The Seamstress and the Crown

"Brrrrrr", the old, rickety alarm clock, on the dressing table, blares loudly, jerking Purple from her sleep.

Purple's face became contorted with anger and irritation but she didn't move a muscle, even when the ringing continued.

After what seemed like an eternity, she finally blinked her eyes open but the piercing sun rays, caused her to squint immediately.

"Dammit! Another crazy day! Even the sun rays can affirm that", Purple groaned irritably, with her eyes tightly shut.

Still, the alarm clock didn't stop, so she was forced to attempt to open her eyes again to turn it off.

Slowly, she turned to her left, where the alarm clock was laying, making sure that she avoided the window direction.

As soon as Purple turned, she pressed her palm on the alarm clock very hard, caring little if it was going to break or not.

Just as an obedient officer, the alarm clock fell into silence, when Purple's hands were laid against it.

"Finally! I can breathe some air and get some more sleep. I do deserve that", Purple hissed loudly, before turning in her bed.

Purple had put the alarm on, several months ago when she was still working at one of the fashion houses, in the city.

The period when she had to wake up by 5am and get ready for work, at the fashion house.

Sadly, just when she was about to hit her breakthrough with some very important personalities and celebrities, her then boss, became envious of her.0p0p

All of Purple's designs were a perfect statement and each time, she made a dress for someone, her boss would take credit for it.

This went on and on, causing Purple to be depressed most of the time but there was nothing she could do about it.

Madame Lena Desmond was a high ranking designer, known to many people in the country and there was nowhere, she could be fighting with her, even when it was her rights to.

Her former boss had it all! She was stinking rich, had good connections and even made several signature statements.al

However, what people didn't know was the fact that, Madame Lena had somehow lost inspiration, to make detailed designs.

For whatever reason, she didn't try so much anymore and with the internship of Purple, she found her soark again.

Still, it wasn't enough to be compared to Purple's designs, which were completely out of the world.

At first, Madame Lena was excited to have Purple as her intern, drooling over her designs, pleased that Purple relieved her from so much work pressure.

Now, she could attend the important gala nights, movie premieres, dates and every other famous events, with peace, knowing that Purple was working tirelessly for her.

Purple never complained! It gave her joy to make beautiful designs and see, famous people wearing her masterpiece.

Even other staff who worked there before her, became very envious of her but that didn't bother her.

Madame Lena was fine with it and nothing else mattered.

Those were the happy days of her life, until it wasn't anymore!

First, purple heard her boss bragging to one of her friends, during a visit to the fashion house, how every dress in the showcase was her design.

In one of the viral clips where one of Purple's designs trended, when it was worn by a famous celebrity, Madam Lena claimed to have designed that dress.

Seeing that video broke Purple's heart into a million pieces. She cried for many nights in the arms of her best friend.

Everyday, she was reminded of the video, especially as the design gave Madam Lena all of the publicity that she wanted.

Her visa made several millions of dollars, just because of that particular design and the worse part was that Purple got nothing at all.

The next day, her boss, Madame Lena strutted into the office like nothing ever happened, with a broad smile on her face.

During break, she called Purple into her office, for a brief meeting. To Purple, she thought that her boss was about to make everything right.

"Hello Purple! Grab a seat!", Madame Lena said sharply, immediately she opened the door to the office.

Madame Lena hated to repeat herself, so quickly, Purple pulled a seat for herself, with her gaze focused on her boss, who was pouring some coffee for herself.

Her boss' hands were decorated with expensing golden rings, bracelets and a wristwatch, another evidence of new millions in her account.

Madame Lena raised her head to Purple and nodded gently at her with a tight look on her face.

"Want some coffee too?", she asked coldly.

"Uhm...no! I'm doing awesome. Thank you ma'am ", Purple declined politely, with a warm smile on her face.

"Hmmm", Madame Lena shrugged lightly, as she took a light sip of her coffee, while swirling in her seat.

"I'm sure you have seen the news and social media stories about our fashion house", Madame Lena began.

"Yes! Yes I have!", Purple answered excitedly.

"Good! It's always so comforting when we trend for all the right reasons, don't you think so?", her boss asked.

"Of course ma'am! It's good business for healthy competition against other fashion houses ", Purple replied happily.

"Awesome! I knew you were always a fast thinking type, Purple ", Madam Lena complimented with a light smile.

Madame Lena's fingers trailed the rim of her coffee cup and she maintained eye contacts with Purple, in a way that kind of felt weird.

"You know, when I started designing clothes before all of these?", Madam Lena asked slowly and Purple shook her head lightly.

"In my parents basement", her boss announced.

Purple let out a soft breath, wondering where the conversation was going because she was certain that she had never heard that story before.

Madame Lena wasn't even the type that held conversations with her staff and so, Purple was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"Nobody believed in me then, until I made my first dress and then, the world began to see my work", she continued.

"It's been years of the business and I'll tell you that along the line, I lost my touch with designing and that almost broke me ", Madame Lena said shaking.

"Okay...? I don't think I like where this is going", Purple reasoned within herself.

"Thankfully, you came along, just when I was about to let it all go and you stirred up the inspiration in me again ", Madame Lena revealed.

At her little confession, Purple tried to hide her smile but her cheeks betrayed her, as they turned light pink.

"C'mon! Don't be humble! Let the smile out! It's literally screaming out loud already", Madame Lena, urged her on.

With that, the beautiful smile on Purple's face grew wider and she even chuckled lightly in excitement.

"Thank you ma'am!", she appreciated warmly.

"I should thank you for bringing that spark again to this fashion house with your fresh designs", her boss replied.

Then, Madame Lena leaned forward with her eyes cold and piercing right through into her soul, in the most frightening way.

Purple gulped hard and her lashes fluttered uncontrollably, with her her heart pounding heavily against her chest.

"We both know that you're the brain behind the designs, that everyone is talking about", her boss said in a low tone

This was it! Madame Lena had finally acknowledged her efforts and Purple was already getting excited.

Perhaps, her boss was about to alert her that the world is going to meet her finally. Purple literally had to hold her seat close, to stop herself from screaming out or shaking.

"This is the deal! You're going to keep working for me and as always, nobody is going to know about you, as they would all think, I own the designs", Madame Lena announced to her shock.

When the words sunk into Purple's head, she blinked in disappointment and her eyes popped out of her sockets.

Did she just hear that? Or was it just a figment of her imagination?

"I...I... don't understand... you, Ma'am", Purple stammered.

"Oh I think you do! But don't worry, you will be duly compensated with a thousand dollars for everything ", Madame Lena interrupted.

"What?", she almost screamed.

A thousand dollars for designs worth millions of dollars? Purple was even more disappointed to hear of how low her boss was offering to pay.

Just before she could say anything else, Madame Lena brought out a blue file and slammed it in front of Purple.

"What's...this?", she asked slowly.

"An NDA! You're going to sign an agreement of four years with me and accept the cash offer, and also promising not to spill anything", Madame Lena explained.

"Ma'am! And if I say no?", Purple asked slowly.

"Then, you have made your choice and decided to part ways with my fashion house. I'm certain you know how bad your career is, without me", her boss threatened.

"What if..I want to...", Purple wanted to suggest.

Almost immediately, Madame Lena raised her hands in the air, stopping her from speaking any further.

That was exactly how she lost her job but still Purple, found it hard to stop the alarm clock, from beeping even after many months.

***

Purple had barely closed her eyes after turning off the alarm clock, when her phone rang loudly, sending loud shrills directly into her ears.

"Argh! Can you all, just let me sleep?", Purple screamed aloud, tossing the old duvet off the bed, to the floor.

When that didn't work, she sat up in bed, staring angrily at the ringing phone, which was vibrating on the bed.

It was an old phone that she had gotten at an antique shop which had several products on free auction.

That was all she could afford then and Purple actually had to empty all of her savings and even add her only pair of beaded earrings to get them.

How excited she was to finally have her own phone, without having to pay the payphone to reach her best friend!

Severally, her best friend, Chantel, had teased her about it, because Purple kept drooling over the old phone.

But she didn't care! That was her birthday gift to herself, on her 26th birthday which was a year ago.

It was the only way sge could appreciate her dear self for everything that she had gone through all by herself.

The only friend or family she ever knew was her best friend, Chantel but Purple was content with it. After all, there was nothing else that she could do about it.

Her ringing phone has stopped and slowly, Purple, let out a deep sigh, hoping that whoever was calling, had finally given up because she didn't pick.

"Whew! I thought that will never end", she whispered to herself, while slowly pushing her body back to sleep.

"Grrrrrrrrr!", the phone rang again, vibrating loudly and this time, it felt like like thecl caller was also angry.

Almost immediately, Purple jumped up, grabbed the phone and answered with irritation and red eyes.

"What? It's still morning for goodness sake!", Purple blurted out.

At her reply, the caller held their breath and it got Purple curious. Quickly, she pulled the phone from her ear and glanced at the called ID.

The caller was from an unknown number and Purple cringed lightly, hoping that it wasn't her landlord calling.

"Sh*t!", she cussed under her breath.

"Hello...? Can you hear me?", Purple asked slowly.

"Gracious goodness! Is this Purple Jones on the line?", a soft voice asked slowly.

Apparently, he hostile reception earlier, must have warned whoever was calling from getting on her toes.

"Yes please...! Purple here!", she answered sweetly, trying her best to erase the earlier irritation.