I also had a lot of artists who were holding their breaths and wondering if their work was going to make it on the board or if I was going to send their sketches back to them.
Two hours later and I had three piles standing-
The definite yes’: they were so beautiful and unique that I probably didn’t need to make any adjustments. I was wowed just by looking at them alone and I was sure that Mr. Winston will feel the same.
The honorable mentions: they were good; not as exceptional as I would have liked, but good nonetheless. A few of them needed a little tweaks here and there to fit into the ideal design idea that I had. They weren’t my favorite so they definitely wouldn’t be at the front line of the show, but they will be there.
And finally, the not a chance in hell’s: some were good, and some were terrible. Some of them just didn’t fit into the idea that I had and some of them were so horrible that I wanted to burn the paper and erase it from my mind.
“Marissa,” I paged her and I heard her hum over the intercom, “I need you in my office please.”
In less than two minutes, she was standing at the door of my office and looking at the stack of papers sitting on my table. I pointed them out to her from left to right.
“Perfect, honorable mentions and not a chance in hell,” I explained, “Send Mr. Winston a portfolio with the honorable mentions and send the perfect stack straight to the tailors, we need to start sewing as soon as possible. And as for the last pile, send them back to the artists, I need something better on my table by the end of the week or they’re fired.”
“Of course.”
I turned my attention back to my sketch and she cleared her throat making me look up at her. She still stood at the same position fidgeting on her feet.
“Is there a problem?”
“No, it’s just that I’m not sure if you pointed the stashes out to me in the correct order. The no pile is rather large.”
“I didn’t make a mistake,” I assured her as I pointed them out to her again, “They just didn’t make the mark.”
She turned to leave but I stopped her.
“While you’re on it; make sure to give my well earned congratulations to the artists that did make the mark. They did exceptionally well.”
She nodded. “Will do, Adira.”
She started to pick up the papers but stopped and gestured to one that lay alone in front of me, “Did you forget to put that in a pile?”
I shook my head without looking up. “I’m still looking at it.”
She didn’t ask any further questions; probably because she knew I wouldn’t provide any answers. She just took the stacks out of the office. I watched her through the transparent glass to make sure she didn’t trip or anything. When she was safely seated behind her desk, I turned my attention back to my work.
Lunch hour came and passed in the blink of an eye, and I watched Marissa leave her desk and return while I remained sitting. Something just didn’t sit right with me about the sketch lying in front of me.
The drawing was beautiful, and the design was unique enough to grasp my attention, but it just didn’t feel complete.
It was one of mine, so that could be the reason I was so hard on it.
I took a quick picture of it and sent it to Olivia.
She responded almost immediately saying how great she thought it was and adding a bunch of unnecessary emojis. While I appreciate her enthusiasm, I don’t agree; I sent her a thank you text and went back to critically analyzing the drawing.
Around 1, Marissa walked into my office.
Technically, she stood by the door and poked her head in. The moment she did that, I knew she probably did something that she thought might piss me off.
I leaned back into my chair and crossed my hands, “What did you do?”
“I got a call from Cowe Media yesterday,” she said slowly, “They reached out to you on a documentary about your business and the upcoming fashion show.”
I had a distinct feeling where this conversation was going, “What did you do, Marissa?”
“You told me to take all your calls and say what you would say. I thought they had a good angle and the representative for Mr. Cowe sounded really nice, and I just thought,” she trailed off and swallowed, “Ijustthoughtthatitwouldbeagoodideaforyoutomeethimtoday.”
