“Let’s just get this over with.” I brushed my hands over my dress.
I chose a simple black body con dress for today. It stopped above my knees so I paired it with black tights, a tan colored coat and black platform heels.
After getting caught in one of my more casual outfits two days ago, I decided to make up for it by dressing up a bit today. That and I know people are more likely to take you seriously when you’re overdressed than when you’re underdressed.
He took out a book and opened it up and I swallowed as I thought of all the questions he could probably ask. I know none ofthem will be personal, but that didn’t mean that they won’t be hard hitting questions. There were so many rumors and controversies concerning me right now that I didn’t want to respond to.
But I agreed to this, so I have to deal with whatever he threw my way and I have to do so in a way that was fitting to my public image. If I’m too nice, everyone will think that I was pretending since they’re all convinced that I’m a diva and a bitch. But on the other hand, if I’m too rude, then everyone calls me a bitch and a diva, and I get bullied and hated and called names.
I closed my eyes and let out a deep exhale. I’ve played this part for many years, I’m sure I can do it for the next two months.
“Are you superstitious, Adira?” Nathan’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
He was staring at me in a way that wasn’t entirely uncomfortable but somehow put me on edge. He had leaned back in his seat, taking up the posture of perfect ease and nonchalance while I was sitting upright with a rigid spine. We might be in my office and my building but he was in charge here and he knew it.
“Really,” I infused a sarcastic edge into my tone, “Out of all the questions you could have chosen as your first, you decided to go with this?”
“Consider it an icebreaker.”
I shook my head but responded anyways, “Not really,” I shrugged, “I believe in things like destiny, but I also believe that we can influence our destinies, so it depends. Are you?”
“Not at all; I believe in logic and superstitions like fate and destiny just doesn’t fall into that category.”
“Pity,” I mused, “I think fate would have been kind to you.” The corner of his lips lifted but he didn’t out rightly smile and I wondered what would be enough to actually make him smile.
“So,” he continued, “Tell me about the fashion show in two months. From what I hear, it’s very exclusive. How did you get invited?”
I smiled as I thought back as to how I got invited. In all honesty, I had no plans of being invited to the fashion show. Only the largest brands in the world get invited and while I know that I have made a name for myself, I am nowhere near the caliber of people going for the show.
It all happened by accident actually. A woman had stepped into the store downtown. It is our largest store and coincidentally, I was also there. She needed help browsing the store and I decided to help her.
She asked a lot of questions about the outfits and the ideas behind them and I explained to her how I wanted to make a difference and show my Nigerian heritage in everything I did. I could never forget the next question she asked. She said something along the lines of ‘Is it only for black women?’ and I remember telling her that cultures can be shared as long as the appropriate respect is given to the original owners of the culture.
She then asked if I was the owner and I said yes. She asked for my contact, and the next day she told me who she was. I had no idea how I did not recognize her. I blame it on the fact that I was running on two hours of sleep and I hadn’t taken my daily coffee.
She asked if I would love to attend her show and display some new pieces for her and that was it. Within a week I had gottennumerous calls from various people wanting to be sponsors. It was honestly amazing.
When I was done explaining he hummed and took some notes in his book. The action grated on my nerves a bit. It reminded me of therapy and I always hated how therapists would make notes; almost as if they’re making their own impressions and judging you based off it.
“You said something about sharing cultures,” he spoke and I hummed in response, “A few days ago, there was a review about how you refused to sell something to a woman simply because she was white. If you’re so interested in sharing culture then why didn’t you agree to do it then?”
I should have expected him to ask this honestly, and in my mind I was face palming myself. I took a deep breath before finally responding.
“I said it should be shared on the basis that the person acknowledges the owners of the culture,” I hated explaining myself to people but here we are, “And she wanted that particular Ankara as a fashion statement, but that’s not the reason why I didn't sell. I didn’t give it to her because she was rude to my manager, and I am well within my rights to refuse to entertain a rude and ignorant customer.”
“Isn’t the customer always right?”
“Not in my book.”
He went silent for a full minute after that. It’s either he didn’t know what to say or he just didn’t want to say what he had in his mind.
I didn’t say anything either. I just relaxed into my chair and thrummed my fingers against the armrest while he gathered his thoughts.
“Back to the topic of the fashion show,” he said finally, “Some people think you’re too inexperienced to attend. Some people think it was because of favoritism.”
I scoffed, “In what world would favoritism benefit me?”
“So you think you got it based on your hard work.”
