“Eli, I’m sorry about Leila. She was a lovely young woman.”
Trying desperately to shove away that deep-seated ache, Eli nodded. “I’m sorry, too.”
He made it to his car without any further interruption, and without breaking down. The latter he considered a major accomplishment.
One glance at the dashboard display told Eli he only had an hour before lunch. He dreaded the idea of going, but he intended to follow through. First, he had a few text messages to send. He was, after all, a man of his word.
Conrad’s number came up first and Eli started typing. You were right. It’s over.
Ana’s number was called up next. Eli hesitated much longer before typing this message. It was harder than with Conrad to express everything he needed to say. She made her choice. I’m backing off as promised. I wish things had turned out differently. Thank you for the dresses. I hope she likes them. The last one…he paused, not knowing what to say. The last dress, he had planned everything around that dress. He had been so sure his plans had not been laid in vain. Don’t use it, he finished.
The texts sent, he didn’t wait for a reply. He didn’t want to read their responses. Eli quickly pulled up a third number. Leila’s. It broke his heart to hold his finger over her name and watch the menu come up. There were many options available to him, but only one he could choose. His fingertip hovered over the word Delete. Actually cutting Leila out of his life gave him pause. But he had promised. Pressing down, her name and number disappeared. He blocked her number from making any calls to him. The locksmith should have completed his work by now, as well. It was done.
His fingers danced across the screen to bring up one more name. He completed the call before he let himself reconsider. If he didn’t put Leila firmly out of his mind right now, he knew he never would. The phone rang twice before being picked up with a cheerful hello.
“Sabine,” Eli said, “are we still on for lunch?”
Chapter 29
Defeated
The real chaos had not yet begun, but the backstage area was still humming with the intensity of busy bodies and scattered minds. Rack upon rack of clothing lined the walls. It had taken Leila all morning to get everything in the right order. She grimaced as she set the last garment in place, knowing that as soon as the models started fishing around for their outfits it would all be in disarray ten seconds later. She had no control over that, though, so she turned her attention to the mountain of shoe boxes in desperate need of organization.
Two of the three interns scrambled past her with boxes of jewelry and accessories and started lying everything out in what Leila hoped was the correct sequence. The third intern appeared a few seconds later carrying another pile of shoe boxes. Leila groaned, then became confused.
“What are those for?” she demanded. “I catalogued all the shoes two days ago. Those shouldn’t be back here.”
“Ana said I should bring them back,” the intern said with a mixture of courage and uncertainty.
Leila stood and stomped over to the girl. If Ana was trying to shake things up at the last minute, Leila had half a mind to storm out in protest. She snatched the first shoe box off the pile the girl was holding and whisked off the lid. When she saw the dainty summer sandal she became even more confused. The design looked familiar, but she knew it didn’t belong in the show.
“Where did these come from?” Leila asked.
The intern looked around uncertainly. “Um, they got here last night. With a whole bunch of dresses.”
“What? We weren’t expecting anymore clothes,” Leila said. What on earth was Ana doing?
“Ana was expecting them,” the girl offered. “She was super excited to see them. I thought she was going to start dancing right there in the loading bay.”
Leila rubbed her fingers against her temples. Everything was planned. Ana couldn’t possibly be trying to throw in a bunch of unknown gowns at the last minute. There was no way. Deciding to get this cleared up right away, Leila commandeered the entire pile of shoeboxes from the intern and stormed off to find Ana. It proved to be a bit of a search, but she eventually found her upstairs in the design loft. She was walking out from behind her private screened off corner when Leila breached the loft.
“Leila!” she exclaimed, looking unusually panicked. “What are you doing up here? Is everything all right?”
Throwing off her boss’s odd behavior, Leila barreled forward with the reason she was there. “What is going on with these shoes? And what’s this I hear about a load of dresses being dropped off last night? You can’t possibly be thinking of adding anything right now! Whatever this new stuff is, it isn’t even in the program! You can’t throw something like this at me eight hours before the show.”
Ana’s eyes had grown progressively wider with each word. They were practically bugging out of her head. She darted forward and threw the lids off the top few boxes. Groaning at the sight of them, her hands dropped to their sides. “I told Bali to take them to the loft, not the dressing room. That girl doesn’t listen to a word I say!”
Not knowing the hapless intern well enough to make a judgment, Leila stayed focus on her task. “Where did these shoes come from?”
For some reason, Ana laughed. She giggled, actually, like a school girl with a secret. “Well, I guess the cat’s already out of the bag. Don’t you recognize them?” she asked.
Leila’s face scrunched with confusion. She knew, quite intimately, every piece of clothing, jewelry, and accessory slated for that night’s show. The shoes were not supposed to be there. But … they did look familiar. She couldn’t think of why when she first saw them, but now the reason was sinking in.
Dumping the boxes on the nearest table, Leila tore off every lid. The white summer sandals, the yellow silk heels with sapphire detail, the lavender kitten heels with the broad strap, the black t-straps with satin braid up the center. She knew every shoe she was staring at, because they were hers. A wave of excitement began rushing through her, but it slammed into a brick wall as a thought occurred to her.
“Where did you get these designs?” she squeaked.
Ana took a deep breath and held her hands up defensively. “Don’t freak out, but Eli … well, he kind of stole them. And gave them to me.”
“What?” Leila asked, her voice barely audible over her shock. Why would he do something like that? Those were private. She specifically asked him not to ever mention them to Ana. Why, why, why?
The feel of hands clamping down on her shoulders brought Leila’s eyes up and away from the shoes. Ana stared at her with a smile. “Before you have a meltdown—which it looks like you’re about to do—take a deep breath and let me explain.”
Leila couldn’t say yes or no. She couldn’t manage to say anything at all. The most she could do was stay frozen in stupid bewilderment. Ana apparently took that as a sign for her to go ahead with her explanation.
“I know you forbade Eli from telling me about these because you had some crazy idea that I would be mad, but I’m so glad he did. Leila, your designs are fabulous.”
“But … but they were just for fun. I’m not a designer.”
The look on Ana’s face said Leila was insane. “What do you mean you’re not a designer? You design my marketing packages every day! You’re an exceptional artist. I wouldn’t have hired you if you weren’t. Fashion design isn’t about drawing. It’s about creating. Everyone has their own style and tools. Yours just happens to be paper and glue,” Ana said happily.
Still dumbfounded, Leila said, “I told Eli not to mention those designs to anyone. Why would he go behind my back like this?”
“He wanted to do something special for you,” Ana said. Her hand gently touched Leila’s shoulder. “He wanted to show you how absolutely wonderful he thinks you are, something you don’t seem to understand like everyone else in your life does. This is his gift to you for everything you’ve done for him.”
“Done for him?” Leila
questioned. “I haven’t done anything for him. He’s been the one helping me.”
Ana shook her head. “It’s not my place to air all of Eli’s problems, but please trust me when I say you’ve been a good influence in his life. He’s changed quite a lot since meeting you, and certainly for the better.”
Finding words after something like that proved impossible. Leila stood like a fish gulping for air—a million thoughts running through her mind, but incapable of putting any of them into words. “I don’t know what to say,” she finally managed.
“Don’t say anything until you see the rest of it,” Ana chirped. She grabbed Leila’s hand and yanked her toward the secluded design studio. Leila’s mind was floundering. Just as they swung around the divider, she remembered the intern mentioning dresses.
And there they were.
Leila stumbled to a stop at the sight of her paper designs brought to life. The layers of gathered yellow fabric looked as delicious as homemade lemon meringue. Her hand covered her mouth at the sight of the empire-waisted cream gown with ruching on the bodice. The pearls sewn into the diagonal seam were something she hadn’t considered before, but she absolutely loved them. An Audrey Hepburn inspired black tea length gown with off the shoulder sleeves made her want to run home and watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s, it was so beautiful.
“Ana, they’re gorgeous! How did you manage this?” Leila asked breathlessly.
“I hardly did anything. These are your designs. They’re so beautiful because of you, not me, and …” Ana hesitated when her phone buzzed on the table. She ignored it for the time being and continued. “Leila, I want to use your designs.”
The air seemed to be sucked out of the room at that moment. Leila suddenly had trouble breathing. Ana couldn’t possibly mean she wanted her designs. She wanted to use them. What did that mean?
“I asked you a while ago about branching out, opening a new store. With a brand new line, concept, and name.”
“Uh huh,” Leila mumbled, completely unsure about where this was going. Leila had told her boss she was confident branching out would be a success. Suddenly she had doubts.
Ana grinned. She walked over to the far wall and pulled a sheet of fabric away. Leila was stunned beyond words when she saw Sparro scrawled elegantly across the oval logo. Anna turned back, beaming. “I want your designs for the new store. The new store and line will be named after you. You’ll be lead designer. You can even have your own gaggle of interns and assistants to boss around.”
“But … but, I’m not a designer.”
“You are now,” Ana said.
Leila didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t stop staring at her dresses. She touched the patterned cap sleeve of a minidress paired with snug black leggings. This was beyond even her most treasured artistic dreams. Eli’s deception no longer angered her. Her thankfulness outweighed everything else. She could think of nothing she wanted more in that moment than to throw her arms around him.
Her phone was out of her pocket a second later, her fingers bringing up his name and sending the call. It rang three times before Leila was startled by a message claiming the number she had dialed could not accept her call because her number had been blocked. Confused, Leila dialed again. Met with the same response, she turned to Ana who was staring at her phone looking rather perplexed.
“I can’t get through to Eli,” Leila said.
Ana looked up, her lip tucked between her teeth. “You told Eli about what happened with Luke this morning, right?”
“No,” Leila said slowly. “I didn’t have time. I rushed over here right after Luke and I broke up. I was planning on talking to Eli about it tonight after the show. Why?”
“Did he know you were meeting Luke this morning?” Ana asked.
The strange look on her face began to worry Leila. What was going on? “No. I was in the bedroom getting dressed when Luke called. Eli was still asleep.”
Ana grimaced. “Are you sure?”
About to say yes she was sure—Eli had looked awful when she walked out of his room after just waking up—but a thought stopped her. Her hands started trembling. What if Eli hadn’t been so out of it because he’d just woken up? “Oh no,” she said.
“What?” Ana demanded.
“When Luke called, I was trying to get ready, so I put my phone on speaker while I was getting dressed. If Eli was awake … Ana, he might have overheard my conversation. What if he thinks …?”
Handing over her phone, Ana said, “I think that’s exactly what he thinks.”
Leila’s eyes darted over the text message. She made her choice. I’m backing off as promised. I wish things had turned out differently. Thank you for the dresses. I hope she likes them. The last one … don’t use it. She nearly dropped Ana’s phone, her hands were shaking so bad. He heard the phone call. He heard Leila agreeing to meet with Luke—which must have sounded very much like she was ready to give him a second chance.
“Ana,” Leila said slowly, “why did you really ban Eli from the show last spring?”
Sighing, Ana said, “Because when I realized he was interested in you I got mad at him. I thought he was treating you like a project and I didn’t want you to get hurt. I told him he had to either leave you alone, or prove his interest was real before I’d let him come back to one of my shows.”
In that moment, Leila understood what his response to her text message the night she fought with Luke had meant. She had asked if he was coming to the show, and his response had been that it depended on her. She wanted to cry as she realized that her choice between Luke and Eli would determine whether he would come to the show and remain a part of her life, or walk away forever. She had made her choice. She chose Eli, but he didn’t know that. He thought she was on her way to happily ever after with Luke. Even hearing that Eli was genuinely interested in her couldn’t keep her from going into panic mode.
“No, no, no, no,” Leila whined. Her eyes snapped up to Ana. “He blocked my number.”
Ana grimaced. “You need to find him, now. When Eli makes a decision, he sticks to it. If you don’t talk to him today, there’s a very good chance you’ll never see him again.”
Leila was halfway out the door before she stopped and spun around. “What about the show?”
“That’s what interns are for,” Ana said.
“Thank you!” Leila turned, ready to dash away, but this time Ana stopped her.
“Leila, wait, before you go running off after Eli … go home.”
“What? Why?”
Ana looked uncertain, but she said, “The letter he gave you after your first date, go home and read it.”
More confused than ever, Leila started to object, but Ana cut in again.
“Would you please just trust me on this? If you’re going to run off after Eli, I think you should know everything. Go home. Read the letter. Then decide what to do.”
Leila had no idea why Ana wanted her to put off finding Eli to read a rundown of her faults, but Ana refused to let Leila leave the office without a promise to follow her instructions. Once her boss finally relinquished control, she bolted from the boutique and ran for her car. The careful and cautious Leila everyone knew disappeared. She sped down streets, cutting people off and blazing through yellow lights in order to reach her apartment as quickly as possible. She had never made it up the three flights of stairs to her front door so fast. Seconds after barreling into her apartment, she was on the floor in front of her desk scrounging through paperwork. Nearly desperate after the first few minutes, she was sure she was on the verge of imploding before she found the letter wedged between two expandable file folders. Her fingers tore the envelope open, her eyes reading before the letter was even fully laid out.
Leila,
I don’t know if you will ever read this letter. Most don’t. But perhaps that is why I feel safe enough to write to you. I told you when we met for lunch that this was a copy of the errors you made while on our date. I a
pologize for that lie, but I couldn’t tell you what I had really written.
I have been running my date shark business since college. It is almost an obsession. Those who know me well would argue and say it is definitely an obsession, and if I was being perfectly honest, I would agree. I won’t go into the reasons behind that statement, but I will tell you that being a date shark is the reason I am still single. Despite having met women that were beautiful and engaging, I have never felt enough for any of them to give up being a date shark.
You have changed that.
I will not claim to have fallen in love with you at first sight, but I was immediately captivated by your beauty and unique spirit. What I can say without a doubt is that I am already falling for you quite fast. You are delightful and I find myself wanting to be around you as much as possible. I never stay in contact with my clients. I have rules that guide my business and help me find success. I have never broken these rules before, but I have every intention of doing so when it comes to you. I can’t walk away.
But I can’t tell you any of this, either.
Your view of yourself is out of sorts with how everyone else in this world sees you. I fear that bowling you over with my attention now would only undermine you. I don’t want to trap you in a relationship before you are ready. You need time to discover how amazing you are. I want to help you come to that realization. I think also that if I told you, now, how much I wanted to be with you I would scare you away. I’m sure you would never consider yourself to be someone I would be interested in, but in time I hope you will.
I want you in my life, Leila, more than you could understand right now, and I will do my best to stay in yours.
With love,
Eli
Leila’s first response was pure giddiness. Her second was a near blistering anger. She didn’t have time for a third response because she was already running out of her apartment in search of Eli. Her hands were itching with the desire to strangle him.
Date Shark Page 30
