Chapter 42 Chapter 42
Violet
What the hell was that even supposed to mean?
For the next whole day, Mom pretended everything was normal but no matter how much I asked her, coaxed her, she wouldn’t give me a substantial reason.
I cried, I expressed how it felt when she destroyed hours of my work and killed my motivation, yet she only gave me a sad smile and said.
“I am sorry for my rash decision but your father put in a lot of effort to get you an interview at the Stratford group and your designs were not up to the mark.”
Excuse me?
My disbelief must be evident on my face because she simply shrugged it off. “Either way, in order to apologize for my rash act, I pulled a few strings and got some inspirations for you.”
Saying so, she pulled out her phone and handed it to me.
“What is this?”
“Open the pdf” She urged me.
I did and saw various jewellery sketches, raw and digital, some colorful mockups, some just black and white. There were dozens of them but all had the same cookie cutter designs.
Mom spoke to me excitedly, sharing how she had to butter up some other luna of a pack to get hands on these but my face fell.
“Dane didn’t hire me for this, Mom. He can get this from literally everyone. He liked my vision and creativity, just like Mr William Stratford.”
But Mom grew dismissive immediately.
“They are men. What do they even know about the tastes of women? I am not going to let my daughter’s first project bomb because those men can’t understand feminine likes and dislikes.”
“Hello, I am a woman too!”
She was just being absurd at this point.
“Yeah, and how many statement pieces do you own? How many auctions have you been to? Trust me, those designs of yours were nightmarish and good that I burned them all. We don’t need that negativity here.”
“What are you even talking about? Those designs appealed to me.”
But Mom vehemently denied my claim, stating that she knew what she was doing and would even help me meet with other jewellers if Dane insisted on bizarre styles.
Frankly, I wondered if Mom was hit by some other stuff that was mentally draining her and in a moment of anger took it all out on my work.
Lately, she and dad appeared more and more concerned about the pack safety. Dad would always be in meetings and both seemed always on the edge.
As I couldn’t figure out any other reason for her extreme reaction, I simply attributed it to her growing stress.
Mom saw my crumpled face and sighed. “I am sorry sweetheart. You are right. I should have handled it better, I simply panicked when I saw…but never mind. I apologize again and my only request to you is to stick to what is currently trending in the market. Use your imagination but there is a reason why nobody sells that kind of stuff, it's not mainstream, dear.”
Well, I couldn’t disagree with that. I had let my imagination run wild but I had never seen such designs in any shop or advertisements. Maybe, mom had my best interests at heart.
“Okay” I nodded grudgingly.
She approached me and placed her thumb under my chin to make me look at her.
“I am sorry I upset you. Your father’s stress rubbed off on me and I took it out on you. How about this? We go through all the designs and I help you pick the best style for your inspiration?”
“Its okay, you look after dad and being a Luna, I will handle the rest.”
Mom got up and kissed me on the cheek. “Remember, as I said, just stick to what sells in the market. Nothing over the top, okay?”
“Yeah”
Mom left my room and I decided that I had spent enough time cooped in so needed some fresh air. Hence, I changed into trackpants and a loose tee and stepped outside for a walk.
The afternoon sun had already been replaced by the moon as darkness crept in. The wind was also a bit chilly. It was a perfect weather to jog.
Hence, I did some stretches and took a walk around the pack border. Most of the people were getting ready to sleep or just returning home from a long day of work. Kids were running around while a few women were chatting with each other.
A little kid was laughing loudly as his dad pushed him on the swing while the mother watched happily. Somehow that happiness brought a sad smile on my face.
I looked away and continued to jog. I had barely completed a round when my phone rang. Assuming it was my mom who wanted to force food down my throat again, I ignored it but the caller was persistent.
Dread crept up when Nate’s name popped up in my head but when I checked the name flashing on the screen, I felt a mixture of anger and disappointment.
It was Elijah.
I received the call and felt an odd sensation upon hearing his voice.
We had not had any communication since I stormed out of his home and it already felt like more than a week had passed.
“Hi, can you come over whenever you are free?”
Just like that. No how are you, or I am sorry and want to explain what happened the last time you were home.
That small ray of hope died upon hearing that cold voice of his.
“What for?” I asked curtly.
“Cassie is asking for you”
Oh right.
Stupid me. Why did I even assume he wanted to talk to me because it was his wish. Of course, it had to be his little sister.
I took a pause to not shout at him in annoyance. And he added.
“You promised her to visit everyday but you haven’t so she bugged me to get you here.”
I felt even more irritated when he said it that way. As if he was doing me a grand favor by telling me that my friend was missing me.
“I got busy” I said and coincidentally there was a knock on the door again. This time it was dad who shouted from the door.
“Your mom is crying in the room for her earlier mistake but won’t tell me what it is. Is it regarding your interview?”
“Interview? What interview?” Elijah suddenly asked from the other end and I stupidly realized I hadn’t put the phone on mute.
I immediately did so, told dad that I will come over in five minutes and returned to talk to Elijah.
“Tell Cassie, I’ll come see her tomorrow morning.”
However, Elijah repeated. “Where did you go for an interview? I thought you wanted to work on the Emerald project.”
Really now? After days of silence, he suddenly realized that?
“None of your business” I angrily threw the phone away and went to talk to my not so dramatic mother.