Craved By Mr. Russell

Famous Disons

MALIYAH

~~

“You’ve got to be kidding!” I squealed, losing all sense of professionalism.

I was sitting in the space I had turned into an office in my home, staring at my laptop screen as I was having a virtual meeting with Dana, a good friend of mine and a reliable co-worker.

“Have I ever joked about a beneficial business proposal?” Dana snorted, happiness radiating off her beautiful round face.

“Fair point.” I squealed again. “This is so exciting, Dana. I really can’t thank you enough.”

Dana and I have been working together for three years. She works as the social media manager of the clothing brand that I launched six years ago, after my mom’s death. I named the brand after my kids as they were the face of the brand; they have been for the past six years.

“You put in the work, Maliyah. I can’t imagine how hard it was for you to create design, source fabrics and bring your designs to life all alone… while raising two handful girls at that.” Dana praised me, reminding me of the past.

It’s been six years since my mother died. Six years and six months since Addison and Madison were born. Seven years since we lost the sibling my twins know nothing about and Seven years since my marriage failed– or more appropriately, since I was thrown out of my matrimonial home by that cheating bastard.

I failed as a wife and maybe as a daughter but one thing I didn’t fail at was raising my kids, creating Disons’ Kiddies Apparel, and making my kids famous by using them as the face of the brand.

They have been my models since they were babies and even though it’s been six years, they still are.

“I was alone for three years but you came along three years ago and made us global, Dana. You are a gem and we are lucky to have you.” I responded, praising Dana right back because she had done an amazing job with the brand’s social media accounts.

Dana waved her hands, saying, “Enough about the trip down memory lane, Maliyah. Let’s face reality.”

We both beamed at each other and shouted in unison, “WE’VE GOT A PROPOSAL FROM AN INTERCONTINENTAL BRAND!”

My scream was loud enough to attract my kids' attention. They both rushed into my home office in their pajamas and eyes as wide as the sky.

Madison, the second and sassy twin, asked with a roll of her big green eyes, “What’s going on, Mama? You almost screamed the roof down.”

Clearly, I wasn’t ready for this one to tap into her teenage sass.

I chuckled as they both moved closer to my desk, “Auntie Dana just told me that we are about to become the most sought-after clothing brand.”

“I thought we already are, Mama. The statistics are in our favor from my calculations.” Addison, the calm twin muttered calmly.

“Statistics? You mean to say no one can resist our cuteness, Addie.” Madison pointed out.

They both began to argue, completely oblivious to the fact that Dana’s face was still on my laptop screen.

“We were cute, Maddie and I agree that was how Mama was able to make huge sales when we were just babies and toddlers. Now, we are selling because Mama is a brilliant designer.” Addison argued, closing the distance between us and she hoisted herself on my lap, briefly saying hi to Dana before looking back at her sister.

Madison sighed but you can trust her to have a solid comeback, “I agree that Mama is brilliant. I was lucky to get her brain but we also can’t overlook the fact that we contributed to the success of the brand. I also disagree with the part where you said we were cute, Addie because we are still cute.”

I held back my laughter as Madison also squeezed herself into my white, high-back, Swivel chair.

Together and as if they had not been arguing, they both beamed at Dana, “Good morning, Auntie Dana.”

Dana’s facial expression had me cracking up as I wondered how the twins were still seven. They were smarter than I could have ever imagined.

“I still can’t tell who is who.” Dana laughed as she stared at the twins while my arms circled their tiny waists, pulling them closer to me. “If not for the wrinkles on your mama’s face and the height difference, I would think you guys are the same person.”

I have heard people say the twins are a splitting image of me and I loved it but didn’t hesitate to exclaim, “I don’t have wrinkles.”

Addison and Madison turned their heads to look at my face before they looked back at the screen and said to Dana at the same time, “Yeah, she doesn’t.”

We all ended up laughing hysterically but a few minutes after our jokes, we were back to discussing business.

Dana explained, “Russell Industry is a big deal in the business world and now they are looking forward to partnering with us to launch an adult clothing line. Currently, they are not in the fashion world but the President himself, Mr. Daniel Russell reached out to me on the gram and made a proposal–”

“But Mama doesn’t design for adults. We are a kiddies brand.” Addison uttered, politely cutting Dana off.

Madison supported her sister, “Yes. We can’t model adult clothes as well. We are just seven.”

Dana gave me the look that we both understood and I exhaled loudly before answering the twins, “I used to design adult’s styles before you were born and I’ve been considering going back to my old sketchbook for a while now.”

Ryder told me that I had nothing but he was wrong. I had my brain and sketches.

“Plus you guys won’t remain seven forever. You will have a chance to easily transition from little models to beautiful and grown models. You can pursue a career in that industry if you want.” I said to my twins, knowing that Madison was more worried about not being able to model.

Dana chirped in, “Also we don’t plan on scraping the kiddies brand. We are simply expanding. We can have branches all over the world and you won’t just be popular on social media. You will be global.”

“It sounds like a good proposal. Maybe Mama will finally show her face to the world if we land this deal.” Addison said, smiling at me.

“That will be so cool. She can be the model for the adult line!” Madison squeaked, getting ideas.

I shook my head, “Or we can hire professional models and employ more people to work for us.”

Dana uttered, “Well, you still have to show your face at some point, Maliyah. It’s been six years and the world doesn’t know who the famous designer is–”

“We have discussed this, Dana. I prefer to work in the shadows and–”

“Shadows or not, you will be having a physical meeting with Mr. Russell tomorrow. I sent his details to you via email–”

“A physical meeting? Why?” I asked.

Never have I ever met a client physically. The seamstress I work with knows me and we see each other every day at the office but this was new.

“Because Mr. Russell wants to see the face of the person who he might be signing a multi-million dollar deal with,” Dana answered firmly, daring me to argue.

I did just that by saying, “We’ve someone for that. George is the manager–”

“He wants to see you and the famous Disons, Maliyah. Tomorrow by noon. He won’t be in Seattle for long so don’t mess this up.” Dana countered, warning me as a friend and not my employee.

“I could fire you for putting me on this spot.” I voiced.

“You could try.” Dana laughed in my face and the twins joined her, making fun of me.

While they laughed, I dreaded the next day.

I have hidden from Ryder for seven years. I knew he was too busy with his new family to notice me; yeah, I check the news for his life from time to time, and that was because I wanted to keep the kids away from him.

I never want him to find out about them…

“Are you okay, Mama?” Madison was the first to notice the change in my mood and my baby girl touched my face softly.

I plastered a smile on my face as I also didn’t want my kids to see the broken pieces of me, “Yes, baby. Just thinking about how we will show up for the meeting.”

“If you are worried about picking an outfit, Maddie and I got you,” Addison assured me with a toothy smile before we ended the meeting with Dana.

Together, the twins dragged me to my closet and picked my dress for the next day but the next day didn’t go as planned.