Chapter 2: One Stitch at a Time

Grace walked into the office. She took a sip of her cup of coffee before throwing the plaid skirt over Dennis’ Desk. “What’s wrong with this?”

Dennis took the skirt and stared at it. “Is it the wrong size?”

Grace grimaced and looked him up and down. “How long have you been studying fashion?”

“One year…”

“And in the one year, who taught you that skirt only has one hole?”

Denise snatched the skirt, realizing he had sown up the bottom. “I will fix this, I swear.”

“You know, perhaps you should stash away the extra whisky while doing your tasks at home,”

“Sorry, Miss Dupont,”

Grace walked past everyone else, watching as they were all sowing in a hurry. After all, they had been assigned to make all the clothes for a recent play. She had been behind all the designs. Now she was fixing all the messes as well. She might as well be running a bloody school class, not a team group. Grace sat down in front of her desk, starting to check the schedules of everyone. The majority have completed their tasks, and now they are working on the edits she sent them. Some had to start from scratch and some…

Grace looked up as someone placed a flower at her desk. She looked up to see Gwen. “For my bestie,”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing, nothing at all,” Gwen took a seat in the chair next to Grace. It was a cramped office, and she could not help but smile at the schedule on the screen.

“Seems like you are keeping everybody busy,”

“I just want to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible,”

“Well, you are also trying to prove to your overbearing boss that you can actually manage a team...and may I just say you have done a marvellous job,” Gwen leaned closer. Much like Grace, she had her dark curly hair braided together in various different patterns on her head, but Grace had just stuck to two. “You are coming tonight for our little sleepover?”

“How could I forget with you reminding me every second? “Grace turned around. “Now shouldn’t you be off doing tasks for Mr. Goldmarch?”

“Yeah, I actually am finished, I finished it last night, and that is why I am here to volunteer my services?”

“Seriously, what did you do? “Grace turned to see Gwen smiling sheepishly. 

“I may have lost your brother’s favorite hoodie…”

Grace dropped the pencil and stared at her. She shook her head and laughed. “You know he is going to kill you right? He practically treats you like a sister, and now he’s actually going to kill you.”

“I didn’t mean to, it got hot in the taxi, and I took it off…”

“And left it there? You know it’s vintage right?” Grace shook her head. “And you want me to what? Take the blame?”

“No, no not at all, just maybe soften him up a little bit for the big bad news?”

Grace turned back to her computer and sighed. “If you complete this shopping checklist I have procured and need for tomorrow, I will consider it.” She printed out the list and handed it to her. “Judy, my intern, should give you the money needed.”

“I will go do that straight away,” Gwen snatched the paper and hurried out of the office. Grace only laughed and shook her head. Her brother had as much love for fashion as she did, and losing one of his items was the equivalent of having erased all game progress for any boys who were gamers. A person just did not commit such a sin without expecting massive consequences. Grace stood up as Helen walked into the room. 

Helen was the definition of put together, from her outfit to her manicured red nails. She was the top saleswoman in the company and assigned tasks to Grace. It was the first time she had entrusted her with this task, and judging by her smile, she was pleased.

“You know, I understand things going wrong, and I get control, but you have it down to an art form…”

Grace laughed as she handed Helen the folder. “Well, this is perhaps my favourite project so far, fairy-tale clothing has always been a secret passion of mine.”

Helen nodded. “Most girls have a love for fairy tales. Perhaps it’s to do with the fact that it is so different from reality. Princes to sweep you off your feet, dragons to slay, spells to break...you know the smoke machine they got is top of the line? Really pulls you into the story.”

“You have seen the play?”

“The rehearsed version of it anyhow,” Helens said and shrugged. “I hope to take my little girl there. She doesn’t want to be a princess though…

“Oh?”

“No, no, she wants to be queen, where she can boss me around for a chance to do the dishes instead of her,”

Grace laughed and shook her head. “Now who wouldn’t want that?”

“Agreed,” Helen closed the folder. “I trust you to finish everything. I must admit, I was nervous at first, but you really have outdone yourself this time. Consider this your test for that promotion…”

“Well, I still need to have everything done in order to pass,”

Helen shook her head. “Things always go wrong every now and then. I don’t expect a perfect performance, I expect results when things go wrong. Consider it’s a done deal.”

Grace’s eyes widened as her heart pounded in her chest. “Are you serious?”

Helen shrugged. “I need a good manager in my team, since the last one left I haven’t seen much enthusiasm for this job. That is why I had been rotating it. See who can do the best...and I very much like what you have shown.”

“Thank you so much!”

“Now now,” Helen shifted her glasses on her face. “That doesn’t mean you can slack, ok? I’ll have the contract brought in tomorrow.”

Helen walked out of the cubicle, and Judy popped her head in the door. “Is that what I just heard?”

Grace smiled, then she burst into a quick spin dance. She nearly tripped though and grabbed the table for balance. Judy was also hopping up and down, squealing.

“Eeek! I can’t believe it!”

“Me neither!”

“Eeek!”

They both gave a celebratory hug hop, holding each other while jumping in circles. 

“I can’t wait to tell Tim,”

“He is going to be so thrilled!” Judy said. “How is it going with Mr. Hotness by the way?”

“He is currently working at a dead end apparently, but he is looking for a new job. He has been such a gentleman lately…”

 “I heard he was picking you up from work every day?”

“Well, he used to, but not recently, again, he is desperately trying to find a new job,” Grace said.

“Yeah, I used to remember the daily flowers, little notes…well, hopefully when he has fewer things to worry about, his romantic side will return,” Judy said. “I miss seeing him here. He always makes the funniest jokes.”

“I know, right?”Grace said. She turned to walk outside and gasped as one of the people crashed into her with some juice right over her top.

“I’m so sorry,”

“You know what? Just go, just go,” Grace shooed the person away, and headed towards the bathroom. She was in too good of a mood to get mad at any of these sorts of little accidents. She walked inside and noticed the sweet scent of roses. It was dear old Elsie. She would also place a vase with some beautiful flowers in the bathroom every single day. Apparently, she had quite the garden. Grace stared at the cute pink rose petals that were now in the corner of the one table. Two petals had already fallen onto the floor, but they were quite beautiful. She would have to ask her for some gardening tips sometime.

Grace grabbed some of the paper towels, poured them with water, and dabbed them onto her shirt to get most of the juice out. She adjusted her top in the mirror and checked her makeup. She leaned a little closer and pulled back. Did she just see some green fog? It was perhaps a trick in the lighting. After all, the lights did funny things sometimes. She leaned in closer again, but there was nothing there. Only her reflection.

“Just a trick of the light,” Grace muttered. She did another quick squeal and dance, closing her eyes in excitement until she heard the stall behind her open. She dropped her hands and turned around to see another older lady walk out, staring at her disdainfully. Grace gave an awkward smile and bolted out of the bathroom. After all, she had a lot of work left, and if she was to be on time for her sleepover at Gwen, she needed to hurry it up.