The Essence of Perfection by Nita Brooks

Author:Nita Brooks [Brooks, Nita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2020-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

The conversation with Quinn hung over Nicola like a thick cloud the next day. She couldn’t focus and went back and forth with herself. Quinn was her sister. She knew Quinn was smart, and more capable than most people realized. If anyone knew how smart and intuitive Quinn was, it was Nicola. The only reason Quinn didn’t know how much she influenced the company was due to a fuzzy, next day memory, provided by a hangover.

Nicola couldn’t think about that now without regret fogging her brain. She needed to get lost in something. Making Desiree’s perfume was not going to help clear her mind. Desiree’s agent had emailed that Nicola was “on the right track” with the latest samples. Back to the drawing board. The only problem was that Nicola didn’t know what other colors to draw with.

She ruled out staying in the lab, being mad she couldn’t think of anything, or going home and drinking wine with the hope alcohol would inspire something. She could look at her list of things to do when she finally had time for a life, but that would only create a sick knot in her stomach as she relived the embarrassment of having her list read on television. So, she opted for something else. Free creative time at the pottery studio.

Fran mentioned the free time after the first class. Sunday, Monday, and Friday, for a few hours when Damien wasn’t working, students could come in and work on their pottery. She needed a creative outlet. Since her ability to make the perfect perfume was stunted at the moment, she could at least put her hands in clay and hope something came of it.

She arrived at the studio, grabbed an apron, and settled in at one of the corner tables. There were only two other students from the class taking advantage of free studio time. A sister pair who’d been very excited about making their own bowls and vases for family members. She wasn’t surprised they took advantage of free studio.

Nicola spoke to them briefly, but mostly she wanted to do something with her hands. She decided to practice the braided bowl technique Fran had shown them in the last class. Something that was relatively simple but still required focus. Eventually her mind cleared as she rolled the clay in to long thin strips, braided the strips together, then layered the braids on top of each other to make a bowl. Once that was done, she felt creative, and used a scalpel and cut leaf shapes to go around the edge.

She sensed Damien as soon as he entered the studio and wasn’t surprised when he came to watch her work. She’d had a feeling he would come talk to her. She liked what he smelled like. That familiar mix of clay and mint with his own cedar undertones. She’d be able to recognize him in a room of a thousand people.

He didn’t speak when she looked up at him. He studied her bowl. Nicola had been so into making it, she’d been meticulous with her work.

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