Whenever Michelle thought of Patrick’s name, her lips unconsciously curled up into a smile. He was constantly in her dreams, and she can see his face every time she closed her eyes. But she also knew how painful it was to miss someone, so she wanted to take advantage of this birthday party to see Patrick, even if it was just to talk with him.
But it was not just about talking with him.
Michelle knew that she wanted to keep seeing Patrick and do many things with him beyond just “getting to know” each other. However, whenever she thought about Patrick being engaged to Jane, her heart felt uneasy. Although Jane was not a bad person… who can explain matters of the heart?
Since Freda had ordered a custom dress from Camille, she had been going back and forth between Leo’s studio and chatting frequently with Camille. Thanks to Camille remembering what Jane said about Freda, they were not very friendly towards her for fear that something might be wrong with this woman.
Today Freda came again carrying lots of fruit in hand.
“You guys have worked hard~” Freda knocked on the door and walked into the studio smilingly as if everyone here was familiar with her already. She gave each person some fruit saying, “I’m here today again for the dress fitting but I also brought some fruit for you all.”
Freda always seemed very enthusiastic when coming over but no one except Camille paid attention as what exactly was on this woman’s mind so sometimes designers would chat politely or even think highly of Ann (Freda).
Except for Camille.
When Freda placed a few oranges on her desk, Camille just looked up and smiled at Freda, saying, “Miss Ann, you don’t have to be so polite. Every time you come, you bring something. If this continues, all the designers in our studio will be spoiled by you.”
“It’s okay~” Freda naturally took a seat on the chair next to Camille, revealing a friendly smile. “After all, I don’t have much to do here, and besides, I plan to open a design company at home. I’m just here to secretly learn a bit~”
“What stealing skills? Besides our main designer Leo here at the core, everyone designs similarly-”
Camille breathed a sigh of relief. Freda heard her and felt a sense of satisfaction. If it weren’t for this assistant, she would have had trouble starting the conversation.
“Exactly,” she pretended to be enlightened. “I heard that Leo is the most famous designer in your studio and also the boss. I wanted to meet him, but every time I come here recently, he’s not around.”
“Leo is very busy, he only comes back once or twice a year,” Camille sighed.
Freda frowned and asked casually with suspicion, “Really? But I heard there’s a fashion design competition recently? My friend told me about Leo before; he’s like a god in the design industry and wins awards every year during these competitions. Will he participate this year?”
At first, Camille was still busy with something on her hands and didn’t pay much attention to what Freda said earlier. However, when she mentioned Leo and the design competition again, it sounded like she came prepared.
Her pen paused for a moment before naturally lowering her eyes as if nothing had happened, “I don’t know; Leo rarely comes back to the studio or tells us anything.”
“Oh…” Freda nodded thoughtfully without asking any further questions but kept glancing at Camille from time to time without speaking.
Camilla was alert enough; she peeled an orange that Freda gave her while eating some slices until after awhile when suddenly saying, “Excuse me; I need to go to the bathroom.”
Saying so Camilla got up quickly leaving while Freda watched her leave with narrowed eyes slightly squinting at her back.
Once inside the bathroom stall, Camilla took out her phone sending Jane a message, “Jane! That Miss Ann you talked about earlier suddenly asked me about Leo today along with whether or not he will participate in designing contest wanting see your work.”
“What should we do next?”
Camille slightly furrowed her brow, her fingertips clenched with a hint of nervousness.
Not long after Jane and Patrick returned to the villa, she received a message from Camille. A subtle smile appeared in Jane’s eyes. It seemed that Freda couldn’t resist her curiosity…
“She wants to know what’s going on. Just tell her, you can even make up a dress style to satisfy her curiosity. After all this effort, isn’t it just about wanting to know what outfit I’ll design for the competition? Camille, I trust you the most for this task.”
Jane’s response quickly came back, and Camille, looking at the lines on the screen, revealed a confident smile.
If that was the case, she knew exactly what to do!
Camille returned to the office in a light mood and found Freda still there. When Freda saw her come back, she smiled at her.
“Sorry about that,” said Camille in a relaxed tone. “I got a call from Leo when I was in the bathroom just now. She reminded me to bring his design drawings for the competition, so I came back a little later.”
Freda’s eyes lit up when she heard this. “Are you saying Leo is going to participate in the design competition?”
Camille nodded seriously. “But actually, every time we participate, I take his designs and clothes with me because Leo is very busy. But let me tell you something. This time his dress looks really good! Just now he sent me some pictures of it and it’s gorgeous!”
As Camille spoke, she raised her thumb and looked at Freda before continuing, “Well… since you like Leo so much anyway… even if I tell you about it there won’t be any harm done.”
Freda vigorously nodded her head,”Yeah! Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone!”
Camille lowered her voice as she leaned closer towards Freda, “The dress on those pictures had padded shoulders; deep red with pearls and lace accents; vintage style from medieval Europe… It really looks great! Why don’t we use that as inspiration for your own dress?”