Crazy, Sweet

Chapter Five

“That’s a little too conservative, I think.”

I looked up and stared at Dana, the tall, blonde bombshell who worked the weekend night shifts with me at MerryWorld Books & Travel. She’s a struggling belly dance teacher aspiring to set up her own studio someday but while that hasn’t happened yet, she works the weekends here and in the last three years we’ve been working together, she and I have developed quite a comfortable friendship—comfortable enough for me to know that her definition for ‘conservative’ is anything below mid-thigh.

“This is a bookshop, not a bar,” I argued, sketching the last few details of the MW B & T uniform that I was designing. “I want something comfortable and attractive—something anybody would wear regardless of their concept of conservatism.”

“Hmmm… You do have a point,” she agreed reluctantly with a scrunched up nose, glancing over at my sketch again. “It does look quite elegant. I like the puffed sleeves. It’s very feminine.”

I smiled and held the sketch further away. It could get boring here in the evenings especially on a Saturday when parties and dinners are what’s on everybody’s mind and we entertain ourselves with random little clean ups, chats and several sketches of possible uniforms that we know the owner will never consider getting for whatever staff he’s got.

I did like this particular design—it had a silk, button-down blouse with flowing puffed sleeves that cuffed just right below the elbows and over it was a dark, corset-like bustier. It was paired up with  sleek, dark straight-cut pants with a small, ribbon for a belt that was tied loosely on the right hip. 

“Are you going to show Sadik the designs you came up with?” Dana asked, reaching forward to straighten a small stack of in-store promo flyers. “You’ve been sketching and sketching for years now and you can almost build an entire wardrobe with the number of designs you made.”

I grinned sheepishly and shut the sketchbook close. “Nah. He’ll just laugh and muse loudly why we ever saw the need for uniforms at this not-so-sophisticated-job. Plus, if he ever agrees to it, he’s still going to make us pay for it and I don’t want to do that.”

“Maybe you can sell your sketches or something then,” she suggested. “You draw so well and the designs are awesome you can probably earn a fortune from them.”

I laughed and put the sketchbook away. “And who’s going to be interested in bookstore uniform designs? None of the major fashion houses, that’s for sure. It’s just a hobby. But I’ll probably make you a dress for your birthday next month—as my present.”

Dana brightened significantly and went to squeal and hug me. “Really? Oh, Ali. I’d love to! That’ll be such a sweet gift!”

I blushed and rolled my eyes. “I did that for your last birthday too so I can’t really see why it’s such a big deal now.”

Dana’s eyes widened. “You mean, you don’t know?”

“Don’t know what?”

“I scored a spot in a dance exhibit at the Gilliad Museum on the night of my birthday!” Dana squealed, jumping to hug me in almost feverish excitement. “The city is doing a celebration of dance history and they recruited several individual dancers and groups to each feature a genre of dance. I’m doing belly-dancing with one of my good friends and colleagues, Jonathan. And I’ve been trying to come up with the perfect outfit. I can’t believe I didn’t think of you at all!”