Chapter 45

"Great. Listen, I told you we were launching a new business. Can I get your advice on a couple of things?" Nandani asked him.

"No problem. How is tomorrow?" the famous designer Blake Evans, asked Nandani.

They then set up a time to meet the next day.

Nandani was sitting across from Blake in an outlet of Starbucks. He looked every bit the designer at rest, wearing denim and a fedora hat.

"Hi, gorgeous." He kissed both her cheeks and she sat down across from him. "I was hoping you would call," he said.

"Well, that is sweet of you to say. But I am not sure you wanted me to call about this," she said.

He waved his hand like he was brushing off her words. "Nonsense. It was meant to be. I just happened to have a fitting canceled today. How can I help?"

Nandani explained their plans to launch and their uphill battle getting into stores. He nodded sympathetically. "First, let us make sure you are ready. Show me what you have," Evans said.

She pulled Mukti's portfolio out of her bag. Evans went through it while she fidgeted.

Finally, he nodded approvingly and looked up at her. "This is good work. It is young and fresh." He then continued, "Listen, retailers are tough. Breaking in the first time is especially hard because there is a lot of overhead involved in adding a new designer. It is a lot cheaper for a store to pick you up after a couple of great seasons when it is lower risk. Why don't I take you to a couple of my vendors?"

Nandani gratefully agreed. He took out his phone and started dialing. By the time her coffee was done, they had three meetings lined up for the next weekend.

************

"Guess what, Nandani. Azalea Boutique loved the pieces you sent over. They are going to call you to talk rack space next week." Blake Evans' voice crackled over the line.

"That is amazing! But I can barely hear you. Where are you?" Nandani asked him.

She had set up an improvised workspace in her library cum study room, though admittedly she spent less time studying and more time booking meetings, calling manufacturers, and sending budget quotes back and forth.

"Where San Francisco residents spend three-quarters of their time, in traffic. So, it should be clear soon," Blake said.

"I cannot believe this is happening," she said.

"You deserve it, babe. You will be the talk of the town, very soon," Blake told her.

Finally, it felt like things were moving. And in Blake, they had stumbled across another smart and generous supporter. Unlike Crystal, who was the business brain, Blake knew who liked what and seemed able to say the right thing to make his point. They had also bonded over a shared love of those teeny vanilla bean scones Starbucks makes. It was their ritual when they went to see boutiques that Nandani provided the coffee and carbs; an infinitely modest price to pay for his backing, contacts, and expertise.

Crystal and Nandani were having monthly check-ins to talk about the launch. By late March Mukti and Nandani already had a name, a logo, and were legally established as a partnership under the name 'Dream Girl.'

Mukti was looking after the fabric sourcing and identifying some New York boutiques to which they wanted to pitch. Blake and Nandani had already secured six in San Francisco, and at this point anything more was gravy.

At the end of that month's call with Crystal, she agreed everything was in order. All the items on the checklist she had circulated in advance of their meeting were ticked or brought forward.

The one thing that still loomed was the website. In all honesty, she had been putting it off, but it was on the list for next week. Any further delays would hurt the rest of their work.

Then Crystal changed topics. "Nandani," She started thoughtfully, her shapely brows drawn together. She looked perfect even through Skype. Her blonde hair was shining and set off by her knit camel-colored top. A gold knot that had probably come from Tiffany's hung at her throat. "May I give you some advice?" she asked.

"Of course. You know how much I value your perspective. On anything," Nandani replied. It was true, though she did not know where this was going.

"The job is important. Building your business, your brand, is important. Most people I have to remind to focus. But with you, I might have been wrong. When you pursue something so single-mindedly; when it is your life; it can get in the way of other things. You have already learned how to work hard, and you are the kind of person who will persist until they succeed. But there are other things to learn too. You will not wake up in two decades and wish you had spent more time at work," Crystal said.

Nandani's gaze had fallen across the floor as she listened to her words. She did not know where this had come from. Had Crystal noticed her distracted? Upset? Nandani had been so careful not to let any of the fallout influence how she presented herself professionally.

Nandani's next words were carefully chosen. "This is my life. I want it more than anything else in the world. If I have not seemed excited about it lately, it could just be the stress of working through the final details," she said.

"Hmm. And how much time do you spend with other people? Ones that have nothing to do with business," Crystal added before she could jump in. "Who else is important in your life?"

Nandani thought about it for a moment. The list was short, but that was the way things had to be.

"What I am saying is that, do not forget to enjoy life. As loathe as we in the fashion industry are to admit it, clothes are not what makes life beautiful. People make life beautiful," Crystal said.

"Maybe," Nandani said, the words spilling out before she could stop them. "But they also make it messy." Her eyes went back to Crystal's on the computer. "What about when people you care about get in the way of your dreams?" Nandani asked Crystal.

"Then you have to decide whether they are worth it," Crystal said.

"Which, the people or the dreams?" Nandani asked her.

Crystal smiled. "Both."

They clicked off a few minutes later. Nandani sat in her task chair, spinning herself around slowly like she had not done in years. The trick was to do it fast enough that one did not have to keep pushing off, but slow enough that one did not make oneself dizzy.

She was thinking, what if Crystal was right? In the past two months, activities with the label had been taking off like a rocket. But two months being away from Manik seemed to make things worse, and not better. She kept telling herself that things were fine, using 'Dream Girl' to keep herself busy. When she found time to admit it, part of her felt a bit broken, a bit less. And Nandani seemed to be compensating, rather than fixing it.