He had a sharp face, all angles, lightly tanned and a business-appropriate amount of stubble. The only softness I found was the way his short black hair fell orderly, yet I could tell it was wavy. He let out a long breath and then sat back in his chair. “Now, since we’ve got all of that cleared up, tell me your proposal.”
I tried not to let my shock show on my face. His expression was still so severe but at least he hadn’t kicked me out. Not that I would have blamed him. I felt my confidence return, a warm feeling spreading through my chest. “Of course, Mr. Hirano.”
I found my smile easily and began pulling papers from my briefcase. I was a professional. I could do this. “Chicago’s fashion scene is getting bigger and bigger, and with the sixth annual Chicago fashion week being a huge success last year, I can see Chicago becoming as big as New York.” He nodded which I saw as a positive. I slid over a few glossy photos. “I think, since the Hirano name is in so many industries, fashion could be next. My company, Sew Fit, is a designer menswear brand that has appeared on the runway and in several top magazines.” I gestured to the pictures and he flipped through them. “We just need an investor to grow our brand and get our name out even further.”
“What would you do with our money?”
Why’d he have to ask such blunt questions? Of course, I had a plan drawn up, but I wanted to get into it slowly, hopefully once Mr. Hirano had shown a bit more positive interest. “The money would be used mostly to hire and pay a larger group of designers. Right now, our company has only ten people, but we want to expand.”
“What do you do?”
“Me?” What did that have to do with the money? “I’m a designer too. But I spend most of my time managing the company: planning shoots, coordinating with magazines. So, I don’t design as much as I used to.”
He didn’t have any follow up questions. I guess I overshared. I just needed to focus and get back to the pitch.
“Besides the returns our partnership will produce, we have some unexpected, unique benefits.”
“Such as?” Couldn’t he be a little more excited, at least pretend?
“You and the CEO, your grandfather, right? You could sport our tuxedos and jackets at events.”
“You think I’m a model?”
“Well.” I looked him over, he was wearing a suit jacket, tailored well enough. I knew my people could do better. It was a little bit too small for him, I could see the way his arms strained at the sleeves when he moved. Or maybe his tailor did know what they were doing; I could tell even as dressed up as he was that there was muscle under there. “I think you’d look great in one of our suits, Sir.”
“That’s not what I meant.” He pushed the photos back to me. “What makes you think I would want to model your work?”
“Having a personal style can help build your brand, and we can offer just that. I’ve done my research Mr. Hirano, it’s likely that you’ll take over the company any year now. Once that happens, you’re going to need to create an image for yourself to sell yourself and your company to the world. Hirano Enterprises is seen as an older, outdated company. We can help you be seen as trendy, to recreate the company’s image to the modern world.”
“I think we’re done here.” He abruptly stood up from his seat and started heading out, not even glancing at me as he passed by.
“Excuse me?” I started to gather up my photos in my arms, dropping a few as I followed him out. “I’m sorry, what’s wrong?”
I watched his head shake and he turned to face me. “Do you always insult your investors before asking them for money?”
I sputtered. I thought it was going well, even after my lateness, how did it go so wrong so quickly? “I didn’t mean to imply anything—”
“I believe you,” He said. “I would advise watching your words more carefully next time.” He turned back around, heading for the elevator, which opened immediately for him, and then he was gone.
***
“He sounds like a dick.” My best friend, roommate, and co-owner of Sew Fit, Michael picked through his vegan wrap. We recognized each other’s talents while we were getting our degrees and we found that, when we collaborated, magic happened. He was also crazy enough to start a company with me. He was the one on the trends keeping my more, he might say, unrestrained ideas from blowing up in the bad way. He was like a chameleon, always looking slightly different each time I saw him, even though I lived with him. Today he had short cut bleached white hair and wore a large lilac crop-top, the color was very in.
“I was so stupid,” I mumbled, shoving my palms in my eyes. I looked back up at him, and pointed at him, narrowing my eyes, “You.”
“Me?”
“You told me it would be better if I went by myself,” I accused.
“I was sure your charm would cinch it for us: I thought all hot billionaires were sexist.”
“Mike.”
“He can be hot and a dick at the same time.” Michael rolled his eyes. “My last girlfriend was both hot and a dick.”
“He’s not a dick,” I said frowning. “He maybe needs to brush up on his people skills, and maybe he’s too shy to speak a lot.”
“Oh, come on Lydia, be a bitch for once in your life, we’re in the fashion world.” His smile turned softer. “I’m done teasing. I said you should go because you are the face of the company, and you’ve always been better at public speaking than me. I would have ended up getting kicked out by him much quicker than
