Page 41 of Love Redesigned
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. You’re a good designer, Dani. But you’d never make it in this industry. Fashion is cutthroat. And you, with your little doe-eyed innocence and trust, wouldnevermake it. You’d be eaten alive. Really, I’m doing you a favor by telling you the truth now.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “I’ll expose you. I have...proof. My sketches, my designs.” I swallowed. “I’ll take it to the press.”
She grimaced, leaning forward with a menacing stare. “Go ahead and try,” she seethed. “It’ll be my word against yours and I guarantee I have a lot more friends in the press than you do.” She reached out and gripped my arm, her fingers digging into my flesh. “You don’t want to fight with me, Dani. I play dirty. You breathe one word against me to anyone, anywhere, and I’ll make sure you never work in fashion again. You’ll be ruined in New York. No internships. No working as an assistant. When I’m through with you, you’ll be lucky to get a job designing big-box store knock-offs.” She finally released her grip on my arm. “Or you can go back upstairs like a good girl and pretend like this never happened. Your choice.”
I breathed through my nose, anger and frustration roiling inside me. “I’ll make another dress,” I said, indignant. “I still have the designs. You’ll be the one wearing a knock-off. A copy.”
“Oh, sweetie, it’s so cute you think anyone would believe that I’m the one who stole from you.”
She smiled and crossed back to Julian, who stood patiently, tape measure around his neck, pins in his hand. She stepped onto a stool in front of him, and he bent over, adjusting the hem of the dress to accommodate Sasha’s smaller-than-Paige frame.
“You won’t get away with this,” I said, but the fire had already fizzled from my voice.
“That’s just it, Dani,” Sasha said through a sneer. “I already have.”
I took a step backward, still furious, but too defeated to keep pushing. I retreated to the door but then turned back. “You know what?” I said. “I feel sorry for you. It must be hard keeping up the façade—convincing everyone that you actually have talent. I wonder how long you’ll be able to keep it up? Especially since you won’t havemeto steal from anymore.” I reached for the door handle. “I quit.”
Chapter Fourteen
Alex
“She really was like my best friend,” Jasmine said, for what felt like the fifteenth time. After lunch at The Brown Dog Deli, we wandered around downtown until we hit the battery, aimlessly wandering past centuries-old mansions and sprawling live oaks. It was a warm afternoon for fall—almost too warm—which only added to my discomfort.
Jasmine had been talking about Dani nonstop.
I had to wonder if she knew Dani and I had a history. Constantly talking about an ex-girlfriend seemed like a weird way to spend a date. But then I figured out Jasmine didn’t actually care about Dani. Or me. It was all about Isaac.
“We shared a cabin at summer camp one year, did I tell you that?” Jasmine said.
I nodded. “You did. So have you been up to see her then? In New York?”
Jasmine paused. “Oh. No, well, I’m not super big on traveling.”
Right. I bet that was it.
“Isaac goes to New York a lot, right? Does he take you with him? As his assistant?”
“Business manager,” I said, my tone short. I was trying, but the woman was making propriety really hard.
“What?”
“I’m his Business Manager. Not his Assistant.”
“Oh. Well, whatever. I’m sure his life must be so glamorous.”
For another hour we walked around the city. Had we not stopped at Kaminsky's to get dessert, the day might have been a complete failure. But eating her ice cream kept Jasmine quiet long enough that I was able to enjoy my milkshake in peace. And a Kaminsky’s milkshake was an experience all its own.
I was back home by four-thirty, my shoulders sore from the tension they’d been carrying all afternoon. I’d gone on a date to get Danioffmy mind and instead experienced the exact opposite. I dropped onto the couch in the living room.
Isaac pulled off his headphones. He was, miraculously, alone in the spacious room. “How’d it go?”
I groaned my displeasure. “I think she only dated me hoping to get closer to you.”
“Really? Jasmine?” he said, in a tone that said he already knew. “You think she’s into me? Interesting.”
“She’s already tried to ask you out, hasn’t she?”
He grinned. “Did she talk to you about summer camp?”
