“I do?”
“Yes. These sketches prove it,” I emphasize.
“But.. . me? Help design a dress for Clarissa?”
“Yes. There’s no one better suited for the task.” I nod to the tablet. “Do you think you can do this? Will you collaborate with me?”
Lea considers this for several long moments. A glint of determination fills her eyes and that’s when I know, together we’re going to kick some major butt. This must be how superheroes feel.
Lea cracks her knuckles and takes hold of my tablet. “Let’s get on with it.”
“If you pull up a blank page, what I’m playing with in my brain is the idea of a trumpet-shaped dress meets a cheongsam.”
“Oh! I can do that. Give me a moment.” I watch in amazement as Lea’s hands fly across the screen. “It should be sleeveless... maybe have three buttons across here... it can conform to her body and flare out here...”
“Can you add a hint of purple peeking out of the bottom? We’ll cut off the edge of the skirt so it’s wavy too.”
She pauses. “Why the purple? Shouldn’t it be blue?”
“Not this dress.” I shake my head. “The light purple is going to be a tulle layer to give it some drama. Nobody will know it’s there unless they look closely. I want it to resemble a water lily. I’ve heard from Sonya those are special to Clarissa. With all the chaos of the changes, she should have something that’s hers.”
Lea’s hand flies to her heart. “I’d forgotten about that. The water lily house at Kew Gardens is where Clarissa found the inspiration for the Duchess of Leeds’s wedding dress four years ago. Auntie loves telling that story to anyone who will listen.”
“Wait a moment. Are you related to Clarissa?”
“She’s my cousin. My mum and her mum are sisters.”
“Really?” I sputter.
“I thought you knew.” Lea scratches her forehead.
“No, I didn’t.” If I had, I would’ve approached our relationship differently.
“Huh, well, we are.” She inhales sharply. “You’re not going to fire me from being your intern because of it, are you?”
“No, Iwouldn’t do that.”
She relaxes. “Good, because I love working with you. You take the time to teach and explain things to me. The other person I was paired with prior to you gave me all these menial tasks to do. I could watch, but it’s not the same as getting one-on-one time and some hands-on experience.”
I could say the same thing about Clarissa and Sonya. They’re both kindly taken me under their wing in the short time I’ve been around them. I’ve grown a lot in the span of three weeks. Being trusted to work on her wedding dress has challenged me to the extreme. Yet I relish being given a chance to show them what I can do.
My attention returns to the tablet screen. “Do you think we should make any other adjustments to the design?”
“No. I think simple is the way to go.”
“What about colors? I know white isn’t something that would normally be worn. It would be red.”
“It is, but in this case, I think white would look better.”
“Do you think your aunt and Clarissa would approve?” I ask.
Lea nods. “Yes. We’re the designers and this is our vision.”
“Yes! That’s right.” I hold up my hand for a high five. “Let’s go and show this to Sonya. If she green lights us, I’ll show you how to draft a pattern.”
Lea jumps to her feet. “You want me to come with you?”
“Duh. Now come on, we need to get moving on this.” Her arms wrap around me tightly. I’m caught off balance and bump into the wall. “Oof.”
