Be Hot to Be Cool

"Marge, I forbid it."

"But Mom .. !"

"Don't 'but' me, young lady. I'm your mother." So saying, the woman swept out of the room without a backward glance at her daughter.

Marge wiped her tears and re-applied her make up. Would Professor Elaine see that she had been crying? Did she secretly want someone to know she had been crying? She opened the front door softly and clicked it shut. Getting on to her scooter, she went straight to school.

"Hey, Mridul," she hailed the security guard as she slid into a parking slot. "Professor Elaine still in?"

"She must be. Her car's over there. What you doing back here? Forgot something?"

Marge didn't answer. She found her way to the staff room and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

There were three teachers there, working overtime. Professor Elaine, Professor Suresh and Professor Batlivala. They glanced up as she came in, and each smiled at her. She was rather a favourite among the staff of JBP school.

"Professor," Marge blurted, "I can't be in the fashion show. Mom says no."

"But -- but -- Marge! Your Mom is -- I mean -- her salon is the most famous in the state! Surely she doesn't protest --"

"That's just it. She says no daughter of hers is going to wear those clothes. They're not tasteful. She says it'll ruin her reputation if it got known that she allowed me to be seen in public, on stage, in those outfits."

"Oh, I get it. The casual-fashionable look doesn't meet with her approval."

Professor Batlivala chimed in. "The way I see it is, to be fashionable, you've got to be casual these days, but if you're dressed casually, it doesn't look fashionable enough?"

Marge couldn't help smiling. "You're about right, Prof."

"What does your mother want you to wear?" Professor Suresh asked.

"Some old duds ... I'll be laughed at ... and they won't fit in with our look anyway."

"So," Professor Suresh summed up, "If you wear casual clothes you're fashionable but not fashionable, and if you wear fashionable clothes you're not fashionable anyway because casual is fashionable these days."

"Fashion is in the eye of the beholder," Prof Batlivala remarked.

Marge and Prof Batlivala often misquoted famous words to suit the situation.

"Yeah, well, the model's Mom strains the quality of mercy ..."

"I am sorry, Marge. There's no time to make any changes now, it's too close to show day."

"Yeah, that's why I came over personally to tell you. You'll need to find a quick replacement for me."

"Oh, Marge, don't cry. I know how much this means to you."

Marge turned and ran from the room before the tears became a flood. None of the teachers attempted to follow her. They knew her well, they knew she'd want to be left alone in her disappointment. They shook their heads and went back to their work.

In the parking lot, Mridul was waiting by Marge's bike.

"Hey!" he said. "You can't ride yourself home when you're –"

"Crying?" Marge finished. "I've often ridden when I've cried."

"Not if I can help it. Not safe, in case you can't see through the tears. Let me bring my helmet, I'll drive your bike, you sit pillion. Just give me one second."

He quickly texted the three Profs that he was leaving his post at security for a bit, to ride Marge home, and they got on the bike.

He didn't ask why she'd been crying, which made her want to tell him.

"Hey, hey, what you doing, my home is that way."

"We're going back to school."

Mridul didn't say another word till they were back int he staff room.

The eyes of the three Professors gleamed as he outlined his plan. Marge's mouth gaped open. Would they really do that?

Marge was in the show.

The show was a big hit.

Everyone was happy.

All thanks to Mridul's idea of calling it 'Fashion - Then and Now'. Marge, Prof. Elaine, Prof. Suresh and Prof. Batlivala modeled 'Fashion Then'. Mom's old duds were loudly cheered by the audience, Marge did look stunning in them. The other participants modeled 'Fashion Now', in their casuals, which got some appreciation, too.

Oh, and, Marge and Mridul are going steady.