Day One

Lorelei had no idea what to expect.

Nico had warned her that tonight was the time. Throughout her day, she'd been consumed with thoughts and curiosities. What kind of man was Andy? Nico had said he was nice but, in her experience, men often acted differently when in private, especially with a woman. At the very least, Lorelei hoped that the man could be professional to her. This was a job, after all. Her first job, now that she thought about it.

For her safety, Nico escorted her to Andy's store. As they walked through the streets of Los Angeles, Lorelei couldn't help but marvel at what she saw. Even in the dead of the night, Lorelei could hear noises. She heard the cars before they drove passed her and Nico. She heard the rolling of cans left by strangers. She could hear the buzzing of what she had learned was an air conditioner.

Even better was what she could see. Because of the streetlamps, it was just so bright that Lorelei could hardly stand to look at it. To do so would be like looking at the sun. It was so bright that Lorelei felt that she would never be left in darkness again. 

In the midst of the night there was a single store still bearing lights. From the sign, Lorelei could tell that it was Andy's. While it didn't smell the greatest, it certainly was distinct and, as she saw walking in, it was also quite colorful.

Lining the shelves was a huge variety of fabrics. Lorelei had thought she had known fabrics, between Nico's prep lessons to her noble upbringing, but this put that all to shame. The colors, all neatly spread, were almost brighter than the lights outside and, perhaps, the overhead light glinting above. Curling her own silk fabric in her hands, Lorelei held back her gape of awe.

The burly man at the counter greeted them with a dazzling grin. "Nico, my friend! Welcome, welcome!"

He smiled at Lorelei. One of his sleeves had a tear in it. "I'm guessing that you're Lydia, ma'am. Is that correct?"

Lorelei started to correct him, then stopped. "Yes, sir. that is correct." She'd forgotten that she was in the body of a stranger for a moment.

"Well, Nico," the man, presumably Andy, teased. "Ya didn't tell me that your friend was so polite."

"Yeah, she's pretty nice," Nico said. He gestured between the two of them. "Lydia, Andy. Andy, Lydia. What time should I pick her up?"

"Oh, you're walking her home now, are ya?" Andy grinned. He checked his watch. "I'd say we'll be done in about two hours, maybe. Why don't I just send a text when we're done?"

"That works," Nico said. He turned to Lorelei. "You good if I leave you here?"

Lorelei pondered the question. Though the burly man appeared rather strong, he did not seem to be violent. Other than that tear in his shirt, the man appeared to be fine. Besides, if something happened, Lorelei knew how to defend herself. She had Nico to thank for that.

"I'm good," she told him. It felt rather awkward to speak so casually in public.

"Alright, later."

With Nico gone, Andy turned to Lorelei. "Okay, so I thought I'd have today be a light day. I don't wanna scare ya away yet now do I?"

"Right." 

Hopefully, agreeing with him was the correct thing to say. Lorelei had never been with another person than Nico here. She wasn't sure if she was doing it correctly. The last thing she wanted to do was make a bad first impression. Just in case, Lorelei tucked the ribbon she had gotten from Nico into her pocket. If she had learned anything, it was that standing out never boded well.

Moving from behind the counter, Andy gave her the tour. He flourish his hands as he spoke, the tear widening its jaws a bit further. What he said wasn't all too different from what Nico had already told her. Andy had dreamed of designing since he was a kid. Apparently, he had seen a horse on the television who had owned a store for clothing. Inspired, Andy made it his life goal to own a fashion store. Perhaps some dreams do come true.

Except, it appeared that not all was nice in paradise. Even as he walked, Lorelei could see the stress on him. That was a shame as, from what Lorelei had gleaned from him thus far, Andy was truly a nice guy. To her, that was quite rare. As they entered the back office, Andy tried to subtly move mail from out of her view. Being the polite woman she was, Lorelei didn't say anything,

At first glance, this room was as bland as the rest of the place. As she looked, she saw more and more color popping out at her. On the desk of deep brown, Lorelei saw a bobblehead of a bright alien. Next to it, Lorelei saw a picture of Andy with people he assumed were family. On the corner of the floor was a mat. On the mat was a giant pile of clothes in all manner of styles.

Andy gestured to the pile. "There's the backlog of repairs."

"All of this?" It was rather impressive. How did such a backlog occur? Did Andy not have enough help at the store? Did his other workers slack off?

"Yup." He ran his hand through his hair. The tear stared back, mocking her.

She couldn't take it anymore. "If you don't mind me asking," Lorelei said. "If you have all of this experience in clothing, what's stopping you from sewing your own clothing?"

"What?" Andy asked. Then his eyes fell on the sleeve. "Oh, right. I've been meaning to get to that."

Lorelei found a sewing needle and handed it to him. "No time like the present." That was the correct phrase, right?

Andy stared thoughtfully at the needle. "Maybe I should have you do it. So I can see how ya do it."

Lorelei blinked. "Alright." She had never handled fabric that was being worn, but she supposed there was a first time for everything. That was how the saying went, wasn't it?

She failed to find white thread to match the shirt, so she settled for gold. Within a minute, the tear was no longer around to taunt her. Upon tying and snipping, she stepped back. A sense of pride filled her. This was her work. She had done that.

"Wait, that's it?" Andy asked in shock. He pulled lightly on the fabric. "It feels perfect! Not too tight, not too loose. How'd ya do that?"

"I've had a lot of practice." From the age of five, Lorelei had been instructed on how to embroidery. This wasn't all that different. Plus, she and Nico had watched several videos on the subject.

"Well, then! I guess I have nothin' to worry about then, now do I?" Andy sat at the desk. "You go on ahead and start on the pile. Do whatever you feel comfortable with. No need to overwork yourself. I'll do some paperwork until someone goes ringing for me."

The two of them worked in silence for a while. It was quite relaxing to Lorelei. No maids expecting her orders, for one thing. She got into a rhythm of threading, tying, and moving. She even got to take the time to feel the fabrics at her fingertips. Some felt new, while some felt like the ribbons Lydia kept in her room; the ones that had felt wrong. All was quiet, other than Andy's occasional sighs.

After one particularly heavy sigh, she turned to him. "Is there a problem?"

"No," Andy said. He sighed again. "Well, yes. For the event, I wanted to show some of my own designs. Ya know, get people excited about something new. I just can't get it to work."

"May I take a look at it?" Lorelei requested.

"Sure."

Stepping over, Lorelei saw an intricate floral drawing in the frame of a shirt. It centered a rose of deep red, with dark green leaves flanking it. In the left corner, Lorelei saw Andy's signature. On the top of the page, she saw the logo for his store. Underneath the drawing was what appeared to be more shirt frames, untouched.

She cocked her head in confusion. "What's wrong with it?"

"It looks like everyone else's!" Andy exclaimed. "If I want to get customers back at my store, I need 'ta have something fresh for them to love! Everyone does flowers! I can't do tie dye, polka dots, or anything like that 'cause it's been done before! How am I supposed to make something to get their eyes if it's all been done before?"

Lorelei thought for a moment. "What about leaves?"

Andy smiled kindly. "Leaves aren't all that colorful."

Lorelei knew that first-hand to be false. "May I use your computer?"

"Be my guest."

Thanks to Nico's tutelage, Lorelei was able to pull pictures of colorful leaves within seconds. Andy gaped at the shades of pink, purple, and red that joined the normal greens.

"Perhaps you could take these as inspiration for your clothing," Lorelei said. She picked up another template and a pencil. After a bit of drawing, she added in some gentle coloring for visual effect. She showed her design to him. Something that accentuated the colors, but also refused to have them overstate the piece. 

"What about this?" Lorelei asked.

"It's gorgeous," Andy said. "Heck, it's even easier to reporoduce. This is amazing! Do you mind if I use this? I'll make sure you're credited for it."

"Of course," Lorelei said.

"How're you doing on that pile, anyway?" Andy looked at the stack of clothes or, rather, what was left of it. "Good grief, girl! I left you for an hour and you've almost got all of this stuff done! Well done!"

Lorelei blushed. "Thank you, sir."

"I better send you home before you run out of stuff to do," Andy said. "I'll text Nico. You just sit tight. If you want, you can go grab a drink. It's the least I can do for you."

Lorelei had never felt so accomplished in her life. When Nico picked her up, she told him everything, from Andy's shirt to the design. The whole way home, she was beaming. She loved her job.