Page 56 of Tailored for You

I pulled the eye mask off, not remembering putting it on, but not questioning it. The room was dark. The alarm clock said it was after seven. Did I sleep through the night? Did Harper come in, and was I so out of it that I didn’t wake up? Couldn’t wake up?

My heart started racing, and I scrambled out of bed. My head ached, reminding me why I was knocked out for who knew how long. I rubbed my eyes, bumping into the wall as I made my way down the hall and to her room.

Except it wasn’t Harper’s room. It was a big open room, a walk-in closet with suits hanging on three of the four walls, cabinetry, and a mirror.

The sleep fog dissipated as I went to one of the suits. Rubbing the fabric between my fingers was familiar. I pulled it down. My tailor’s tag was still attached, from six months ago.

A niggling feeling pushed me to investigate further. I started pulling down more shirts, pants, and jackets. All of them had my tags.

I went row by row, wall to wall, grabbing randomly to confirm my suspicions. I had tailored every item of clothing in the room. None of them had been worn.

Confusion and frustration bloomed in me. Why spend thousands of dollars on tailored clothing and never wear any of it? Did he not like my work?

A throat cleared behind me. I spun around, knowing Enzo was there. I should be embarrassed for being caught snooping, but the frustration was slowly morphing into anger, and I found I didn’t care about being caught.

“What is this?” I asked, waving my hand around the room.

“You weren’t supposed to see this. Not yet.” Enzo sighed, a frustrated look on his face as he took a cautious step inside. “Why didn’t you come find me when you woke up?”

He was staring at the wall of suits.

Look at me.

“I’m not answering you until you tell me what I want to know,” I said, refusing to back down an inch.

He turned to face me, shoulders straight. His face had changed from frustration to resolve, like he’d made a decision and was going to move forward with it.

“That’s complicated, and I’m not sure you’re ready to hear it.” He held out a bottle of coconut water. “Drink this. It will help.”

I snatched the bottle as soon as I realized I was thirsty. "You’d be surprised by what I can handle. If I can handle my entire life blowing up on Page Six, I can handle whatever this is.”

“Right.” Enzo stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Come posso dirlo?”

He undid the top two buttons on his shirt. “I have been trying to find a way to,” he stopped. “No. That’s not the right way to say this. What I meant it was⁠—”

“Do you not like how I tailor your clothes? Is that why this closet is filled with them? If you don’t like my work, why did you keep coming back?” I cut him off, firing back questions that I couldn’t keep contained.

My work was one of the only areas in which I excelled. One I was proud of, and if he really didn’t like what I did, it was going to be a blow.

Enzo stayed silent, which only deepened my self-consciousness about my work. “Is this all because you feel sorry for me?” I asked, my voice quieter, more fragile than I meant for it to be.

“No.” Enzo jumped on that like a lifeline. “Your work is amazing. I love it. I don’t think you charge people enough for what you do.”

“There are thousands of dollars of unworn clothes here, Enzo. What am I supposed to think?”

“That maybe I wanted an excuse to see you? To talk to you?” he said, his voice even.

His answer short-circuited my brain. It was like I couldn’t comprehend such a simple possibility.

“I need you to explain it in plain terms for me.” It would kill me and my fragile, closed-off heart if I misinterpreted his meaning.

“Lay it out for you?” he asked.

I nodded.

For a moment, he didn’t move. And that gave me time to really look at him.

Enzo filled the space in front of me like he always did—big, solid, a brute of a man who seemed carved from muscle and ink. But it was his eyes that caught me first. Dark. Intense. Almost painfully soulful as they searched my face, like he was trying to read every thought I hadn’t said aloud.