AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Getting design ideas for your company’s website.” I was sitting up in bed with my old laptop, and he put his head on my chest so he could see the screen.
“My company that doesn’t actually exist?”
“It will, and I want to set up a website for you as soon as possible. It’s a pretty easy first step to making this dream a reality.”
He asked, “Do you know how to do that?”
“Sort of. I took a web design class last year and built myself a website to showcase my fantasy makeup. That was a piece of cake. The difference is that yours will have an online shop, so I’ll have to find a professional web developer to make sure it’s set up in the right way and scalable. The last thing we want is for your site to crash when traffic picks up.”
Gabriel grinned and nuzzled my bare chest. “I love your optimism. I have no inventory and haven’t sold a single thing yet, but you’re anticipating this huge run on lingerie for guys.”
“I looked online, and there are very few companies doing this.”
“Maybe there’s a reason for that.”
“It’s a growing market.” I pushed his hair from his face and asked, “Do you want to give the company your name, in the style of Andrew Christian?”
“Definitely not.”
“Okay. Did you have another company name in mind?” When he shook his head, I suggested, “What about something with ‘angel’ in it? Angel wings? Guardian angel? Angel soft?”
“At least one of those is a brand of toilet paper.”
I chuckled and said, “Okay, so scratch that one.”
“This is too much to think about before coffee.” He kissed my chest, then slid out from under my arm and said, “I’m going to take a shower. Then after breakfast, we can do that photo shoot, if you still want to.”
“Definitely.” After a beat, I called after him, “Angel food? Like the cake? I totally suck at naming things, if you hadn’t noticed.”
He laughed at that, then paused in the bathroom doorway and turned to me, looking adorably rumpled in his midnight blue cotton pajamas. “What do you think about Fallen Angel Lingerie?”
“I love it.”
“Actually, I do, too.”
“I’m going to see if the domain name is available.” I started to do a quick search on my laptop.
“Hey, Riley?” When I looked at him, Gabriel said, “Thank you.”
“Anything for you.”
He spent a long time in the bathroom, and when he finally emerged, he told me, “Every inch of me is shaved and moisturized, and I did the best I could on my hair. I can really only straighten it to a point before it starts to look like doll hair.”
He climbed onto the bed wearing his blue-gray robe as I told him, “You look perfect.”
“Doubtful.” He took a look at the laptop’s screen and exclaimed, “Oh wow, I love that!”
I’d drawn a stylized pair of black angel wings and paired them with the company name in a simple but elegant font. “It’s just meant to be a place holder until we find an affordable graphic designer.”
“No, that’s perfect. I want to use it for my logo.”
“I can clean it up a bit if you want,” I said. “I didn’t spend a lot of time on it.”
“Don’t change a thing. I love the fact that it’s a little rough.”
“Well, great. There’s something we can cross off our to-do list. Also, the domain name was available, so I went ahead and registered it. Then I set up an Instagram account for Fallen Angel Lingerie, and I added a link to sign up for an email newsletter. It’s a good idea to start building a mailing list, so when your online shop opens you’ll already have a customer base.”
Gabriel asked, “How do you know this stuff?”
“For a while, I wanted to open my own special effects makeup studio, so I did a bunch of research. It didn’t work out, but now I can use what I learned to help you launch your company.” I set aside the laptop and kissed his forehead. “Right now though, you need breakfast.”
We both climbed out of bed, and as he followed me to the kitchen he asked, “Why did you decide against starting your own company?”
“It was decided for me when I couldn’t get the capital I needed. Every bank basically laughed in my face when I tried to take out a loan. I mean, I knew it was a long shot. I’m young and inexperienced with zero collateral, so why would they trust me with their money? I had to try, though. I really wanted to make my own opportunities instead of waiting for an established studio to take a chance on me, but it wasn’t very realistic.”
While I got a pot of coffee brewing with one of our hosts’ many coffee makers, Gabriel said, “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
