You Reap What You Sew

[LadyHarpy]

Edith wandered back and forth through the shop as she did every day, carrying rolls of fabric and spools of ribbon. Hey black hair tied back into a simple braid and her pale face holding a look a bored interest. It was quieter than usually in the shop that her aunt owned, it was a dress shop infact, the best in the town. Edith had taken up to working there when she wasn't having lessons or enjoying the company of her friends. Her mother hated the idea of her working in a shop though, the daughter of Mr. Alfred Butler and Mrs. Helen Butler had better things to do...

Edith loved it though, she adored making the clothing that other women would fight for in hopes of getting to wear it. She also loved wearing what she made herself, it was rather satisfying to be able to say you made what you wore, if only other's could understand. Her mother believed that Edith should be looking at gentlemen, possible suitors, not fabrics and ribbon. However, Edith had no such interest, she didn't want to become that woman that just sat at home and ate bonbons, taking care of children and gossiping with others who fell to a similar fate.

She wanted to run her own shop for dresses some day, get past her father's name and make one for herself, if possible. At least she would settle for just being able to take over her aunts shop, who being elder than her mother and still childless made it a very high chance that she might. A small jiggle came to her ears as she heard the sound of the door opening. She turned and looked at the entering customer with a smile and sparkling hazel eyes, her bright white work blouse and long green skirt a prim and neat.

"Hello, Welcome to Conway's Fabrics. How can I help you today?"

 

[Seiji]

The horse-drawn carriage bounced gently on one of the cobble-stone roads that now criss-crossed the streets of the city. City planners and the mayor and the shirriff alike all were in a bid for 'modernizing' their little hole in the world on this side of England. Andrew Sebastian Sharpe's father and grandfather had for a long time been members of the town council, and were proud and long-serving Queen's men. His grandfather was a retired Captain, and his father a retired Major, in the Queen's Army!

Andrew himself was a young Lieutenant, and had yet to see any conflict. He was at home now, taking time off from maneuvers. His pristine red uniform was folded in a parcel on the seat next to him. Before coming home, he had had an accident and torn the seam on the inside of his white breeches. While embarrassing in itself, there was no grand or embarrassing story to go along with the tear. While he was seeing to the repairs, he decided to have some of his patches re-sewn into the jacket, and the lettering on the coat to get cleaned up.

While he had intended on going to a tailor, his step-mother had asked him to procure a dress for her daughter, his step-sister. They were to be celebrating some great event on the eve, and he was to pick the dress up. Deciding to get two birds with one stone, or so the saying goes, he decided to have his uniform repaired and cleaned up at the same place he picked up the dress.

It was a quiant place called Conway's Fabrics. The horse-drawn carriage pulled up in front of the shop, and the driver stepped down to let him out. While not nobility, Andrew and his family was quite wealthy. They had awesome drawn the lot several times for county shirriff. They enjoyed the same prestige that Lords and Ladies would and, indeed, the city-folk and the folk of the county treated them as such.

"Hello, Miss," Andrew said primly as he stepped into the shop. "The name is Sharpe, and I come with two separate requirements. One, I have come to pick up a dress that should be ready just today. There is an event planned for the evening, and as such, you and yours were told to have it ready. Second, I have this here," he set the bundled up and folded uniform on the counter.

"Normally, I would use the service of my father's tailor, but I decided on haste and simplicity today. I feel this should be no difficulty for you; you do work threads and fabrics, yes? It should be the same for men's clothes as women's."

 

[LadyHarpy]

Edith smiled at the customer politely and walked over to the counter, She could tell he didn't really care that much about her and just wanted the work done. She walked over to him and looked over the uniform, examining the tear and such as she spoke.

"This is an easy fix, sir. If it is just the tear you'd like done I can have it done in a minute or less. As for this dress, may I ask for the name of who will be wearing it? We keep dresses organized this way so there isn't any mistakes made." She said as she refolded his uniform.

She could tell from the uniform that he was of some rank in the military, just like her father had once been before taking a hit to his knee and leaving him dependant on a cane for the rest of his life. She knew that her mother would be horrified if someone such as him ever her working in a shop, saying it would ruin the family image. She'd have to keep this quiet from her mother, she'd never hear the end of it if she didn't.

As she waited for him to say the name she headed behind the counter and started to gather what she would need to fix his uniform. She pulled out a smal wooden box and opened it, reveiling many spools of colored and white thread as well as many sizes of needles for just about any fabric.

 

[Seiji]

"Madelyn Sharpe, is the name. Well, actually, that is the name of who shall be wearing the dress. My little sister, you see-- she is fourteen this year, and my mother decided it time for her to wear things more exquisite for whatever events from now on. There is one such an event tonight; what it is, I do not know. I am just sent on the errand.

Ah, the dress might be in the name of my mother, Evelynn Sharpe, in case you do not see a Madelyn. Though, I cannot imagine any more Sharpe's being your clientale. We are the only ones in the county, I believe?" He shrugged.

Opening up the rest of the parcel, he laid out the coat of the red dress military uniform. "Actually, there is more I'd like seen to. These badges you see here, and this stitching here?" He pointed them out, not mindful of whether or not she was nearby to take notice.

"I'd actually like the stitching re-done, before this evening. It worked well enough in service, but for whatever event is going on this evening that my mother is conjuring up, well, I want it to be ready.

Have you heard about the event? She has told me nothing of it, but insists I be there. She has also said she has near-about invited the whole of the county! I imagine you would have heard of it, at least. This shop-owner is no doubt invited?"

 

[LadyHarpy]

Edith looked up when he spoke about his uniform, catching all the little things he pointed too. She didn't mind them much however, they'd only take a moment with the combined skill of her aunt and herself. She headed off to the back, fetching the dress under the name's he gave her, knowing the one of them was certainly on a tag somewhere. She she looked she spoke to him about the party.

"I am sorry to say I haven't heard about the party, I've been busy working all week...which would make sense now if there is such a celebration going on...And to think I just thought all the women were getting their dresses tended too all at the same time, heh...As for the owner, I am not certain if she is attending or not." She said, her tone meant to be joking as she came back out with a lovely gown and the name Evelynn Sharpe on the tag.

She was speaking the truth about not knowing of the party, she had been completely out of the loop. She was always working or studying or with her friends, she had never even really been to a party, she often lied to get out of them. She didn't really care though, her mother would probably be going and her father would tag along to get a good drink, they'd leave her be for the night.

She boxed the dress neatly and tied it up so it wouldn't slip out before taking his uiform and putting it in the back.

"Well, I'll have your uniform done in two hours at most. The dress was paid for already wo would you like to pay now for your uniform or when you come pick it up?" She asked as she let the boz with the dress on the counter for him to take.

 

[Seiji]

"That is a queer thing," Andrew said. She hadn't heard of the party?! His mother was known for being quite the socialite, and enjoyed her social events. As a matter of fact, most of the older women of the town were gossips in their own right, and enjoyed spreading about their rumours and how they were, or weren't, invited to Miss Sharpe's social gatherings!

"Ah, I suppose it is well enough, then. You seem to be the type to not attend these kinds of events, at any rate." Andrew took the time to study the girl then. He saw her as more of the working class type and, while he was of the same social strata, he likened himself more to nobility and the gentry than anything else. Was it arrogant, and reaching? Yes, it was, but his family had always enjoyed the more sophisticated things in life, even in distant memory.

Yes, this seamstress was a very pretty girl. Beautiful even, he told himself honestly. It was a shame she was stuck behind a counter, and did not, or could not, or even chose not, to attend the social world of the county.

Reaching into his coat pocket, he withdrew his wallet and began to draw money notes. "I will pay now. If my mother saw it fitting enough to give you work and pay for it before-hand, then I see why I shouldn't do the same. I trust the judgment of my mother."

 

[LadyHarpy]

Edith kept her polite smile in place but his little jab at her status did not go unnoticed. It may have been unintentional but it was still a little demeaning. She had very good status in the world, what did it matter if she worked in a shop instead of eating bonbons and gossiping with others. She let it go though, he was a paying customer after all.

He also wasn't bad looking either, not that she was a shallow girl like that, she just could respect an attractive looking face. She had seen plenty in her life but there were few that she would say kept her attention. She told him the total as she opened the register,

"We'll have your uniform done in two hours at most sir, if there are any hold ups we'll contact you as soon as possible. I assume you will be at the Sharpe residence or are you staying else where?"

 

[Seiji]

"Two hours is satisfactory. The event isn't to take place for another four, so I shall have ample time to see if your work is satisfactory. Not to say it won't, but you never know about these things, yes? Perhaps there will be a loose thread that even your trained eye could miss. It happens, you must admit; even the most highly trained expert misses small things."

Andrew let out a breath, a half-sigh, as he ran his calloused fingers through his short, wavy blond-hair. It was a darker shade of blond, more sandy than anything else. It had been clipped short at once, but it was clear that Andrew was letting it all grow out at a similar length. His dark blue eyes were clear, and showed no sign of whether he was tired or lacking in intelligence; they were simply there, clear and piercing and gazing. The lack of creases around his eyes betrayed his youth, however; he could be no more than 22 or 23 years. His height, strong jaw and the way his coat strained around his shoulders did, however, betray the strength of his physique.

Business was concluded, and he had no reason to be here any longer. Andrew found himself wanting to talk to her for a bit longer but, in the end, decided not to. There would be nothing for it! While the girl behind the counter was much prettier than he realized, even beautiful, he couldn't let himself be drawn in to courting some seamstress. Could he? Was that even proper?

Ah, well.

"The name is Andrew Sharpe," he told her. "If you cannot remember my face, which I would not fault you if you did. It is only good business practice to record names, if just to thwart thieves. I will return in exactly two hours. Good day, ma'am."

With that, he bowed and left.

 

[LadyHarpy]

"I assure you that there will not be a single thread or patch out of place on your uniform when you come to pick it up, sir. Have a lovely evening then." Edith said as she closed the register and smiled at him as he left

She wrote his name down after he left and put the slip of paper with his uniform. She had always been rather good with names and faces so she was certain she wouldn't forget him. She took his uniform to the back where her aunt had been the whole time, sewwing and stiching with great speed and talent. She was working on the last dress they had to have done that day and it seemed that she would soon finish.

Edith took a seat next to her aunt and got quickly to work on the uniform, explaining to her aunt that she would have it done before she left to go home. She had quick work of the tear, making sure sure it was as if it never was torn in the first place. Then she fixed the stiching and badges neatly before setting the uniform aside, it had taken a bit of time but it was perfect, she even double checked to make sure there wasn't a single mistake or problem.

Folding the uniform neatly and quickly, Edith set it in the finished clothing area with a tag that had his name in bold letter. She told her aunt that he would be coming to pick it up soon, having finished 20 minutes early with his uniform, and said her goodbye. She didn't think to ask if her aunt was going to the party, not really caring either way since she herself would not be attending. She left out the back and walked home at a brisk pace, ready to send the rest of her night reading...or so she thought.

When she did get back she was greeted by her father in his best party suit and her mother in one of her favorite gowns, it was obvious they were going to the party being held by the Sharpe's. Edith was about to say a happy hello until her mother started to ramble at a quick pace, say that Edith just had to come to the party. At first she protested, but Edith's mother quickly shoved her upstairs and into her room, threatening to not let her work at the shop anymore if she didn't. Edith, not wanting to lose her job, bit back a nasty comment and changed into the first thing her mother pulled out of her waredrobe, knowing that she couldn't escape with such a threat hanging over her head.

She slipped into a long flowing white gown, detailed with white lace and embroidered with blue blossums at the bottom. It was a gift from her aunt on her 18th birthday, last month. Her mother then quickly sat her down in front of a mirror and undid the braid before pulling her hair back tightly into a neat bun and placed in a clip that looked like a small bird. The final touch was a pair of white shoes and a bit of make-up before her other finally deamed her complete.

The famly of three eventually left in a nice carriage, heading off to the Shapre's residence to enjoy the evening...well, Edith's parents would enjoy it, she on the other hand was rather...displeased.