Page 45 of Hooked
Tayla spentThursday afternoon double-checking her plans for Friday night. It was the first time she’d ever planned a date, and she was surprised how much fun it was. Everything was set and would be amazing. She was positive.
Friday morning was spent scouring the SOKA website. She’d set an interview date with them for the following Thursday. She could take the train up Wednesday night, stay at her parents’ house on the edge of Russian Hill, and grab a car the next day before her interview. After that, she’d try to crash at Tobin’s apartment for the rest of the weekend. Since she had an interview at SOKA, maybe Tobin would be curious enough to put her up.
She had a key to her parents’ house and access to her room there, but Tayla avoided the Mansion of Guilt whenever possible. If Emmie was still living in the city, she would stay with her, but Emmie was in Metlin of course.
Tayla scanned the household accessories section and found a few items. A small footstool made in Northern Thailand and some baskets from Peru. Very few choices.
She browsed through some of the new dresses from a Nigerian dressmaker she’d ordered from before and seriously considered grabbing a handbag from a designer in Yunnan Province in China.
All the merchandise on the SOKA site was made either by individuals or small fair trade businesses. Unlike other sites, everything was curated and leaned toward the higher end of the market. You weren’t going to find a thirty-dollar pashmina, but if you wanted to spend real money for the handwoven Kashmir original, you could find the genuine article at SOKA.
You could also find bargains if you happened to find a new designer who was trying to promote their shop, but those items were rare. Usually, by the time SOKA picked up a shop or artist, they already had a decent market. SOKA was closer to a really great online international department store. They carried menswear, women’s clothing, of course, and a decent selection of kids’ stuff—if you wanted to spend hundreds of dollars on a handmade baby wrap, that is—but they were lacking in housewares and accessories.
Interesting. That was definitely an area they could expand.
It made Tayla even more excited about the interview. Working for a company like SOKA would be a dream come true. It would be a challenge to find new products and the right promoters for them. It would also be amazing to work for a company with such clearly stated social goals.
She’d have health insurance. She’d have a retirement fund. She’d have workmates.
She’d also have a boss. Tayla wasn’t too sure how she felt about that part, but bosses didn’t have to be jerks. It just so happened her last two had been. That wasn’t a rule though. Maybe she’d just had bad luck.
There was a link to aChroniclearticle in the media section, talking about the founders of SOKA, Azim Asani and Kabisa Nandi, a husband-and-wife team from Kenya who had taken the idea of a tech start-up into the fashion world, seeding money from their own successful womens wear line to smaller companies who then gave them exclusive rights to sell their products. Their business had only expanded from there.
It was an innovative approach to world fashion that created a lively site with positive user interaction, inclusive fashion, and ethical manufacturers.
SOKA was ready to take off, and Tayla could be a part of it. She could make her mark on something meaningful and big, along with something she was passionate about.
All she had to do was leave a town she’d started to love.
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Chapter Ten
Jeremy stoodin front of the mirror and straightened the knot on his bow tie. He might have gone for casual on his date with Tayla, but with her date—even though she hadn’t clued him in—he erred on the side of formal.
He’d inherited one of his grandfather’s suits from the 1960s and had it tailored to fit him—he was a bit slimmer than Pop when he was in his prime. He didn’t think a full suit was the right look, but he’d taken the blue-and-green tweed vest and teamed it with a tailored shirt, slacks, and a green bow tie. The look was sharp but also a little playful. He thought Tayla would appreciate it.
While he dressed casually day to day, Jeremy had inherited a love of dressing up from his grandfather. Jeremy still remembered his grandparents putting on their best and going out dancing when he was little. His grandfather’s suits and his grandmother’s fancy dresses had made an impression. He liked feeling fancy, and he loved that Tayla did too.
“Pop!”
His grandfather’s voice boomed up to the second floor. “What?”
“You remember I’m going out with Tayla tonight, right?”
“And I’m having dinner with the queen. What are you bragging about?”
Jeremy couldn’t stop the smile. “I just wanted to remind you.” He sprayed on a few shots of cologne, patted his beard with a little oil, and combed through it before he looked at his face from the right. From the left.
Ready.
He looked good, and so would she.
Jeremy walked through the kitchen on his way out the door, pausing for his pop to give him the once-over. A raised eyebrow and a long nod was all Gus had to say, but that was enough.
“You show that young lady a nice time,” he said. “See you tomorrow.”
“See you.”
