location. It would happen.
Everything else in her life was going great. She’d moved to Chicago just over a year ago not knowing anyone. She had a new best friend, a new roommate, and she was getting to be friends with all of their friends. So that was nice. Her jerk of an ex-husband—well, almost ex; he still hadn’t signed the divorce papers, but as far as she was concerned, they were divorced—hadn’t bothered her for almost a month. That was even better. Business was good—yay! She’d find a good place. It might just take a while.
Chapter Two
Paige went to her next meeting, which was with clothing designer Claire Wentworth. She managed to get her thoughts together and conduct the meeting professionally. She also managed to hide the big muddy smudge on the ass of her red coat. She hoped. Of course she didn’t meet with the designer herself but with one of her staff. They negotiated a deal where Paige got clothes at a wholesale price and therefore made money when clients purchased them at retail.
She had several such deals with individual designers, along with a big wholesale clothing company. At first, these places had been skeptical about how her business was going to work, but her client base had grown a lot, and there was evidence that if clients liked a particular designer they’d buy more of their clothing. So it was win-win.
Back at the warehouse, her assistant Trenise had packed up all the outstanding orders and they were ready to go. She was in the process of tidying while waiting for the UPS guy to come for the packages. The music of Macklemore filled the space from the small speakers Paige had set up. With only two of them working, they needed music to fill the space around them, to energize them and make them dance a little.
“How was it?” Trenise asked as soon as Paige walked in.
“It was great.” She unwound her scarf. “But probably already leased to someone else.”
“What! How can that be?”
“They showed it to someone else this morning who’s probably going to take it.”
“That’s not fair! If you’re there and ready to sign a lease, they should go with you.”
She thought about that. Trenise kind of had a point. “I guess they’re being fair to the ones who looked first. I told them it was everything we’re looking for and if the deal falls through I want it.”
“When will you know for sure?”
Good question. She’d been so flustered she hadn’t even asked that. Stupid. How was she supposed to run a business being so scattered? “I’ll call him in the morning and see what’s happening. Tonight I’ll go online and look at more options. We’ll find something.”
Trenise blew out a breath. “Yeah, I know.”
Paige gazed around the crowded space at the racks of hanging clothes, shelves of accessories and boxes waiting to be packed. There was barely room to walk around anymore. They definitely needed more room, and she wanted to add a studio where people could come in for a personal style assessment and to try some things on if they wanted to do that. She’d been hunting for space she could afford in the right area for months now.
“Marla Atkinson asked the other day about clothes for her husband,” Trenise said. “Have you thought more about expanding into men’s styling?”
“I have. I think it would work. I did some research too and talked to some of the personal shoppers I know at the big department stores. Men hate shopping, but when you’re a big business executive, you need to look good. We can’t compete with custom tailors like Joseph Dean, and I don’t want to, obviously, but for business-casual looks, lots of men are clueless.”
“That’s true. They know how to wear a suit and tie, but if they need a professional look that’s more casual, they don’t know what to do.”
“My mom still picks out my dad’s clothes,” Paige said. “He has a closet full of nice clothes but he always ends up wearing the same pair of pants and couple
Everything else in her life was going great. She’d moved to Chicago just over a year ago not knowing anyone. She had a new best friend, a new roommate, and she was getting to be friends with all of their friends. So that was nice. Her jerk of an ex-husband—well, almost ex; he still hadn’t signed the divorce papers, but as far as she was concerned, they were divorced—hadn’t bothered her for almost a month. That was even better. Business was good—yay! She’d find a good place. It might just take a while.
Chapter Two
Paige went to her next meeting, which was with clothing designer Claire Wentworth. She managed to get her thoughts together and conduct the meeting professionally. She also managed to hide the big muddy smudge on the ass of her red coat. She hoped. Of course she didn’t meet with the designer herself but with one of her staff. They negotiated a deal where Paige got clothes at a wholesale price and therefore made money when clients purchased them at retail.
She had several such deals with individual designers, along with a big wholesale clothing company. At first, these places had been skeptical about how her business was going to work, but her client base had grown a lot, and there was evidence that if clients liked a particular designer they’d buy more of their clothing. So it was win-win.
Back at the warehouse, her assistant Trenise had packed up all the outstanding orders and they were ready to go. She was in the process of tidying while waiting for the UPS guy to come for the packages. The music of Macklemore filled the space from the small speakers Paige had set up. With only two of them working, they needed music to fill the space around them, to energize them and make them dance a little.
“How was it?” Trenise asked as soon as Paige walked in.
“It was great.” She unwound her scarf. “But probably already leased to someone else.”
“What! How can that be?”
“They showed it to someone else this morning who’s probably going to take it.”
“That’s not fair! If you’re there and ready to sign a lease, they should go with you.”
She thought about that. Trenise kind of had a point. “I guess they’re being fair to the ones who looked first. I told them it was everything we’re looking for and if the deal falls through I want it.”
“When will you know for sure?”
Good question. She’d been so flustered she hadn’t even asked that. Stupid. How was she supposed to run a business being so scattered? “I’ll call him in the morning and see what’s happening. Tonight I’ll go online and look at more options. We’ll find something.”
Trenise blew out a breath. “Yeah, I know.”
Paige gazed around the crowded space at the racks of hanging clothes, shelves of accessories and boxes waiting to be packed. There was barely room to walk around anymore. They definitely needed more room, and she wanted to add a studio where people could come in for a personal style assessment and to try some things on if they wanted to do that. She’d been hunting for space she could afford in the right area for months now.
“Marla Atkinson asked the other day about clothes for her husband,” Trenise said. “Have you thought more about expanding into men’s styling?”
“I have. I think it would work. I did some research too and talked to some of the personal shoppers I know at the big department stores. Men hate shopping, but when you’re a big business executive, you need to look good. We can’t compete with custom tailors like Joseph Dean, and I don’t want to, obviously, but for business-casual looks, lots of men are clueless.”
“That’s true. They know how to wear a suit and tie, but if they need a professional look that’s more casual, they don’t know what to do.”
“My mom still picks out my dad’s clothes,” Paige said. “He has a closet full of nice clothes but he always ends up wearing the same pair of pants and couple
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