Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32879 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32879 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
With her purchases in her bag, she waved at Martha and headed out into the warm sunshine. Putting her sunglasses on, she made her way to the café that she loved, grabbed a coffee and a doughnut, and then headed back to her home. This was her mother’s home, which now belonged to her. It was all paid for by Hank, but Adele couldn’t bring herself to sell it.
Her mother loved this house, and so did she. It was home to her and one of the few places that reminded her of her mother. Stepping inside, she closed the door, locked it, and placed her bag in the hallway, before heading to the laundry room.
Adele had gotten out of the habit of taking fabric to her mound of already purchased fabric stash. Using a beautiful piece of fabric to make a garment, then discover it wasn’t prewashed so the dress didn’t fit, had been horrible. So, always to the laundry room with new fabrics.
She placed them on the correct cycle, and then made her way to the sewing room, where she put the buttons in with her stash, and placed the needles in the right location. She took a seat and felt a wave of loneliness sweep over her.
Memories of her mother in this room, making a dress or a costume for her. Adele had never worn a costume from the shop before, her mother always made her something. She closed her eyes, clenched her hand into a fist, and tried not to cry. Tears were useless, as her mother said.
She couldn’t stay in the sewing room today. She opted to clean, which, was a crazy idea, since she hated it, but she loved a clean house.
In between dusting, vacuuming, and mopping, she hung the fabrics out on the line, and then decided to get ready for work. She had enough time to iron the fabrics and get them on the cutting table before she headed out to the bar.
Even though the sun was slowly setting, there was still a warmth to the air, and she kept humming to herself as she walked along the city street. Her mother lived in a good neighborhood. At least Hank had given her that.
She missed her mother every single day. She had thought about leaving home, selling the house, and just traveling, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
She recalled when Hank had arrived for her funeral. Adele hadn’t shown how pissed she was that he had. There were not a lot of people there as her mother had been somewhat of a recluse. She didn’t make friends easily, and Adele truly believed she’d been her mother’s best friend. In all honesty, Carla Shanks had been her mother, her best friend, her confidant, everything. She missed her so much.
“Do not cry.” She clenched her hands into fists, gritted her teeth, and instead, saw the bar up ahead.
It wasn’t a high-end bar, but it was quite popular. Since it was a Friday night, she saw it was already busy. She waved at Bill, the doorman, before heading in. The music was way too loud, but she wasn’t interested in the noise. She made her way to the back, placed her bag in the locker designated for her, and then went straight behind the bar.
Bishop, the bar owner, always had a uniform, but because he knew what she did on social media, he allowed her to wear whatever she had created. Some of her fans had come to see her to talk about the new designs. As long as they spent money, Bishop didn’t have a problem.
It had been over a week, and since she hadn’t made anything new, she wore the uniform Bishop had custom-made for all staff. She had worried his lax rules with her would cause some problems for the rest of the staff, but they didn’t mind. So long as she had people coming to the bar, it meant they still had a job, which was a relief.
Arnold, the barman, looked at her clothing and nodded his head. They all knew. Some days, she just couldn’t bring herself to wear anything but the uniform. Today was a different kind of day, though, for her at least. It was the anniversary of her mother’s death. No one argued with her.
She kept a smile on her face and began serving customers.
“The shirt does not do you justice,” Arnold said, as she turned to grab a couple of bottles of juice.
“Shut up.” She laughed.
She adored Arnold. He was the only guy who on these nights didn’t walk on eggshells around her, and she appreciated it.
“Just saying, you’ve got the tits to show off. Show them off.”
If it was anyone else she would have been offended, but she knew Arnold was a happily married man who adored his wife and kids. In fact, late at night, he brought out pictures of his family to ward off the few straggling customers. It worked.