Elijah was going through the documents that his father had sent him over email regarding the health and wellness application that their IT company was developing for the government. Using this application they would be able to connect with the people from all over the country and provide them medical services at a low cost with the most basic ones being free.
Right now, the application was in its initial stages and was being developed. The pace was a little slow and there were a few problems here and there but there was nothing that could not be managed.
Elijah gave a call to Margaret informing her that he would be coming to office tomorrow to meet with the all the teams and employees working on the project. While Margaret made the necessary changes in his schedule, she informed him about the Little Angels Children Charity Gala this weekend that he has been invited to.
Margaret also reminded him that he is supposed to bring a partner with him for the night and asked with whom should she make an appointment with for the said event.
"You know what, I will let you know by tomorrow morning about whom I want to bring with me to the event, okay?!" he said politely but with a firmness in his voice.
"Okay, sir." responded Margaret with a smile in her voice. After ending the call, Margaret, who is actually Madison, sent a message to Seraphina using her other, personal cell phone.
Heads up!
Elijah might ask you out tonight for an upcoming charity event.
If he does, will you agree to go with him or not?
After clicking on the send icon, she waited for a few seconds to see if Seraphina would reply and when she did not, Madison put her cell phone back in her bag and continued with her work.
══════ ∘◦♛◦∘ ══════
Meanwhile, at The Seraphina Atelier, Seraphina was on the production floor in the alterations room with the three of her interns and a few other designers of her company. Today, she was teaching them the meticulous process of making alterations on couture dresses directly on clients.
These were such delicate and couture dresses that needed to be pinned and altered directly on the client and it was nothing less than an art. Amidst the soft hum of sewing machines and the rustle of luxurious fabrics that blended together like a symphony, Seraphina's eyes sparkled with passion as she demonstrated the delicate art of pinning and adjusting intricate designs.
"Remember," she instructed, her voice firm yet encouraging, "precision is key. A small mistake can ruin the entire piece. Literally one snag and the dress would be ruined. You have to not only pay attention to the dress but also to your client's feedback and adjust accordingly."
The interns, Chloe, Trisha, and Jacob, listened intently, while watching Seraphina pin and alter a delicate mesh dress on a model. Seraphina may have hired Chloe only to take her revenge from her for all that Chloe did to her when she was being held captive but she did see potential in Trisha and Jacob.
Now that she had taken them in as her interns, she decided to actually teach them the basic ways and techniques and explore the abundant potential in the two young designers. Even Chloe could improve but Seraphina was sure going to make her journey the most difficult one. And even if Chloe survived what Seraphina had laid out for her, she won't survive what he has in mind for her.
Because Chloe's actions against Seraphina were nothing in comparison to what she did to Vivi. That was a different kind of hell that awaited Chloe. But that's a future plan, right now, Seraphina had something of her planned for Chloe.
A knock at the door distracted them all from the piece that Seraphina was working on and brought their attention to the elegant woman standing at the door.
Dahlia Grace, Seraphina's old mentor, stood at the entrance, her eyes filled with pride as she watched Seraphina teach. Seraphina was quite young when she started working for Dahlia as a seamstress while she learned the techniques of fashion designing.
After noticing the immense talent in her, Dahlia had hired Seraphina as her assistant and taught her everything that she knew. Later on, when Seraphina moved away and started her own brand, no one else would have been as much proud as Dahlia was of her protégé.
"Look at you!" Dahlia said warmly, walking towards Seraphina. and pulling her in a tight hug, "You look wonderful, my dear. It's so good to see you!" smiled Dahlia while patting Seraphina's cheeks light and in appreciation.
"You're doing a marvelous job, my dear." praised the middle aged woman.
Seraphina's face lit up with a genuine smile as she held Dahlia's hands in hers, "Dahlia, it's wonderful to see you. It's been so long."
"Long it has been, indeed." chuckled Dahlia as she moved towards the model whose dress Seraphina was altering a few seconds ago.
Dahlia examined the fabric by touching, moving her fingers over and beneath to feel how the fabric felt against the skin. She observed the design and patterns created on the mesh observing every detail as if making an assessment.
"Did you design it, love?" Dahlia asked Seraphina as she traced the sleeves of the dress with her fingers.
"I did." Seraphina felt a little nervous at being assessed by her old mentor but did not let it show, "What do you think?"
"Ah!" Dahlia sighed, "It's wonderful." she smiled easing the nervousness that had settled inside Seraphina's heart, "You did an extremely good job with this dress. This kind of fabric arrangement is hard to deal with and I am glad to see that my favorite disciple has already mastered it."
Seraphina chuckled and thanked Dahlia for her praise. "Do you want to join us? It would be an amazing opportunity for my inters to learn something from you. Please, join us." requested Seraphina which Dahlia could not deny.
Dahlia nodded and approached the group. "Alright, alright!" she raised her hands up as if in surrender, "I'd love to educate these young minds. How about I let your interns practice on me? You know, just for fun."
"Really?" Seraphina looked surprised, "That would be amazing but," glancing at Dahlia and then at her three interns, Seraphina added, "Just don't be too hard on them, okay."
"Darling, don't worry about that." Dahlia patted Seraphina's shoulder lightly and moved past her to stand in front of the three interns.
"Hhmm." she circled the three of them before finally stopping in front of Chloe, "You." she declared out loud, "I am picking up, come with me."
Chloe could not believe her ears. Her eyes widened with excitement at being chosen by Dahlia. It felt like an award on its own, "Really? Thank you so much! That would be amazing!" she exclaimed, ecstatic at being chosen.
"Relax, Chloe!" Seraphina whispered in Chloe's ears, "Listen, Dahlia is very quick to anger so proceed with caution, alright. She gets angry rather quickly, so make sure to make no mistakes." Seraphina warned while Dahlia went to the washroom to change into the semi-sown, partially assembled dress that Chloe would be making alterations on.
"Don't worry, Seraphina! I promise, I won't do anything to make her upset." Chloe assured.
But unbeknownst to Chloe, she was stepping into a well-laid trap. Seraphina had orchestrated this moment meticulously. Dahlia's presence and her offer were part of a larger plan.
"Of course, I believe you." Seraphina said smoothly, hiding her true intentions behind a mask of professionalism. "There she is," she pointed at Dahlia before moving towards her other two interns and assigning them a model each to work their alteration techniques on.
While Seraphina carefully observed the three of them, her eyes were more so glued to Chloe and Dahlia as Chloe eagerly began pinning the dress on Dahlia. Though her hands were slightly shaking with nervousness, she did manage to insert the first few pins correctly.
Within a few minutes of working on the dress, the brave face that Chloe had on began to crumble. Out of habit, she watched Trisha and Jacob pin the dress better than she was doing and decided to copy the way they were pining the dress on their models forgetting that all three dresses were different.
Also, the fact that Dahlia had been wincing ever so slightly with every pin that she poked through the fabric was not helping Chloe either. With every passing second, Chloe began to grown more and more nervous. She tried her best not to hurt Dahlia with the needle, but the more she consciously tried not to, the more she ended up hurting Dahlia.
Dahlia's sharp comments only heightening her unease.
"Be careful, Chloe. You're not handling the fabric correctly!" Dahlia scolded, making Chloe more flustered.
Chloe's hands trembled as she adjusted a pin, and her nerves got the better of her. The needle pierced through Dahlia's skin, drawing a small drop of blood. Her eyes flashed with anger, and Dahlia pulled her hand back only to slap Chloe hard across the face.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" other than Dahlia's harsh breathing, the room fell into complete silence.
Everybody stilled in that moment, gasping silently as they took in the events that had just transpired. Chloe was on the floor, her hand raised against her cheek while Dahlia was standing just a step away breathing angrily as she inspected the small wound that Chloe had inflicted upon her.
'Welcome to hell, Chloe.' thought Seraphina as she watched Chloe cry holding the cheek that she had received a slap on from Dahlia. She covered her mouth using her hand to hide the smirk that curved upon her lips that reflected the satisfaction Seraphina was feeling in that moment.