Mr. Dodds tapped on the desk in his office as he stared at his fiddling Wife. The more he stared, the happier he was. His Wife, his dear Jean, had never gotten involved with the restaurant. 'That's your business, I can't mess with it', that was what she said when he once asked her why she never proposed anything for it. It was both endearing, and frustrating.
He started the business, yes, but the moment he married her, everything he owned became hers, too. He saw no need to separate their things.
So, when Jean finally proposed something for the upcoming event, he wanted to kiss her until both breathed their last. Well, he did maker her writhe under him, but that was beside the point. He was elated that his Wife was making tablecloths for him – no matter that Isabelle, the shark, was helping her. So, after calming down – which took a few days – he asked more about the matter.
"Golden thread, huh…" He mumbled. Mr. Dodds could not brag of knowing everything under the sun, yet as a businessman he was quite knowledgeable with the goods sold in Basin Town, Silk Town, Lane Town and Sharan Town, even with the closest city, Silver City, yet it was the first time he heard about golden thread.
He admitted that his first impression of Isabelle was of a cunning village woman with a strange accent. Why would such a village woman know about such a thing as golden thread? Unless…
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Dodds. Isabelle Edris is here to see you." One of the waiters from the second floor announced.
"Let her in." Mr. Dodds ordered, seeing how his Wife perked up at the fact that Isabelle had come. Ah, well, if it was Isabelle Edris, then he did not mind Jean having a friend – at least Isabelle was more decent than those shrews at the embroidery shop his Jean worked at.
The moment Isabelle entered the office, her presence filled the place. And it had nothing to do with her figure, it was just her that commanded the attention of others. Why had he thought she was just a village woman baffled Mr. Dodds. "We were just talking about you. I heard you're helping Jean with her project." He immediately opened up the discussion while gesturing at Isabelle and the other two men to sit down.
"How can I not? Jean's idea is worth bringing to life." Isabelle rejoined, totally unbothered by Mr. Dodds dominant tone.
"I'm sure of that." Mr. Dodds drawled, to then adopt a sharp countenance. "But what if the maker doesn't live up to the high expectations Jean is putting on?" He ignored his Wife's pointed look and kept staring at the unimpressed woman beside Jean.
"If her idea does not fit your distinguished restaurant, maybe I can try offering the tablecloths to the Commissioner's daughter." Oh, that was a low move. He had heard from Jean how Isabelle had earned some good-will from the Commissioner and the spoiled brat he had for a daughter with an embroidered dress.
He was not sure the girl would accept the tablecloths, but he could hear the implied threat. Those are your Wife's designs; you better use them or else…
"I have to see them first." Mr. Dodds compromised. He did not mind if Jean made generic things to sell at the embroidery shop. However, if something she made especially for him and his restaurant was easily offered to others, he definitely had to brag and proudly display them.
"Of course, Mr. Dodds. That is why Jean and I need to hurry to close a deal with another person." Isabelle smiled at him as if she was satisfied that he fulfilled her expectations. Mr. Dodds inwardly huffed but could only accept that there was no way for him to win that.
He could only see how Isabelle grabbed Jean's hand and led her out. Jean looked back at him at the last moment before the door closed and blew him a kiss. Well, he could not complain. With Isabelle, his Jean had become livelier.
The two young women quickly made their way to Mrs. Attile's shop followed by Lucas and the ever-curious Felix who looked at this and that.
"I got it!" Mrs. Attile smugly put the golden thread, quite a big reel at that, on the counter as soon as she saw Isabelle and Jean enter the shop.
It was not easy for the older woman to get it, and she owed her cousin a dinner at an expensive restaurant back in the city for it. However, Mrs. Attile thought it was worth the exchange. If she could make Isabelle make clothes for the shop, then there would be more benefits that outweighed the dinner and the golden thread.
Isabelle took the reel and tried the texture of the thread; it was of very high quality and had a nice sheen to it. "How much?" She carefully inquired. Such a nice thread would not be cheap.
"5 coins." Mrs. Attile's words made the whole shop fall silent. Even Isabelle felt her breath leave her body out of shock. "It had to be imported from yet another city." The older woman explained once the silence stretched for too long. And, because of the urgency of the order, a thread that usually cost less than 2 coins was inflated in such a way.
Isabelle slowly nodded. She could not complain about the price as it must have been quite a trip for Mrs. Attile just to get the thread. So, she had no other option but to leave the matter aside and turn to look at the stupefied Jean. "Have you bought the fabric already?" The question took the other out of her trance.
"I… I haven't..." Jean stammered out.
The moment she mentioned making the tablecloths to her Husband, he had been acting strangely. One day he would be extremely excited, and the next he would be distant with her. Jean had a character, yet she was kind of dependent of her Husband. His attitude filled her with doubts and insecurities about her idea, as if the tablecloths were not that necessary, and he was just indulging her. That was why she never considered fabric options.
"If it's for tablecloths, I have these options." Mrs. Attile piped up and took the two young women to a row of all sorts of cotton fabrics. Isabelle immediately started checking one by one. Since she was the one embroidering, then it was better if she chose the fabric that complemented the thread.
"There are so many." Jean sighed amazed at the great variety of fabrics, their colors and textures.
The last time she was there, she had no time to look around as she had been looking at the exchange between Isabelle and Mrs. Attile with a dumbfounded expression. Now, though, she realized the shop was quite big; even bigger than Mrs. Priddy's workshop.
Jean glanced at Mrs. Attile. The middle-aged woman was a new face, so she must have moved into town recently.
It was rare for outsiders to remain in Basin Town, much less open up a shop. Basin Town was a good place, however, compared to the other towns around, it was very lacking. The only ones who stayed were the soldiers from the military post nearby. Soldiers were rotated from town to town, from town to city and vice versa; so, they remained for as long as the service lasted.
Some services could last months, some lasted years.
For Mrs. Attile to even set a business, it meant she was staying for quite some time in Basin Town.
"I think this one is perfect." Isabelle interrupted Jean's thoughts as she finally picked a fabric. "How much is the yard of this one?"
"7 dimes." Mrs. Attile easily replied.
Isabelle pondered, trying to remember how big the tables at the restaurant were so she could decide how much she should buy. But, then, she remembered something and once again turned to look at Jean. "How many yards are you buying? How much is the budget?"
"Budget...? Oh! Yeah, I have 30 coins. That's only for the materials." Since the thread was 5 coins, then, they could buy as many yards of fabric as necessary.
"I think ten yards are more than enough. The leftover fabric could be used for something else." Isabelle said. Mrs. Attile nodded and started measuring the ten yards to cut them.
"So, have you thought of my proposal?" Mrs. Attile asked as she measured.
"I cannot afford that fabric for my wedding dress." Isabelle directly went to the point, eyeing the brothers that had been silent the whole time. Lucas seemed as impassive as ever, not even bothered by Ginna's sporadic glared. Meanwhile, Felix was curiously looking at everything in his surroundings, unintentionally ignoring the glaring, too.
When she told the brothers about the matter with Mrs. Attile, they were confused as to why she could not buy the fabric if it was that good. Well, she explained the reason in terms of numbers. Even with the money she could earn embroidering like crazy in the next couple of weeks, she could not afford the fabric – not when she was also planning to buy the fabric for the brothers' suits. The brothers immediately understood what she meant.
"That's too bad..." Mrs. Attile sighed in regret.
It really was a regret; that was why Isabelle thought of something else. "I did embroider a dress from the Commissioner's daughter, so I might know her measures. I could perfectly make one with that fabric for her." And threw the hint to the older woman.
The shop owner's eyes shone, her heart filling with excitement. However, she was not a city woman in vain. "I cannot simply claim I made a dress for her. They might think I am doing it just to get into the Commissioner's good graces on behalf of my Husband." She countered. Which was quite a normal practice in cities and bigger towns.
Isabelle quickly caught up with the implied message that Mrs. Attile's Husband had a high position, yet was still under the Commissioner in terms of power. She hesitated for a moment; not willing to deal with people in high positions, yet the benefits of Mrs. Attile's proposal were bigger. In Mrs. Priddy's shop, she was limited in what she could do, however with Mrs. Attile, she could have the liberty to do whatever she wanted as long as it could be sold.
"If you are willing to take a loss, then the dress could be given as a gift. Let us not aim for the spoiled girl, but for the other ladies." Isabelle returned.
Mrs. Attile cut the fabric and analyzed the counter-proposal. To give the dress as a gift was a good option. There were not many young ladies among the town's elitists that were going to get married, most were already married, so it was not bad to aim for them; who were young and rather eager to try new designs.
"I'm not aware when the girl will marry. If anything, the dress should be ready as soon as possible." With those words, Mrs. Attile implicitly accepted Isabelle's idea.
"I already have a line of orders. Tablecloths for a restaurant, a wedding dress, among other things… I can start making it in a month." Sewing was fun for Isabelle, it was her job basically. However, she also had to start setting an order for each work.
Mrs. Attile tapped her polished nail on the table. "I will ask around for the wedding date. They have just announced their engagement, the wedding could happen at any time now. If the dress is not possible, I can also get invited and flaunt a nice dress."
Isabelle rose an eyebrow at those words. If Mrs. Attile did not mind standing out more than the bride, then it meant she was no joke, and that her position in town was not as low as she portrayed herself. Isabelle thought involving herself with Mrs. Attile might be good or bad.
However, that could only be seen in the future.
For the time being, she would take small steps and not dip her feet into obvious muddy water that might affect her and the brothers, her future husbands.
Once the fabric for the tablecloths was bought. Isabelle started searching for fabric for their wedding ceremony. Since the new fabric, Charmeuse, could not be used, she went for her previous first pick: Sateen.
Five yards of white Sateen, two yards of red Organdy, twelve yards of black, four yards of white and five yards of red Worsted Wool. Worsted Wool was the best fabric Mrs. Attile had for men's clothes. It was not as expensive as Charmeuse, that was for sure. So, Isabelle wanted it. However...
47 coins and 1 dime.
With the money they had already spent, she could not buy everything. At most, she could buy only the fabric for her dress, which would cost her only 15 coins and 6 dimes. The plan was to buy it all…
"Buy it." Lucas suddenly piped up.
"Huh?" Isabelle dumbly looked at him.
"Buy the fabric for your dress." Lucas expounded.
"But..." Whatever she was about to say was stopped by Lucas' gaze and Felix's charming smile. We can always get more money in the future for the suits, that was what their expressions said. Her heart swelled up in happiness and immediately took out her money. 28 coins.
The amount reminded her that she needed to buy the fabric to make more handbags. So, apart from the fabric for her dress, she asked for two yards of light brown broadcloth, five yards of Poplin of different colors. 4 coins and 4 dimes were added to the 15 coins and 6 dimes.
After that purchase, both Isabelle and Jean got ready to leave.
"I will have the tablecloths within the week." Isabelle told Jean as soon as Felix bagged the fabric for the tablecloths in Isabelle's colorful basket that he carried. "In a week, I will return." She said, more to Mrs. Attile than Jean who did not reply. Isabelle looked back at the woman who sported a lost expression on her face.
Jean had just spent 12 coins in materials for things she was still not sure off. She wanted to say that she wanted the tablecloths to be a success in her Husband's restaurant, yet she was still doubting in getting involved in the restaurant, no matter how much Mr. Dodds encouraged her in the past.
"If you are still unsure about it, we can always sell them to another person. Each can get half of the earnings." Aware of Jean's internal turmoil, Isabelle gently suggested another option. "Or, you can also keep them. The expense was already made anyway."
Jean nodded. "Thanks." She knew being indecisive at that point would not help.
Maybe she should learn from Isabelle and just do things because she wanted. And, getting those tablecloths was the first step for that independence!