——————————🐾——————————
Estello stood across the street from the building where he would be working at.
"Ahh...Liberty of London. It was the pinnacle of fashion in the '70s. They carried all the best designers. And now, thanks to my darling (Y/n), I worked there."
Unfortunately, it wasn't quite what Estello was hoping for. Instead of sketching and designing fabulous outfits like he wanted, he was now on his hands and knees, scrubbing the floor of a bathroom.
"Ah, excuse me, sir." Estello called out to a man named Gerald who was wearing a very sharp suit and carrying a clip board. "I had a thought about the front window..."
"I gave you your job description. Don't go outside of your engagement. Please." He replied, snobbishly.
...
Estello was clocking in when Gerald walked past. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted before he could get a word out.
"Not now." He cut him off.
...
Estello was scrubbing the floors when he walked by again.
"Ah! Sir..." Estello began.
"Not now." He replied, stepping on Estello's hand as we walked past.
Estello grunted in pain and rubbed his hand.
...
Estello now had his arms full of boxes and he was trying to place them on the shelves.
"No, no, no." He said to himself as he dropped the boxes that were in his arms.
At that moment, Gerald walked by and saw him. He gave Estello a disproving look and Estello gave him a weak smile.
...
While Estello was collecting the garbage, he peeked into the sewing room with a longing expression on his face. He turned and noticed his boss coming towards him and tried to speak with him only to be shut down again.
...
Estello knocked on Gerald's office door, as he was sitting in a chair eating a biscuit. As soon as he saw Estello, his expression became annoyed.
"Sir, I just want to say, I really am a dab hand with a needle if Alterations could use anything." He told him.
"Why are you talking and not cleaning?" He snapped. "Did you do all the bathrooms according to the regulations I gave you? Soap, water, mop, bleach, polish?"
"I did."
"In that order?"
"Yes. But alterations, you wouldn't-" Estello was cut off by the door slamming in his face. "Regret it." He finished with a sigh.
...
Estello made his way outside to put the garbage bags in the dumpster. He turned and saw Horace, Jasper, and (Y/n) standing there waiting for him.
"Hey." Jasper said, enthusiastically.
"Hi." Estello replied, surprised to see them there.
"You forgot your lunch." (Y/n) said, gesturing down to Buddy who had a paper bag in his mouth.
"Thank you." He said to Buddy.
They heard a bark and saw Wink standing on top of the dumpster.
"No." Estello replied firmly.
"What?" Horace asked innocently.
"I'm not letting you in that window so you can try and crack the safe."
"That's not the angle?"
"No. There is no angle." Jasper said.
"There's no angle." (Y/n) confirmed.
"There's no angle!" Estello repeated firmly.
"What do you mean there's no angle? Come on Wink." Horace called, holding his hands out for Wink to jump into. "There's no angle." He pressed a kiss to Wink's face before following Jasper out of the ally.
"Thanks for lunch. Bye, Wink." He called.
"So, have they let you do any designing yet?" (Y/n) asked.
"What do you think?" Estello snapped, gesturing to the trash bags in his hands.
"Right. Sorry." She said, sheepishly, looking down at her shoes.
Estello sighed. "No, I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated that they won't give me a chance."
"Maybe they're afraid you'll be better than them." (Y/n) joked.
Estello cracked a small smile. (Y/n) walked over to him and placed her hand on his bicep and rubbed it in a comforting way. Estello felt goosebumps crawling their way up his arm as she did so.
"Don't worry. You'll get your chance. And when you do, you're going to become the best fashion designer in London." (Y/n) said, confidently.
"You really think so?" He asked.
"Of course I do." She pressed a kiss to his cheek before walking off, turning and waving as she did so.
Estello waved back and watched her walk away with a huge grin on his face.
'How does she always manage to make me smile no matter how miserable I feel?' He wondered.
Estello shook his head to pull himself out of his thoughts and went back to his job. He threw one trash bag in the dumpster, but as he went to throw the other one in, the bottom of the bag ripped causing garbage to fall all over him.
"Really?!" He yelled in frustration pulling garbage out of his hair, not noticing that he had a banana slice on his cheek.
He went to open the back door to go back inside, only to discover that it was locked.
"Perfect." He sighed, picking up his lunch and walking around to the front of the building.
When he got there, he looked in the display window and saw a woman working on the mannequin that was in there. Estello looked at the outfit the mannequin was displaying in disgust.
"I feel sad that you think that looks good." He grumbled.
"What?" The woman called out.
"I feel sad you think that looks good!" He said louder.
Just then, Gerald walked over to the display window and noticed him standing outside.
Estello was finally let back in the building and awkwardly walked inside.
"Afternoon." He mumble to a passing customer. "Lovely hat." He said to another. "Whatever covers your neck more."
He kept walking and ran into Gerald, who looked very angry with him.
"You have...a...circular slice of...banana...on your cheek. Other side." He forced out, when Estello felt the wrong side of his face.
Estello felt the banana slice and hastily shoved it in his mouth making the man gag.
"My office. Now! Now, now now!" He yelled.
...
In his office the boss was opening a liquor cabinet to pour himself a drink.
"Before you fire me, I have something to say." Estello said.
"Clean my office, top to bottom. And, uh, when you come in tomorrow, try and remember to bring a brain." He ordered.
"That seems uncalled for." Estello mumbled. "I believe that lurking underneath that starchy, half-size-too-small, bum-clencher of a suit, lies a kind man who wants to give a brilliant kid another shot."
Gerald took a deep breath before knocking back his drink in one go. "Clean. Now!"
...
Estello had just finished cleaning his boss's office, and was now tying a knot in the garbage bag he was holding. He sighed and scratched his head before noticing the liquor cabinet.
Estello appeared on the main floor in the elevator holding an mostly empty bottle of alcohol. He took another sip and walked around the floor humming to himself.
He noticed the mannequin in the display window and went over to it, knocking a vase over on his way over. He stared at the mannequin in disgust.
"I just can't leave you looking like that. It would be cruel." He said to the mannequin, taking another sip of alcohol before knocking her hat off.
...
The next morning, Estello was laying passed out in the display window, the bottle of alcohol empty next to him.
Someone knocked softly on the glass trying to get him to wake up. When that didn't work, they knocked harder, startling him. He woke up to see that (Y/n) was the one who knocked. She was standing there with Horace and Jasper who were all wearing looks of confusion.
"Why'd you go to sleep in a window?" Horace asked.
The mannequin was now wearing a dress made of newspapers, and there was scribbling all over the walls. A crowd of people had gathered around to admire the window.
Estello looked up to see his creation. "Oh...Oh, but seriously, how much better do you look?" He slurred.
Just then, his boss came into the display area and saw what Estello had done.
"No! No!" He yelled, before noticing that there was an audience. "Hello. Out! Out!"
"Oh, farts." Estello mumbled.
"Come with me. Leave the bag." The man said, grabbing Estello by the back of his shirt. "Thousand apologies." He said as he bumped into Horace.
"Horace, no!" Estello whispered, seeing that he had stolen the man's wallet.
"I'm calling the police, vandal."
"She's coming! The Baroness. She's out front." An employee informed the man.
"What?" Gerald asked, letting go of Estello. "She's coming!" He called out, clapping his hands.
Estello took this opportunity to slip away and duck behind a display case. (Y/n) slid next to him.
"Hey, come on we gotta go. Is there a back way out, or...?" She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away, but he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back down.
"The Baroness. The fashion designer! I want to see her." Estello whispered.
...
Out front, a sharply dressed woman was exiting her car. She peered over at the display window through her sunglasses before entering the store.
...
"Find the boy." The manager said before the Baroness entered the store, an assistant following behind her.
"That's her." Estello whispered to (Y/n).
"Estello, they're distracted. Let's go." (Y/n) urged.
Estello shushed her, and placed his other hand over her mouth, pulling her further into his chest.
"Baroness." Gerald welcomed.
The Baroness took her sunglasses off. "Outside. That window display."
"I'm so sorry." He apologized. "I can explain that."
An employee spotted Estello and (Y/n) hiding behind a display case, and Estello noticed that they had been caught.
"You're right, time to go." The two began to crawl away.
"Sorry Baroness. Get him." He said, when he saw Estello crawling on the floor. "He's the vandal who messed up the whole window display." He explained, as Estello and (Y/n) were both grabbed by policemen.
"We're dealing with it." He promised.
Estello and (Y/n) were slammed on the counter of the display case.
"Hey! Get your hands off of her!" Estello demanded.
"So he works here?" The Baroness asked.
"Oh, no, no. He was fired. Yeah. We try to give these wretches a chance, but, um breeding." He snorts. "Need I say more?"
"So he doesn't work here?" The Baroness asked in a bored tone.
Gerald paused for a minute before leaning closer to The Baroness. "Sorry. I'm not convinced I know-"
"Your sweating, and I can smell you." The Baroness cut him off, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Brilliant. Thank you."
The Baroness turned to Estello. "You. Grubby boy."
"Yes." Estello asked.
"Jeffrey, card." The Baroness demanded.
Her assistant pulled out a card and handed it out to Estello.
"You're hired. This address. 5:00 a.m. Don't be late." He instructed.
Estello paused for a moment, noticing he didn't have any free hands.
"Teeth. Teeth." He said. The man placed the card in his mouth, gagging as he did so.
"You're a fool. That boy put together a better window display than I've seen here for ten years." The Baroness told him.
"Here, here!" The man agreed.
"You were right this is a very good shop." Horace said, holding up shopping bags full of stolen stuff.
(Y/n) and Estello managed to twist out of the policemen's grasp and booked it out of the store. They ran out onto the road and hopped on a moving bus.
Estello sat down in a seat, (Y/n) plopping down next to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder, breathing heavily. Estello wrapped an arm around her shoulder, looking down at her. She looked back up at him and let out a breathy laugh, relieved that they didn't get arrested. Estello chuckled too, and they both stared at each other. (Y/n) reached up and pulled the card out of his Estello's mouth, and handed it to him. His eyes widened as he had forgotten that was still in his mouth. He quickly grabbed it from her and looked at it, (Y/n) looking over his shoulder. (Y/n) was right, he had gotten his shot.
...
Back in their hideout, Estello was sitting at the table staring at the business card.
"She liked my window (Y/n). She like my window!" Estello exclaimed with excitement.
"See? I told you you would get your chance." She replied.
"I know, I know. You were right, as always." He joked, making her smile. "It's all thanks to you."
"Nah, come on. You did it with your own talent." (Y/n) said, modestly.
"So..." Horace began, wearing a leopard print cape, hat, and a pair of sunglasses. "This was the angle then?"
(Y/n) rolled her eyes and giggled at Horace's idiocy.
——————————🐾——————————