“I hope so,” Bella said, looking anxious. She had never met Theo before. She was a legend and Bella was terrified that she would say or do the wrong thing, but Theo was concentrating on the structure, and envisioning what she had planned. They had sent bolts of fabric to attach to the walls with a staple gun, and the space had a handsome natural wood floor, with a pretty garden behind it. It seemed very French, which pleased Theo. She expected to see the Eiffel Tower sparkling at her when she glanced out the windows and was surprised when she didn’t.

Theo spoke to the lighting men then, to angle the lights to show the clothes to their best advantage, and to the soundmen about the soundtrack for the party. The wall coverings were bright, multicolored silks. And there would be a small group of violinists at the party playing gypsy music. Bright colors were the core of the new season’s collection, and the direction she was taking seemed perfect. The young woman in charge, Valentina, was surprised how fast it started to take shape as soon as Theo arrived. She hadn’t been successful due to a lack of skill or indolence. She flew around like a whirling dervish, wielded the staple gun herself so she could get the colors of the silks positioned just right. She was capable and energetic and for the first time in a year, she was having fun. She wished there was someone she knew to share it with, but there wasn’t.

She was surprised when the workmen started to go home.

“It’s only eight o’clock,” she said, looking disappointed. It was two a.m. for her, on Paris time, which didn’t seem to stop her. She was fully energized by what she was doing and seemed tireless. She had been exhausted for a year. But working with her hands in the empty store, she felt alive again. It wasn’t serious, in the grander scheme of life, but it was something she could do, a magic she could still create, and that was at least something. It reminded her that she was good at her job, and all its component parts. She hadn’t been able to save her son or her husband, no matter how hard she’d tried, but she could take an empty space and make something beautiful of it.