Chapitre 7: Sarah's first online shop
The phone beside Rose's head rang. Groaning, she picked it up, muttering, "Who calls during summer holidays?" Annoyed, she ignored the call and drifted back to sleep. But the phone rang again. This time, she was furious. She answered with a drowsy, "Excuse me, I'm not available right now. Good night; don't let the bedbugs bite," before dropping the phone without checking who had called. All she wanted was some rest.
On the other end, Sarah stared at her phone, realizing Rose must have been asleep. "Maybe I'll just wait for her to call me back," Sarah murmured, then thought of calling Julia, hoping her friend, who was skilled in web development, could help. But Julia didn't answer either. "Just great! Both of them are ignoring my calls," she sighed. Deciding to make the most of her day, Sarah headed out to her usual shop to gather supplies for her next dress-making project.
While browsing the materials, Sarah spotted Rose's boyfriend, Sam, the basketball captain. "Hey, Sarah! How are you doing?" he asked, catching her off-guard. For a moment, she froze, surprised that Sam, the popular captain, was actually talking to her.
Snapping out of her daze, Sarah replied, "Oh, hey, Sam. Sorry, I was… a bit lost in thought."
"Out of the zone, huh?" Sam smiled.
Sarah tried to hide her awkwardness, her thoughts drifting to Rose. Rose was so lucky to have Sam by her side. Sam noticed Sarah's silence and asked, "How are things with John? Are you guys doing okay?"
Frustrated, Sarah muttered, "Things with John are… complicated. He only took advantage of me, and I realize now he probably likes Rose. But Rose told me you're her boyfriend. Does John know?"
Curiously, Sam replied, "No, I don't think so. But don't worry, Sarah; things will fall into place. You just have to be strong." His reassuring words comforted her.
"Thank you, Sam. I never expected you to be such a great motivator," Sarah said, grateful.
"Oh, geez, thanks a lot!" Sam replied, laughing, as Julia suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Thanks a lot, Baskie," she teased.
Sam looked confused. "Baskie? What does that mean?"
Rupert joined them, laughing. "It's short for 'basketball,'" he explained.
Julia laughed and glanced at Sarah, signaling to keep things light-hearted. Sensing Julia's message, Sarah quickly changed the topic. "Julia, I tried calling you. I needed help setting up my online shop."
Julia perked up. "Oh, yes! Sorry, I almost forgot. How about next week?"
"Okay," Sarah replied.
Julia turned to Sam. "Hey, Baskie, any plans for the holidays?"
Sam chuckled, "Please, drop the nickname! But yeah, maybe."
"What's cute?" Rose chimed in, just arriving.
Seeing her, Sam's face lit up. He lifted her in his arms, kissing her in front of everyone. Embarrassed, Rose whispered, "What are you doing? Put me down!"
"Not until you kiss me," he teased. Blushing, Rose kissed him, and he gently let her down, holding her hand tightly. Sarah, watching them, felt a pang of sadness as it reminded her of her own complicated feelings for John.
Awkwardly, Sarah said, "I'm sorry to be the third wheel. I'll take my leave now." She left the shop, almost on the verge of tears, telling herself, "It's best I don't get too close. It only makes things harder."
Sam turned to Rose, "So, what brings you here?"
"I came to buy new summer dresses," Rose replied.
"Oh, perfect! Let's shop together!" Sam said enthusiastically.
"But, um… I also need to buy something else…" Rose stammered, blushing. Julia jumped in, "Sam, it's for girl stuff. Are you buying it for her too?"
Rose's face turned pink. "Julia, what are you doing?" she whispered.
"Why not?" Sam grinned. "She's my future wife; I'd buy the world for her!" Rose beamed, and Julia giggled, "Come on, Rupert. Let's get some summer outfits ourselves."
They all finished shopping and planned to meet at Sam's house on Sunday to discuss summer plans. Everyone went their separate ways.
That afternoon, Rose headed to Sarah's house with bags full of dress materials. "Sarah, are you free?"
"Always, for you," Sarah replied, smiling.
Sarah's mother, delighted to see Rose, made them pancakes with chocolate cream. She was grateful Rose had become such a close friend to her daughter. Upstairs, Rose looked around Sarah's spacious room, which was filled with sewing supplies.
"Wow, you've really made this space your own!" Rose said, impressed.
"Yeah, my parents let me convert it into a workshop so I could pursue my passion for tailoring," Sarah replied.
"Do you have a laptop?" Rose asked. "Great! Let's start building your online shop and make your dreams come true!" she added with a grin.
Sarah was touched. She almost cried. "Thank you, Rose. I thought you'd forgotten about it."
"Why would I? You're my best friend!" Rose assured her.
"I won't forget that," Sarah said, smiling.
"Oh, and I bought some materials for you," Rose said, handing over the bags. "I noticed you left the store without buying anything, so I grabbed some for you."
Sarah's eyes sparkled with gratitude. "Thank you so much, Rose. I'll teach you tailoring in return. It'll be fun to create dresses together!"
For the next half-hour, they worked on setting up Sarah's online shop. "I think an aesthetic look with shelves and dress images would be perfect," Rose suggested. In no time, they finished the website. "Wow, that was fast!" Sarah exclaimed.
"Julia could've done it in ten minutes!" Rose joked. They laughed together, and just then, Sarah's mom brought in pancakes.
"Thank you, Mrs. Portia!" Rose said gratefully.
Mrs. Portia smiled. "No, thank you, Rose, for being such a wonderful friend to my daughter."
Finally, after a successful afternoon of creating, Sarah looked at the website and said proudly, "Welcome to Rose & Sarah's Fashion!"
They both cheered as they received their first order, thrilled that their online shop had officially launched.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone