“She’s really pretty,” I said finally, “Does it make me a shitty person if I wished she was ugly?”
“No, it makes you human,” she corrected, then added, “I secretly wished she was ugly too.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me, that in turn made Olivia laugh and soon we were both wheezing for air on the phone. I wiped a stray tear out of my face and sighed after I got myself under control.
“I’ve got to go Liv,” I told her, “I’m driving and I don’t want to crash.”
“I need to call your mom anyways. I would’ve come to see you today but I’m working late.”
I was shocked; Olivia never worked late, “Why? Is everything okay?
“Relax, everything is fine,” she assured me, “Some of us have to work overtime because we don’t have a seven figure income.”
She said it teasingly but I have known Olivia long enough to know when something is wrong and something is definitely wrong now.
“If you need anything, I am more than willing to help you out.”
“I’m fine, don’t worry,” she cut me off, “I’m just saving up so I can splurge on a gift for my birthday. It is just me trying to be- what does your mum call it again? A long throat or something,”
“Do you mean longer throat?” I asked.
She snapped her fingers, “Exactly that; I just want something that’s out of my pay grade and I’m saving up for it.”
“Okay then,” I decided to let the topic drop, “I’ll talk to you later then; bye, I love you.”
“I love you too bitch.” She said as she hung up the call.
I stared at my car screen for a few seconds after the call and couldn’t quite shake off the feeling that she was somehow lying to me.
CHAPTER 5: THIRTEEN DAYS POST BREAK-UP
I didn’t see Olivia all weekend, she was working. I did manage to sneak in some calls whenever she got home at night, but she would end up falling asleep over the phone.
I used the opportunity to come up with some extra sketches for the show and fixed the sketch I was having problems with. The first thing I did as soon as I walked into the office was to give it to Marissa to send to the tailors. We have two months and I needed everything to be ready as soon as possible; we were already running behind schedule.
I was so glad to be done with that part of the fashion show preparation. All that’s left is the sewing and then the hardest part is gone. I couldn’t help the feeling of optimism that grew in my chest.
I opened my laptop and started responding to all my emails. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get to all of them so I started with the ones from my investors for the show. A lot of them wanted to know how the preparation was going and to see some of the pieces we were going to be displaying. I emailed them a few of the sketches and promised to get the pictures of the finished outfits once they are done.
Just as I was replying to the last one, there was a knock on my door and Marissa walked in. She had a certain look on her face that made me sit up.
“What’s wrong?”
She didn’t respond immediately and I knew there had to be a problem because Marissa would never hesitate unless she was unsure of my reaction. And that is saying a lot because she has worked with me for so long, she could predict my reaction in almost every situation- good, bad or ugly.
She stepped into my office and shut the door behind her but still didn’t say anything. I gestured for her to come closer, but she remained perfectly stoic.
“What’s going on?” I asked, “Is it bad,” she stayed quiet, “Tell me so we can fix it, Marissa.”
She hesitated before speaking, “It- it is kind of bad but not exactly terrible,” she cleared her throat before continuing, “I sent the designs to the tailors already but there was a problem with the fabrics. I sent an email to ask when the fabrics would arrive, because they should have gotten here yesterday, but they said they couldn’t find the invoice and so they didn’t ship our order.”
“I’msorry, what?”
“I was as confused as you are right now because I made sure they got our order, and I double checked the invoice that we have.”
“Did you try calling them?”
“I did call them; I just got off the call with them right now, but because you made the order they wouldn’t listen to me.” she explained, “I am so sorry to bother you today, I know you said you didn’t want to be disturbed, but without the fabrics the tailors can’t sew and if the tailors can’t sew then we won’t have designs ready for the show.”
