Capturing Destiny
Chapter Sixteen
Waiting
It did not take me long to get settled in Philadelphia, I transferred what funds I had into banks within the city and easily bought myself a small house on the outskirts of town. I began carefully investing my money in the stock market, each day it rained I would collect a newspaper from the young boy at the end of the street and go sit outside the derelict building.
Two months later they tore the building down and began work on the new one.
After nearly twenty years of searching it was a relief not to be moving any more. I spent my days, when I could, wandering the various shopping districts, learning as much as I could about dressmaking, the process of design. I spent a month deciding on my first Hermes scarf, and then went back the next day to buy another twelve. But the war meant that there was simply not time or the desire that brought out new designers, I went back to making my own. In 1942 I bought another home on the opposite side of the city and moved over there, my daily commute was longer but it meant nothing to me, time was loosing it's meaning in an entirely new way. I continued to travel to the building every day, even when the building work stopped as more and more men left to fight, either in Europe or Asia, soon the city seemed to be filled with women working every job imaginable, in an attempt to assimilate a got a job at a weapons factory, it was horrible and I left as soon as the first accident happened. I could not risk my cover.
Eventually the war ended, men returned in droves, many of them badly injured. Work began on the building again in late 1945 and it was finished by 1946, I watched in fascination as a family moved in to the ground floor and began working on the cafe at the front of the house.
The day it opened was clouded and I eagerly skipped in as they opened at 6am. I carried a bag of books with me and ordered a warm, fruity drink and sat by the counter waiting.
The next day I went back, and the next, and the next, the next day it was sunny.
I developed a routine, every day it was overcast I sat in the cafe, from opening till close ordering warms drinks and food which I had to surreptitiously hide, the owners soon became used to me. When it was sunny I stayed indoors, making clothes, reading up on design, trying out different fabrics, anything to keep my mind busy. At night I would explore the city, I read thousands of books, explored museums, art galleries, immersed myself in the beauty that humanity to create when it was not focussed on killing one another. But still I grew frustrated, I did not know how long I had to wait and I did not want to run out of time, eventually the owners would notice that I was not aging as I should.
In 1947 Christian Dior's first collection came out; suddenly there was colour and style everywhere. I bought a yellow dress, ordered from Paris from the show and began wearing it on days when I went to the cafe but still there was nothing. The Polaroid camera was invented and I couldn't help but wonder if I would show up in the pictures.
1948 dawned bright and new, the promise of longer days, flowers and new collections kept me going.
January melted into February with melted into March, suddenly it was Easter and the weather became better again. There were several days when I could not go outside at all.
April 23rd 1948
I gazed at the date on my calendar, as the sun began to rise and slowly began gathering my sewing stuff; I was running out of time. I had been living in West Chester for five years and people were beginning to notice me more, I heard the women comment to one another that I still didn't look at day over 18. As I made my way down the street I picked up a property paper, planning on flicking through it when I got settled in at the diner. The day was slow to start with, a couple of business came in for their usual coffees but left quickly. I was always extra vigilant when they had daisies on the table.
I kept my eyes on the paper, scanning through the various ads for somewhere suitable, while trying to drown out the many distractions.
A man came in and ordered breakfast for eight and then carried them all out piled one on top of the other.
A woman with a baby rang the buzzer for one of the flats above and I heard her shuffle up the stairs, carrying the buggy under one arm and child under the other.
An elderly couple came in and sat at the table across from me.
The pit-pattering of rain began on the roof above me, spitting lightly on the front windows.
The baby above me started to cry.
The door opened, I was not looking.
A/N: Okay, we've reached that time, there is only one chapter left so leave me some love and hopefully I should have it out by tomorrow for you, got the majority of it done but think I wanna pad it out with some fluffiness. Let me know if you have any ideas/requests for their first meeting. Thanks for all the suppport guys!
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