tightly too, the dress long sleeved and layered, the cuffs ruffled and a lace trim around the edge of the scooped neck.
Giving her a lace fan and settling the biggest, most feathery hat Kara had ever seen on her head, Lena grinned and nodded in satisfaction.
“This is the best one yet.”
It was certainly the most ostentatious, so over the top that Kara felt ridiculous as she swept out of the changing room, her steps slow and unsteady beneath the weight of the costume. Alex was dressed in a drab grey, severe and horrified as she eyed herself in a mirror.
Lena stepped back into the shopfront and as Kara tried to ease herself out through the door, Alex leant in behind her.
“I’m going to kill you,” Alex whispered.
It was the same as all the other times, Kara perching on a stool with her fan flared in demure poses at Lena’s instruction, with the added factor of Alex’s stoic annoyance and disbelief behind her.
Once they were done, changed back into their normal clothes and waiting for Lena to print the photos, they chatted amongst themselves, and Kara felt tongue-tied and shy, even though she’d done this a total of eight times now.
With their photos in hand, they lingered for a moment longer as Alex inched towards the door. Before she could follow her sister outside, Lena reached out and snagged her by the arm, a clouded look on her face as she frowned slightly.
“Kara … there isn’t a history project, is there?”
Turning bright red, Kara opened and closed her mouth, nudging her glasses up her nose as she let out a strained laugh, shoulders hunched.
“No. No, there’s not. I don’t know why I told you that,” she confessed, wrinkling her nose as she gave Lena an apologetic smile. “I, uh, I’m actually a reporter. At CatCo.”
“Why’d you lie?”
The way she cocked her head and gave Kara a searching look, her hand like a brand on her arm, Kara had the sneaking suspicion that Lena knew why. It didn’t make it any less embarrassing for her as she shifted nervously.
“Oh, um, well … I just- I wanted a reason to keep seeing you.”
A small smile curved Lena’s mouth and she cocked her head to the side, arching an eyebrow. “Did it occur to you to just ... ask me out?”
“No,” Kara breathlessly laughed as she winced, “it actually didn’t.”
“Well, how about now?”
With a shy smile as she fiddled with her fingers, Kara gave Lena a hopeful look. “Do you want to grab a drink sometime?”
Giving her a crooked smile, Lena crossed her arms over her chest and let out a quiet laugh. “Sure. And just so you know, I already wrote my number on the back of the third lot of photos you had taken.”
Hesitating, Kara gave her a confused look. “You- you did?”
“I was a bit confused about why you didn’t call but kept coming back. You’re literally the only person who’s ever come back a second time, let alone an eighth.”
“Oh, God,” Kara grumbled, covering her face with a hand, “you must’ve thought I was the biggest weirdo.”
Letting out a quiet laugh as she smiled, Lena shrugged, “hey, I’m the one selling them as a hobby. I probably should’ve asked you sooner - I felt bad taking your money.”
Wincing as she flushed again, Kara shook her head as she ducked it. “My sister thinks I’m ridiculous. I think she’s going to kill me later after making her get into that dress.”
“Well, I’ve got some lovely photographs for your obituary. But on the off-chance she doesn’t murder you … drinks?”
Nodding, Kara’s eyes shone as her chest fluttered and she smiled. “I’ll call you later.”