A FASHION FAIRYTALE: WHO SITS WITH YOU?

CHAPTER 9

Front Row at the Singapore Fashion Festival, 1pm.

Pandemonium.
Loud rock music.
Strobe lights.
A hectic schedule of fashion shows in the stuffy heat of a white tent in the middle of town. Long lines forming to get pass the door whores for the civilians. Red carpet, air kisses and fake accents for the fashion professionals. Welcome to the silly world of the fashion circus - some dread it, some thrive on it. Dana Lee, who craved order and perfection, had never been so grateful for the distraction of a fashion festival as she was for this present one. The tedious (but predictable and orderly)  rituals of the semi-annual spectacle provided a welcome relief to the current chaos of her personal life. As Dana was fawningly ushered to her accustomed place dead centre on the front row of the catwalk, she was more conscious than ever that all eyes were on her. She supposed that on top of everything else there was to say about her (and there are many rumours, almost all untrue), there was now making the rounds in the uncomfortable white bleaches of the back ranks that tantalising matter of her romance with Eli Kee. 

Young Eli, the new music star, a younger man, was someone deemed quite unsuitable for Dana Lee. This was the general opinion, as she was given to understand by Adam Tan. It wasn't anybody's business but her own, but if you live in the public eye, whether you liked it or not, the public would be eyeing you, good or bad. Her thoughts drifted back to the jarring end of the dinner when Adam Tan had brought up a topic rather unlikely: The topic of her romantic life. This struck rather a wrong note (oh, where's the order in things?) to what had always been a cosy, familiar relationship with a trusted friend, who however intimate, had never entirely been more than professional in concern. That Adam should have placed any emphasis on her intimate life, or that he should highlight something so personal, had in a twinkling between fruit (Shizuoka melon, Kyoho grapes) and cognac (Grande Champagne Verreries, 1904, Berry Bros & Rudd), shifted the tone of her long relationship with Adam Tan into something she no longer recognised or could think of as reassuring, easy or unambiguous. Between digestive and the drive home, Adam Tan had not only questioned the wisdom of her ‘going out’ with young Eli, but also insinuated himself as a possible alternative.

“It’s time for me to settle down dear Dana, and I’m accustomed to the finest, as you know,” Adam had said, like a business proposal. “I’ve been looking about, I’m not ashamed to tell you. My standards are high, but of course, only the best for me always, as you know… and my future family. In short, Dana, I’ve come to consider you as the perfect candidate for this particular role,” had been Adam Tan’s final words. “The role of my wife.”

  

As Dana took her place at her seat, with a couple of photographers flashing snaps at her, she noticed the empty place on her left, wondering who it could be reserved for. The regular faces (all bored and impassive) were all already in place, and it was already more than a half an hour late. “Perhaps,” thought Dana, “a celebrity of some sort. They do love a celebrity nowadays." Though why celebrities, however minor, must always be later than everyone else is something Dana particularly disapproved. She prized punctuality and order, more than precious gems and perfume. "Who could it be? Someone pleasant I hope," was her dismal thought. What does one say to these celebrities? 

And then a commotion erupted in a knot of flashes heading Dana’s way. And who should be shown to the empty place left of centre on the front row, right next to the famous Dana Lee, the undoubted queen of fashion? Why, it was none other than Bella Teo, of course.