ALMOST A BRIDE (Open On Annie)

27

“Omgee have you seen the latest issue of Glamour Girl Magazine?”

I rolled over and looked at my clock, “Geez Jen it’s five in the morning, can this wait?”

“No. No. No. Get your ass out of bed, make coffee and listen.”

So I dragged myself out of my warm little nest, it was winter now and I hated getting up on freezing mornings.

“Brace yourself sis….” She cleared her throat and put on a refined sounding voice,

“Winter Trends; beat the gloom this winter by getting your hands on the latest trend making a colorful splash. Bags by Annie Anne. They are fun, flirty and colorful, and Sonja S gives them the thumbs up as the must have item for every fashionistas arm this season.”

I almost spat my coffee out, “WHAT? You’re kidding?”

“Nope. In black and white, with a photo of one of them.”

“Oh my God.”

“Oh my God is right…. That bitch Sonya is finally going to realize she made the biggest mistake of her life when she fired you. And then she’s going to come crawling back and begging and you can throw an expensive shoe at her- which you will be able to afford- because you’re going to have your own fashion empire!”

“What?” I was still in total shock.

“But first you need to let her know that you’re the master mind behind them, I’m sure she doesn’t know yet. Talk about fashionable revenge- when she sees your bags in every shop in Jozi.”

“Hang on- I can’t afford to mass produce these things… how will I afford it?”

“You’ll get an investor silly.”

“And who is going to invest in me?”

“Eric and I of course.”

“No, I can’t take any more money from you.”

“Honey, this is not charity, this is a smart business investment! Besides, it will be worth every Cent to see the look on that bitch’s face when your bags are walking down the runways.”

 Jen hung up and two hours later Thembi called.

“Babes, did you see it?”

“Yes!”

“You know, how awesome. You need to ramp up production, and we need to get my shop fully stocked. Then I need to get them into some other shops for you and maybe get a website going so people can buy them online, a Facebook page obviously…”

“Wait, wait, this is all moving a bit fast.”

“Annie, babe, you have to move fast, because we both know your bags will be out next season.”

She was right, this was my window of opportunity and I needed to grab it.

I sat at my breakfast table reviewing things; and to think the bags had been born out of hatred for Sonja, and now she was praising them. Oh how this world works in mysterious ways.

I thought about the  Patel’s, they’d been so good to me, and I didn’t want to stop working for them, but if I set up a studio in the back room of the shop, and bought materials from them, it would be mutually beneficial.

And of course they loved the idea- they even closed the shop over lunch and we all went out to celebrate. And from that moment onward, it moved so fast. We got into that back room that evening and cleared it out. We set up tables and workbenches and made the thing livable.

With Jen and Eric’s investment, I bought another sewing machine, hired a staff member and bought some- super discounted- fabric for the Patels. Thembi worked her magic and soon my bags were being sold in shops in Sandton City and Rosebank, people were scrambling for them. Thembi became my official marketing/ PR guru slash chief negotiator of pricing slash one-woman machine. She was a powerhouse and without even talking about it, we became business partners. And I loved working with her, she was the sassiest woman I’d ever met and we soon became fast friends.

My life was suddenly richer; business, friendship, recognition and success.

But the best part of it all- the cherry of cherries of big fat tasty cherries on top- boss bitch Sonja wanted to do a designer profile on me in the next edition of Glamour Girl. Oh the sweetness of this revenge. So far she only knew the label as Annie Annne, she didn’t know I was behind it.

So that day Thembi dragged me to her house and dressed me in her most fabulous clothes. She even got a hair and make-up woman to do me up, her gift to me. Later that day I walked into the offices of Glamour Girl magazine with my head held high.

The whispers started immediately, I could hear the hushed tones and feel the suspicious eyes on me. Last time these people saw me I had ruined a very expensive shoe, a very expensive photo shoot and been arrested for ‘attempted murder’.

Her office still smelt like Lilly and Lavender and I wondered what poor eager soul she had running after her now.  

“Anne,” Her tone was acidic. “Dahling, what a surprise.”

“So good to see you Sonja.” And I really meant it, because it was good to see her, but for other reasons.

“Divine, you look fabulous, but I’m sorry if you’re here looking for work, I’m afraid your old position is full. And if you will excuse me, I have a very important meeting now…. With that hot new designer, Annie Anne, but you probably haven’t heard of her.”

“Oh I have,” God this was going to feel so damn good to say, “Because I’m her.”

The shock.

The horror.

I could see her brain was working overtime… “Dahling, of course it’s you, I was just teasing. And we couldn’t be prouder of you here. Could we?” She turned to another carbon copy of herself who nodded, “Yes, we’ve been talking about it in the office all day, it’s all we talk about. Anne this, Anne that.”

Lying bitch.

But I didn’t care, because I was going to take this opportunity and make the most of it, my revenge would be her having to put me in her magazine and then write amazing things about me.

We all drank Champagne that night. Thembi held a celebratory do at her house. Jen and Eric, the Patel’s and Thembi. I looked around the room, we were a motley crew. A bunch of unlikely people brought together by my bag, I guess what Thembi had said about them in the beginning was true; they were a true mix of colorful South African culture. God that was deep again.

And when Chris phoned that month I was dying to tell him, but we’d made that unspoken rule about never talking about the daily things in our lives. But I couldn’t help it.

“So… remember that bag I had in Mauritius?”

“I know.”

“What?”

“You’re quite the celebrity designer now.”

“Have you been stalking me.”

“No, an actress walked onto set the other day with one, raving about how she’d picked it up in South Africa. I recognized it immediately.”

I swallowed hard; the celebrity carrying my bag meant nothing….

“You’re making a movie?”

“I am.”

Pause.

“Don’t worry, it’s not the one you read.”

“What’s it about?”

I could almost hear the smile, “Wait and see Annie Anne, wait and see,”