"Thank you, Claire!" This time her thanks sounded even sweeter than before.
After saying her goodbyes, Claire wandered through the campus for a bit. With the official application period starting tomorrow, the halls were quiet and mostly deserted. She made an appearance in front of her teacher, just to let her know she'd arrived safely.
When Ms. Darcey heard that the school administrators had already been by Claire's house to share the good news, she let the matter drop.
"You've probably picked out your dream university by now," Darcey remarked. “I doubt there's much more guidance I can give you at this point."
"Just be sure to come in early tomorrow-you'll need to do some interviews."
Claire nodded in agreement.
Leaving campus, she headed over to Jenny's studio. She'd been tied up lately, barely finding the time to stop by.
Jenny had bought out an entire floor for her studio; SUNNY even handled some custom orders now. When Claire arrived, she found everything neat and orderly, the place humming with quiet efficiency.
“Hello, can I help you with something?" A receptionist came over promptly, all smiles and professionalism.
"For custom fittings, please go this way," the receptionist added when Claire lingered without speaking.
"I'm here to see Jenny."
The receptionist blinked at the mention of Jenny. "Do you have an appointment?”
"I'll just give her a call," Claire replied, suddenly remembering she'd meant to surprise Jenny and had completely forgotten about calling ahead. She fished out her phone and dialed Jenny's number. While she waited, the receptionist offered her a seat in the lounge, which she accepted without fuss.
Jenny picked up, surprised to hear Claire was downstairs.
"Hang on, I'll be right there!"
A minute later, Jenny emerged from her office and made a beeline for the lobby. She greeted Claire with a big smile, then turned to the receptionist.
"Remember this face. Anytime she comes by, she has full access to every part of the studio."
The receptionist looked a little stunned. "Of course, Jenny."
"I'm Claire James," Claire introduced herself.
"It's great to meet you, Claire." The receptionist mulled over her last name-surely she had to be related to Jenny's boyfriend? No wonder she didn't need an appointment.
Claire could tell by the woman's expression that she'd jumped to some conclusion, but let it go.
"So, your final results came out, right? How'd you do?"
"I've been hounding you for weeks and you still haven't sent me your sketches. Now your exams are over-time to get back to work, don't you think?"
And that, precisely, was why Claire had been dodging Jenny; all she ever did was chase her for new designs.
"The scores are out. First place in Apex," Claire answered, casually.
The receptionist, who overheard, visibly froze.
ven
P
Right then, a news alert popped up on her monitor: Claire had taken first in Apex, with a total score of 729. Even if she was a VIP coming in through connections, the receptionist couldn't help but be genuinely impressed.
Jenny led Claire straight into her office.
"So, what do you think of this place?"
Claire nodded in approval. “It's fantastic. And isn't VIA Group tower right next door?"
She'd been to VIA Group
before-they owned that tower, built
from the ground up years ago. At the moment, SUNNY was nowhere near their scale; it was still a boutique brand just breaking into the O
But Claire and
premium market, But
Jenny both believed, without a doubt, that one day SUNNY would be everywhere-flagships in every major city, supermodels vying to walk their runway shows.
"I didn't pick this spot just because of Edison, you know. Look at the view-pretty nice, isn't it?" Jenny grinned, drawing a clear line
between her professional ambitions and her personal life. She wasn't the sort of woman who lost her head over a man.