Chapter 51 Chapter 51
The silence stretched.
“Because I wish to design for people who actually wear jewellery,” I said finally. “Not for displays or runways.”
Before I could respond, the door opened.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Dane said as he stepped inside. “The meeting ran over.”
And I wanted to jump at him like a child suddenly found its parent after getting lost running around on its own.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
Mirella turned toward him smoothly. “Ms. Hayes has interesting concepts,” she said. “She lacks experience, but she’s receptive. That can be trained.”
Dane glanced at me. “That’s promising.”
“She would need close supervision,” Mirella continued. “No independent projects initially. And she’ll need to unlearn a few romantic notions about design.”
At least that wasn’t an outright no.
“I understand,” I said quickly.
Dane smiled. “Then welcome to the team, Violet.”
The words settled slowly.
As Mirella rose and gathered her tablet, she paused beside me.
“Talent opens doors,” she said quietly before walking out the door. “Staying inside them requires precision.”
I gave her an awkward smile but Dane was quick to brush my concerns away.
“Don’t worry about it, she is tough on the outside but once you win her over, she will be your best friend.”
“Yeah, sure” I said with more conviction than I felt. Winning her over would be tougher than drilling a stone with my bare hands.
But that was a battle for another day.
For now, I only sat in front of Dane as he briefed me over his vision and plan to launch a new collection asap.
I readly showed him my designs and he absolutely loved them.
“These are perfect, I will get them to the concept team for digital mockups and start sourcing supplies.”
He was talking about launching it already?
This was unreal. “But Mirelle didn’t quite like them as much.”
I didn’t state her opinions about their knowledge about jewellery but Dane shrugged my concern away again.
“Don’t worry about her. I will get the team to look at it.”
I grinned as he instructed me to collect my appointment letter from his office and patted me on his way out.
“I am truly happy with your designs. Now, time to bring those to reality. Also ask for Amber, she will guide you for any doubts henceforth.”
He hurried away for another meeting as I collected my appointment letter from the reception.
“Hey, are you Violet?” I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see a familiar face.
“Wait, Violet, as in the girl who was my high school competition?” Amber asked and my mouth fell open.
“Amber, the drawing champ who painted the seven wonders in an hour?”
We both chuckled and she pulled me close.
“Damn, it's been ages that I have seen you. But you know what? I am still the best here.”
Amber winked and I giggled, waving my appointment letter at her.
“I am here to give you some competition.”
Amber gave a dramatic sigh. “Consider me afraid. But how are you doing? And are you still dating that loser Nate who couldn’t keep it in his pants?”
My smile instantly disappeared and Amber placed a hand on her mouth as if she had accidentally revealed more than intended.
“Excuse me?”
Amber instantly started to run away from me but I was faster and blocked her way almost immediately.
“Hey, wait” I called after her.
“I just recalled this meeting…” she brushed me off but I managed to grab her by the elbow.
“Please” I said, panting and trying to get my words out.
“I am not going to yell at you or anything if that’s what you are wondering.”
Amber gave me a wary look.
“You are not?”
I shook my head.
“I broke up with him. And it was messy. So you dont have to worry about me starting a drama in the office.”
Amber took a breath of relief and sighed dramatically.
“Oh thank the Moon Goddess for that.”
I edged closer to her, dropping my voice to a low whisper.
“What was it that you said about Nate earlier?”
Amber casually dropped a bomb on me.
“Just what I said. The entire high school knew what a dickhead he was. He would flirt with all the girls and jump at whoever gave him even the slightest bit of attention. An absolute moron.”
My heart dropped.
“Are you sure?”
Amber nodded vehemently. “Of course. He even tried flirting with me once but I learned he was dating you and I distinctly recall feeling sad for you.”
Had I been dating a douchebag all my life? The one who accused me of cheating had been a cheater throughout?
A wave of unease swept past me and I leaned onto the nearest chair for support. I dreaded asking the question but forced the words out of my mouth either way.
“Do you know if he also dated other girls or just tried to flirt?”
I didn’t want to give a reason to Amber of why I was asking her that and thankfully she didn’t ask me why.
Amber seemed to give it some thought and stared at the ceiling as if she was in some deep thought but then shook her head.
“Nont really. I got busy with studies and didn’t keep up with the high school stuff anymore. And I am sorry that was the first thing I said upon seeing you. It just slipped out of my mouth.”
I gave her a wry smile.
“It's alright. It's in the past anyway.”
Amber nodded. “Cool. see you around then. It was nice to see you after a long time.”
“Same”
I mumbled and she walked back to her desk. And that small interaction with her left me with mixed feelings.
I had always known he had a crush on Nicole but I didn’t know he was also actively flirting with other girls while I was living in a delusional world.
“Well, good riddance” Rain muttered in my head. She had a strong opinion about Nate and had never really liked him from the start.
We would always be at odds when it came to him and I never understood why my wolf had such an aversion to him. Weren’t wolves supposed to mimic our emotions?
I focussed my attention on my appointment letter and on the future ahead of me. And I recalled how I had promised Cassie a small treat if I landed the job.
But before I could do so, my phone rang and my brow knit in a worry to wonder what it was about.
Dad seldom gave me a call.
“Dad? Is everything alright?”
I immediately asked but he spoke to me hurriedly.
“Just wanted to let you know that you dont have to beg for help to anybody. I managed to secure an alliance for us.”
“That is amazing, dad. Who is it?”