Chapter 39 How’s the dress, Ellio?
Cassandra’s POV
I stood on Ellie’s front step and tried to make good use of my time since I was stuck standing there for God only knew who long,
I figured I might as well take care of some business. I reviewed softe recent orders on my phone. Then I called Stella to discuss our upcoming project with Jordyn.
“Where are you?” Stella asked. “I hear cars in the background.”
“I’m standing on Ellie’s front stoop,” I sighed. “I just delivered her dress and she’s ‘inspecting it.”
“Good Lord,” Stella chuckled. “I can’t wait until this order’s done so we don’t have to deal with her anymore.”
“Same. I have a feeling she’s going to keep me wailing for a wittle so I thought we could go over some of our plans for the project with Jordyn? There’s just a few outstanding things we need to finalize.”
“No time like the present,” Stella said happily into the phone.
We discussed the details. Like always, we were completely in sync with our ideas and thought processes. It was one of the reasons our company was so successful we were very similar when it came to business. Everything was moving along nicely. I was confident we’d made the right decision in choosing to collaborate with Jordyn’s company.
Although I didn’t particularly like the thought of having to work with Jordyn, especially now that we were divorced and he seemed somewhat bitter about the whole thing, I knew this collaboration was the best move for Hot House Flower. I was willing to put my personal feelings aside for the betterment of the company.
“Good. You’re still here.” Ellie appeared in the doorway, interrupting my conversation.
“I gotta go,” I said hastily into the phone to Stella. “I’ll meet you back at the office. Order something for dinner.” Then I hung
- up.
“Yes, Ellie. I’m still here,” I sighed, turning towards her.
“I just put through the final payment,” Ellie said. “I inspected the dress. I have no concerns. You can go now.” She flicked her wrist dismissively at me.
Thank God, I thought but resisted saying out loud. I couldn’t help but glance at the window, hoping to catch another look at the mysterious man Ellie had hidden inside. But he was nowhere to be seen.
“Well, it’s been a pleasure doing business,” I said politely, holding out my hand.
Ellie eyed my outstretched hand. Then she chuckled sardonically.
“I don’t shake hands with the hired help,” she rolled her eyes.
“Suit yourself,” I said happily. I didn’t care about her little ‘slights anymore. I was officially free of her. I turned to leave. But her voice filtered through the air, stopping me.
“How does it feel, Cassandra?” she asked in a sing–song voice.
I was half–way down the steps. I turned back to her.
“What do you mean?”
“How does it feel to be you?”
I felt another insult coming so I didn’t respond. She just couldn’t help herself.
“I mean, you lost Jordyn. To me. And now here you are, delivering MY wedding dress. How does it feel? Knowing I’m in a you’ll never touch? It’s gotta suck, right? Waking up every day and dragging yourself to the office so you can spend hours fetching someone else coffee and delivering high–end dresses you can’t afford?”
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Chapter 39 Hows the dirasa Life?
+25 BONUS
I resisted the urge to tell her I had no idea how that felt because I wasn’t an assistant. And I was happy Jordyn was out of my life. He’d been a shitty husband. She could have him. But instead, I med sweetly and said.
“How’s the dress, Ellie? Do you like u?”
“Of course I do,” she scoffed. “It’s much more beautiful than anything you could ever afford. I don’t blame you if you’re Jealous.”
I almost burst out laughing but I refrained.
“I hope you have a wonderful, Ellie. I really do. All the best.”
And without another word, I turned and descended the rest of the stairs. She was still standing in the doorway when I got in my car, a baffled look on her face. I smiled smugly to myself as I pulled away.
Back at the office, 1 regaled Stella with the whole story. We were iny office, nibbling on charcuterie we’d ordered from a nearby deli.
“She’s a fucking idiot,” Stella laughed, plucking an olive from the plate and popping it into her mouth. “Could you imagine the look on her face if she found out YOU designed the dress?”
“I almost told her,” I confessed. I arranged a piece of cheese and meat on a cracker. I was so glad that the dress was signed, sealed, and delivered. Now I could give our collaboration with Jordyn my full focus.
“Why don’t you tell her?” Stella asked. “I mean, it would put her in her place once and for all.”
“Nah,” I sighed. “She’s vindictive. If she found out the truth, she might lash out. She could cause a lot of trouble if she wanted to. I don’t want to risk her tarnishing our company’s reputation.”
Stella looked pensive for a moment. Then she nodded.
“Yeah, you’re right,” she agreed. “Ellie’s a real piece of work. There’s no telling what she’d do if she found out.”
“Besides, it’s over now. Onwards and upwards. We have bigger and better things ahead of us. Like our upcoming collaboration,” I said, ready to change the conversation and jump right into finalizing our project.
“Not so fast,” Stella chuckled. “What’s the rush? We’re both working late, right? So can we at least finish our charcuterie first? This cheese is to die for.”
I was eager to finalize our project. But Stella was right. There was no rush. So we had our fill of cheese, olives, and meat before we turned our focus to the task at hand.
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