Scarlett blurted out. I’d printed out a picture of Jahsir, and Scarlett carried it around like it was a teddy bear. My heart dropped every time she said it. I had spent months showing her pictures of Jahsir. I whispered his name to her and said ‘dada’in our prayers, hoping she’d never forget, and now it flowed effortlessly from her. It was only a couple of months ago that she went around saying Jah Jah. I worked so hard to change that, but unfortunately, he wasn’t around to see it.
Usually, I’d stop and explain to her that ‘dada’ wasn’t here, but today I was so busy that I didn’t have time. I felt bad for even having her with me. She was running around while I worked tirelessly to make sure there weren't any stray needles lying around that could poke her. I gathered tule and other fabric to tidy up a bit. I was so overwhelmed with responsibilities that I was sure I'd be begging Zahara to hold on to her for the rest of the evening.
“Looks like a tornado landed here!”
“Girl, you were literally just on my mind. How did you get back here? These people are strict.”
“Don’t worry about that. I got my ways, bestie. But um, take a minute.”
“To do what, Zahara? I’m unraveling at the seams!”
“That's my point, bestie. Look at you, girl. After all this time, you are thriving.” Zahara raved. “How does it feel to be the go-to fashion girl of Mulholland Falls? Baby, you are in high demand!”
“It feels good.” I sighed. “But somehow… it still isn’t enough.”
I wanted to feel proud. And I was, truly. But none of this—my success, my survival—would have been possible without Jahsir. The fact that he hadn’t seen any of it, hadn’t seenme… it wrecked me. Zahara felt it. She missed her brother, too, but she walked on eggshells around me ever since I broke down on Scarlett’s birthday. So she rarely mentioned him, until now.
“Any word?”
“No. No phone, remember?” I said plainly.
Jah had promised he’d come back for me. Every day I looked for him. Every night, I went to sleep wondering if tomorrow would be the day. It never was, and Scarlett’s constant cries of ‘dada’ made it clear. The only thing I had to offer was the slideshow of us on my phone. Soon, that wouldn't be enough, not for her and certainly not for me.
“Dada!” She said again, more urgently this time.
“Zahara, can you take her home with you? I still have work to do, and I don’t want her in the way. Hell, if I’m lucky, maybe I’ll get to peek in on the reception, hopefully find me a new nigga.”
“Yeah, okay. The mere mention of you with another man would definitely bring Jahsir out of hiding.”
“And that's the plan!” We both laughed.
“But yeah, I got her, Crim. Get back to work. Love you!”
“Love you too, bestie,” I said my goodbyes and continued to clean up the room connected to the bridal suite.
I was working the wedding of my biggest client yet. The socialite of Mulholland Falls had vanished for weeks and comeback engaged to the richest man in the city. It was the fairytale everyone craved. The streets had been talking about it. Everybody who was anybody was at this wedding. As for me, I was just happy to be in the room. I designed each one of her dresses from scratch.
“Excuse me, Ms. Crimson,” a young woman approached me, dressed in a black cocktail dress, an earpiece adorning her right ear. I was sure she was another one of my clients' security details. “Mrs. Brynlee Mulholland needs assistance changing into her third gown. Please follow me.”
I retrieved the final dress and followed the assistant into the bridal suite. Brynlee was gorgeous, with sandy brown skin, bold dark eyes, and long dark hair. She stood dressed in her white lace undergarments, awaiting my assistance.
“Hi, Crimson. Thank you again for all of your help today,” Brynlee said as I walked in. “I am not used to all of this hands-on support. You must think I'm pretty pathetic, needing help getting into gowns.
“Oh, it's no problem! It’s your day, you shouldn’t have to lift a finger.” I smiled. “Let's get you dressed.”
After I unzipped the garment bag, I held the dress in front of her. Her eyes watered, and she thanked me for bringing her vision to life on such short notice. I helped her into her gown, then we walked over to the mirror. She admired her beauty, I assumed, while I admired my work.
“Do you like it?”
“Oh, Crimson… this is beautiful. You’ve Captured andCaptivatedme with your talent. I hope Ramsey loves it.”
“I’m sure he will. You are good to go, Mrs. Mulholland.” She stiffened slightly at the name. “I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?”
“No, not at all. And please, call me Brynlee. I’m just uh getting used to being called Mulholland. Getting used to being married. It feels weird.”
“Weird?” I raised a brow. “Nothing weird about true love. You two look happy. But I get it, people only see the photos. They fill in the rest with whatever story they want.”
“True. Thank you again.”
