Page 52 of Simply Irresistible
“It makes the whole dress fancy.”
He wasn’t wrong. The dress was dark blue, almost black, and the thick lace was dark cream. Along the neckline I’d sewn in some wooden beads that matched the lace. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but I loved it. I was thinking about wearing it to work on Monday. Brianna sometimes commented on my outfits, particularly the dresses…maybe this would be an opening for that.
“You should wear it to work. Let your boss see it.”
“I was just thinking that.”
He smiled. “Then do it. Brianna likes you. I’m sure she would be happy to help you get your foot in the door. Does she know you have a background in fashion?”
I shrugged, checking myself out again in the floor-length mirror that hung on the back of my bathroom door. “I had it in my resume that I was taking classes.” My job with the magazine paid for my fashion degree. “I never updated it to include my degree. Wouldn’t have made any difference for an executive assistant.”
“Well, thiswillmake a difference,” he said, tapping the shoulder of the dress.
“You really think so?” I asked, wringing my hands together. I felt like I was ready to tell Brianna that it wasmewho made the outfits I wore all the time, but it was still a terrifying thing to admit out loud. What if she had only been saying she liked them because she was being kind?
“I know so. Hannah said so, too, remember?”
I nodded. His sister really liked my stuff. Last time we had dinner with her, she told me she would be my first customer. She wanted to commission some stuff, but I wasn’t quite ready for that. I told her as much, and I also promised to let her know the moment I was open for business.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I thought, maybe it would be sooner than I knew.
28
Melanie
I sat nervously in my seat waiting for Brianna to arrive. Of course, I finally garnered the courage to broach the topic of my designs with her, and she was late. Brianna wasneverlate. Maybe it was a sign. Maybe todaywasn’tthe day to do this.
After a few more minutes of nervously typing on my keyboard, the door to our suite opened, and Brianna walked in. She was smiling as she greeted me, the grin a great contrast to the typical firm expression on her face. Maybe todaywasthe day to say something to her about my designs. If only she left me an opening…
“Good morning, Brianna,” I said.
“Gorgeous dress, is it one of ours?” she asked, eyeing me as she passed. She was referring to the samples sent to the magazine by designers to get Brianna’s attention or to be used for photo shoots. Whatever wasn’t used or kept by models was sent to storage in the basement.
“It’s one of mine, actually.”
Cue the record scratch as Brianna stopped dead in her tracks. I sat in my seat, clenching every single muscle in my body as I waited for her reaction.
Her head turned towards me slowly, and she eyed my dress through the clear plate glass of my desk. “Stand up,” she said. The quiet calm of her voice sort of freaked me out. Had she thought I’d stolen an idea or something?
I did as she said and stood from my chair, then walked around the desk to stand before her. If I was doing this, I might as well be doing it.
“That lace work is beautiful…and so unique.”
I squealed on the inside. “I stitched it myself.”
Her eyes shot to mine and her stony expression faltered a moment, but only for a moment. “Youstitchedthe lace?”
I nodded like a damned bobblehead, both excited over her attention to the detail and nervous over her attention to me.
“This is amazing. You do really great work. You made the entire piece?” She asked, touching one of the beads along the neck.
“I did.”
“You do this a lot?”
I nodded, then found my voice. “I make most of what I wear.”
Her eyes met mine again. “I had no idea. Why didn’t you tell me?” If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I had hurt her feelings. It wasn’t that Brianna didn’t have feelings--she was human after all--it was just that she wanted to know why I didn’t tell her. I knew better than anyone that people in the industry were always throwing their products and samples at Brianna, so why wouldn’t I have done the same since I had the most access to her? Well, for one thing I respected her too much. Also, I was terrified of being rejected.
