Page 62 of Brooke
Okay, so she wasn’t throwing a fishing line in the wrong pond. “That’s what I thought. So…here’s my idea. Rent this space and create one of a kind Axel-designed rooms. One person would purchase the whole lot—your entire vision. I think it would be huge on social media. You could decide if you want to open your doors on a set day to the public or go with an exclusive sign-up list for private viewings.”
He rubbed his jaw, which was shaved today, and she waited for him to respond. When he didn’t, she realized he was still thinking, so she pressed a little more.
“Personally, I think you could go either way. But a line around the block in Paris at a store draws serious attention. In fashion especially. When some fashion lines roll out their summer or fall lines, people wait in line for hours to go inside and start buying. Here, your quantities would be more exclusive. Instead of limited quantities like the Jane Birkin handbag, your rooms would be one of a kind, which would work great with the furniture and accessories, especially since you favor handmade items.”
His brow was knit as he listened quietly. When he didn’t respond, she continued to paint the picture. “Really hot, let me tell you. I’ve seen it work with shoes and jewelry and certain clothing items. People post on social media about the items, rooms in your case, and it creates a total media blitz. That strategy has raised the profile of some lines from merely known to global household names.”
“With gimmicks.” His sigh was harsh. “I hate gimmicks.”
“Not gimmicks. I know gimmicks. This is about getting there first. Exclusivity. Having the chance to buy an entire room you designed would be some people’s dream. They would be the only one to have it.”
When he only continued to listen, she laid a hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat heavily. “Having a chair or a kitchen rack designed by you would be great, but it doesn’t bring together what’s so special about you. Your vision. How you see a space and design it. Having a concept store like this one would allow that. I think it would be huge. I think people would travel from around the world for it.”
He stared off in the direction of the store. “The roomswouldn’t work together if they were designed piecemeal. I’d have a lone bathroom with a gray and navy concept next to a salon with black furniture and a red and cream rug. And forget how the room would look in a house decorated by someone other than me. The whole thing would be a mess.”
She was losing him. “Okay, I grant your point about the room in their house, but that would be their issue. Unless they buy more than one room, which is possible with the kinds of clients you’d attract. In the store, however, we’d box off the rooms so they would be exclusive entities unto themselves. Because you’re right. We don’t want the rooms or designs to clash in the store.”
“I don’t know, Brooke.” He rubbed his jaw as he peered into the space. “I had envisioned Axel Erikson products sold exclusively at a large box store.”
“But you’d have a similar problem with people mixing things that don’t work together as well as compromising perhaps on mass production,” she told him, stepping close to bring his focus back to her. “How does someone know where Axel would put this lamp or that chair? They’ll buy it and put it next to the Barcalounger they got from their mother’s basement.”
“I would like to think not.” His mouth showed distaste. “My products would not be cheap, but I would like for them to be affordable. You should not have to be rich to have a well-designed space. I did not grow up wealthy. A good design has the bones of very simple things. The right palette of colors. Beyond that, a good rug, nice flooring, a solid piece of lighting, and something living like a plant or tree, and you have a space that is warm and cozy and functional. Not everyone can have all those elements, but they can have enough to make their home special.”
She cupped his shoulder, fingering the handmade sweater. After researching him thoroughly, she could quote back his own design concepts. But that didn’t seem to be helping herargument. “Axel, no one sees the world like you do. Trust me. If you hung out in the paint aisle at the local hardware store, you would hear couples struggling to figure out which colors to choose.”
His glacier blue eyes took on a dubious expression.
“I’m not kidding.” She gestured to him. “You’re like Sawyer. You can tell the unique difference between ten shades of blue and know which other ten shades of beige or cream would go with them. Not everyone can do that, Axel. I’m not sureIcan do that.”
“I hope you are wrong there, Brooke, for such a challenge would make it very difficult for you to do interior design.”
A sharp pain shot through her chest as if he’d struck her. She worked in fashion, for a magazine, so she had thick skin regarding work, but this rejection was from a man whom she was starting to love, one she wanted to love her back.
“I see. Your confidence in me is overwhelming. Forget I asked you here, Axel. I’ll keep thinking about how you can meet your goals. I need to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
She started to walk away.
Suddenly, a large male wall was in front of her, blocking her much like Giulia had earlier. She was very tempted to walk around him. She didn’t want to lift her gaze past his hand-stitched green sweater, but she made herself. Putting a smile on her mouth was tough. “Yes?”
“Brooke, you are practically frozen in hurt.” He put his hands on her arms and rubbed them gently, making her want to yank away and whisperdon’t touch me.“I am sorry that what I said hurt you. I meant it as an observation. Nothing more.”
Her throat was achy, and she hated,hated, feeling that way. Hurt. Vulnerable. Weak. “You’re entitled to your opinion, Axel. I do really need to go now.”
“Not like this.” His grip on her arms became urgent but still gentle, the narrowing of his glacier blue eyes even moreso. “We are too special to each other for you to run away and not talk to me about why you are so upset suddenly. Brooke… Look at me. Please. Really look at me.”
The urge to lash out at him was so strong she could feel her fingers curling. “What do you want? For me to tell you I’m okay now? That you didn’t just cut me open?”
“My words were not meant to do that.” He suddenly seemed so tall, so solid—someone she could not ignore. “Tell me why you would think so.”
“Because it sounded like you don’t believe I can do interior design!”That you don’t believe in me.
“I did not say that.” His deep voice was also slightly raised. “I only said it would be a challenge. Is that not correct? It would be no different than if a colorblind man wished to do interior design. I know such a man, and he is a great success. Brooke, we all have our challenges. Mine has always been drawing what I see in my head. I am sorry you felt shame at what I said. I would never intend that. Never.”
A part of her knew it. God, the way he was standing there holding on to her like he feared what might happen if she walked away tore her up.
But shewashurt.
Inside she ached, worse than when she’d had the flu. And she couldn’t simply move on and let it go. “I just need a little time by myself to get my head back on straight, Axel. It’s been a day.” She hadn’t even told him about discovering her father and Nanine were in a relationship yet. Except she knew that wasn’t why she was upset.
