Chapter Text
Tally Craven never really thought of herself as “model material,” but when her best friends asked for her help, she couldn’t possibly turn them down. Abigail Bellweather and Raelle Collar had just opened their own costume business and needed someone to model their products. Tally had agreed to work for peanuts - well, for a few home cooked meals on days she had long classes and a break in her share of their rent. But she knew it was worth it to support these two women, who were just as close to her as blood sisters might have been. The three shared an apartment on campus, where they all took a full load of courses. Her two roommates had already received their undergraduate degrees, now seeking masters degrees in business management and marketing while they applied their work as emerging entrepreneurs to their required projects.
Tally, on the other hand, had more than enough credits to graduate; what she didn’t have was a firm idea what she wanted her degree to be in. She had taken some psychology courses, but didn’t really want to do the years’ worth of training in that particular area. She considered teaching as an option, but couldn’t decide what she wanted to teach or at what level. Theater, performing arts in general, and creative writing held their own special places in her heart and soul, so she hadn’t been able to dismiss those as options, either. And, of course, for someone with so many interests and different views on things, the debate team was key. Tally knew she had it in her to be a leader, to “rally the troops” so to speak, if she just knew where to find her “troops.” In the meantime, she would continue taking all the courses she was able and would model for her sisters’ new business.
Abigail’s mother wasn’t exactly thrilled with her daughter’s choice of business, but she was pleased with her entrepreneurial spirit. She had promised to do all she could to support Abigail and her now-business partner, Rae. To wit, she had promised to contact a photographer friend - well, frenemy - to help with their marketing. Sarah Alder, though well out of a new business’ price range normally, dedicated a portion of her time to working with new businesses, more specifically new women, queer or BIPOC owned businesses , so Petra knew she would likely be open to at least meeting them. Petra had given Abigail the contact information and let her frenemy Sarah know that her daughter would be in touch, then stepped back to let the young women handle things themselves.
Tally knew how important the first meeting would be for her sisters. Bad photographs could make their products look campy, cheap, and farcical. Good photographs could highlight the care and attention that went into details like colors and shading, seams, and other marks of quality craftsmanship. She also knew that, though her sisters fully understood how important this meeting with the photographer was to the future success of their venture, the duo were a little overwhelmed. Abigail spoke business; she spoke leadership; she spoke high class. Raelle spoke music; she spoke “commoner” and effortless loyalty. Neither one of them, though, spoke art, creativity, or people.
This is where Tally excelled, and also why she hadn’t yet settled on a career path. Her creativity overflowed; her ability to connect and relate to people of all walks of life was unmatched. Sometimes it was as though she could hear the colors of a person’s soul, or see the sounds of their emotions. Tally had convinced her sisters to let her join them at their meeting, though really it didn’t take much convincing. Besides, she figured if she was modeling these products for them, then she should get some say in who took her pictures. Maybe most models had to be big names to get that type of clout, but since these were her sisters and best friends, Tally decided to make use of sister privilege.
Also, between the three of them, she was the only one who could actually arrive on time. Abigail would consistently arrive half an hour early, then get irritated when the person she was meeting wasn’t also early. Raelle… well, Raelle had her own sense of time, and it did not much include a sense of urgency. Tally knew that if they were to arrive at this very important meeting for these very important pictures, it would be up to her as the semi-official clock of their little unit of 3.
On the morning of their first meeting, things progressed much as Tally had anticipated. Abigail was ready too early, fastidiously reviewing her notes and hurrying her friend and business partner on. Raelle, as expected, lingered in bed a bit too long and now rushed around, hair half braided in what had become her signature style after running too late to finish it one too many times. Tally, herself, finished getting ready with enough time to sling out a quick round of scrambled eggs and toast, knowing that her sisters would either be too busy preparing for the meeting or too busy rushing to get ready. From their years of experience with each other, Tally had the table set with three plates just as Abigail reached her boiling point and Raelle skidded around the corner, tie and purple blazer in hand.
“Shitbird! You’re supposed to be dressed already!” Abigail had not always gotten along so well with Raelle, and her once-insult had stuck and become a (mostly) affectionate nickname.
“I know, I know. It’s just this tie. I can’t get the knot right for some reason.” Raelle continued fussing with the tie, holding it out to judge the length.
“Both of you, be quiet and eat. Rae, you know I’ll fix your tie for you if you can’t get it. If you’d quit letting Scylla untie it and just leave it knotted, we wouldn’t have this problem.”
“Yeah, but it’s so much fun when she does,” Raelle lifted her eyebrows suggestively as she took her seat at the table.
“Can confirm. Taking Adil’s tie off always ends well.” Abigail high-fived Raelle in shared sexual satisfaction with their respective partners. With each bite of breakfast, her frustration waned until she was once more excited rather than irritable.
“You’re all disgustingly adorable.” Tally sighed, somewhere between admiration and wistfulness. “Well. Someday, I suppose.” She finished off her toast, mopping up the last of her egg with it.
“You never know, Tal. It may be when and who you least expect, right?” Raelle stood, stacking their empty plates and rinsing them for later. “Okay, Tal, will you please fix my tie for me?”
“Of course, Rae.” She took the tie, a teal and black pinstripe, in her hands and motioned for Raelle to turn around. “And I know you’re right. It’ll happen eventually.” With quick and steady motions, Tally tied Raelle’s favored Victoria knot, then spun her back around and made sure it was appropriately slightly off center. “There, perfect. You look smashing, Dahling. Simply smashing.” Tally patted Raelle’s shoulders, then leaned down and pressed a kiss atop the unbraided portion of her hair.
“Time to roll, ladies! Let’s move out!” Abigail called from the door, keys and briefcase in hand.
“Sir! Yes, Sir!” Tally and Raelle called in unison, standing at attention and saluting - except their salute was the middle finger extended in front of their faces. One of the things they had bonded over was their somewhat odd relationship to the military; each woman had lost family in battle at young ages, and each had initially had very intense internal battles over whether to join themselves or not. After a stint in ROTC, they had ultimately all opted out. Certain… peculiarities lingered.
“Move, move, move!” Abigail called out in her best imitation of their favorite Drill Sergeant, Anacostia Quartermaine. Though they had not pursued the military as a career, each of them had become close friends with Ana outside of ROTC and remained in touch with her still. Obligingly, Raelle and Tally imitated a quick march and filed past “Sergeant” Bellweather and out the door, down the stairs as she locked up behind them. “At ease!” They stopped at the curb and waited, and, as soon as the car alarm chirped off ,Tally hopped into the shotgun seat and Raelle slid in behind her.
“Are we ready?” Tally asked, turning in her seat enough to see both of her sisters as Abigail backed out and navigated them to the highway.
“We are. We’ve got this,” Raelle said confidently. “We know our business, we know our target audience, we know our products. We know what we want out of a photo session for marketing purposes. And,” Raelle put a hand on Tally’s shoulder and squeezed, “we know who’s going to be our model, so we don’t have to worry about any surprises there.”
Tally smiled, nodded, and squeezed Raelle’s hand in her own.
“Right. I’ve got our business outline, the list of the major products we want to focus on, our target dates, and our budget.” Abigail skillfully maneuvered through traffic, which was fortunately fairly light, since this was a brunch meeting. Unfortunately for the other drivers, “skillful” driving did not necessarily mean “good” driving; Abigail saw their exit far too late but didn’t let that deter her. “Brace for impact, soldiers.” She swerved across three lanes of traffic, quite skillfully missing everyone in her way, and nearly kissed the steel barrier separating the exit ramp from the highway.
“I hate it when you do that,” came from Tally beside her, just as,
“Wheee!” Raelle squealed from the back, flopping about within the confines of her seatbelt.
Abigail maintained her starboard trajectory, albeit at a slightly slower pace, until she landed in the far right lane of the access road, then smoothly slid into the right turn lane for the retail center their destination was in.
“There, it’s on the left, across from the hardware store,” Tally pointed, sounding calmer than she felt - she’d had plenty of experience with Abigail’s driving.
“Oh, can we go there? I need,”
“Focus Rae,” Tally and Abigail said in unison, Abigail in a sharp tone and Tally in a long-suffering, resigned one.
“Right. Sorry. Meeting first, got it,” Raelle said in genuine contrition. “Wait, um, Tally?”
“Yes, Raelle?” Tally asked patiently as she unbuckled her seatbelt, suspecting Raelle had just caught up and was confused.
“This is a brunch meeting, right?”
“Yep.” She paused long enough to turn and look at Raelle.
“So,” Raelle paused, cocked her head, “why did you make us breakfast?”
“Because I know you, both of you,” she turned to look at Abigail, not letting her off the hook, “and one or both of two things would happen otherwise. Abigail would get so nervous,”
“Focused,”
“ Nervous, that she would start chewing on her thumbnail and snapping at us and the waitstaff, or you would get so wired that you would bounce off the walls and drive us all batty with your excess energy. And if I’m gonna deal with you two trying to be the adultiest adults in this meeting, I needed something to ground me, too. You know none of us do well on empty stomachs.”
“She’s got you there, Rae,” Abigail said haughtily, conveniently forgetting an important part of Tally’s reasoning.
“I’d say she’s got your number pretty well too, Abs,” Raelle shot back, quickly getting out of the car and not-quite-slamming the door.
“Want your blazer?” Tally held out the purple blazer that Raelle had carefully chosen and promptly left hanging on the dining room chair.
Raelle turned her back to Tally, accepting the blazer her friend settled into place on her shoulders . “Thanks, Tal.” Raelle pulled the lapels crisply, making sure everything sat correctly, then turned around, and linked up with Tally, elbows tucked together. “Ready?”
Tally patted Rae’s arm with her free hand, then looked up to find Abigail. “I’m ready. Abi, how are you? Ready?”
Abigail walked around the front of the car to meet her sisters, one elbow out to link with Raelle. “Let’s do it.”
Now that they were linked arm-in-arm, the trio resembled the heroes of Oz, off to ask the Wizard for a brain, a heart, a home, the nerve...or, in this instance, for the Wizard to pretty please take some pictures of their shop, their clothes, their props, their pearls. All they were missing was a fourth friend and a Toto - although, with the way Raelle often tilted her head in confusion, perhaps she was their friend of the canine variety. As for which of them was the Cowardly Lion in this moment...none of them, really. It had taken courage from all of them to reach this point.
Keeping things in perspective for her sisters, Tally encouraged, “She’s just a photographer, right? We don’t have anything to be nervous about. It’s not like she’s an investor or someone we have to impress. I mean, we want her to like our vision. I get that, but in the end she’s just taking pictures for us. Not signing on for a lifetime commitment.”
“Right,” Abigail said firmly as they walked towards the cafe’s entrance. “We’re in charge, this is our baby. Our business. We’re hiring her, or not hiring her if we don’t think we click.”
“That’s right.” Raelle didn’t have much to add, but made sure to add her support anyway.
Having bolstered their confidence adequately, the trio took one last deep breath together outside. Tally opened the door and allowed Abigail, then Raelle, to enter before her. At the podium, Abigail was already requesting their table for four when Raelle interrupted her.
“Hey, isn’t that Ana?” Tally looked in the direction Raelle pointed. Sure enough, their friend sat alone on one side of a table near the back. “I wonder who she’s with.”
As if summoned, Anacostia looked up at that moment and began waving them over. “Ladies! Good morning, come have a seat!”
“Hey, Ana!” Tally called back with a wave of her own. “We’re actually meeting someone here. But if you’re still around when we’re done, we’ll come say hi!”
“I believe,” came a low, smooth voice from behind Tally, “that you are here to meet with me. In which case, Anacostia is correct to wave you over, as I will be sitting there as well.”
The trio turned abruptly to face the newcomer, not often taken off their guard so successfully. Abigail was the first to recover, holding her hand out in greeting. “That must mean that you are Sarah Alder. Thank you for meeting with us.” Abigail proceeded to introduce the others, each in turn shaking hands with the photographer.
The server, who had been decidedly gracious about letting these people mill about at the podium, now began to encourage them along towards Ana’s table. Abigail, briefcase in hand, went first and greeted their former Drill Sergeant with a hug before taking the seat across from her. Raelle greeted her next with a hug of her own, then took the seat to Abigail’s left. Tally greeted their former drill sergeant with a warm embrace and a kiss to the cheek, then took the seat to Ana’s right. Sarah, arriving last, sat at the end with Abigail to her left and Anacostia to her right. Menus awaited them on the table, and the server quickly brought coffees and waters to the table as requested.
Abigail spoke first, which anyone who knew the trio would have expected. “I had no idea you two knew each other. Mother never mentioned it.”
“Petra and I have a… complicated relationship that fortunately does not seem to span generations.” At Raelle’s confused tilt of the head, she continued. “Ana is my daughter. A fact which Petra does not hold against Ana. But I am not surprised that she did not volunteer the information.”
“That does sound like your mom, Abi,” Raelle nodded along to her own comment as she added milk to her coffee.
“Tally, you’re awfully quiet this morning,” Ana turned to her former Cadet with a warm smile. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, of course!” Tally’s answering smile was quick, bright, and easy. “I’m here for moral support, mainly. This is their thing,” she gestured with her mug towards Abigail and Raelle across the table. “I’m just here to look good in their pictures.” Tally winked at her sisters playfully.
“Well, I don’t think that will be too much of a challenge,” Sarah commented, causing a slight blush to rise on Tally’s cheeks. “You will, after all, be in costumes or makeup.”
Simultaneously, Tally barked out a surprised laugh and Anacostia reprimanded Sarah with a playful backhand to her arm. “Ma! Play nice; these ladies are good folk.”
“Forgive me, I forget not everyone appreciates my, shall we say, acerbic wit.” Beside Sarah, Ana rolled her eyes. “You are a lovely specimen, Ms. Craven.”
“Jeezuz Ma, she’s a person not a specimen. You’re spending too much time with Izadora again.” Ana now pinched the bridge of her nose between fingers and thumb in consternation.
“It’s fine; I know what she means,” Tally reassured Ana.
“See?” Sarah picked up her coffee. “It’s fine.” After taking a sip, she continued. “Now, ladies, are we ordering or bantering?”
The trio of mismatched sisters unanimously decided. “Ordering!” and the next several minutes consisted of conversation about what looked best on the menu. They placed their orders with the server and then turned back to conversation.
“Tell me about your company,” Sarah invited, leaning forward to show her interest.
Abigail picked up her briefcase from where it sat beside her and removed a thick, professionally bound report. “We’re a costume company; of course, Halloween and parties, but we really want to focus on a more serious, or perhaps I should say devoted, audience.” Abigail opened the report to their business outline, showing Sarah the indicated audiences as she verbally listed them. “Cosplayers, theater companies, and the like. We have contacts that specialize in a number of niche costume articles. Period pieces, jewelry, and even some basic musical instruments and other accouterments.” She turned to another page, showing thumbnail prints of the various items as she mentioned them. ”As you know, Tally here has agreed to be our model for all makeup demonstrations, jewelry, masks, and anything else we might need to photograph. Of course, at some juncture, we will need to hire more models for a more diverse portfolio. But this will do to start us off for now, we believe.” Abigail slid the report closer to Sarah, allowing her to go through it at her own pace.
As she examined its contents, Sarah said, “I concur. In my experience with small, growing businesses you will do best to keep your expenses as modest as possible to start. And do let your audience know that you are aware of the current lack of diversity, and it will be addressed as a high priority,” Sarah added.
“Yes, exactly. Between the three of us, we have some diversity in ethnicity, height, and skin and hair color,” Raelle acknowledged, “but we all identify as women, and we need more inclusivity with regard to other ethnicities, as well as disability and so on.”
“I see you’ve already given marketing quite a detailed consideration. That is an important step.” As Sarah spoke, Ana sat and quietly beamed her pride at these young women who she had watched grow from a disparate collection of misfits into this cohesive unit. Ana’s reflection was interrupted when Sarah continued. “What do you have in mind, in terms of what you need from me?”
“Well, of the three of us, Tally definitely has more of an artist’s eye than either Raelle or myself. But she’s not a professional at it, either. We do have some amateur shots we’ve taken ourselves, with cell phones, just to get an idea, and Tally has sketched a few others.” Abigail leaned back, giving the server room to set down her plate. Without missing a beat, she carried on with her thoughts. “There’s also a few pictures from cons we’ve gone to, showcasing some of our own cosplay. We would appreciate your input on other layouts we should use as well as anything else you think we might need to know.” Once everyone had been served, Abigail unwrapped her silverware and politely dug into the frittata before her.
“Very well.” Sarah closed the report and handed it back to Abigail, who slipped it back into her briefcase. “Let’s eat and talk some more, and after, I would be happy to look more closely at the portfolio you have brought with you.” Sarah looked around at all three of the young women, eyes lingering a bit on Tally before moving on to Ana and automatically softening at her daughter. Sarah smiled and spread apricot preserves on her toast. She turned to address Raelle, but found her already several bites into her pecan and berry pancakes. Instead, Sarah focused on Tally. “How did these two talk you into modeling for them?” She listened to Tally’s response as she enjoyed her toast.
“Oh, we’ve been closer than family for years now. I don’t know if Ana has told you anything,” Tally paused and glanced at her former Drill Sergeant. Ana nodded, then shook her head, ending in a ‘so-so’ gesture. “We really didn’t get along very well, at first, in ROTC.”
“That’s not quite true, Tal. You get along with everyone,” Raelle interrupted between bites.
Tally blushed again, just slightly.
“That is true, Tal. You get along with everyone. You’re pretty much what brought us all together, really.”
“Anyway,” Tally tried to hide her embarrassment, but that growing blush and her shifting in her seat gave it away. “It was a little rough, at first, but once we clicked we became inseparable. We convinced Student Housing to let us share a room at the semester break. As soon as we were eligible to live outside of the dorms, we found a little apartment on campus that we’ve shared ever since.”
“Between Tally’s perennial student status and our masters courses, we’re eligible to stay there. For now, at least,” Abigail added with a teasing wink.
“Oh, is that right? And what do you study?” Sarah looked to Tally and asked with interest.
“More like what doesn’t she study.” Ana spoke this time, well aware of Tally’s ongoing difficulty with deciding on her degree track. “This woman could have graduated nearly twice over, at least last I heard, if all of her credits were in a single degree path.”
“There’s just so much that interests me!” Tally defended herself. “How do I pick just one thing?”
“Have you considered taking your undergraduate in a broader, more general direction and then deciding what to focus on in a graduate program?”
“I… kinda?” Tally shrugged, looking a little like a deer in headlights.
Sarah watched her for a moment, then took the nonverbal cue and moved on. “How’s your steak & eggs, Pumpkin?” she asked Ana, to her daughter’s consternation, but easily encouraging the conversation along to safer topics in the process.
Once brunch was finished and the dishes cleared away, Abigail again removed the report she had previously shown Sarah. She also pulled out the full portfolio they had assembled so far, fighting the urge to remind Sarah that these were all amateur pictures done for demonstration purposes. “These are some of the pieces we currently have available, and a few demo pieces that we would custom make to specifications. We take great care in producing each piece and need the marketing photographs to reflect and highlight that attention to detail.”
Sarah hummed acknowledgement as she slowly examined each picture before her, only turning to the next page once she had fully taken in each item.
Raelle picked up the thread, not holding back the reminder that Abigail had resisted. “I’m sure your photos will be much higher quality than any of these are. Like Abi said, they were mostly taken by amateurs with cell phones.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that, particularly when you’re just starting out. It’s wise to make the best use of what resources you have,” Sarah reassured easily as she continued perusing the photo album. “So, you will be making your own products with the exception of some of the specialty pieces. Is that correct?” She looked to Tally, then back to Abigail and Raelle.
Tally smiled and nodded, but chose to let her sisters carry the conversation. “That’s correct. As you know, my family owns Bellweather Beauty. My mother has approved a collaboration with one of their subsidiaries, led by my cousin Charvel. That will take care of makeup, hair dye and colored hair spray, false nails, lashes, and wigs.” As Abigail explained, Sarah continued to shift her attention between the photo album she held and the faces of the three entrepreneurs before her - Tally may be insisting she wasn’t part of this, but something told Sarah that the redhead seated next to her daughter played a key role in not only the trio’s dynamic but the success of this venture.
Raelle picked up the thread. “Abigail and I both sew, though we tend to have different strengths. Tally does too, actually. She’s been helping build up our inventory as well.” Sarah’s eyes flicked to Tally, who just shrugged with a smile. Sarah smiled back, slow and thoughtful, then turned back to listen as Raelle finished speaking. “I do some basic leatherwork, but we have contacts for anything larger or more detailed than I can handle.”
“Who handles design?” Sarah asked, turning to the last page.
Abigail took over once more. “It’s a group effort. Raelle and I both come up with ideas and develop them together. Tally has had some really great designs, too. She’s got quite a good eye for high fantasy and steampunk designs.”
“Interesting. This truly is a joint enterprise between the three of you,” Sarah observed.
Tally was quick to refute that. “No, not at all. It’s just Abs and Rae. I’m just along for the ride, while I figure out what I want to do with myself.” Tally lifted her coffee cup to her lips, then frowned on discovering it was empty.
Sarah watched, a small smile threatening to break out at Tally’s disappointment in her unfairly empty cup. “I must say, I am quite impressed. You three,” Tally started to shake her head but Sarah carried on,” have all clearly given this a great deal of thought, planning, and consideration. This looks to be a sound plan you have. I would be honored to work with you.”
Tally, Abigail, and Raelle leaned up and over the table enough to embrace in a three-way hug.
Anacostia caught her Ma’s gaze, receiving a wink from the woman who had been her family for as long as she cared to remember. Once the young women had collected themselves and returned to their seats, Sarah spoke again. “Tell me what your timeline looks like. We will need to set an appointment to go through your actual inventory and determine what you wish to start with. Do you have a location in mind for the photo session, or will we need to use one of my contacts? I have several in the area.” Sarah looked at her own coffee mug, now disheartened upon seeing that it, too, was in an advanced state of emptiness.
With impeccable timing, the server approached their table and rescued the lot of them from the horrors that awaited at the bottom of their mugs, leaving the check with them as well. The group quickly and efficiently separated their bills, ensuring that the server also received a hefty tip. With that tended to, and adequately refortified on coffee, they began planning in earnest. “Abs and Rae know my schedule,” Tally offered, then hesitated.
As a unit they all corrected, “Strike that.”
“Abigail knows her schedule,” Raelle clarified. “I don’t even know my own.”
“It’s true; Abs and I just tell Raelle when she needs to be there, and she goes. It’s better that way. Anyway, Abigail can schedule with you. She knows when I’ll be available, when you get to the point where you need me.”
“We always need you, Tally!” Both Raelle and Abigail said, with exaggerated sweetness- an obvious in-joke, given Tally’s almost expectant look to them as soon as she had finished speaking.
“No need to delay. I have my calendar with me; we can schedule right now, if you ladies are amenable,” Sarah offered, as she pulled a planner out and opened it.
“Yes, of course,” Abigail opened her briefcase again and pulled her own planner out. “Regarding timeline, our goal is to have a soft launch over the summer, then a Grand Opening event mid-August. We’re hoping to catch some of the remaining con season, and be running smoothly for Halloween. We have already secured a brick and mortar location for our store, with space in the back that we can use for marketing and photography purposes. In fact, Tally suggested we might hire a photographer to do customer photo shoots back there with the costumes.”
“Tally said that as a joke,” Tally said.
“Yeah, maybe,” Raelle countered, “but it’s not a bad idea, sometime in the future.”
“Indeed,” Sarah agreed with an easy smile. “So we have the location set, that’s good. Now, we need to determine the days. You will want more than one to do this properly, especially as you are just starting out.”
“What do you suggest?” Abigail asked, knowing that Sarah had been through the process many times more than they had.
“I’m here through the end of the month, visiting Ana,” Sarah answered. “You three take this weekend to go through your current inventory yourselves, one last time. We’ll meet at your location Monday morning, shall we say 9:00 AM?” Sarah looked around the table, pleased with the nods of affirmation all around. “Monday, we’ll go through inventory together, determine what can be displayed as a set and what needs to be separate, and figure out your lighting situation and what I’ll need to bring to supplement. Tuesday and Wednesday we’ll do the shoot, and I’ll leave Thursday and Friday open, in case we need them. I’ll want at least a week to edit the photos, and we’ll meet again the following Wednesday, for your final approval.”
“Does it normally take that long to do a shoot?” Tally asked, head tilted in curiosity.
“No, not with an established portfolio or clientele. But, as you are all still in early days, we’ll take a little more time to make sure it gets done right from the beginning. We need to build your entire catalog from the ground up. Once that’s done, any new or supplemental materials you add later will be much faster.”
Tally nodded her satisfaction and sipped at her coffee. “Okay. Will you need me there every day next week?”
Sarah turned to Abigail and Raelle. “That’s up to the two of you. Most likely, we can knock out any pictures that don’t require a model within the first day or two. Rearranging the set, costumes, and makeup will take the longest, so we can work around Tally’s availability for those shoots.”
Abigail consulted her planner, then looked to Tally. “Wait, my planner says you’re off class all week next week.”
“Mhm,” Tally confirmed around her coffee mug. “I am.”
“How’d you manage that? We both have class, and we’re just part-time,” Rae asked.
“A couple of the profs gave us projects early. We have extra time out of class, but have to come back with the completed assignments.”
“Does next week not work for our shoot?” Sarah asked, reminding them that there was a purpose to their conversation.
“It works great; they’re online classes, in the evening,” Abigail assured, quickly. “Tally, do you have any other conflicts I don’t know about?” Tally shook her head in the negative. “I think we have our plan, then, Sarah. We will meet you, together, at 9:00 AM on Monday,” Abigail pulled out one of their brand new business cards and handed it over.
Sarah accepted it, chuckling at the matte black card with the outline of a collar in red; a small bell hanging off the side. Centered within the collar, in purple letters, was the store’s name: BellCollar Costumes. Taking note of the address, Sarah slipped the card into an available slot in her planner. “Very well. I shall see you all Monday morning.” Sarah stood and gathered her planner, waiting patiently while Ana hugged the trio goodbye.
“If it’s okay with you ladies,” Ana mentioned, “I’ll probably come with Ma. I’ve worked with her enough to make a pretty competent assistant. Plus, I’d really love to see what you’ve put together.” With a final, tight squeeze to the fourway hug she was happily caught in, Ana finished, “I am so proud of you three. I want each of you to know that.” After a few seconds, they all released from the embrace, and Ana walked side by side with Sarah out of the restaurant.
“Well, ladies, I think we have our photographer,” Abigail announced.
Tally raised her coffee cup in a toast, quickly met by Abigail and Raelle. “To BellCollar Costumes.”