One week later, on Monday at 9 am, Nesta stode into Brielle's Boutique wearing a fitted, ankle-length navy dress with lace sleeves. It was a comfortable yet beautiful dress that Nesta loved and she wanted to make the most of it before she couldn't wear it anymore.

"Oh! Hello, Nesta!" Brielle exclaimed, with a smile on her face.

"Hello," Nesta replied, a little unsurely. "So, um… what should I do today?"

"Oh, well maybe just make a plan for how to reorganize the shop. Tomorrow, we'll open later, so you can come early and we can fix it, okay?"

"Sure," Nesta replied as Brielle handed her a few sheets of paper and pencils with erasers.

"Also," Brielle added. "During the day, you can be at the register or help customers. It's tough because we need to go to the backroom to manage the shipments and accounts and stuff and I need to show you the current system, but we also need to be here to keep an eye on any customers…"

"Why don't you put a bell on the door, so that it jingles every time the door opens? That way we could know when customers enter or exit…" Nesta asked politely.

"Wow, what a great idea!" Brielle seemed genuinely glad for her suggestion.

Brielle entered the backroom, which was somewhat dark despite the lamp. She took out a thick volume and opened it to the middle.

"Every day, I calculate how much money the boutique made and write it down here. I also catalog which items were most popular so that I can decide how much to restock. I try to use these factors," Brielle pointed to a row which contained words like 'mean' and 'taxable' and 'revenue' and 'Q1' and many other terms Nesta had knew absolutely nothing about, "to attempt to determine the perfect market price for our products, using the basics of supply-and-demand. I also usually divide up the profit into these categories," Brielle pointed at a spreadsheet on the next page, which had headings like 'long-term savings' and 'rent' and 'personal profit', "I'll obviously add one for you."

Nesta blinked. As much as she hated to admit it, Nesta wasn't the best with numbers. She had taken basic mathematics and knew how to manage the complexities of trading (as she had been preparing to one day become a merchant like her father) but knew very little about accounting and such. She did know how to save money, like her father had taught her when she was younger: by making a budget for her eating and shopping and rent and having short-term savings, long-term savings, and very long-term savings. She did not know much more than that. Her schooling had ended when she was fairly young (although later than her sisters) and she did not own books on economics. Even if she had, she would not have sought them out after her father's merchant business failed and she was consumed by her rage towards her father's inability and unwillingness to provide for them.

So as Brielle smiled and said, "If you have any suggestions about this side of the business as well, I'd be happy to change a few things. I was actually wondering whether you feel that it's a more accurate representation of our customer's demand if we use this method," Brielle opened a page at the front of the book containing complex calculations and showed it to Nesta, "or this one?" Brielle turned a few pages and pointed at a huge jumble of letters and numbers that formed some kind of formula .

A few seconds passed in silence and Nesta realized that Brielle was expecting an answer. Her head swimming in numbers and calculations, Nesta sighed. Swallowing her pride to be upfront with the female who was technically her boss, Nesta said, "I don't know much about accounting… Is it alright if I leave that to you?"

"Of course!" Brielle took it in stride. "I'm sorry, I just love this side of things so much… Actually, I think we'll be a perfect pair to run this place!"

Brielle checked her watch. "Oh, by the Cauldron, it's already 9:28!" She rushed out of the backroom, Nesta following closely behind.

"For today, I'll mainly run the register," Brielle said. "You can do whatever, just walk around the boutique can get to know where things are if customers ask you or if they seem confused. If you can come up with some ideas for a different organisation, that'd be great."

Nesta smiled. Well, she didn't exactly smile, but she was smiling on the inside. She couldn't believe how much freedom she had. Nesta loved this kind of work, which allowed her to be creative in a way that had a real purpose and application and she loved to work in this kind of field. In truth, all of the jobs Nesta had had, which, to be fair, were only two, had not been ones she'd liked. Work at the cafe had been mind-numbing. While working at a bookshop was something Nesta had thought would be more appealing to her, her role had not involved any kind of reading or curating or use of her intellect; it had simply been hauling and sorting alphabetically. This new job allowed her to explore her own capabilities. It wasn't something that anyone could do. It seemed to hold the promise that she could help it grow, and in return, it would help her grow, too. Perhaps she'd even learn some accounting over time.

It's only temporary, Nesta reminded herself. But perhaps being hopeful was an inevitable side-effect of pregnancy. The life growing inside her was pure hope, with unblemished dreams and potential, carrying the whisper of days filled with joy and laughter that would lay ahead.

Time passed fairly quickly and before she knew it the day was coming to an end. She'd spent most of her time walking through the boutique, taking notes on the current location of different products and drawing different ideas on how to reorganize and group items in the boutique. Customers had entered from time to time and some of them had bought things. Nesta had a few different ideas and she'd occasionally walked over to the counter where Brielle sat and asked a few questions such as whether new shelves could be bought or whether there were certain items she preferred to display for the branding of the boutique.

The last customer had left and as the clock struck 4:30, Brielle had changed the sign at the front of the store to display the word 'CLOSED'.

Brielle walked over to Nesta.

"So, how much time do you think it'll take to reorganize the boutique?"

"Well…" Nesta showed Brielle the layout plan she had made of the current organization and the one she hoped to achieve. "I'd say we could get most of it done within, say, three hours."

Brielle nodded.

Nesta added, "How long do you think it will take to get this shelf and this display table?"

Brielle looked at her watch. "The carpenter usually keeps his place open till around 5:30. I'll swing by tonight and see if he has anything that we want ready-made. If he does, we could get it delivered tomorrow. If he doesn't have it, we'll have to wait about a week for him to custom-make it."

"I wrote down the range of dimensions that could work for the furniture," Nesta said, handing Brielle a sheet of paper.

"Great! Nesta, it's only your first day and you've already been such a huge help," Brielle praised. Then she glanced at her watch again. "Okay, we can close up now since I don't want the carpenter to leave, but um… oh," Brielle ran a hand over her face. "I completely forgot about the bell you suggested… That shop is already closed and won't be open till noon tomorrow… not to mention we also have to set up a display table and a schedule," she muttered in a low voice that made it unclear whether she was talking to Nesta or herself. "You know what, let's just dedicate tomorrow to setting up and reorganising. We can make the new and improved boutique debut on wednesday. Are you okay with that?"

Nesta expressed her agreement to Brielle's new plan. In truth, she felt that while setting up in 3 hours and adding displays and bells and such later on was possible, it was better to start fresh on a new day to make a bigger impact on customers.

They quickly cleaned the boutique and locked up. "See you tomorrow!" Brielle smiled and walked off rapidly, presumably to go to the carpenter.

Nesta waved. As she walked home, she felt extremely satisfied. Her ideas were going to be implemented! Her first day at work had been a success! Brielle valued her! (Customers hadn't recognized her and no one from the Inner Circle had visited her!)

That night, for the first time since she'd found out she was pregnant, Nesta shut her eyes feeling content and calm. Her mind did not wander to the panic or insecurity or worry she felt when thinking how she was going to tell Cassian, how she was going to raise the baby or what she needed to buy to prepare. Instead, she fell asleep with the soft whisper of a smile on her lips.

AN:

I hope you liked this chapter!

Thank you for reading! Don't forget to review, follow, and favorite!

I read every comment, and try to take into account every suggestion (unless i've already written a chapter).

This is the last chapter that I wrote before starting to post this fanfic, so I now really need advice and motivation and stuff to help me continue.

Thanks!