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BY the time the clouds had been dyed rose from the setting sun and a cool evening breeze blew through town, Olivia and Rose were walking down the main thoroughfare back to Gordon’s shop, having visited all four of the magic jewelry stores.
Rose watched people hurry by on their way home for the day and commented, “There were all sorts of different signature items.”
“There really were. It was interesting,” Olivia agreed.
The last two signature items they saw in the afternoon were a high-end ring with a massive magic stone and a bracelet that used a rare magic stone. They were both interesting and incredibly unique; they hadn’t seen anything like them before.
It was like, rather than focusing on the practicality of the pieces, the shops valued something that stood out enough to almost become a symbol of the shop.
Olivia considered what she’d seen as she gazed at her shadow stretching out along the white cobblestone. It would be simpler if she had something like that, a piece that caught attention and represented the shop, but could she make something like that in the end?
Rose asked, “Have you had any ideas?”
“Well…I was actually thinking of practical pieces like necklaces and rings that were easy to wear, but I’m starting to think something with a wow factor to draw people in would be better.”
“Perhaps.” Rose nodded. “There were many pieces that really stood out in those shops.”
“Yeah. That’s why I think I’ll look through my design sketchbooks and have a good think about it.”
They arrived at the store, where Olivia bobbed her head in a bow. “Thank you for your help today,” she said. “I learned a lot.”
Rose smiled softly. “I had fun too. Thank you for letting me tag along. And good luck.”
That night, Olivia was in her workroom on the third floor of the shop. Beneath the light of the magic lamp were ten well-used sketchbooks jam-packed with designs she’d thought up. She picked up one of the sketchbooks and flipped through the pages, stopping to put pieces of paper in to mark designs that seemed promising.
Starting that day, the lights were on in her workroom late into the night.
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IT was a warm, humid spring afternoon filled with the gentle drum of rainfall a week after Olivia went researching with Rose.
“Hey, Olivia! Are you in?” came a voice along with a knock at the door of her workroom. The next moment, the door burst open, and in came Laraconia.
“This is about your request, isn’t it?” asked Olivia. “It’s ready.” She smiled awkwardly and stood. He was as unreserved as always. She unlocked a drawer and carefully lifted out a velvet box. “Here it is,” she said, holding it out. “Please check it’s what you wanted.”
Laraconia opened the box with anticipation and then burst into a broad grin when he saw the elegant flower necklace inside. “It’s great! This’ll pacify the wife for a good while. Thank you!” His gaze then fell on the design sketches scattered across her worktable, and his eyes widened slightly. “Those all designs for magic jewelry? That’s a lot.”
“Yeah. But I still haven’t been able to come up with what I need…” groaned Olivia with a weary expression, and Laraconia smiled cheerily.
“I heard. You’re trying to think of your new shop’s signature item, yeah?”
“Yes, I am. I’ve been racking my brain, but I haven’t had any ideas that have made me go, ‘Now this is it!’”
“Sounds rough.” Laraconia gently flipped some pages and looked at them. Then he asked, “Could you not use the piece you won gold with in the Design Awards? I think that’d make an amazing signature item.”
Olivia sighed. “Gordon suggested it too, but it’s too expensive.”
Laraconia grinned. “Yeah. That one piece could buy you a nice little house on the outskirts of town.”
“Exactly. And if that was my signature product, I’m afraid it would make people think my shop was very high-end.”
Laraconia thought for a moment. “Is that so bad? It’s not necessarily a bad path to take your shop down, making it a high-end one. That’s how it is in the magic jewelry business, anyway.”
Olivia cast her eyes down. “It’s not bad, necessarily. But I’d like to make a shop that makes people happy regardless of whether or not they’re rich.”
She would certainly make money if the shop catered to noble clientele. They could pay sums that commoners could never compare with. But it was those everyday women, tired from their daily jobs, who needed magic jewelry the most. Olivia wanted those people to enjoy her pieces.
Laraconia laughed. “Hah, good for you! That’s very like you.” Then he dropped a pouch of candies on the worktable. “Sorry for the interruption, and good luck!” And he left with a wave.
“Thank you,” Olivia called, watching him go. She turned back to her worktable and became engrossed in drafting new designs.
And not that day nor the next was she able to think of a design that made her go, “This is it!”
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“RIGHT. So, you’re not having any luck coming up with designs, and you feel completely stuck, and that’s why you came to me?”
“Yes. I have no idea what to do.”
It was two weeks after Olivia and Rose had conducted their market research, and Olivia was resting her cheek listlessly on the desk in Sally’s pink office with dark circles of astonishing size beneath her eyes. She sighed, not moving from her odd position, and Sally smiled with pity.
“Well…” started Sally as she picked up the design sketches Olivia had brought. “They are all incredible, perfectly capable of being a signature product in any other shop. But if you told me one of these was your signature item…it wouldn’t feel quite right.”
“I know.” Olivia nodded weakly.
She’d been working so hard. Olivia tried brooches, something she didn’t normally design. Then she thought, what if she tried changing tack and made a version of cufflinks reworked for women, instead of for men as they usually were. She tried all sorts of things, but none of them felt right.
Sigh. What do I do?
Olivia was feeling her deadline looming. At this rate, she’d have no choice but to go with the incredibly expensive piece she won the gold award with.
“So, that’s why I wanted to ask you something, Sally,” Olivia continued.
“Me?” Sally’s eyes widened, her long eyelashes fluttering as she blinked several times.
Olivia readjusted her seat and stated, “Yeah. I’d like to hear about your signature item.”
The dresses Sally designed were so incredible. Olivia had no doubt they drew people in, but she didn’t feel like she’d seen any one single signature item in Sally’s store. So, what was it?
Sally looked down in thought. “Well…I guess, in my case, it’s less a signature item and more a signature concept.”
“A signature concept?”
“Yes. My shop’s concept is to be a place where anyone can become a princess.” Sally smiled. “Have you ever gone to any other bridal boutiques?”
“Not in the capital, but I have been a couple of times to ones in Daregas.”
“What were they like?”
“Big open spaces with lots of people all trying on dresses.”
“Yes, that’s what they’re often like.” Sally put her elbow on the desk and rested her chin on top of her hand. “But I want to make every single woman feel like a princess when it comes time for their wedding. Most other shops are focused on efficiency. What princess would ever change out of dresses in a room filled with lots of people? That’s why I went with individual rooms. They can try on wonderful dresses in lovely rooms as much as they like and get showered with compliments. Without that, they couldn’t become princesses.”
Olivia looked around the room. It had white furniture and pink wallpaper with tiny flowers.
Now that she mentions it, everything fits the fairytale feel, from the wreath hanging on the door to the changing rooms to the tiny decorations everywhere. It was all to make a shop where women could become princesses.
And that’s when it hit her.
That’s it! A signature item doesn’t actually have to be an item!
Sally’s mouth turned up at the sight of Olivia having seemingly come up with something.
Olivia looked at her reliable friend with gratitude. “Thank you. I think I know what to do now. I’ll head back and try to sort things out one last time.”
Sally smiled bigger. “You’re welcome! Come back again if you’re still having trouble!”
That night, Olivia was at her lamplit desk in her room in the dorm, images of the shops she went to see, the customers, Sally and what she told her, and her father’s shop all swirling in her mind.
She stared at the magic lamp and murmured, “What sort of shop do I want to make in the end?”
That day, and the several that followed, she stayed up late into the night thinking.