Taking A Risk

Chapter 22

I made my way to the living room and plumped down on the couch.

"How's my favorite person," my Aunt Withney said with a wide grin when I connected the call. Aunt Whit was my mother's older sister, and though my aunt was four years older than my mother. They could pass as twins. They share the same high cheekbones, wide almond-shaped eyes, full lips, and button noses. Their only difference was their skin tone. My mom inherited my grandfather's caramel-colored skin while my aunt inherited her chestnut skin tone from my grandmother.

"You better not let Mom hear you saying that," I snickered.

She snorted. "Your mother will get over her hurt feelings, she knows she lost that title the day you were born," she joked.

"So, when are you getting back from Miami?" She was in Miami this weekend for an event. My aunt was a very successful fashion designer and one of the best.

She sighed. "Tomorrow and I have to hire a new assistant when I get back."

"New assistant," I frowned. "What happened to Ivan?"

"Ivan?" she laughed with a wave of her hand. "Girl, I fired his ass last week, I'm talking about the girl I hired after him, Nyla. It's like I can't seem to find a competent assistant since Kira left." Kira was my aunt's assistant for the past ten years but she resigned and moved back to Minnesota to take care of her sick mother a couple of months ago. My aunt has had a string of assistants ever since.

"I think it has less to do with their incompetence and more to do with you being a tyrant," I quipped with a teasing smile.

"I resent that. Just because I like things down a certain way doesn't make me a tyrant," she retorted, holding her hand to her chest as if she was hurt, but I spotted a smile tugging at the edge of her lips.

Before I could respond she waved her hand dismissively. "Enough about me, I just saw the pictures you sent me of Ever's dress this morning, it's gorgeous Gen," she smiled proudly.

"Thanks," I said shyly, brushing a chuck of hair behind my shoulders.

As a child, I've always looked up to my aunt, I wanted to be just like her. When I started sketching designs at a young age she fostered that interest, buying me my first sewing machine at six and teaching me how to sew. She never had kids herself, so she was ecstatic when I showed an ounce of interest in her profession. I took to sewing pretty easily and I wasn't just good at it, but I loved it too.

The older I got, I began spending my summers traveling around the world with her, attending different fashion weeks and other events. I was practically her shadow.

The summer after I turned fifteen, I officially began interning with her, and every summer after that. I learned everything I knew from her. She groomed me to follow in her footsteps and eventually take over her company when she retired. Though I couldn't see that happening anytime soon.

While I've always loved the idea of working with my aunt full-time at the company she built from the ground up. Recently, with graduation approaching next year, I've been having doubts about the path I'll be following after next year. Lately, I've been feeling like I want a legacy of my own, something that I build from the ground up. I want to make a name for myself on my own, not because I was given my aunt's company.