Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Hollie
Today was going to be another day jammed full of firsts.
And not the kind of firsts that I experienced back in Oregon.
I wouldn’t be running out of gas at the end of the week, unclogging a septic line, or having Billy from the arcade hitting on me, which was a rite of passage for all the girls in Sunshine, Oregon.
I was going to see the earrings that would be submitted to the competition by Daniels & Co for the first time.
I was going to help out on the photo shoot where the earrings were going to be modelled.
And I was going to assist Jeremy, who was presenting to Dexter the different ways we could display the jewelry for the competition.
I would also be face-to-face with Dexter at work for the first time since we’d had sex.
I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Or Oregon. Sometimes I wondered if it was even the same solar system.
“Everyone in the conference room, please,” Primrose said.
I’d already fetched coffee for everyone and had just finished rearranging the furniture so we could fit in a podium for the earrings that would be submitted for the competition.
We’d all seen the drawings, and obviously some of the team had been involved in production, but this was the first time they would be seen by everyone.
I couldn’t wait. The drawings were beautiful and I knew they would be even more so in real life. The energy in the office was buzzing, ready for the reveal of the first finished works.
People began to file in when Frank, the chief jewelry engineer, came from the other end of the corridor carrying a big white box. Everyone paused so he could go ahead and he set the cube on top of the podium.
“Okay, everyone, please take your seats. Hollie,” Primrose said, turning to me. “Can you take the stand around and show everyone while they’re seated so we don’t have a crowd around the podium?”
Holy Hercules, I couldn’t be trusted to handle something so precious.
I was guaranteed to trip and send one of the earrings hurtling down a drain that would magically appear in the floor.
Frank handed me a pair of white gloves and I put them on, trying to hide my trembling hands as he took the lid off the box.
I tried to act nonchalant, as if holding diamonds meant for the princess of Finland was an everyday occurrence for me.
I took the stand from the box, which was like a six-inch high tree with just two branches, each one displaying a cacophony of diamonds.
I wanted to remark on how freaking sparkly they looked and ask whether diamonds always looked that way, because, for the record, cubic zirconia definitely didn’t.
Primrose stood up. “As you know, this was the option Dexter picked out of the three earring designs we had. Our theme, the Finnish landscape, comes through strongly in these pieces. The loop here,” she said, indicating the row of diamonds that formed an unfinished almond-shaped loop, “represent the lakes of Finland. There’s a great deal of skill to make this chandelier earring asymmetrical while still ensuring a symmetrical hang.
Frank and his team have had to come up with some creative solutions to bring the design to fruition and they’ve done a great job. ”
The chairs were arranged around the edge of the room. I started at one end and very slowly moved along the line.
Along the edge of the lake hung different-sized diamonds that represented falling snow. Each was a slightly different cut, echoing the way each snowflake was unique. They were the most beautiful earrings I’d ever seen.
People’s reactions ranged from scribbling down notes, to trying to get so close I was concerned the earrings might get inhaled. Most seemed excited, in the subdued way people at Daniels & Co did, and remarked on how beautifully they’d turned out.
“I know everyone is working really hard on this,” Primrose said.
“And although some of you haven’t worked on the earrings, none of this collection works without all the components.
So, thank you to everyone in this room. You all contributed and we wouldn’t be here without your talent and creativity. ”
“You think we’ll win?” Jamie, one of the guys who did a lot of work on the computer—I just wasn’t sure what, exactly—asked.
Primrose frowned. “There are lots of things that I don’t know. But I’m sure we will all have done our best.”
The door opened and Dexter swept in. I hadn’t been expecting him until Jeremy’s presentation. I clung to the stand with the earrings, and tried to pretend my life was no big deal.
“What does everyone think?” he asked, scanning the faces of his employees. He glanced at the earrings and then up at me. “Hollie?”
I tried to ignore the heat crawling up my neck. “I think they’re beautiful. And a little daring.”
A smile curled the corner of his lips. “I like that. Daring. Anyone else?”
“The design is modern,” Sarah said. “I think most other houses will go much more traditional—”
“I don’t want us comparing ourselves to other houses,” he said, cutting Sarah off.
“We are competing against ourselves. I want us to give everything we have—to know we’ve left it all on the field and if we had our time again, we wouldn’t do anything differently.
If we win, that’s great. If we don’t? Well fuck them for not choosing us because we know we’re the best.”
The room dissolved into laughter, and I tried hard not to toss the earrings at Jeremy, jump into Dexter’s arms and kiss his face off.
“Judging takes place at the end of the week,” Primrose said. “But we won’t have results until all the pieces are in.”
Everyone groaned and chatter started to rise about how we wouldn’t know the score before the bracelet was submitted. But Dexter was right, knowing wouldn’t change anything.
“Did no one hear what I said earlier?” Dexter asked. “The score doesn’t matter. It doesn’t affect our output. Come on guys—be your own competition. Push yourself. Now get back to work. Jeremy, Frank, Hollie, Primrose, stay behind.”
Everyone filed out and Jeremy’s cheeks began to flush.
Was he nervous because he’d come up with the presentation concepts or because he was presenting to Dexter, who looked even more completely fuckable than usual?
His skin seemed bronzer than normal, his hair a deeper black if that was even possible, and there was a lightness about him I didn’t usually see at the office.
“Frank,” he said, beckoning to the chief engineer. “Two of those settings need to be redone.” He spoke so quietly I could barely make out what he was saying.
“Two?” he asked, approaching me to stare intently at the earrings I still held.
I put them down on the plinth and the two men bent to look at the stand as if they were watching a flea circus.
“I knew about that one,” Frank said, pointing at one of the solitaire diamonds that hung from the lake. “I told you about it.”
“And there,” Dexter said.
Frank looked closer then pulled out his loupe to inspect it more thoroughly. “Bloody hell. How did I miss that?” he asked. “I’m pissed off with myself.”
“Frank,” Primrose said. “You know what an eagle eye Dexter has. Don’t beat yourself up.”
“This is my job, Frank. If you were perfect, I wouldn’t have anything to do.” Dexter patted Frank on the back. “But you know, it’s good you’re pissed off. Keep those standards high.”
Frank huffed as he left the room, mumbling under his breath. Dexter turned to Jeremy. “So, what are the options on presentation?”
I pulled out my Daniels & Co phone, ready to take a note of everything everyone said.
Jeremy had just asked me to attend to make sure he remembered Dexter’s and Primrose’s comments, and to help out if he needed an extra pair of hands.
I’d only seen one of the concepts, but I knew he’d worked on several ideas.
Jeremy flipped open his laptop. “I have three options.” He launched a video.
“I’ve put together a film of the Finnish landscape,” he explained.
“The idea is to have the landscape in the backdrop, but add subtle, dynamic movement. Then in the front”—he pointed to three rocks that looked like they’d been fished out of the sea—“I’ve picked out pieces of stone—”
“Rocks,” Primrose said to herself.
“We place the jewelry on the rocks,” Jeremy continued. “And they really stand out. Look, I’ve used some placeholder jewelry in the next bit.”
Jeremy’s gaze flitted between Primrose and Dexter as the video played. “The advantage of this is that it underlines the concept of the collection and it’s the most innovative. I think it will really capture the judges’ attention.”
From where I sat, the presentation just didn’t work.
It was pretty and everything, and Jeremy had clearly worked hard on it.
But the jewelry was lost in everything going on.
There was too much to look at, and the concept didn’t reflect the Daniels & Co brand, which was all about understatement.
But what did I know? Perhaps it would be exactly what Dexter and Primrose had envisioned.
Dexter pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn’t like it.
I knew I shouldn’t be mentally high-fiving myself because I liked Jeremy and wanted him to impress his boss, but at the same time Finlandian fairies danced about in my stomach because I agreed with Dexter, the most successful jewelry designer in the business.
“What else?” Dexter asked, clearly not wanting to spend more time on the first concept.
Jeremy pressed play on the video of a glass case that reminded me of an ornament Mrs. Daugherty, the woman two trailers down from my parents, had in her living room window.
She’d inherited it from her mother—a red rose preserved in a sort-of snow globe, except there was no snow or liquid.
It always made me think that if Mrs. Daugherty had the space for it, her trailer would be full of stuffed beavers and animal heads.
In Jeremy’s concept, each item of jewelry was encased in a glass dome set on a mirrored stand.
It felt old and staid. I glanced at Dexter to see if I was going to be two for two. His face was completely blank.
“I think this is better,” Primrose said.
“Less going on. But I wonder if you had a third option?” From what Dexter had said, he’d known Primrose so long, she knew what he wanted almost before he did.
The fairies in my stomach were partying like it was 1999 at the thought that I, too, had anticipated Dexter’s reaction.
It felt like a victory to be in agreement with Dexter and Primrose, but at the same time I felt bad for Jeremy.
“I don’t have anything else fully developed,” Jeremy confessed, his shoulders hunched and his gaze focused on the computer screen. He looked defeated.
“Why don’t you tell them about what you were telling me earlier,” I chimed in.
“You know—about ‘back to basics.’” Jeremy mentioned he’d played around with plain black velvet in a traditional display case, and I was surprised he hadn’t worked that up into a third concept.
Dexter and Primrose both turned to me and I stepped back.
I was just the intern. I shouldn’t have said anything.
“What’s back to basics?” Dexter asked.
Jeremy shrugged. “That was a very straightforward display on black velvet.”
Dexter nodded. “I was just thinking that might be the way to go.”
“I have some images,” Jeremy said, clicking through to a new file.
“I didn’t do a video though.” He brought up some images of a traditional set up with jewelry mounted at different levels on a swath of black velvet.
“I also did this,” he said, flicking to what looked like pebbles covered in black velvet.
“It’s simple,” Jeremy said, almost anticipating Dexter and Primrose’s rejection.
“Regal,” I countered, unable to stop myself.
“The shapes of the pebbles are elemental. And the black is classic Daniels & Co coloring while still representing the earth, the land of Finland,” I said.
I wanted to save Jeremy’s ass and sell the concept to Dexter and Primrose, but also, I believed in it.
I thought it was the best option—not just of the three we’d seen.
I was a big believer in keeping things simple.
I glanced at Jeremy to see if he was preparing to wrestle me to the ground and gag me, but he just winked.
“It shows confidence,” Primrose said.
“That’s agreed then,” Dexter said and turned toward the door.
“Work up several set-ups for each piece on its own and for the collection together. Different sizes.” I couldn’t wait for Dexter and Primrose to leave so I could high-five Jeremy.
“Oh,” he said as he reached the door. “Work with Hollie. I want to see what you two create together.” He swept out and Primrose followed him.
“You saved me back there,” Jeremy said, collapsing back in his chair.
“I felt so sure they would go with the first one. I assumed they’d love all the technology and the way it played into the theme.
” I understood why he thought that, but Dexter wasn’t ever going to go with a presentation that didn’t focus on the jewelry. “I worked so bloody hard on it.”
“I know but just think—at least you don’t have to worry about setting up computers and screens and all that technical stuff before the judging.”
He nodded. “And we’re back to jewelry on velvet. Not very innovative.”
“But it’s classic. And very Daniels & Co—understated elegance,” I said. Jeremy had been trying to impress Dexter and Primrose, but he should have focused on the jewelry. “The pebble shapes add something unique, give a little bit of edge.”
“I guess,” he said. “Thank God you were here or I would have been sacked. You understood what they wanted more than I did and I’ve been here two years.”
“Lucky, I guess,” I said. Of course, I hoped it wasn’t luck. I hoped I was on track to see stones and design jewelry in the way Dexter and Primrose did. If I had only a tiny fraction of their vision, I might be able to create a new future for myself.
Every day spent in London felt like a step taken in the opposite direction of my life in Oregon. The only problem was I didn’t know what I was walking toward.