Page 20 of All the Drama from New York

“I’ll grab a cab out front.” Worst case she would have to wait a few minutes before finding one that was headed in the right direction. “Maybe my next PA should be a hulky guy who can carry all this stuff. I’m going to need someone strong in the lead up to my fashion week runway show.”

“Fashion week runway show! What?”

She giggled with delight. “Yep. They have offered me a runway show. You’ll have to come. I’ll make sure you and your wife have VIP seats.”

“That is fantastic news, and so well deserved. Do you know any details about the show?” he replied.

“Thank you. I only got the email last night, so I don’t have a lot of details. All I know at this juncture is that I’m going to present a runway show before Jilly G’s new season collection is launched.”

At the mention of Jilly G, Karl screwed up his nose. Jilly G was a top designer, but she also had a reputation for using badly printed fabrics, ones which didn’t last.

“Well I’m sure your collection will look better than hers. And more original.”

Stealing other designers designs was rampant in the industry but she didn’t want to get into that topic of conversation. Since her arrival in New York, Camille had made a point of not engaging in spiteful gossip. She knew full well that what came around tended to come back around and bite you on the ass.

Outside in the street, weighed down by both fabric bundles and expectations, Camille quickly came to the realization that she hadn’t planned this trip all that well.

Finding a cab this morning on the street was proving beyond hopeless. In the end she waited for ten minutes outside Karl’s Fabric Emporium, before deciding that walking home might be her only real option. Half way down the block she began to regret having gone with a killer pair of heels. They’d looked great when she’d left home, but now they just pinched her heels.

And her fellow New Yorkers didn’t seem all that interested in helping her either, as not one person made the slightest effort to get out of her way. Apparently, a woman staggering along the sidewalk carrying an armful of fabric swatches and two large tote bags was fair game. She was the one they expected to get out oftheirway.

It was Wednesday morning, and everyone seemed to have woken up on hump day in a foul mood. No matter how polite Camille was no one was prepared to yield an inch of the sidewalk.

“Excuse me.”

“Pardonnez-moi.”

“Seriously? Did you just deliberately stick out your elbow?”

People. What is wrong with you?

Humanity seemed to have left its human side at home today, and instead opted to go full evil.

Camille sidestepped another oncoming pedestrian who made no effort to make room. She stopped and adjusted the pile of fabric in her arms. It was so high, she could barely see above the top of it.

This walking a pile of fabrics through the streets of New York on a warm summer’s day had to be the Olympic champion of stupid ideas. But Camille was nothing if not stubbornly determined to prove she could do things for herself.

One more block and then I’m there.

She couldn’t wait to escape the Manhattan madness. Her tired arms, aching back, and swelling feet would be counting every painful step she took toward home.

“Yeah, and then he basically threw me out the door. And get this, he said he was doing me a favor. That one day I will thank him.”

Liam’s string of expletives trickled down the line to Ryan. His brother was as angry as Ryan was about how Simon had treated him.

After all the time he’d worked atJava Junction, all Ryan had to show for his efforts was a gift certificate for an Italian restaurant and a check for his entitlements. So much for his grand plans.

“What are you going to do now?”

“Right now?” snorted Ryan. “Right now, I’m on my way home. The second I get off the train, OperationPity Partyis go for launch.”

Which meant he would soon be lying on the couch drinking a case of cold beer and generally feeling sorry for himself. There was a long standing agreement between them, that if either of them was let go from a job or in Liam’s case a photo assignment, they were granted a full twenty four hours to wallow in misery. After that they’d dust themselves off and get on with the business of finding a new job.

“Ok, sounds like a plan. See you soon.”

Time to go home and wallow in beer-addled despair. I should have asked Liam to get some bags of corn chips.

Ryan lifted his head, and a large brown thing wrapped up with string filled his entire field of vision. He made a move to his left. Whoever was carrying the big brown thing mirrored him. He took a step back, anything to avoid the inevitable collision.

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