Page 72 of Marked By Shadows

“Oh boy, talk about Johnny on the spot.” He wiped his hands off on a napkin and waited for her to fill the cup with slips of paper and hold it out. He shuffled around for a bit before choosing, then opened it and read it, “Jonah.”

“Damn!” Jonah said. “I get the hot boy. I can work with that.”

Alex’s cheeks turned pink.

Freya held out the cup for me. “Nicole,” I said after pulling my paper.

She smiled at me. Julie got Chad. And MaryAnn got Freya. That pair would be hard to beat.

“Everyone finish eating. The fabric is stacked on the table in the craft room and we’ll start exactly at seven, so no talking about costume ideas until then,” Freya said returning to her chair with a huge smile on her face.

“Good, I need more pizza,” Chad said getting up to rush back to the kitchen.

“Me too,” Alex added. His plate and the heaping mess of meat he’d put on it was gone. I was still working on mine. “You need anything?” He asked.

“Another bottle of water please?” I pointed to the dredges left in the one I had.

“Sure thing.” He vanished back into the kitchen and I went back to eating and staring at the opposite doorway looking for shadows. If the cat was there, I couldn’t see it. Maybe the whole seeing thing had been because I’d been overstressed or special circumstances.

Alex returned a few minutes later with another pizza, this one covered in more plant things than meat, peppers, olives, mushrooms, pineapple, tomato chunks and even large fresh basil leaves. He handed me a bottle of water. “Okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, finishing up my pizza.

“So simple is key you say?” Alex said. “I can’t imagine winning against a group like you. Everyone has been doing this for years.”

“I’m a bit out of practice.”

“You still make costumes all the time,” Alex said. “Just finished a few for me.”

“It’s a little different under pressure.”

“No kidding!” Alex agreed. “Look at those prizes. I’ve never seen such great stuff for a small group like this.”

“Sounds like a lot of it came from donations from the company MaryAnn is working with now. Maybe I need some sweet deals like that.”

“If you can find some quilt companies to do the same. Unless you plan on branching out to apparel fabric in the shop. Not sure where you’d put it.” Alex looked thoughtful. “Most of what you carry now are those folded bundles.”

“Fat quarter or half-yard bundles,” I said.

“Right, more terminology, anyway, can apparel fabric be done that way?”

“In a bundle? Maybe specific to a pattern. Give people the yardage and accessories to make something. I don’t know if it’s ever been done as most people order the knock-off stuff from China that falls apart after one use.” Maybe something basic like the cape. Could that be cost effective if I got a deal on the fabric?

“You’re thinking,” Alex grinned.

“You inspire me,” I admitted.

“Inspired enough to win?”

“Maybe.”

“What would you pick if you won?” He asked.

“I’m hoping for the computer software bundle,” I told him looking at the table. The design software Freya had showed me was added as a pair to the MacBook. I didn’t need the MacBook and that would be one of the first things to be chosen, but I really wanted that software. Glancing at the specs of the software and I knew I’d need the computer to make it work as my machine was too old. Which was likely why it was set as a bundle.

“I thought you’d want the sewing machine,” Alex said. “Since it’s fancy and super expensive.”

“It’s great,” I agreed. “And I’ve always wanted an embroidery machine for some of the projects I work on, but we just got the machine I’ll probably use the most. The Tula machine is more a dream toy than a useful thing to me. In reality I don’t need any of it. I do okay. I could buy any of that.”