Page 33 of Forget Me Not
Upon closer inspection he was able to make out several articles of clothing in various states of repair—or, assembly, he supposed. In the center of the island was a pair of pants, beside it a dress, clearly meant for a child, and what was possibly the bones of a loose-fitting shirt.
“All of these pieces are part of a clothing line I designed myself a few years ago.” She gestured an arm over the collection. “Aimi—my best friend, the one you met—she found out about this grant the state is offering. If I can convince them I’m worth it, the money and support could help me launch this line. It would be huge. I could really use it to keepthe shop open and honestly…I’ve been dreaming of being a household brand.” She looked wistful.
“How long do you have to apply?”
“I already applied, but I have to submit a final business plan and give a presentation in August.”
“That seems like plenty of time to get everything finished?”
“Oh, absolutely. It helps that I was able to start on the pieces right away. I already had an entire book worth of designs. The hardest part was narrowing it down to only ten pieces to present.” She smiled then, a true smile, brilliant and disarming.
“Incredible,” he breathed.
She nodded, agreeing while looking over her work, but he was not referring to the clothing at all.
“Well, I can pick this back up tomorrow. I figured I could pluck away at it while I waited for you. I just need to close up and we can head upstairs—if that’s okay with you? We can absolutely stay down here if not. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable or anything, but also, I’m just inviting you to the better couch, not my bed…”
His lips quirked up to one side as he dropped his head down, looking up at her through his lashes.
“I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”
Bas chuckled as she puffed her flushed cheeks full of air, nodding sharply and stepping past him. He was almost certain he heard her mumbling something about sounding likean idiot as she closed the blinds and locked the door, the latter seeming to require a bit of effort.
“I’m locking this so no one just wanders in, I promise I’m not like, locking you in for nefarious...”
He waved her off, chuckling again.
“Honestly, Bambi, I don’t think I would mind if you were.”
She scoffed, or maybe it was a laugh, and leveled him with a look which led him to believe she thought he was joking. Only, he was pretty sure he was not.
“Is that going to be a thing now?” she asked.
“What?”
“Bambi?”
“Why? Do you hate it?” He searched her face, if she really didn’t like the nickname, he would immediately forget it ever existed.
She grumbled something he wasn’t able to catch before she answered aloud, “I wouldn’t say Ihateit. It’s just a bit…” She cringed and tapped a finger to her nose. “On the nose, don’t you think?”
He laughed again, something he found she was getting him to do often.
“What? Because you’re both small and cute?”
Another scoff. No, he was almost certain now it was just an awkward, surprised laugh. Why did he find that endearing?
She started toward him. “Okay, all done. We can go up now.”
Bas turned to the side, gesturing with a sweeping motion for her to lead the way.
The stairs were tucked in the back corner; he had truly overlooked them at first. The stairwell was narrow, his elbows almost reaching either side as he walked with his hands in his pockets. At the top was a simple door, as much as you could call a door covered in little blue flowers simple.
Syve paused with a hand on the doorknob and glanced over her shoulder. “My other best friend, Cameron. She paints.” She shrugged a shoulder, then turned back and opened the door.
Following at her heel, Bastien stepped into a small laundry room; the space was just large enough for a washer and dryer on one wall with a small open cabinet housing her detergent and what looked like extra linens.
He hesitated when he came toe to toe with a pair of worn boots that were at least five sizes too big to be Syve’s, the amount of dust gathered across the laces a testament of their importance to that particular square tile. He gingerly stepped around the footwear-shrine, intending to ask Syve about them later. But, when he looked up, his eyes caught on a canvas hanging on the wall beside her. It was similar to the ones downstairs, but this one was in full color.
