The fashion students could hardly believe their eyes when they got a look at the three judges. New York born fashion designer, Mickey James, ELLE magazine’s fashion writer, Deidre Payne, and famous French clothing designer, Coco Blanchet were the judges.
Keyonna, Joanna, and twenty other students stood next to their creations trying not to fangirl out, as Keyonna would say.
It felt like Joanna had to wait for hours for them to get to her station, but they finally did.
“Nice,” Deidre Payne commented as she looked over Joanna’s wedding dress.
“Thank you,” Joanna whispered.
&
It was Thursday morning, and Joanna was helping Winifred clean the ballroom. Courtney was busy cleaning the crystals on the chandelier in the dining room and then she had to do the foyer chandelier. Joanna’s cell rang in her apron. She looked at the caller ID. It was from the doctor’s office that was affiliated with one of the hospitals in the city. They were probably calling about her birth control pill request. “Hello?” “Ms. Joanna Yoder?” “Yes.” “This is Talia, Dr. Patel’s nurse.
There was a makeup artist and hairstylist who prepared Joanna to be interviewed. Keyonna had arrived and she had spun around like Michael Jackson when they had told her she was one of the winners for the fashion review. Deidre Payne had shown up to interview them and to get quotes from Professor Quest and Coco Blanchet.A photographer took Joanna and Keyonna’s pictures next to their creations individually. Then they posed together in front of the rows of fabric. They even took pictures with Coco. They were going to be featured in the October issue of the magazine.Once everything was said and done, Keyonna twirled around and danced out the conference room to rush home to tell her family. Joanna was gathering her wits. It seemed like everything was happening so fast. When she had said this to Professor Quest, he had said, “Get used to it. You’re in the big leagues now, Joanna. The f
Joanna frantically rushed around her room, packing up her things as quickly as possible. She had no idea how she was going to carry all her stuff to the curb to wait on a cab to get her. Joanna was thinking about asking Ray for help when someone banged on the door like they were going to knock it down. “Joanna!” Winifred yelled through the door. “You’ve been gone almost the whole day!” Joanna stilled, hoping the head housekeeper would think she wasn’t in the room if she remained quiet. “Joanna, I know you’re in there. One of the guards told me they saw a cab drop you off at the gate five minutes ago!”&n
Joanna lye on the twin size bed on her back. Courtney sat on the edge of it. She had finished telling Courtney everything that had happened today fifteen minutes ago. The girls sat in silence as they held each other’s hands. Joanna could tell Courtney felt sorry for her, but Joanna didn’t want her pity. She wanted the ability to turn back time to July fourth when she had told Trevor the truth about her background. She wanted a second chance to tell Trevor the rest of her story. But, that was never going to happen. There was a tapping on the door. Courtney let go of Joanna’s hand and walked to the door and opened it. 
For the last thirty-six hours Trevor had been on the go. Early yesterday, he got a call from a man named Eric St Charles. He was a developer who had got caught holding the bag on a sky rise project in L.A. He was frantically calling every real estate developer he could find to see if they wanted to come in for the half he got stuck with. Trevor wasn’t sure if Hudson should get involved, but the guy sounded desperate and he didn’t have anything scheduled until next week. So Trevor had decided he would meet with the guy in person and take a look at the property that was halfway developed. But, time was of the essence, if Eric didn’t find a new partner within forty-eight hours the bank was going to take the property and he’d be bankrupt. Trevor had taken off on the Hudson jet around three o’clock yesterday.&nb
The flight to Maine was only an hour and twenty minutes long. Joanna had gotten nervous when the plane was taking off. Once they got into the air and straightened out, she had relaxed. The stewardess in first class rushed back to her to check on her. She had seen how Joanna trembled when the seatbelt light came on. William had sprung for her to have a first class seat. Joanna knew enough about flying to know first class cost extra. All in all in was a pleasant experience.Per William’s instructions, which he had written down for her, she had to take a taxi to Wiscasset. It was fifty miles away from the airport she had landed in, Portland International Jetport.The cab driver was friendly and chatty. He had lived in Portland for fifteen years with his second wife. He had one son who was in college. He had also driven many people to Wiscasset from the airport. Apparently, a lot of people go
Whitney had gotten off the phone with Eric St. Charles an hour ago. He was an old lover of hers. Eric had moved to California to expand his construction business. The move had really paid off for him. He was worth over five hundred million dollars and it looked like he would be worth more than that in the years to come. She had called Eric for a favor; to call Trevor Hudson personally to get him out of New York for at least twenty-four hours so she could work her magic on Joanna Yoder. In return, he wanted to get laid the next time he was in New York. Whitney had agreed without second guessing the request. Eric was top notch in bed. That’s why she had kept him on as a lover for four years – until he had moved. Eric had told her to leave it to him to come up with a plan to get Trevor out of town for a day. She had – and w
Per usual Johnson’s Soul Food was having a hopping Friday night. Rain, sleet or snow, the restaurant was always busy on the weekends. That’s why they stayed open until midnight on the weekends. Keyonna was busting her ass taking orders and serving food along with her sister, Laquisha. Their parents let them keep the tips, but they didn’t get paid hourly. Staying in the upstairs apartments was their base pay. “Who in the name of hell is that?” Junbug, one of the regulars, slurred loudly. Half the customers and the all the employees out front turned to look out the glass windows to see a black stretch limousine.