my mind.
When we met up for coffee later, I had effectively gotten nothing accomplished for the entire day. It was too hard for me to think about anything other than Hensley in my arms. If we hadn’t both hopped out of bed when my phone rang, I wasn’t sure that I would have been able to keep myself from kissing her.
“How did the dress alterations turn out?” I asked after we ordered our lattes and sat down.
“Good,” she smiled. “I just had to let the waist out a little because damn, that girl was about as wide as the edge of a piece of paper. It’s amazing all of her organs have room to fit inside of her body.”
I laughed. “Yeah, some of the models are crazy tiny. So are you all ready for the show then? Is there anything else that you need to do?”
“Oh, there’s tons that I still need to do,” she laughed. “But most of it is for the retail roll-out and not the runway show.”
“Hensley, I’m going to pay you more,” I said, not realizing until after it came out of my mouth how blunt it sounded.
“What, why?”
“You’ve been doing way more work than you signed up for and in a much more rushed timeframe than we initially agreed to. With all the extra hours you’ve put in and all the extra stress, you definitely deserve additional compensation.”
“You’re already paying me a ton,” she said. “This is the highest paying project I’ve ever worked on. You definitely don’t need to be paying me more.”
“We both know I can afford to,” I grinned.
“True,” she said. “But I’m not going to take any extra money from you, Arlo. It’s not just about the money. We’re friends, and that’s what friends do—help each other out when they need it. Kind of like coming and pulling me out of the night club. So I’d definitely say we’re even.”
I tried to insist, but she was adamant that she wouldn’t take any more money, even though I knew she needed it. She seemed content and happy with the idea of getting her work out there and being able to wear a couple of her pieces down the runway. I wasn’t going to argue with her about it because she had the heart of a true artist, and there was no arguing with true artists.
When we finished our coffee and finished our chat, we sat and looked out the coffee shop window for a little while and watched the people walking by as dusk began to set in.
“You’re going to have your hands full on the night of the runway show. Being the designer is tough enough, but being a model, too, is doubly tough,” I said.
“I’ll be fine,” she smiled. “Besides, you’ll be there. Speaking of which, where will you be during the show? Will you be behind the stage with us or in the crowd?”
“I’ll be in the audience,” I said. “First row, right next to all the big names in design. I’ll introduce you as the designer; then the show will begin. At the end of the show, I’ll come up on stage to say a few words. Then we’ll call it a wrap.”
Hensley nodded. She seemed ready for this.
“Hey, Hensley, what are you planning to do after we roll out the retail line?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, do you have a new project lined up to start, or are you going to focus on finishing your grad work, or maybe something else?”
“I’m not sure actually,” she said as she looked thoughtfully out the café window. “Why?”
“Because I was hoping that I could offer you a job.”
“A job? What kind of job?”
“Well, I know that you want to eventually be able to create your own brand and your own lines. Being in charge of an entirely new retail roll-out for Luscious would certainly give you the notoriety and the ability to set up your own stake in the industry.”
“Wait, you want me to head-up your entire retail launch? she asked. “Don’t you have people who do that for you already?”
“Yes, I do. But I would rather have you do it. This launch is made up of your designs. I can’t think of anyone I would rather have running it than you,” I said.
“Wow, I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“You could say yes.”
Hensley laughed, and her face lit up. “Yes! Thank you. I’d be happy to accept that offer.”
“Great,” I said. “Now, let’s get out