Chapter 17: Chapter 17- Give Me A Break
The man squeezed my hand and leaned down by my ear. I could not see his face as my eyes were glued ahead, but I felt his breath as he whispered "My love, my angel, my princess." And he kissed my ear. I woke up in a fright because the voice felt very real and though I wanted to forget it, I could not.
That dream disturbed me deeply. As it is, I rarely remember my dreams but that one was burned into my head.
My lead designer took the liberty to speak on behalf of the rest of the team. "President, I think it would not be wrong of me to say it seems as a whole the team is leaning to choosing the dress as our project." Various voices rang out in agreement.
"Ok then lets do it! Any questions?" A few began to ask logistics such as deadline expectations, fabric material choices as well as weight restrictions and transport. Eventually, the question of the models came up.
"Are we following the measurements from a standard dress form? Or will we bring in models to measure and create them?"
This stumped me a bit. Through my parents we had connections with dress makers so I was anticipating them creating the dress and us adding the stones after. However, if we do that we run the risk of the dress being too heavy where it could fall off the stand or even worse depending on how the dress is manufactured and structured it could rip and break.
In my draft I have a general silhouette and the dress style I felt was more romantic but I would have to consult the seamstresses in my team to see how plausible that style was for the end result we needed.
"Lets take this one step at a time. My plan starts with us sending the small batches of the stones we ended up deciding on to be cut to what we needed. I would like for some to work on the placement of the stones and see how heavy it will be as well as to how it holds up."
"Once we get a finalized stone and cut list as well as feedback from how attaching the stones to the fabric goes, we can have the dress makers create the forms we need. I will consult that team specifically to see their preference. If a need for a model comes up I will relay that information and anyone how would like to be the reference can let me know. We can proceed from there."
Thankfully, since my team is fully immersed into the project none asked about how I came up with the idea. 'I need to clear my head.'
After going over contracts and paperwork and meeting with our lawyer to draft the contracts for the project I decided it was time to take a break. For my lunch usually I go home but I felt that once I left I would not return to work so I headed over to the next best place for me to clear my head, the aquarium
In our city the aquarium we had was my favorite place to visit. It was quiet, cooling, and had great snacks and food in their cafeteria. Also the exhibits were incredible and when I watched the fish and other creatures move around I felt it to be relaxing.
My personal favorite is this somewhat new exhibit they added when I was a child. They had a whale shark pair who were rescued but deemed unfit to be left alone in the wild, so their space in the aquarium was the best to watch.
I headed over intending to only spend the hour and head back. I sat in the bench and watch the whale sharks swim in their enclosure. As the day started to melt away not even 15 minutes into my moment of peace someone came to ruin it.
"Its you! Oh my god hi do you remember me?" It was like hearing the devil call your name. I felt time stand still as I sat frozen in my seat. It was Sol Banks.
I let my gaze shift from the whales over to Sol who was holding the hands of two young children. One who seemed to be a toddler and the other an older kid. 'Give me a break.' I wanted to ignore her but there was no logical reason for me to do so besides to be petty.
"Oh my goodness, hello. Did not expect to run into you here." My voice felt fake in my ears. She laughed and let go of the kids hands as they ran up to the glass and watched the whales.
"Actually I am very glad I caught you. Since the party I have been wanting to speak with you about everything." I wanted to die at that moment. What could we even talk about, or for that matter why me? "Hmm." I hummed, staring straight ahead to avoid looking at her.
"Listen I am not sure how much you have heard of how Felix and I got together but I promise you I am not someone who steals others partners. So I am really sorry if it seemed that way. I genuinely want to be your friend. From how I see everyone treat you, you must be really kind."
I ignored her words. That was something that I did not want to hear and more importantly I was not sure I could trust them. The night Felix and I broke up that was one of many sore points we argued about. I confronted him about the rumors of his infidelity.
In his anger he lashed out at me and effectively admitted to his actions but also defended them. He justified his actions because my insecurities, which he took great pride in throwing in my face and humiliating me with, were the reason why.
The very things I wished were buried deep into the small crevices of my soul were laid bare before me. Things I thought I could trust him with. I doubt she even knows of his true nature. Or maybe he finds her worth it to change.
"I am sorry, I would love to chat further but I am on a lunch break. Maybe later." I didn't even bother to hear her response and left. Those memories I had locked away in my mind came back in full force. I sat in my car and felt the tears falling like a dark storm cloud from my eyes, no end in sight.
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