Chapter 10
They tackled the shop the next day.
Sonya entered, determined for things to go perfectly so Azam had no excuse to be deterred, as she could see he was still a little hesitant. She recognized that feeling—she had felt it her entire life. But she had turned a new leaf.
She wasn’t a new person, just a new version of herself, and she quite liked it.
‘This was Mama’s shop,’ Azam told Dania, entering the shop with her in his arms. She was holding on to a stuffed rabbit. Sonya entered after him and pulled back the curtains. Dust billowed in the air as light entered in from the windows.
‘So dusty,’ Dania said, coughing.
‘Look, there’s Mama’s old machine,’ Azam said. ‘This is where she used to work.’
As Azam showed her around, Sonya and Kiri set to dusting and sweeping. Before they even made it through half the room, Dania had hopped out of Azam’s arms, uninterested as she went to sit on a chair.
‘Dania, look,’ Azam tried, but she was more interested in her stuffed rabbit than anything else. Azam’s shoulders fell, and Sonya went to his side, touching his arm. He was trying—and failing—to hide how much he wanted Dania to care and her chest tightened at his expression. They moved to the side.
‘Try to be patient with her,’ she said, gently. ‘She doesn’t have all the wonderful memories that you have. Right now, for her, it’s just another shop.’
He rubbed a hand over his face, sighing. ‘She’ll never know them the way I did,’ he said. ‘No matter what I do, it will never be enough.’
‘Don’t say that,’ she said. It hurt her to see him like this.
‘What’s the point of any of this?’ he asked.
Sonya frowned. ‘You can be her memory,’ she said, thinking about it.
She had lost her mother without ever knowing her, the same way Dania had.
She thought of what she would have wanted.
‘You can tell her stories! I wish my brothers talked about my mother. And you can make new memories with her. Help her feel involved, the same way your mother did for you.’
That seemed to lift his spirits a bit. He ran a hand through his hair, thinking.
Sonya got an idea. She smiled, then went over to Dania. ‘Darling, can you help me?’ she asked. ‘I know you’re the bestest helper there ever was, and I have a very important task.’
Dania perked up, attention shifting from her stuffed rabbit to Sonya. ‘I am the bestest helper,’ she agreed.
‘Do you see all those ribbons?’ Sonya asked, pointing to the shelf. Dania nodded. ‘What if we …’ She trailed off, going to hang twine up across the top shelf. Then, she handed Dania the first spool of ribbon. It was wide and light pink.
‘Hold tight, alright!’ Sonya said. ‘Like this.’ She moved Dania’s fingers to the ends, then began pulling the ribbon.
It unspooled and she brought it up to the twine, tying the end loosely; then, she took the spool and set it on the lower shelf. This way, the ribbon could be seen hanging from the twine.
‘Pretty!’ Dania said, clapping.
Sonya turned back to Azam, who had a crease between his brows. ‘That isn’t really how Mama kept the ribbons,’ he said, coming to stand beside her.
‘You’re allowed to make it your own,’ Sonya replied gently. Azam hesitated, but then he saw how happy Dania was to help, and he smiled as well, the tension leaving his shoulders.
‘You’re right,’ he said, eyes soft. ‘This is a splendid idea.’
He picked Dania up and set her on his shoulders. She laughed, holding onto his hair. Then Dania held the end of the ribbon while Sonya unspooled it, and Azam tied it on the twine, until the twine was full of the ribbons on display. The final effect was lovely.
‘Thank you,’ Azam said. He was still holding onto Dania’s knees on his shoulders, but he gave Sonya a private smile.
It took a few days but, eventually, they got the shop in order, and perfectly clean and organized.
Dania and Kiri helped a bit, but it was mostly Sonya who was there with Azam.
On top of organizing the shop, he needed to create sample sketches to show customers what kinds of things they might order.
He paged through his mother’s old samples for inspiration.
‘It felt like whenever there was a party in the Outskirts, the guest of honor would be wearing one of my mother’s designs,’ Azam told her, pride in his voice.
‘Mama would be especially busy at the beginning of spring—around this time—because everyone had more social events coming up and wanted new outfits.’
‘So this is perfect timing for a grand reopening,’ Sonya said.
He smiled. ‘I think you’re right.’
Along with getting the shop ready, Sonya tended to the cottage. Azam and Kiri both told her they didn’t keep such high standards, that she didn’t need to clean so rigorously every day, but Sonya had a routine, and she liked to keep with it.
Unfortunately, she didn’t realize just how hard she’d been pushing herself until a few mornings later. She knew immediately that she was ill.
She couldn’t even get up to tell the others, and her voice was hardly a scratch. Around noon, when she still hadn’t left her room, there was a knock on her door.
‘Sonya?’ Azam’s voice came from the other side of the door. ‘I just wanted to see if you were alright.’
‘Come in,’ she croaked, and the door immediately opened.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, face alarmed.
He came closer, and she must have looked like a sight, for his face fell. ‘Sonya, are you ill?’ he asked, touching the back of his hand to her forehead. His fingers felt freezing. He sucked in a breath at her temperature.
‘I’m only a little sick,’ she said, trying to sit up. She could feel sweat on her neck and back, but she was cold, her toes like icicles.
‘No, don’t,’ he said, hands on her shoulders. ‘You need to rest. I’ll be right back.’
He disappeared and she heard the sound of quick footsteps running down the stairs, then returning a few moments later. He entered her room with a jug of water and a bowl of fruit. He poured her a glass, then held it for her to drink. ‘Here,’ he said.
After she drank the water, he disappeared again, this time to go to his room. He returned with two blankets, piling them over her. ‘You’re shivering,’ he said, frowning. He dashed out again, then came back with two more pillows.
He was fussing. It would have been comical if he didn’t look so genuinely aggrieved.
‘Azam,’ she said, as he made to dash out again. He stopped, immediately coming to her side, kneeling beside her bed. She felt the strange urge to touch his face.
‘What is it?’ he asked. ‘What do you need?’
‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘Stop worrying.’
He clenched his jaw. ‘But how can I?’ he asked. ‘This is all my fault.’
‘It isn’t,’ she tried to argue, but she was so tired. Her eyelids drooped.
‘Shh,’ he said, and she closed her eyes. ‘Go back to sleep.’
When she woke some time later, he was sitting on a chair beside her bed, holding a steaming bowl in one hand, while the other was gentle on her arm.
‘I hate to wake you, but you should eat.’ He helped her sit up, then offered her the bowl. Sonya looked down at the mushy rice and lentil dish; it was tinged yellow from turmeric.
‘It’s khichdi,’ he told her. ‘Mama used to make it for me when I was sick.’
He waited, and she lifted a spoonful to her mouth, swallowing. It was lumpy and entirely flavorless. ‘Is this supposed to make me feel better?’ she asked.
He laughed. ‘I never liked it much, either,’ he admitted. He sat back in the chair, running a hand through his hair. His shirt was undone at the throat, his waistcoat unbuttoned. His hair was a mess, as if he had run his hands through it many times.
He sighed, leaning forward. ‘I’m terribly sorry, Sonya,’ he said. ‘We’ve been working you too hard, you’ve been doing too much, and now you’ve fallen ill, and—’
‘No, it’s okay,’ she said with a small smile. ‘Really. I’m just a bit tired, but that’s only because my health has always been delicate. I’ve enjoyed working; it’s satisfying.’
‘Even so.’ He frowned, then looked down at her plate. ‘Please eat.’ He had noticed she hadn’t taken in another spoonful.
‘I’ll try and eat a bit,’ she said, but she couldn’t get through much. She set it aside, and he tsked.
Luckily, she was saved by Kiri entering then, bringing with her a warm glass of honey-milk. ‘Up,’ she said to Azam, and he got up from the chair, though he still hovered by the bed. Kiri inspected Sonya, checking her over.
‘What is it?’ Azam asked, voice anxious. ‘Will she be alright?’
‘Yes, Sonya will be alright, she just needs rest,’ Kiri replied. ‘You can stop your fussing.’
‘Are you sure?’ Azam asked.
Kiri gave him a look. ‘Yes. Now, go on,’ she shooed. Azam hesitated, until Kiri gave him a little push. Dragging his feet, he left, though not before glancing at Sonya one more time. Kiri shook her head, laughing a little, and Sonya joined in.
‘I know you’re strong,’ Kiri said. ‘You’ll be alright.
’ She looked at the door, where Azam had exited.
‘Don’t know what’s gotten into that boy; he usually keeps such a level head if I or Dania get ill, despite what happened with his parents.
’ She turned back to Sonya, eyes glinting. ‘Special attention for a special girl.’
Sonya felt warm, and she had a feeling it wasn’t from the fever.
For the next few days, Sonya spent her time on the couch by the fire, being taken care of.
Dania sat with her, keeping her company, and Kiri brought endless cups of tea.
The fever had broken after the first day, and she felt much improved, but Azam insisted she rested.
The shop was ready, anyway, and it was up to him to come up with the sketches for the samples.
He needed to make an entire portfolio to show clients to entice them to place orders, as well as a few sample dresses and suits. She knew how it worked: her tailors showed her sketches before cutting the fabric and making her gowns.