Chapter 121

• The morning after the white silk line sold out, the boutique felt different. Not loud different, not like a room full of clapping hands or flashing lights. It was the sort of different that slips into a space without announcement, the kind you feel in your shoulders before you notice it anywhere else. A kind of unclenching.
• The air seemed warmer, though the heat hadn’t been turned up. It smelled faintly of brewed coffee drifting from the back and of silk that had been unpacked from its storage just days before. The light coming through the front windows was soft and a little hazy, the kind of light that made the bolts of fabric look as if they were breathing.
• There were no signs on the door telling the world what had happened yesterday. No photos taped to the glass, no sales numbers scribbled on a board. The white silk line had sold out in under two hours, but here inside, the energy was quiet and deliberate. Simone was at the central table, folding tissue paper around orders with the kind of care most people reserve for wrapping gifts. Claudia was near the shipping counter, checking addresses for the third time before sealing each box. Lena was in the back, adjusting the mannequin display even though we all knew it would be changed again before the week was over.