Auntie Nyna appeared, her demeanor apologetic. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but this is somewhat urgent. Your Cannes fitting just called to cancel for today. She said she has an appointment with her 'dietician' that can't be missed. She wanted to move the fitting to next week."

Ravi furrowed his brow. He'd been hoping to use today to present new designs to her in lieu of the ones he'd deemed 'Too Sora' to pass muster for the more casually inclined woman. He'd have to start based on her previous measurements whilst leaving room for alterations.

"That's fine. Thanks."

"You also got a call from Sora. She wanted to know if you were free for coffee. I didn't realize you were going to be...occupied for this long, so I told her you would be. Should I call her back to cancel?"

"Ah, no. I need to talk to her anyway. Show her in when she gets here."

Auntie Nyna gave them a nod and left to return to her desk.

"I suppose that means no time for lunch."

"Not right now. I need to get some mockups together for Cannes even if she won't be putting in an appearance. I was planning to work through."

Hana put on a glacial smile that left Ravi dreading their next conversation. "That's all right. Another time."

"Another time."

Sora was a breath of fresh air sweeping through his door after Hana had gone.

"I brought your favorite with a dash of espresso." Sora had visited La Bocca, Ravi's favorite mom and pop coffee shop located near the Himura offices. Just what I needed.

"You read my mind, thank you." He inhaled the heady aroma of his Brazilian dark roast prepared in the French style and drank deeply. The zing of it woke him up, shot straight to his toes. "Angelique," he sighed. "She's the only person allowed to make me coffee."

"I thought nobody could do it for you after you lived in France."

"The owners are second-generation Italian, Angelique is here on a student visa from Loire. She's the exception." Ravi was known to get territorial about his baristas.

"She'll be glad to know that." So close on the heels of Hana's inquisition, Ravi was quick to pick up on Sora's unspoken suggestion.

"She's a nice girl who's interested in fashion design. She likes to talk shop and she brews a hell of a brew."

"All the pretty girls flock to you, don't they?"

Ravi refrained from commenting. "Not that I'm not grateful for the energy boost, but what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"I figured you'd be running on E on a Monday. I knew I could do with a break."

"You work your heart out, that's what happens."

"Hear, hear."

They tapped their paper cups together and drank to their busy, fulfilling lives. I'm not as happy as I might be, but I'm happier than I was. How did this happen to me? He was thinking that he only had a couple of people to thank for that when he was struck by a realization.

"Can I ask a favor?"

Sora lapped up a dollop of foam stranded at the corner her mouth. "Depends on the favor."

Ravi's eyes lingered on her lips a beat longer than he intended. This is Hana crawling into my head. He'd have to talk with her again later on to clear the air.

"You don't trust me."

"Misras are unpredictable. You can never tell what they'll ask for."

"That's a smart move, hedging your bets." Sora deflected, putting the ball back in his court. "I have a client who was supposed to come in for an advanced fitting and she cancelled at the last minute. Would you be willing to stand in for her?" Ravi nodded to the pair of dressed mannequins standing in the corner of his office.

She continued sipping at her drink, considering. "Are we the same size?"

"Close enough, you're a little taller. I just want to judge the fall of the fabric and the fit, make sure the darts fall where they should."

"Sounds fun. Where do you want me?"

A question for another time and a stronger drink. He picked up his phone to call out.

"Auntie, can you page Imogen? I think we're gonna need a hand."

...

Despite the tension between himself and Narsi, Ravi had worked to retain an amicable relationship with Imogen. The creative future of this company was likely in her hands, he'd like to do what he could to nurture it in a positive direction. For her part, Imogen was eager to learn what he had to teach.

"All right, I want to get Sora into these two dresses. Can you take her to the showroom? It'll be easier to view them on the runway."

"That's the best way to see how it moves."

"Precisely."

Sora glanced from Ravi to Imogen. "Now I'm walking a runway?"

"It's just like walking down the street. I don't need Bryant Park, I need a woman who can walk in heels with a decent amount of grace."

Neither woman appeared overly impressed with his reasoning.

"I'll try not to let the compliments go to my head," Sora deadpanned, turning to gather her belongings.

I'm more articulate than this.

"You know I don't mean it like that. You're perfect the way you are, that's why I want it to be you."

What was in that coffee? Ravi couldn't afford to be any more honest today. But Sora was mollified.

"Careful, a girl could get used to this."

"You should."

It was Imogen's turn to look quizzically between Ravi and Sora. "If you want to get started, I can take you to the dressing room."

Sora lifted her coffee in mock salute before following Imogen out of his office.

Ravi was gathering up his notes from earlier fittings to take to the showroom when Narsi leaned into his office.

"Meeting in five."

"We don't have a meeting scheduled."

"It's impromptu, the Parrillas have news."

Ravi grunted, checking his watch. He wouldn't have Sora for long and she really was the best model for these dresses, never mind that they weren't hers namely.

"I don't have time right now. I have a fitting on the runway. I'll read the minutes later."

Narsi propped himself on the doorframe, a sure sign of him digging in his heels and preparing to throw his weight.

"The meeting can move. As president, I should be reviewing your work. We can kill two birds with one stone."

That could not be more inconvenient and that's Narsi all over. "Fine. Let's go."

Ravi could have done without the entourage that followed him to the showroom of the Misra offices. As luck would have it, his father was away at a press event uptown, which meant Ravi would have one less critical opinion to contend with. Most everything Ravi knew he had learned from Manendra, but this was different. Bad enough that Narsi would stand in judgment, he couldn't bear for someone who would understand to see the passion in these designs.

His pale relief was further diluted when Hana appeared with Yelena and the Parrillas in tow. He wasn't entirely sure if this was a staff meeting or a cocktail party anymore.

"Deal with all the other business and let me handle this."

"Don't worry, we won't get in your way."

'Since birth, Junior,' Ravi didn't say.

"Sure."

Most of the staff was already in the showroom when Ravi arrived. The place was bustling with employees setting up for a HFTF showing schedule for later in the day. They had buyers from Nordstrom's coming, along with buyers from a number of department stores. Ravi was not going to be the one to signal the dissonance. Our brand identity is shot. That wasn't his problem yet.

Ravi beckoned Diana from her huddle with Yelena and Frederica before the meeting got underway to consult about his client's bespoke jewelry.

"How's the redesign going?" His client had decided that silver was passé and she longed for platinum after all the pieces had been created. Our bright young nightmare.

Diana sighed. "It's going well enough. The work should be done in time for Cannes. I'm just wondering what to do with five grand in silver jewelry."

"Hold it for winter and we'll auction it off for charity during the Christmas season. Your stock is rising, count on it going for more than breakeven."

"You flatter me."

"I flatter everyone."

"Almost everyone."

Ravi grumbled, "Everyone I like." He squinted over Diana's shoulder. "I think they're calling you back." Diego was gesticulating wildly in Ravi's opinion. Is this his idea of subtlety? Ravi was suddenly glad only one Parrilla was in charge of design aesthetics.

"We'll talk later," Diana offered, and he nodded in reply. His 'later' was getting fuller all the time. Many of the couture clients who were slowly trickling back to Misra were asking to work with him exclusively, which freed up the less experienced staff to assist in other areas, only to leave him grappling with an overflowing itinerary on a given day.

His discomfort wasn't alleviated by Hana choosing to walk into the showroom right then. I expected her to be out. She caught his eye and waved. He mimicked the gesture with his sketchbook. She'd look good in dark blue, she's always worn that well. Ravi mentally sketched a sheath dress that would flatter her athletic physique in the same breath that he was turning away to consider additions to his current client's cache. His thoughts sprinted ahead on multiple parallel tracks at once.

The faint aroma of Hana's perfume disrupted his train of thought. Not unpleasantly but altogether intrusively. She's behind me. He dug his thumb into the furrow in his brow trying to relieve the headache threatening to roar to life beneath his frontal bone.

Hana peered over his shoulder at his sketches, oddly setting his teeth on edge. He hadn't liked how they'd left things, although she didn't seem bothered by it.

"Wasn't your fitting cancelled?"

Ravi etched a harmless pencil stroke along the one-shouldered bodice of the gown.

"Sora agreed to act as a proxy for my client."

"How convenient," Hana remarked, archly.

Narsi agreed, lurking at Ravi's back and to his left. "We have models for this."

"Sora's available and willing. It might as well be her."

"I could do it."

Ravi shifted his focus from his sketchpad to catch Hana's eyes. He couldn't spot an ulterior motive, not that that precluded her from having one. He knew that he could be oblivious where Hana's less than stellar qualities were concerned.

"What I mean is, Sora's obviously very busy at Himura. She stopped by for coffee, right? That's half an hour. Fittings can take hours, you're known for that."

"The curse of a perfectionist."

"That's what you always called it." They shared a smile.

Ravi turn when Imogen leaned into the open to throw up the all ready sign.

"Sora's already in wardrobe, she can handle it. It'll be twenty minutes."

When Sora stepped onto the runway she seemed unsure where to put her hands. She was smiling tremulously at the assemblage of Misra personnel that had follow Ravi and the others to the showroom. Ravi met her eyes to give her someone to focus on. Look at me. They don't matter.

Her shaky smile firmed, she stood straighter and her walk grew steadier. She'd said once that she found being the center of attention to be a mixed bag. He swore this would be better.