Dressing Rooms

[Deleted]

Andi Foster

Andi had to actually back track into the events of boo boos, blisters, and other injuries that seemed to occur quiet frequently for the dancer. Give her a pair of jazz shoes and she was the epitome of grace. Hand her a pair of scissors and this klutz was nothing but an absolute snipping mess. Which, how did she figure she was going to fix her blouse tonight if she had not run into this guy? Also, on her mental to do list- get 'this guy''s name.

“Okay, tell you what,” He said, smiling. Her eyes flickered over to him in a smile of her own. “I’ll fix that blouse of yours if you fix up my face. Fair trade?”

Andi Foster bobbed her head up and down a few times into a nod and smirked, "Yeah, I can dig it."

Snapping her fingers, she twisted her head for a sideways glance at him, glinting. "Want to know a not so fair trade?" She said, pointing a finger at her chest. "You know my name, but I am unaware of yours."

Andi Foster smiled and extended her hand. She was always one for a friendly and formal handshake when she met someone, but also because eye contact and concentration on the name was much needed for her. Andi was awful at names. So after the handshake, the name, she usually gave the person a mental adjective.

Apparently she had already given him an adjective if his name began with an 'S'.

Seriously, Andi? Striking?!

"So, Andi Foster." She said with a dimpled smile, and she rose her eyebrows, drawing out, "Annnnnd yours?"

[The Exodus]

Alexander Sokoll

Andi Foster smiled and nodded. And for a little moment in time, Alexander could forget that she was the wicked witch who had stolen his potential career from him. Instead, he could see her as a bright-eyed woman, roughly his age, in need of an experienced tailor or seamstress. And while Alexander was no professional, he had a knack for stitching up clothing and too much difficulty turning away anyone in need.

"Yeah, I can dig it," Andi Foster said with a nod. And then she snapped her fingers, as though idea-struck. "Want to know a not so fair trade? You know my name, but I am unaware of yours."

Alexander was actually surprised she wanted to know his name. He was a relative nobody these days. Persona non grata, that’s what he was. The male house mom, only interesting in his novelty. The nameless father at the park who was vaguely sad still because his wife had died and the other parents could just tell and didn’t know what to say. The once-promising star of the Opera Garnier, dimmed and dense. Why would the woman who had bested him care? Why would really anyone care all that much? He was “Hey you” on a bad day and “Daddy” on the best of days. It had been enough for months. Andi Foster extended a hand for a handshake. Alexander hesitated ever-so-slightly before accepting it.

"So, Andi Foster," she said. Her smile deepened to reveal a set of dimples. "Annnnnd yours?"

“You think it’s that easy?” Alexander said, half smiling. “Oh, come on. That’s never how it goes. Aren’t you supposed to guess three times, promise me your first-born child if you fail, and all that jazz?”

He walked over to the sewing kit. He really was the consummate Daddy these days, thinking of children’s stories instead of the very real, very serious prospect of talking to his career competition. It was too painful to actually take this seriously. The second Alexander went back to thinking of Andi Foster as his competition, that was the second he did a half-baked job on her blouse out of spite. He didn’t want to do that. He picked through the thread colors to find a close match.

“I mean, okay. I won’t steal your kids. I promise,” he said, looking up, still smiling. “But where’s the fun in just telling you? Give it a couple guesses.”

[Deleted]

Andi Foster

“You think it’s that easy?”

Andi blinked, taken back by the response that was... not his name. His lips were twisted up in a one sided smile, but she was beginning to lose hers, becoming befuddled. Was she not supposed to think saying your name was straightforward? Andi assumed it could be problematic if he had amnesia. Maybe it was a cultural difference here. ‘People of Paris must never speak of their names- it is forbidden to make friends and introduce!’ Yeah, that seemed not likely, or else this social butterfly was totally off beam in this moving to Paris thing.

“Oh, come on.” Andi’s eyes flickered at him, looking at him, because she still had no idea what he was talking about! “That’s never how it goes. Aren’t you supposed to guess three times, promise me your first-born child if you fail, and all that jazz?”

He walked away leaving Andi Foster with the biggest smile plastered on her lips since she had come to Paris. This always felt refreshing. She watched him with entertained eyes. So, he was a modern day Rumpelstiltskin? Andi had loved fairytales when she was a kid, and she was obsessed with Grimms’ fairy tales. Most girls had loved Disney princesses, and as appealing as it sounded to wear seashells on her chesticles or find the beauty in a beast- it was never Andi Foster’s scene. The Grimm version of Cinderlla was wickedly genius and gruesome. Which, did set her apart from most girls. She always loved to meet someone who was interested in the originals.

“I mean, okay. I won’t steal your kids. I promise,” Rumpelstilktskin told her from his supplies, looking up at her. “But where’s the fun in just telling you? Give it a couple guesses.”

Andi grinned from ear to ear, slowly making her way over to him with a daring glint in her eyes. "A challenge, eh?" It was an impossible challenge, who was she kidding, but it was still fun and quirky, and she more than appreciated it. Crossing her arms, she scanned him with a sassy flare, "Well, Stilktskin, challenge accepted."

Dropping her arms, Andi Foster took a few steps back, leaning with her hands behind her butt onto the counters, eyeing him thoughtfully. There was no way in heck that she was ever going to guess this guy's name, but she'd totally have fun making up ridiculous names. She stared him down seriously, grinding her lips together in mock thought. With a thoughtful gesture of her fist under her chin, she nodded and squinted her eyes as if she were a scientist.

"You're a Gertrude L. Watson-Kempterton Jackson III, aren't you?"

[The Exodus]

Alexander Sokoll

Alexander felt extremely childish—foolish even—to play at being Rumplestiltskin with a woman he had every right to hate. He was thirty years old and had two children at home he was determined to set a proper example for. And yet, Jules and Serena weren’t here. And when alone, Alexander couldn’t help but to remember a time when he used to be fun. He had once been something other than somebody’s daddy. He struggled to remember what he had been exactly. A friend, a partner, a boyfriend, a dancer… All titles he sometimes didn’t think he could quite live up to anymore. He was reinventing himself. And for some reason, he chose to reinvent himself as the hobbled, baby-snatching goblin from Grimm’s Fairytales. It certainly wasn’t the obvious choice.

And yet, it made Andi Foster smile. Alexander wondered if that was a good thing. He was used to making Ray smile or the kids or—when she had been alive—Esperanza. But lately, he’d been anything but a barrel of laughs. Maybe this was progress.

"A challenge, eh?" Andi Foster said, folding her arms over her chest. "Well, Stilktskin, challenge accepted."

Yes, maybe this was progress. Andi Foster scrutinized Alexander in a mockery of how Rozaylia Donkova once had, eyes narrowed, pseudo-scientific as she analyzed him. That had been so long ago and Alexander could remember how his skin crawled and how he’d wanted to melt into the floor. That Alexander was gone, replaced with a defiant one who kept looking for the perfect thread color and a needle that would do the trick.

"You're a Gertrude L. Watson-Kempterton Jackson III, aren't you?" Andi Foster declared.

“Ooh, you’re good,” Alexander said, looking up. Then, grinning, added, “But not quite good enough that time. Two more guesses. C’mon.”

[Deleted]

Andi Foster

"Ooh you're good."

Andi shrugged with a mighty smile, accepting that sarcastic compliment with mock confidence.

“But not quite good enough that time. Two more guesses. C’mon.”

Nodding and accepting her defeat with her palms up in the air, she sighed, "Fair enough. Too common of a name, I should have known."

Then she looked at him, watching as he handled the thread. Andi cocked her head, viewing him in a different mind frame aside from their game. Here he was, two in the morning, fixing her blouse. It was two in the morning. He could have pushed her away and went along with whatever he was doing, or just ignored her and treated her like the 'new girl', and she was not welcomed. What a guy, right? Andi Foster, through her beat of a gazing glint, genuinely wanted to know who he was.

With a more serious and competitive expression, Andi hopped onto the counter behind her, leaning with her palms wrapped around the edge over to him. She could totally do this!

"Okay, give me the first letter of your name." She requested, pursing her lips with a fiery prep to knock this out of the ball park. "Oh," She snapped, pointing, "and the letter it ends in."

Andi Foster shrugged, holding out her hands, "It's only fair. I gave you my name freely."

[The Exodus]

Alexander Sokoll

Andi Foster nodded and shrugged, admitting and accepting defeat. Alexander half-wished it would be that simple to get her to hand over the choreographer position, but it wasn’t exactly likely.

"Fair enough,” she said. “Too common of a name, I should have known."

Alexander chuckled and threaded the needle with what he deemed the ideal shade of brown. He crossed the room back to Andi Foster. She pushed herself up onto one of the vanity tables and Alexander couldn’t ignore how graceful and fluid the motion had been. It was a far cry from how she’d come thundering in mere minutes ago.

"Okay, give me the first letter of your name," she said, pursing her lips. "Oh," She snapped, pointing, "and the letter it ends in."

“What--?”


"It's only fair. I gave you my name freely."

“Okay, fine. I give,” Alexander said shrugging. He gestured for Andi Foster to show him the rip. “A and R. Better? Now, I’m gonna need you to hold very still. Okay?”

[Deleted]

Andi Foster

"Okay, fine. I give."

He said caving in, coming over to her with the thread in his hand. Andi was too busy reveling in her own victory that she had managed to weasle her way into getting a hint to realize that he was ready to fix her tear. He had made some sort of gesture, but Andi was too busy staring at him anxiously, really getting caught up in this game.

“A and R. Better?"

The thinking cap went on and it was all a name game in Andi's head, her eyebrows drawing in, deeply thinking.

"Now, I’m gonna need you to hold very still. Okay?”

"Huh?" Andi blinked, looking up at him now, and then realized that he was trying to do his job but she was making it difficult for him sitting down. "Oh, duh, sorry." She apologized, sliding off of the vanity to stand directly in front of him, and twisting to the side so the ripped side of her blouse was facing him, lifting her arm to show him where it was and her exposed side that went all the way up to where her bra began. Andi looked straight ahead, not phased by it. When it came to show business, a person's body was no longer their hidden temple.

"Okay, so..." She began, sucking in a breath and squinting her eyes in concentration. Andi looked at him from his profile in the mirror in front of her, and tried to get inspiration for his name through his looks. People often looked like their name. "A and R.." She mumbled to herself, making sure to hold incredibly still, and all the action to be the wheels in her head turning.

As she tried to make out his name through his looks, she had gotten lost in the technique, beginning to stare at his profile a little more intently and wide-eyed, because now he wasn't watching her watch him. It made it more creepy, but at least she was the only one witnessing it. He was so good looking, it was unfair. Andi Foster blinked her way out of that one, and refocused herself. It would be more than pathetic if she let looks get in the way of her challenge. Heck, that was probably what he figured would happen. Oh no, not this chick.

Shutting her eyes, Andi thought hard, beginning to sound out random things out loud until she got something.

"A...sh...er.." She hummed, "Arch.." Her eyes snapped open, "Archer!"

[The Exodus]

Alexander Sokoll

He really ought to have given her the first letter of his first name and the last letter of his last name, just to make things interesting. He couldn’t think of a single first name that began with “A” and ended in “L”, but when he thoughto of “A” names that ended in “R”, Alexander seemed the only obvious choice. Their game would be over all too quickly, and Alexander would have to face the reality of Andi Foster as his professional rival and coworker. He instead focused on the ripped blouse, which extended further up than he thought it had, and set to work on stitching it up. Her skin was creamy pale under the fabric and goose-fleshed from exposure to the cool night club. Alexander determined to have that fixed up in no time.

"A...sh...er.." Andi Foster muttered. "Arch… Archer!"

“Which one is it?” Alexander asked pulling his handiwork taut until closed. “Asher or Archer?”

Trick question: the answer was neither.

[Deleted]

Andi Foster


“Which one is it?”

He asked, and Andi rose an eyebrow looking down at him without moving her body.

“Asher or Archer?”

She growled with a laugh, looking straight ahead, but feeling like she was at least getting somewhere because one of those two had to be it! Not really having a passion toward any of them, she grounded her front teeth together in thought.

"A..." She paused, cringing at the choice she was about to make and hoping it were the right one. "Archer?"

[The Exodus]

Alexander Sokoll

Alexander wondered if this counted as one or two guesses. He supposed he’d tell her anyways after this last guess, simply because he was almost done sewing up her blouse and his cheek was starting to sting. He really hoped Andi Foster did know a thing or two about first aid and could patch him up in no time. Alexander hadn’t—and wouldn’t—forget about her end of this bargain.

Andi Foster seemed to ponder which name she would test out before settling on Archer with a cringe.

“Nope. Wrong answer. Do you give up?” Alexander asked, tying a knot in the thread so it would hold in place. He wound the remaining, extra thread around his finger and pulled quickly, snapping off the excess and leaving Andi Foster with sewed up blouse. “Alexander. My name’s Alexander Sokoll. And you, Miss Foster, are all fixed up.”

[Deleted]

Andi Foster


“Nope. Wrong answer."

Andi rolled her eyes at her own defeat, snapping her fingers with the hand that was outstretched upward. She didn't like losing, but who did?

"Do you give up?”

Before the competitive choreographer could answer, she jolted slightly at the breakage of the thread. Realizing that there wasn't an unwelcoming gust of wind coming through to her stomach, she looked down at her side seeing her blouse that looked brand spanking new.

“Alexander. My name’s Alexander Sokoll. And you, Miss Foster, are all fixed up.”

Forgetting about the game, Andi twisted over and smoothed out her blouse with her hands. "You're awesome." She awed, doing a little turn into the mirror and checking her profile out. It looked like her klutz move had never even happened. Now that took talent. "Thanks so much-" Looking at him now, she smiled, "Alexander." Knowing the answer now, although Andi would have appreciated her third guess like the game rules established, she realized how obvious it should have been when given the hint.

"And now," She murmured, stepping in close and touching a gentle finger to his cheek, twisting his head to the side. It wasn't the prettiest and it probably didn't feel the greatest, but it was nothing Andi couldn't fix up. "We fix you up Mister Sokoll."

With a hop and a step, Andi Foster headed out the door to her office. "Follow me, please!"