Chapter 40
CHAPTER FORTY
Eloise
School today was everything I love about fashion.
I brainstormed a new project with one of my favorite fellow designers. She’s focused on textiles too, but her medium is weaving. I had to work on the looms for a project months ago, but she took me to her special spot on campus today and revealed something she’s been devoted to for months.
It was an elaborate piece that will eventually sit on the wall of her mom’s office on Park Avenue.
Her mom plans to place a price tag on it worthy of the work that went into it.
My parents have been just as supportive of my desire to create a career out of my knitted and crocheted pieces. They did offer help in the form of a lump sum of money to help me with tuition and living expenses.
I’ll repay them one day when my business is trotting along at a decent pace.
As I’m exiting the subway stop closest to my apartment, I catch a glimpse of red hair in a crowd of people heading my way.
I already know who it is.
Penny sprouts up to her tiptoes when she spots me. “Els!”
No one bothers to look because this is Manhattan. They all have their own lives to lead, and unless you’re a celebrity or openly propositioning someone for a date, or more directly, random sex, most people won’t pay attention to you.
As soon as the group of people around her disperses, she sprints toward me.
She must be coming straight from work because she’s wearing royal blue pants and a matching blouse.
“Your hair.” She stops just short of where I’ve stopped to wait for her. “What are those pins, and where can I get some?”
My hand trails over my messy bun. I pinned my hair up after Gaines left this morning. I didn’t have time to dry it completely, so I twisted it into a knot and used the two hairpins that used to belong to my Aunt Becky.
“They’re vintage.” I proudly display them as I bend my head forward to give her a clear view. “Do you like them?”
“I love them.” She sighs. “I’m always looking for treasures like that, but I don’t have the time to scour the vintage shops the way I want to.”
I make a mental note to text Daxton later to suggest he set out on a hunt for hairpins like the ones I now own.
It would be the perfect gift for her.
“Did you want to get an early dinner?” Penny asks. “I have to work tonight.”
We start in the direction of my apartment. “You have to go back to the office tonight?”
“No.” She lets out a heavy exhale. “Someone ordered a pet portrait from my Etsy shop. They sent me a few pictures of their cat this morning.”
She taps the screen of her phone to bring up a trio of pictures of a black and white cat. “She’s cute, right?”
Nodding, I smile. “Very. I’m happy for you.”
“It’s my passion.” She tucks her phone back into the purse slung over her shoulder. “Speaking of passion, have you experienced any lately? I’m talking the between the sheets kind.”
Have I ever.
When I was getting dressed earlier, I took extra care when I slid my panties on because my pussy physically ached a little. It still does, but I can’t tell if that’s the lingering feeling of Gaines’s punishing thrusts or if my body just wants more.
It has to be a combination of both.
I take a play from Dr. Morgan’s handbook and expertly avoid answering the direct question just volleyed at me. “Have you?”
I already know the answer since I’m one hundred percent certain that when she gets in bed with Daxton, I’ll hear about it.
“Soon,” she confirms what I suspected. “I’m booked in for a bikini wax two days before that because smooth is sexy.”
I’ve always followed that motto, so I smile.
We walk in silence until I say what I know she wants to hear, “I started on your dress.”
She stops mid-step to turn and look at me. “Really?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“Can I see it?”
I shake my head. “Not yet. It’s bare bones right now, Pen.”
“You’ll let me know when I can see it, right?” Her eyes sparkle in the late afternoon sun. The gold flecks play off the color of her hair. “If you can’t tell, I’m eager.”
“Really?” I joke with a shocked expression.
She slaps my arm playfully. “I don’t want to creep you out, Els, but you’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”
My heart breaks a little at that confession because I felt that way about someone once, too, and since they’ve been gone from my life, I haven’t allowed myself to make many new friends.
I consider my classmates friends and my former roommates definitely fit that bill, but I haven’t had a very close friend, other than Astrid, in a while.
“You don’t creep me out.” I smile at her. “I’m glad we met.”
“Same.” She glances to our right. “Do you like ice cream?”
“What kind of question is that?”
She lets out a high-pitched giggle. “Do you want to skip dinner and go straight to dessert? We can share a banana split if you want.”
“I want.” I nod. “With extra chocolate syrup.”
“You read my mind.” She grabs my hand to tug me toward the shop. “My treat since you, my friend, are treating me to the wedding dress of my dreams.”