“Of course she couldn’t. Alicio himself couldn’t make box pleats work with charmeuse. Does that mean we’re doing it in the navy?”
“Yep.”
He held up his hand for a high five. “Look at you, getting a dress into a premiere LeFranc collection.”
I raised my hands in mock victory. “And look at me not getting credit for it.”
His face fell. “I hate that woman.”
“Don’t hate her. She’s good to me.”
“She’s good to you so she can keep using you.”
“It’s not like that,” I said. Even as I said it, I knew my words weren’t true.
“It’s exactly like that,” Chase said. “And it’s about time you wake up and see it.”
My shoulders slumped. “Please don’t, Chase.”
“Don’t what? Tell you you’re better than this? That she doesn’t deserve your loyalty?”
“Don’t stomp all over my hope,” I said.
“No.” He waved a finger in front of my face. “I’m not letting you pin your hopes on her. How many times has she told you she’s going to talk to Alicio about your designs? How many times has she promised she’ll introduce you, let him know”—he held up his fingers in air quotes and pitched his voice high in a remarkably accurate impression of Sasha—“just what you’re capable of? You don’t need that woman,” he continued. “You’ve got more talent in the end of your nose than she has in her entire surgically enhanced body. And that’s why I don’t think she’s ever going to tell Alicio about you. You’re a threat. Right now, she’s got you where she can control you. You do the work, she gets the credit. As long as you’re willing to do her bidding, I don’t see her screwing that up. At least not on purpose.”
My jaw tensed. “It’s easy for you to be critical because you already have your dream job. What else am I supposed to do?”
There was more he wanted to say. I could tell by the way the corner of his mouth kept twitching. But he was too good a friend to push me further. “Just don’t rely on her alone, okay? Watch the job board. If anything in the design room opens up, tell me and I’ll submit a recommendation for you.”
He’d made the offer before. But odds were against anything opening up. Internships, sure. But not the real deal. Working at LeFranc was a dream job for any designer, not just me. Turnover was rare.
“You know I’ll stand by your work, Dani.” He reached over and squeezed my arm. “You deserve it.”
I pulled my still-coffee-sticky hair into a messy bun on top of my head, pulling a few strands loose around my face. “What do you think?” I asked Chase. “Passable?”
He looked up from the tray of jewelry he’d been sorting through. “Perfect. You just need this.” He held up a strand of chunky turquoise pearls, motioning for me to turn around so he could secure the clasp around my neck.
“Seriously? Can I keep?”
“Like I said, no one will miss anything from in here.” He turned me around, hands on either shoulder. “There. Now you really are perfect.”
I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
Chase grabbed the coffee-stained dress before turning toward the door. “I’m getting this cleaned for you.”
“You don’t have to do that.” I reached for it. “I’ll drop it off on my way home.”
He waved my hand away. “Whatever. I want to. Plus, I know a guy. It’ll look as good as the day you made it.”
“You’re too good to me.”
“Speaking of how wonderful I am,” Chase said, tossing me a grin, “I almost forgot. Darius asked me to give this to you.” He pulled a thumb drive out of his pocket and handed it over. “He said you’d know what it was and would probably scream the second it was in your hands.”
My eyes went wide. “Seriously? It’s done?”
Chase threw up his hands, the dress draped over his wrist bumping into my side. “I have no idea. Darius told me nothing.”
“Oh my word. It’s done, it’s done, it’s done!” It was all I could do not to actually jump up and down with excitement.
“Why are we so excited?!” Chase whisper yelled.
I took a deep, calming breath. “It’s Elliott Hart’s new album. Darius did the sound mixing and he told me he would sneak me a copy as soon as it was finished. I thought I still had weeks to wait.”
“Elliott Hart. Is that the piano guy you love so much?”
“Yes!” I followed Chase to the sample room door. “And it’s been forever since he released any new stuff. I guess he got married and had a kid or whatever. But this!” I held up the thumb drive. “This feels like gold in my hands.”
“That Darius,” Chase said. “He’s quite the charmer, isn’t he?” He opened the door and led the way to the elevator where he pushed the button to take us back up to the fifth floor.
“Oh, he’s my favorite,” I said, my face serious. “No question. I mean, I know I technically met you first and that maybe you deserve some sort of loyalty for that, but really. Darius is special.”
Chase thrust the dress back at me. “I take it back. You can take care of your own dry cleaning.”
I sniffed primly. “Maybe I’ll ask Darius to do it.”
Chase chuckled. “He’d probably do it. I’m the nicest person in New York City and he still makes me look like the kitten-kicking uncle no one wants at Christmas dinner.”
The man Chase had married five years ago really was embodied perfection. He was gorgeous, for one, tall and suave, with beautiful brown skin and this velvet voice that sounded like music even when he was saying the most basic things. But he also had the best heart—better than anyone I’d ever known. He was gentle and forgiving and always gave everyone the benefit of the doubt.
His relationship with Chase kept me hoping I’d eventually be in love again myself. They effortlessly supported each other with this quiet, steady devotion; it was the kind of relationship I might not have believed was actually real if I hadn’t known them both so well, if I hadn’t witnessed it firsthand on an almost daily basis.
It was also the kind of relationship that might have made me burn with jealousy if I hadn’t loved them both as much as I did.
The elevator doors dinged open and Chase and I stepped inside. “You’re going to get him fired if you don’t stop begging for advance copies,” Chase said. “You know he’ll never tell you no.”
“Darius is the best sound engineer Blaze Records has. They won’t fire him. Plus, I don’t beg. This is the only album I’ve ever asked him for.”
“If we don’t count the Jenna Fields album he gave you last Christmas.”
My mouth dropped open. “That was a gift!”
Chase laughed. “Right. And you didn’t drop any hints that you wanted it.”
I smiled sheepishly and shrugged my shoulders, the thumb drive held tightly in my hands. “Please tell Darius thank you and I love him dearly.”
Two hours later, I was back at my desk, earbuds in my ears and sketchbook open in front of me. I still had fifteen minutes of a lunch break I’d finally managed to squeeze into the afternoon hours, so I used the time to brainstorm new dress ideas. I cranked up the volume on the new Elliott Hart album, which was every bit as fantastic as I had expected. Ten seconds into the next song, Chase pulled one of my earbuds out and stuck it into his own ear. “How is it? Everything you hoped for and more?”