Page 24

"Yes, of course."

Remei stands and picks up a pattern, setting it on the table—a front bodice piece with seam allowances and reference notches—then places an identical one next to it.

"Compare them and tell me what you see."

Claudia stands and leans over the table. She shifts both pieces until she has a clear view and studies the lines, finding the differences right away.

"Here," she says, pressing a finger to a point on the second pattern. "This line looks higher than on the other one."

"And do you think that affects anything?"

Elvira's niece takes a few seconds to picture both pieces in her mind.

"Yes." She moves her finger toward the shoulder area. "I think it changes the way it would fall through here—and this section too, this piece should sit higher, because otherwise it'll pull when the arm moves."

She turns to look at Remei, because the woman hasn't said a word and Claudia isn't sure she got it right.

"Good," Remei says at last, and Claudia, instead of feeling pleased, feels unsettled.

She's not quite sure what just happened, because she has no idea what the piece she pointed to is called, doesn't know the technical name for the misplaced line, couldn't explain why the seam allowance needs to be wider, or which machine will close that seam—but in her mind, it was crystal clear.

Remei opens the binder and pulls out a more complex pattern, unfolding it across the table.

"Tell me what you see in this one."

Claudia frowns, not entirely sure what the question is asking, because the obvious answer is that she's looking at a pattern—but then she keeps staring and her eyes go straight to a section where the lines crowd too close together, where the space between the edge and the marks is so narrow that if anyone runs a machine through there, the fabric will pucker. She doesn't know the right words for any of it, but she knows it's wrong.

"It's too tight." She traces the area with her finger. "There's no way a machine can go through here without overlapping the other seam."

Remei nods, satisfied, takes the pattern back to its place, then points to a set of folders.

"You're going to start by sorting these. They're last year's patterns that need to go into the binders. If you're not sure where something goes, ask me."

Claudia stands and spends the next hour picking up folders, opening them, examining the pattern inside, and finding the label reference to file it in the right section of the binder. It's not especially hard—she's always been good at organizing things—but what she discovers is that organizing these gives her a quiet satisfaction, and she wouldn't mind spending the whole shift doing it if it means getting to look at patterns of every kind.

And so the hours keep passing—Remei giving her instructions, Claudia following each one without needing them repeated or asking anything that trips her up, simply doing, watching, and absorbing every explanation with an ease that overwhelms her. She's so deep inside what she's doing that it's Remei who has to touch her arm when the lunch break arrives, and Remei who has to warn her in the afternoon that the shift-change bell just rang.

"You okay?" the woman asks.

"Yes." Claudia blinks, watching through the glass as the staff begin clearing their stations, as if she needs to confirm that it's actually time to leave.

"It wasn't so bad, was it?" Remei smiles, nodding toward the door.

Claudia offers a small smile in return, because she doesn't know what else to say. It happens to her sometimes even at her office job in Barcelona—one of those days when she gets pulled under by what she's doing and time disappears—the difference is that there she doesn't enjoy it, and here she's had a genuinely good time.

She gathers her things and opens the door, holding it so Remei can pass through, then follows her out to the exit.

"See you tomorrow, Claudia," Remei says as they step outside.

"See you tomorrow."

Remei heads to her car and Claudia heads to hers, and on the way she runs into Laia.

"How'd it go?"

Claudia stops and looks at her, turning her car key over and over between her fingers.

"Fine, I guess."