Chapter 38 Chapter 38
Violet
I let my gaze slide to the pages in front of him and noticed familiar strokes of charcoal and ink. My eyes widened in surprise.
He was staring at a few of my sketches that he had printed on a huge paper to place side by side.
“The color choice is rather odd for this one but I can see the appeal.”
I wasn’t sure what to reply so I kept quiet as he made a few more observations. He seemed to nitpick but in general liked one of the sketches of a necklace in particular that I didn’t even remember drawing.
He tapped a finger over it and mumbled.
“This looks very regal and exactly the kind of designs I am looking to bring to reality. Could you explain what made you draw this one in particular?”
That got me excited because I had always aspired to be an artist of some kind. And rarely had anybody asked me about my sketches.
I forgot all about my nervousness for a while and went into details of the color choices, diamond purity and weight of the central sapphire crystal.
Mr Williams looked fascinated and finally said.
“I am truly impressed by your vision and I apologize for letting your mother blindside you about this interview today.”
“Interview?” I asked in a shocked voice.
Mr Stratford chuckled. “Yeah, your father is an acquaintance of mine and casually mentioned that you were an artist so I asked him to provide some samples of yours which your mother readily did and then forced you to come here because she didn’t want you to get your hopes up.”
I blinked.
“So my father is not in danger and you are not interrogating him?”
Mr Stratford let out a hearty laugh. “Of course not. I am planning to launch a new jewellery line and needed some fresh ideas. Your design appealed to me so I asked for a meeting and you know the rest.”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be angry at mom or happy that she took the chance.
My worry turned to excitement when he said that and I felt my heart brimming with hope once again.
“Thank you so much for this chance, Mr stratford. What type of designs do you have in mind? I can provide a few sketches based on your vision.”
I was thankful for the sketchpad in my bag and immediately pulled it out alongwith a pencil to note everything down.
Mr Stratford got up and there was a knock on the door at the same time.
“Oh come in, Dane. I found the solution to your problems after all.” Mr Stratford said, waving my sketchbook at him.
Dane immediately took the sketchbook from the old man and nodded. “Its good but we need more sketches to proceed.”
Mr Stratford was beaming as he got up from the chair and introduced us. “Meet Violet Hayes, you can share her ideas with her and see if she can deliver what you need.”
I gave Dane a warm smile who extended his hand to greet me.
“Good to meet you, Miss Violet. If you have time, can we discuss it right now?”
“Absolutely”
For the next two hours, Dane told me all about his inspirations and vision. His ideas were pretty nice but not what you typically see in the market. I could see him wanting to carve a name for himself amongst all the other reputed brands but the more he talked, the more I sensed what a big responsibility it would be for me.
I grew nervous as well as excited which he noticed on my face.
“Having second thoughts, Miss Violet?” He asked.
“Just not sure if I can deliver” I replied honestly and he pulled out a cheque book and signed it.
“Maybe you need some motivation then. I’ll let you in on a secret” He lowered his voice and mumbled.
“I plan to demolish Devaraux jewellery with you.”
My eyes almost popped out of my skull.
“That’s like an ant going against an elephant.”
Deveraux were a huge group with a global presence. Every single business of theirs was booming and they almost had no competition in any sector. Their revenue made them the biggest conglomerate on the entire planet.
“Exactly” Dean pushed the cheque book towards me and added, “Consider this an advance for your designs. If we go through, I will get you employed as our chief jewellery designer. Only if your designs aren’t too complicated to implement. And then we launch it in the upcoming wedding season.”
My eyes widened at that. Maybe my luck wasn’t that bad.
And even if I had failed to secure an alliance, at least, I could earn enough to not depend on my parents.
“I will fill in the amount after you’ve okayed the designs.” I said, some confidence seeping into me.
I stepped out of the building but had no idea I would find someone waiting for me.
Dane was nice and polite and I could see myself working together with him. The blank cheque had been tempting but I didn’t want to overpromise and underdeliver so I declined taking the money right away.
My head was buzzing with ideas and I was going to spend a hell of time researching yet again. But this time it won’t be numbers and data, rather than something I truly loved.
A smile had appeared on my face but it vanished the second I reached the huge door of Stratford International.
Because right then, an all too familiar car stopped outside. And a face I hadn’t seen in months suddenly was in front of me.
Nate stepped out of the car, busy on the phone. He had not noticed me yet and was talking to someone on the phone.
And for a second, I was frozen to the spot.
I had felt happy after a long time so seeing him just brought back all the sadness all of a sudden.
He continued talking on the phone, and I couldn’t help but observe him for a while. There were fine lines under his eyes that appeared a little sunken and it seemed he hadn’t slept properly in a while.
His shoulders were stiff and frown lines were etched on his face.
I was on the other side of the door that he was approaching and I realized all too late that I should move.
I scrambled to run but not before he had walked in and bumped into me.
“Oh, sorry. I wasn’t looking…” He said and then his eyes widened upon seeing me.
“Violet!”
I hated that a tiny part of my heart fluttered to see him…like it was muscle memory ingrained in me.
I ignored him and tried to walk away but his voice was insistent and a tad louder that would borderline create a scene in a workplace I wanted to get a job at if I kept ignoring him.
Hence, I steeled my nerves, and turned around to face him.
“Violet, how are you doing?”