Facade

me?” Nicky was smiling.
    “I would, but only if you wanted to.”
    His eyes narrowing, Nicky seemed to think about it. “Will you fuck me again later?”
    Jonas sighed. “I can’t stay, I’m sorry.”
    “Another client?”

    30
    Zahra
    Owens
    Jonas nodded, a little hesitantly. He didn’t want to leave, really, but he had another engagement that had been planned weeks in advance and he didn’t like to cancel. “I didn’t plan you, Nicky,” Jonas eventually said, and then he realized his words could be interpreted in many ways, all of them correct.
    “Yeah, right,” Nicky spat out, getting up from the bed and walking toward the bathroom.
    Remembering what happened last time, Jonas followed him to the ever-dark room. He was just in time to see Nicky light a cigarette and notice the façade was back. Jonas wasn’t surprised when Nicky didn’t offer him one as well.
    “Go! Leave!” He waved his hand at Jonas, telling him to get out.
    Jonas knew which battles he could win and which he couldn’t.
    This one was lost before it started, so after one more look at Nicky, he turned around and walked out.

    DRESSED in his suit once more he descended the stairs, not entirely surprised to find Tanna walking toward him.
    “You don’t have to wait up for me, you know,” Jonas said, trying to make her feel at ease.
    “It’s okay,” she replied softly. She placed a hand on Jonas’s arm. “Nicky was a lot nicer to live with after you left last time. You have no idea what that means to us.”
    “Well, I’m not sure it helped this time. I think he’s a little upset with me.”
    “Because you need to leave?” She looked despondent.
    “Tanna, I’m sorry.”
    She kissed him on the cheek. “You probably don’t want to hear this, but he really likes you. He’s got a strange way of showing it, I know, but….” She inhaled deeply. “Very few people get to see Façade
    31
    the real Nicky, and I’m one of them. He’s told me he lets his guard down around you too, so you know what I mean. There’s a beautiful person behind that façade, Jonas.”
    Jonas nodded. Of course he knew that. He just wished he got more chances to see it. “You have my number.” As he walked out into the dark night, Jonas realized that he too had his own façade.

    32
    Zahra
    Owens

    AS HE had predicted, Jonas didn’t hear from Nicky for quite some time. Even Tanna didn’t contact him to confirm the fact she’d asked him to pencil in London Fashion Week. Maybe she meant next London Fashion Week? Jonas was surprised to find he had been looking forward to seeing the eccentric designer again. He was too old to fool himself, though. To Nicky he was just a hired hand, someone on his private payroll, and it wasn’t as if Jonas sat at home waiting for Nicky to call.
    Life went on and Jonas saw his regular clients. He arrived back in London from Los Angeles one Monday morning and was pleasantly surprised to find a voice mail message from Tanna telling him he was invited to Nicky’s catwalk show that afternoon at the Natural History Museum. Flying first class at his client’s expense had its advantages, and Jonas had slept well during his direct flight, so he went home for a quick shower and a change of clothes before making his way across London.
    At the museum, he was picked out of the endless queue by Tanna herself.
    “I can’t tell you how happy I am you’re here,” she admitted as she ushered him through the crowds toward the backstage area.
    “He’s nervous as hell and snapping at everyone who crosses his path.”

    Façade
    33
    Jonas raised an eyebrow, but didn’t answer. What could he say? That this was how Nicky always behaved anyway? Tanna knew that.
    “I know,” she sighed. “I should have called you earlier and confirmed our appointment, but he didn’t want me to. For weeks, every time I mentioned you, he’d bite my head off. Of course now he’s changed his mind.”
    Jonas smiled, silently happy that Nicky seemed to struggle with their relationship as well. Or maybe he was just reading things into it. Maybe Nicky was simply the spoiled brat he so loved to show to the outside world, used to having his employees at his beck and call.

    EVEN behind the scenes, Jonas was surprised at the amount of people running around. He’d suspected there would be order and calm, much like how the models looked when they stepped out on the runway. Instead, there was utter chaos. Tanna was her usual self, exuding her