Page 13 of Simply Irresistible
“I design clothes,” she finally answered. “I want to have my own fashion line.”
8
Melanie
I let the words linger in the air between us. Usually when I told guys my career aspirations, they thought it was a joke…or they made a joke out of it. I wasn’t sure why being a fashion designer seemed so silly to some people. It was a perfectly respectable career, look at Donna Karan or Alexander McQueen. Or Marc Jacobs or Tom Ford or Karl Lagerfeld. I didn’t delude myself into thinking I’d reach their level, but nothing was impossible.
I just had to try…
“That’s pretty cool,” Tyler said, and I relaxed. “What kinds of things do you design?”
“Right now, I’m just focusing on women’s clothes. I make some of the things I wear,” I said, gesturing to my outfit. It was another sundress, this one was dark blue with a contrasting dark pink neckline and halter top.
“Wow, you designed that? And sewed it?” He asked, surprised.
“Yep. I’ve probably designed most of the outfits you’ve seen me in.”
“That’s pretty awesome. I’d ask you to make me something, but I don’t know what.”
I laughed. “I’ll see if I can come up with something. I started with women’s clothes because that’s what attracted me to fashion when I was little, plus I could use myself to model it.”
“Well, you do a great job modeling it, Spice.” He was smirking at me, and it made my face heat up. I was probably bright red. That was also not the first time he called me Spice and I wondered why I’d earned the nickname.
“Why do you call me that?”
He looked away, then looked back. “It’s nothing bad, I swear. But can I tell you later?”
“No, now I’m even more intrigued.”
He sighed. “Your name…Melanie…there are two Spice Girls named Melanie.”
“So, you call meSpicebecause of the Spice Girls?” He nodded, and I could tell he was embarrassed. It was pretty funny, but I wouldn’t laugh at him. “My best friend is getting married and asked me to design and make her wedding dress.” I wasn’t sure why I shared that piece of information with him, but I did. I figured I owed him something after the wholeSpicething...like a subject change…and when I was with him, the words just seemed to flow.
“That’s awesome. I bet it’s difficult though.”
I nodded. “It can be difficult to make a wedding dress. Some designs have such intricate details that need to be hand stitched. Meredith—that’s my friend—she likes simple designs, so her dress won’t be as detailed, but the silk and lace fabrics are so delicate that I have to be careful. Doing something too fast can damage the fabric and cause me to have to restart the whole thing.”
“Wow, sort of makes me appreciate theundobutton in Word documents.”
I laughed. “Yeah, it sort of does. I wish I had anundobutton sometimes.”
“Make a lot of bad choices?” he asked, and my eyes shot up from my plate to him. He was smiling, making a joke.
“I meant on my designs,” I said, returning his smile. “But it could be cool to have anundobutton for life stuff. Nothing major, of course, but for the little things? Like being able to undo sleeping through an alarm or answering the phone.”
“Missing the train,” he suggested.
“Yes! Or burning dinner.”
His eyes narrowed. “Is something burnt?”
“Not at all. Everything is great. What seasoning did you use on the vegetables?”
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” He had a drop-dead serious expression on his face, which made me laugh.
“Ah,” I said. “A trade secret. I completely understand. I’ve got some of those, too.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Secret stitches?”
