“You’ve been back in my life, what?” I asked, thinking of the time. “A year? And you’re already bossing me around.”
“Fifteen months, three weeks, and four days,” he corrected, his precision making me almost choke.
“Precise much?” I asked, astonished. “How do you always remember these things?”
“Oh,mia cuore,” he replied warmly. “When it comes to you, nothing is worth forgetting.”
I blushed deeply, my cheeks burning with heat. Anyone walking into my office right now would think I was sweltering, given how much I was blushing.
Glancing at the clock, I realized that despite wanting to stay on the phone with him all day, I had deadlines to meet.
“I hate to cut this short,” I said reluctantly, “but I’ve got some serious work to do.”
“I have something to do in about ten minutes, so I should get going too.”
“Goodbye, Ro,” I said.
“Ro? I’ve graduated from Ronan,” he chirped. “What a great day to be alive.”
I laughed. “Don’t make me regret saying it.”
“I don’t ever want to make you regret anything,” he countered. “Goodbye,tesoro.”
“Bye,bello.” I hung up and immediately called Inaya into the office. We started going through the files thoroughly. My mind had been a bit dazed on the flight, so I was sure I had missed quite a few details.
The precision with which he prepared this file was absolutely perfect. Somehow, he knew to make the fonts neither too small for my eyes nor too large, avoiding a tacky appearance.
There were around eighty personal profiles with detailed backgrounds, and while I suspected some info was gathered unethically, Ronan’s words echoed in my mind: “It’s better to know the whole truth about somebody than half of it.” I couldn’t agree more.
Our new boutique was three times the size of our current space, and with the upcoming interview with the Eminence team, collaboration requests were already flooding in.
Self-doubt crept in, but I breathed through it, leaning on my loved ones’ support—especially Ronan’s. Even during the years when I could only dream of moments like this, he made me feel capable. In his eyes, the world was mine for the taking, and if something was out of reach, he’d shift the solar system to make sure it was mine.
“How many staff do we need?” Inaya asked, concern in her eyes. “That place is huge.”
“I’m thinking of twenty as a trial,” I said. “I’ll move three of our seamstresses from here to New York. All expenses covered, of course. We’ll adjust as needed.”
“That sounds perfect,” she replied, handing me profiles of twenty candidates. “These are my recommendations.”
“I trust your judgment,” I said, taking the files.
“No looking over?” she raised an eyebrow.
“I trust you more than most,” I replied sincerely.
She smiled. “My soul sister. Also, I think we’re at capacity. The next opening for new clients is next year.”
“Really?” I asked, eyes wide.
She laughed, followed by a nod. “With the five-year contract with Eminence and their events, plus Shukr, Modanisa, and Louis Vuitton, we need to filter what we can take and delay what we can’t.”
I gulped, processing the information. Doubt crept in. “Can we handle it all?”
“Nina, you’re a superstar. Yes, we can. I believe in you and your brand. Even he does.”
I smiled at her mention of Ronan, but before I could reply, she continued, “I’ve spaced things out. For now, we’re focusing on Eminence Models and Louis Vuitton for NYFW. Shukr starts in May, Modanisa in late September, and we have other high-profile clients to finish.”
“That’s a good timeline. Thanks for handling this. We need to filter our clients—New York ones can go, and the Italian ones will stay grounded.”
