𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰

23 - Ultimatums (EP. 02)

“Wine?”

Through the air conditioned room, the potent aroma of the expensive, lavish bubbles in the translucent glass was evident causing Aiden to wrinkle his nose at the rugged whiff of the generous liquor, trying his best not to gawk at the untamed redhead wasting no time to tip the edge of her own glass over her lips.

Elsa suppressed a laugh beside the preoccupied Anna and took a much more lady-like sip from her own glass. Her blue orbs wandered to the clock and she was relieved that she had gotten to tuck Claire in before her respective curfew.

“Erm,” Aiden awkwardly set his own glass aside, “Would you two mind telling me why we are drinking in the middle of the night?”

Anna perked up and carefully placed the bottle of wine back on the counter before taking a seat beside her fumbling sister. “Well, there sure are a lot of reasons why I called you both in, especially you. Tell me, Secretary Laurant—formality aside since you’re my sister’s boyfriend, Aiden, I did instruct you to bring your sketchpad with you.”

The secretary reluctantly tapped the sketchpad’s cardboard back, proving its presence as he leaned on the table, “I brought it.”

"Excellent. Now you’re probably thinking why I asked you to bring it. Think of this as your...” Anna briefly pondered and paused, and resolved to something, “Job interview, although not with our employer Mr. Brown but me. According to Elsa you never participated in a personal interview because you submitted an online application instead.”

Elsa simply sat silently as the redhead prattled on, smiling in amusement. Anna’s business side is showing and it was a rare demeanor of hers to see, but she was sure her younger sister had showcased this resolute aura more than once due to her duty handling their four massive branches back in Norway.

There were certain times she wished Anna didn’t grow up too fast, but her sibling’s impressive intelligence and her unwavering marriage to Kristoff can always confirm the clock was nothing that could be felt.

“So Elsa is right,” Anna grinned ear to ear, flipping past an occupied page with a mesmerized gaze, “So you have dreamt of having a winter collection? Ooh, and also a summer one,” Her pupils dilated, “You have every season’s design. Amazing. They aren’t too flashy or too simple, this is sophistication defined in a hand drawn mannequin!”

The apples of Aiden’s cheeks burned at the rather vocal praises he was getting from the woman surveying his old work. Nobody has really taken notice of his talent, despite his choice to keep it hidden. He watched the happy spectator continue her endless rant, her mouth spilling nothing short or less of compliments which made him bow his head bashfully.

“You even labeled the required fabric, though you didn’t need to, I can verify what is and what not because of how clear you sketch the texture. You sure do know your stuff, huh? And I like your taste with color. Elsa’s been showing me this summer’s drafts and it really made me want to speak with the Creative Director,” A frown wrinkled her current smile, but soon dissipated back into a delighted expression when she returned her attention back to the sketchpad.

Elsa sighed, “I couldn’t speak with the current designer myself. I wish to be polite, but the runway must be graced with actual designs. Otherwise, our models are going to look like gaudy porcupines in heels.”

“It was that bad?”

“Bad’s an understatement, love. Go different and go wild, that was Mr. Waters’s little phrase to explain disaster. Frankly, they won’t be selling a penny. We’re technically just glamorizing and buttering up our classics for now. Thank goodness they are still drafts. I can already predict this year’s profit will be going down a landslide with us having no other choices.”