The Fashion of Love | Adult F/M Romance [COMPLETE]

ch. 54 - October

"You can't shake my faith in her, Sora." It wasn't Anthony's faith Sora was worried about, it was his fidelity. Not that his wandering eye was her problem anymore. She was done playing referee.

"That's good. I'd hate for her to go through what I did. Wonderful to see you, as always." She didn't need to point him at the door for him to know they were done here. Sora had already started checking email. She had no more time for Anthony Himura today.

"What's Tommy doing for Halloween?"

Sora perked up at the chance to talk about her son. "Trick or treating. Some moderately scary movies. Ravi and I were thinking of taking him to the Misra children's fair."

"I'll be there."

"Good." Sora didn't want Anthony to be a stranger to their son. Whatever she might think of him as a husband, Anthony wasn't a bad father by most measures; he was just horribly self-involved which had the benefit of making him behave in ways that hurt his children. She would do whatever she could to ensure that Tommy was loved regardless of Anthony. That didn't mean she wanted Anthony to be a stranger. "You have any scary Halloween plans?"

"A couple of costume parties to put in appearances at. I might stop by with some candy for Tommy, if that's okay." Tommy would love that, she was sure.

"It's fine. I'll text you when we plan to be home so you don't miss him."

"Good, good. What's Tommy going to be dressed as?"

"A duck. He sounds like a cockatoo—he likes cockatoos now—but he looks like a duck. Dhiren's taking a lot of videos; he's got Instagram and Snapchat. You should take a look when you have a minute."

"I'll do that."

"Goodbye, Anthony."

He nodded, finally taking the dismissal at face value. "Goodbye, Sora."

...

October was uneventful in a way the year hadn't been so far. After the party to end all birthday parties for Tommy, the Himuras, Gallegos, and Misras all settled down to work. The year was winding down, the holidays were on the horizon. Sora was vetting entries for the Creatives' Quarterly Christmas Edition. Ravi was already brainstorming spring/summer for the following year with his interns and junior designers. The kids were growing like weeds. Imogen had popped sometime in late September and was currently dazzling much of the Los Angeles fashion scene with the latest in maternity fashion of her own making. Anthony and Hana were chugging along toward a wedding disaster that was not Sora's problem, and Diana Parrilla was staying out of it.

But first, Halloween.

...

Sora greeted all Hallow's Eve with a smile. Her costume was waiting at home, as was a king's ransom in candy. Her itinerary was packed with ghoulish delights. She was looking forward to it.

"That's it, Cristina. I'm clocking out."

"At four? It's a Halloween miracle." Cristina handed her the next day's schedule for her to peruse first thing in the morning. Sora liked to have a hard copy for when she was too tired to glare at her phone screen at dawn.

"I am going to celebrate the scariest night of the year with my boys and eat my weight in candy. I'll see you around."

"Good night, boss!" Cristina was already attired in her bleeding bride costume for the Himura costume party Sora was intentionally not attending. Her employees deserved a night without the boss watching their every move. Hopefully the morning wouldn't bring an embarrassment of selfies to haunt them all. They could do without the headlines.