Page 91 of Shout Out To My Ex

‘Right, now, Poppy,’ says Paloma, back to business, ‘you and Nas?—’

There’s a knock at the door, interrupting her. ‘Come in.’

Mia opens the door and pops her head in. ‘Sorry to interrupt, but there’s been a press release from Lorenzo – the company.’ She holds up her tablet.

Paloma calls her in and takes the tablet, her eyes scanning the screen. As she reads, her mouth lifts at the corners.

‘Good news,’ she tells us. ‘We don’t have to read in the publicist – well, not for the time being.’ She hands over the tablet and we pass it between us, quickly reading in turn.

Thank god. We’re still on the case and it’s no longer headed for disaster. Well, at least for now.

28

ELLE

Several hours fly by in what feel like minutes, which is what happens when I’m in the flow. I didn’t think I’d be able to forget everything that’s happening outside the workroom, but designing with Leo… It’s quite magical how in sync we are. I’m getting even more excited about this collection.

‘What do you think?’ he asks, showing me a sketch of a man’s hat, a nod to theMad Menera when men wore hats every day.

‘I love the design, but are our customers going to want hats?’

He regards the sketch. ‘I don’t know. Maybe. It’s all cyclical, isn’t it? I mean, consider the current fashion – even mom jeans are back.’

‘Not according to Lorenzo,’ I quip, glancing at the low-slung jeans he’s wearing today. I do love wearing high-waisted trousers, but with denim, I prefer a lower cut, a look that Leo wears well. Too well. When I stop staring at his arse, I discover he’s caught me. His mouth twitches and I clear my throat.

‘Maybe Lorenzo is ahead of the curve,’ he says, bringing us back to the conversation.

‘That’s why you’re the next big thing,’ I reply.

‘I thoughtyouwere the next big thing.’

‘No, I’m the wunderkind.’

‘But we’re the same age.’

‘Yeah, but you look older than me.’

‘Hey,’ he says with a grin.

‘I’m just speaking the truth.’

He holds my gaze longer than is comfortable and I look away.

‘So, we need to decide,’ I say, redirecting the conversation. ‘Do we want to incorporate hats into the collection? Put them back into the fashion rotation, so to speak?’

‘Hmm.’ He adds some more strokes of the pencil to the sketch.

‘Well, let’s think about it this way – in your “Off the Beaten Track” show, the hat was a singular point of reference, one design as the thread connecting each look.’

‘Right.’

‘And it will sell – the hat – because it’s you and people seem to think your style is cool?—’

‘Seemto think?’ he asks, interrupting.

Oops.

‘You know what I mean,’ I say, sidestepping the slip. ‘Anyway, if we really do want to feature hats in this collection, then we need to decide: one design to act as a thread or different designs for different looks.’

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