Page 7 of Shape Of My Heart
There was just enough space beside the bed to keep her sewing machine and her mannequin that helped her to make her dress for the designershowcase.
She hid the dress underneath the bed in multiple plastic bags. With the rhinestones that covered it, and the fine red silk and taffeta mix, that dress was easily valued at between ten and fifteen thousand dollars. It would be a small fortune for anyone who stole it. She’d spent five thousand on putting it together, which she was luckily able to do before she’d had news of her mother’scondition.
Her room was part of a multi-complex of other rooms and in a worse part of town. The locks didn’t work properly and she couldn’t take the chance of getting burgled. If that happened, that would be it for her. Right now she was living on an incredibly tight budget to enable her to fulfill her mission to help her mother and secure her spot as a Diordesigner.
This was the third time that she’d applied to work for Dior. Their new designer recruitment process ran over the course of a year, starting with the standard application and portfolio, then on to an interview and presentation to pitch a design for any season of her choice. The designer showcase was the final stage. It was a massive event with a fashion show that allowed you the chance to display your main design. Passing that meant being accepted as one of their entry-level designers. It was onwards and upwards fromthere.
Every year Dior accepted two to five new designers. It went without saying that they were extremely selective. Hundreds would apply, and in most years only a handful were accepted. Last year it was two people. The year beforethree.
In the first two attempts Amy got through to the second stage but went no further. It was quite disappointing and heart rending, especially since each time she was up against fresh graduates with new ideas. Now she was thirty-three, five years older than when she applied the second time around, but with more experience and names under her belt. It was her PA role that helped to boost her application on her latest attempt. She’d been able to talk a lot more about working with magazines and future prospects in the fashion world than on her first two attempts. She couldn’t have been more ecstatic to be invited to take part in the designer showcase in Beverly Hills in fourmonths.
This was her dress, and she had to say it was truly beautiful. She’d gone for an elegantslimline.
Amy planned to go in with fire, guns blazing, and a no-failure attitude. She hadn’t allowed herself to think past the what if of failure. It simply wasn’t an option even with her motherbeingsick.
All she had to do was get through this job and hope that she wouldn’t lose her sanity. Tomorrow she would speak to Mr. Mancini when he was sober. Speaking to drunk people was a complete waste of time and energy because they wouldn’t remember half of what you said when next you saw them. She just hoped that tomorrow would bebetter.
Grabbing a microwave dinner of vegetable lasagna, she shoved it in the small microwave oven. Just like yesterday it sparked up a few times, stalled, sparked again, and then continued until it pinged minutes later when it wasready.
A knock sounded at her door and she wondered who it could be. She wasn’t comfortable in this place at all and, in all honesty, preferred to let whoever was knocking stay outside. She was also tired from the dayshe’dhad.
She tiptoed towards the door, peered through the little peephole, and frowned when she saw it was the landlord. He was a big, butch, Eastern European guy with a creepy attitude and an accent that made you feel like you were in a bond film, but not in a good way. He also had a twin brother who lived on the next floor up. She paid her rent for the month already and a deposit, so she really wasn’t sure why he was here. But, since it was him she decided she’d better openthedoor.
“Hi Mr. Krutz. Is there something I can helpyouwith?”
He gave her that once over look most guys did, but on him with his thick masculinity and shaved head it made him look even morecreepy.
“Call me Dom. I’m just checking to see how you are, blondie.” He smiled and ran his hand across his stubbly chin. That was the second time today that her hair had been referenced. Maybe she should dye it. If it meant she was safer, she could die it orange orsomething.
“I’m fine. Thanks so much for checking. I am tired, though, so I’m going to turn in for the night.” She was hoping that would give him the hint that she wasn’t in the mood for company, but itdidn’t.
“Turn in? But it’s just seven. Come out for a drink with me.” He turned his smile up anotch.
“Oh no, I’m really tired and I have to be up early. Thanksthough.”
She could tell he was the kind of man who didn’t like to be told no. Amy was also doing her best not to piss him off because the place came really cheap at a hundred bucks a week. It was perfect for her budget, and since she wouldn’t be using her pay to replenish what she spent then that worked out evenbettertoo.
“You won’t come out for onedrink?”
“Hey, if I can’t do my job then I can’t pay you. It’s the kind of job where you need to be sharp and on the ball.” She was hoping that his love for money would overpower whatever he wanted from her, and it seemed to have worked. He changed his stance and shifted his weight from one side to theother.
“Well I wouldn’t want that to be aproblem.”
She offered a friendly smile. “Maybe with my busy schedule we could share a Kit Kat.” With men like him it was best to keep things sweet. Not let him know there was no way on God’s green Earth she’d consider him and his drink requests, or that if he were the last man alive she’d run as far away from him as shecould.
He laughed. “Kit Kat, that’s original. Okay blondie, you let me know when you’d like todothat.”
How about never, she wanted to say but instead smiled and replied, “Absolutely.”
She felt relieved when he tipped his head and moved away. As he did, she caught a glimpse of his twin brother and some other guys across the corridor looking on at her quite keenly. She hadn’t seen them before. It was just that they looked like they were up to something. If she had gone for this drink withDomwould the others have beentheretoo?
A chill ran down her spine, along with nervous tingles. Perhaps she should consider moving. It was one thing to get a cheap deal, but what was the point if she didn’t feel safe? She closed the door and went back inside, steadying her nerves and worries with deepbreaths.
She’d eat, call her mom before it got too late, then go to bed. Tristan and his wife were looking after her at the moment. They were living at the family home with her two-year-old niece. She’d call as soon as she finished eating so it wouldn’t be too late. Then she’d catch some beauty sleep. She did indeed want to leave here early and maybe hang out on the beach by Mr. Mancini’s house so she could go over the details in the job spec that Zelda gave her. With the busyness of today she didn’t get the chance to lookatit.
She just hoped that tomorrow would be a better day thantoday.
