Chapter 17
DAISY
"Welcome finalists!" Rosie called, sending a bout of nerves through me. This was it, the final round and the answer to whether or not I had what it took to win the commission to have a sculpture in the lobby of Jinx HQ. Now that I was so close, I wanted it more than I thought I had before, and that said a lot.
Everyone else looked serious too, and I could tell that today was going to be the biggest challenge I'd faced from any of them. Including Thor.
"For your final challenge, you're going to be making a miniature version of what you're going to propose for the Jinx headquarters! You've got the full briefs waiting for you at your stations," she continued.
"We want your propositions to be four feet high. You can use whatever materials you want, and whatever methods you want, just make sure that you bring it all," Duncan said. "This is now the only round that matters."
"And don't forget, all the judgements have been blind, so none of the judges have any idea which of the previous sculptures were yours."
I found that hard to believe, especially with a god of art amongst the judges. He should be able to tell what belonged to who just from the style alone. But I wasn't about to point that out.
"You have five hours," Rosie said. "And it starts now!"
I took a deep breath and turned around.
"Good luck," Thor said.
"And to you."
"Do you mean that?" he teased. "I know how much you want to win."
"I absolutely mean it. The win is only worthwhile if it comes from beating everyone else's best."
"Ah excellent point. I will do everything I can to try and beat you."
I laughed despite my nerves, enjoying the way he was putting me at ease even when there was so much on the line. I headed into my station and looked over the brief, though I wasn't particularly surprised by any of it. The sculpture needed to represent love and harmony, and that love was universal.
Everyone was going to do a heart of some kind, which was kind of unavoidable when it was part of the Jinx branding. No doubt Kenji would do something brightly coloured, and that could be what they were looking for, but it wasn't what I wanted to go for.
But I also didn't want it to just be plain metal either.
An idea came to me and I started badly sketching it out. I didn't want to use magic to do anything too extreme, but I didn't see the problem with using it to create a pink sheen over some of the metal I worked with. That could fit well with the brand I was trying to represent.
Flowers were also playing to my strengths but could end up being detrimental if they worked that out. But twisting petals or hearts falling from the inside of the sculpture so they caught the light could be pretty in theory. In practice, they might not work as well, but I was going to have to trust my instincts on this one.
Satisfied that I had a solid idea planned, and one that I could definitely recreate bigger if they held me to it, I set off for the scrap heap and started getting all of my bits together. The nerves had left now, replaced by determination to make the best sculpture I could. Whether it would be good enough to beat the others was a whole other matter, and not even really up to me. So much of it could come down to personal taste or the mood of the judges today.
I pushed that out of my mind and focused on creating. I zoned out, not even paying any attention to Thor in the station next to me, though that was partly because we'd spent a lot of time together in the past week, and it made it easier to ignore him now we were in the workshop. Or that was what I was going to tell myself. Whether it was true was another matter.
I looked up at the timer, surprised to find that there was only an hour left. My sculpture had taken shape nicely, but there was still plenty to do to finish it off.
I was dimly aware of the camera crew coming in for close-ups, but I paid them no mind. After a few weeks of working like this, I'd gotten used to having them around, especially once Thor assured me that there was no footage of our kiss to worry about. It had been reckless of us to do that here, but there'd been no stopping it once it started, and I couldn't feel bad about that, not when the result was a great night together.
A snap sounded and I cursed myself for overheating the small heart I was working on. This was why I wasn't supposed to be thinking about Thor right now. I could let him distract me all I wanted after the competition was done and there was nothing else for us to do.
I threw away the ruined heart, glad I'd thought to make a couple of extra and went about attaching it to the sculpture, twisting it with just the right amount of heat this time.
I checked the clock again, and realised I only had a couple of minutes left. I stepped back and looked at my sculpture. It wasn't exactly the kind of the thing I'd normally make if I was left to my own devices, but it fit the brief well, and that was the important part.
"Time is up on your final challenge!" Rosie called.
I put my hand on my lower back and rolled my neck, letting it crack in the process. I was glad it was over, but also kind of disappointed. It would be good to have my time back, but I'd definitely enjoyed the challenge more than I thought I would.
"How did it go?" Thor asked as I stepped out of my station. I wanted to go to him and show some kind of affection, but I knew this wasn't the place to. Maybe if we were further into whatever it was between us we'd do that, but it was still so new that it was better if we kept to ourselves. At least while we were being filmed.
"All right, I think. We'll see what the judges think of it. What about you?"
"Okay, I think I could have done better though."
"You always think that," I pointed out. "If you put forward the most perfect sculpture in the world, you'd want to do better."
"Fair point," he responded.
Brandon and Kenji looked as exhausted as I felt, and the four of us were directed to the same seats we'd sat on for the semi-final, except that now there were only four of them. It seemed as if we were going to watch the judges again.
Our sculptures were moved to the front, with envelopes placed in front of them, which I assumed included our names.
I let out a nervous breath. This was going to be harder than I thought it would be.
To my surprise, Thor reached out and took my hand, giving it a squeeze. Hopefully, nothing would be broadcast of the affection, but even if it was, it wasn't the end of the world, not when I appreciated his touch.
The judges entered and started looking at each of the sculptures in turn, talking amongst themselves. I was almost certain I saw Xochipilli smile at mine, while Aine seemed very interested in Thor's sculpture. I supposed it wouldn't be too bad if he beat me. But if Kenji's sculpture won, I was going to find that difficult to stomach. Even from here, I could see a couple of mistakes in the bright colours he'd chosen. It wasn't that I thought my own was flawless, just that it looked better overall.
Eventually, the three judges moved into a huddle, presumably discussing the winner between themselves.
It wasn't until they broke apart that I realised I'd barely been breathing.
"Are you ready?" Rosie asked the judges.
Aine nodded.
"I'd like to introduce the CEO of the Jinx Dating Agency, Aine, to you all," Rosie said brightly. "She'll be announcing the winner."
"Thank you all so much for taking part in the competition," Aine said, her voice surprisingly light, I'd expected something heavier thanks to her job. "We've seen such beautiful pieces over the past few weeks and it's been very difficult to send people home, and even more so to pick a winner from these four fantastic sculptures." She gestured to the sculptures behind her.
I crossed my fingers and hoped to all the gods, real and imagined, that she was going to announce my name. I needed the potential clients it would bring, not to mention the recognition that would come from a competition like this, especially with serious competitors like Brandon and Thor.
Aine picked up an envelope from her pile, but I couldn't tell which one it was. She slid it open with what felt like excruciating slowness. "And the winner is... Daisy Chains ."
My eyes widened as the words sank in.
I'd actually done it.
"Well done," Thor said, looking at me with pride in his eyes.
I managed a weak smile and got to my feet, making my way over to Aine.
She smiled widely at me. "I look forward to working with you," she said, holding out her hand.
I took it, a little lost in a haze. "Me too."
"I'll have everything set up for a meeting so we can go through the full commission and brief, but for now, enjoy your win."
"Thank you."
I turned around just as Brandon and Kenji arrived to congratulate me. Both were a little reserved, and potentially underneath could be bitter about the fact I was disqualified and only got to come back into the competition by chance, but that was something they needed to work through.
"I won," I said to Thor, kind of in a daze about the situation.
"You did," he responded.
"I actually won."
To my surprise, he pulled me into his arms. It wasn't as good as a kiss would have been, but the embrace was still good, and made me feel as if I hadn't done this alone.