AIDEN The air in the presentation room was thick with the scent of coffee, expensive perfume, and a sharp, hopeful energy. I stood at the back, leaning against the cool glass wall, watching Tala command the screen. Her pointer tapped against the final render—a sleek, structural evening gown in a color she called “midnight moss.” “And this,” she said, her voice clear and cutting through the quiet focus, “will be the flagship piece for our autumn collection. Market-ready. Launching in Milan in eight weeks.” A beat of silence held. Then the room erupted. The sound was physical—a wave of clapping, of chairs shifting, of low, enthusiastic murmurs. Twenty faces, the core of our design and strategy teams, were lit with a collective pride. Smiles, genuine and relieved, spread like cracks in ice. Tala caught my eye, a question in her raised brow. I pushed off the wall and nodded, once. It was good. It was better than good. For a moment, the tight band of pressure that seemed to permane
Last Updated : 2025-12-23 Read more