Olivia Bennett - The Allegra Biscotti Collection

Sometimes she would come here and just follow the fashion students up and down the aisles as they selected material for school projects. But today Emma was on her own mission. And for that, she needed Nidhi.

Nidhi was Emma’s favorite salesperson at Allure. She was in her late twenties, fashionable and funky—and a little quirky, which made Emma love her even more. Her midnight-black hair was pin-straight and cut into a choppy fringe that framed her face. She was only a little taller than Emma, but her confidence—and high heels— made her tower over Emma in her flats. Nidhi worked part time at Allure to make money and industry connections until she could get her own clothing line together. Plus the employee discount on fabrics helped her afford to design her own things.

Emma walked back into the depths of the cavernous store. A swarm of students surrounded Nidhi, fighting one another for her attention.

“I saw it first, Lila!”

“You are so lying, Crystal!” Lila retorted, clutching a bolt of purple, red, and yellow charmeuse. “I found this like twenty minutes ago!”

“But then you put it back, so it’s fair game!” Crystal screeched.

“Ladies!” Nidhi shouted as best she could with her naturally quiet voice. “This fabric comes in more than one color, so you can both have it. Or not. Flip a coin or draw straws or something. Then let me know when you decide. I have other customers, yeah?”

Nidhi wriggled out from between them and practically fell onto Emma in relief. “Hi cutie! Sorry about that. First years—always the same. Zillions of fabrics to choose from, and everyone wants the same one! Never fails.” She threw up her hands. “What’re you looking for today? I don’t have anything new on sale yet. Maybe next week.”

“Actually,” Emma said, “this time I may buy some things at full price.”

Nidhi grabbed her chest as if she were having a heart attack, jingling the array of tiny gold charms that dangled from her triple-strand necklace. “No! It can’t be! My best bargain hunter paying full retail? What’s the occasion? Making a dress for some dance at that fancy school you go to?”

Emma snorted and waved her hand. “Hardly. But it is a special occasion.”

“Good enough for me, yeah? Tell me what you need.” Nidhi’s eyes jumped from Emma’s face to something going on over her shoulder. “I have to go break up another fight. Go look on that table—we just got in new stuff.”

As Nidhi marched away on her suede wedges, Emma hurried over to the new arrivals table. She was immediately drawn to a bolt of silk covered in a watercolor design boasting many of the same hues—cobalt and turquoise and other aquatic shades—as in Night below the Surface . There wasn’t much left, but she could probably make it work somewhere.

Before Emma could reach for the bolt, a take-no-prisoners fashion design student with wildly curly brown hair appeared out of nowhere. She snatched it off the table. Emma noticed her fingers were covered with dozens of mermaid-shaped silver rings.

“Excuse me. I…I was looking at that one,” Emma stammered. “Are you going to buy all of it?”

“Probably,” she sneered, tucking the fabric roll under her arm and striding toward the cash registers in lace-up green combat boots.

I should’ve grabbed it when I saw it, Emma thought, angry with herself. She sized up the fabric thief. No question about it. She was much bigger and meaner looking than Emma. Plus the tips of all those mini-mermaid fins look pointy and sharp and way dangerous. Emma had no chance of grabbing the fabric back.

“Store closing in twenty minutes! Twenty minutes! No exceptions! I don’t care if your professor gives you an F or you cry real tears!” Abe Sherman, the gruff and grumpy owner of Allure, shouted. He was famous for his permanent bad mood. Emma suspected it was all an act, but she kept a healthy distance all the same.

“Okay, I’m back,” Nidhi said as she walked up to Emma. “Quick—tell me.”

Emma explained that she needed three shades of gray that worked together— an iridescent silver, something charcoal, and a lighter dove gray. She wanted all of the textures to be different. And for the linings, she explained, “I want silky or satiny fabulous prints—all different kinds—with cobalt, turquoise, and canary yellow. And they all need to work together somehow. I saw one on the new arrivals table, but—”

Before Emma had even finished, Nidhi was off and running. Emma had to speed-walk to keep up even though Emma was running around in silver Converse sneakers and Nidhi was tottering on mountainous wedges. Nidhi darted through the store, her head snapping up and down as she expertly scanned the shelves.

When her arms were full, she dropped off an ocean of deep blue, bright turquoise, and hot yellow prints on an empty cutting table and then did another circuit collecting bolts of gray, which she deposited onto the same table. Emma’s hand immediately reached for a glossy satin in a watercolor blue print that was similar to the one she had seen—and lost—on the new arrivals table.

“This one’s a blend, so it’s much cheaper than that other one that the crazy-haired hyena stole out from under you,” Nidhi said with a wink. “But it’s great quality—from one of our best suppliers. I didn’t show the other girl. I’d much rather get you the better bargain. What else?”

“I love this one, too,” Emma said pointing to a wild, Pucci-esque swirl in the gray and yellow tones from her color scheme. She rubbed the heavy silk shantung against the inside of her arm, and it sent shivers to her neck.

“And this!” She ran her hands over a pleated silk charmeuse with narrow, uneven stripes in the same cobalt blue and canary yellow mixed with gray and creamy white.

She then turned her attention to the gray pile, which was all about texture. Everything Nidhi had pulled hit the mark in terms of color and quality, so it was a matter of pulling three fabrics that played off one another.

For the dress, she chose slate gray chiffon with micro sequins. She was nervous about working with the fabric—it seemed so delicate. But it was so right! For the jacket, she fell in love with a charcoal-gray jacquard in a heavy but soft cotton ripstop. For the vest, she unrolled four different dove-colored silk jersey knits and chose the one with the most stretch.

“They’re all perfect, Nidhi,” Emma gushed.

“Of course. I always find you what you need, yeah?” She looked pleased with herself. “How much do you want? Quick, quick, before Abe starts yelling again. I have such a headache today. Mid-terms coming up over at the design school. My least favorite times of year.”