Chapter 373: Dared Not And Must Not
"Just call me if you have anything to discuss, or I could come over to your office," Timothy said.
"The manufacturer’s team is here with three samples for each of the three design styles. For your review," Wendy said.
Noticing that he looked a little weird, Wendy looked concerned and asked, "What’s wrong? You don’t look well.
"Oh right. Didn’t you say you were going to lunch? There I was, thinking that we might not find you in your office.
"But then, since we’re just one floor apart, I thought we should still try. And, if you were out, we’d just come back later, after you’d had your lunch break."
"I don’t look well?" Timothy chuckled.
Touching his face, he shook his head and said, "Perhaps I’m just hungry. No big deal.
We’ll grab a bite to eat after we’re done with the selection."
"You should look after your health too, " Wendy commented.
Deliberately sounding concerned, she continued, "You’re not young anymore and should not be skipping meals."
Timothy heaved a sigh of relief when he heard what Wendy had just said.
He was relieved that Wendy still showed concern for him. It would appear that his decision to voluntarily apologize to her was the right one.
Otherwise, she might just bear a grudge against him for what he had done to Todd.
"OK...," Timothy said. Looking at the people standing behind Wendy, he smiled, "Let’s have a look at what you’ve got for us."
At that, the leader of the manufacturer’s team stepped forward and displayed the clothes on the desk.
The team leader picked up one sample and began, "Mr. Woods, per your instructions, we have made three samples for each of the three design styles using different fabrics and incorporating different details. This sample here was made using the best quality fabric..."
Timothy took the sample from him. Feeling the texture of the fabric, he agreed that it was excellent.
Since HG’s clothes, and especially those personally designed by Wendy, had always been targeted at the mid to high-end markets. As such, the quality of the fabric used had to be of a higher standard.
However, due to the vast difference in the quality of the mid to high-end fabric used, some clothes might not look good on the wearer even though the texture felt soft and comfortable.
On the other hand, clothes that hung well on the wearer might not have had the details incorporated according to the original design.
That was why, for most clothes, there would usually be many rounds of amendments before the final sample could be selected.
But, this time, HG did not have the luxury of time to have amendments made.
They had to select one set for immediate manufacture and go to market as soon as possible.
Timothy gave all the samples for the three sets a thorough inspection but did not look pleased.
"The manufacturer has even sent the models here. Should we ask them to come into your office?" Wendy asked.
Timothy nodded.
In the past, Wendy would have brought the models in with her wIthout first consulting Timothy.
However, after what had happened over the past few days, she had to appear to be more conscious about the consequences of her actions.
They requested the models to enter the office.
There were nine of them, all of about the same body shape and height.
With all nine samples presented by the models, they could easily assess the merits of each design.
After a close inspection of each sample, Timothy asked Wendy, "What do you think, Corinne? Which three would you pick?"
Shaking her head, Wendy replied, "Honestly speaking, I think there’s still room for improvement."
Pointing to the sample worn by one of the models, she commented, "That’s the first piece of the second series. It hangs well but, look at the finishing on the sleeve here and the collar here. I think I should amend the design copy and get the manufacturer to re-do the sample.
"And this sample. It’s made of silk and looks good on the model. But most people will not have a model’s well-proportioned figure.
"What’s worse is that clothes made of silk could end up looking like sleepwear.
"Also, the wearer must possess a certain charisma to be able to carry any clothes made of silk. Otherwise, the clothes will look tacky."
Pausing, Wendy walked over to model number eight and continued, "Of the third set, while I’m quite pleased with this one, I cant help feeling that something’s missing. Maybe I need a more thorough inspection.
"As for the other samples, none of them hung well on the models, so i would be pointless to even talk about how perfectly made they were.
"Finally, I feel that it’d be best if we had the samples re-made."
Wendy knew very well that Timothy did not have the time to send the samples back for a re-make.
He was racing against time to raise funds.
Christian needed the funds to compete with Michael in the bidding process.
Under normal circumstances, even if the second series were successfully launched on time, no distributors would pay them huge sums of money upfront.
Most distributors would first place a deposit and then pay them the outstanding amount after they had sold the clothes.
This cycle of payment would generally take more than one month.
And it was time that Christian did not have.
Wendy speculated that they would ride on her reputation and push the collection to the distributors for payment first before taking delivery of the clothes.
Of course, most distributors would not agree to such an arrangement due to the inherent risks.
But Wendy was different. In the past few years, all the clothes that she designed had sold through the roof, making her the most sought after designer that every distributor wanted to do business with.
If Timothy was really going to do as she predicted, then it would be proof that HG really did not care about what would happen to her in the future.
To them she was nothing but a profit generator.
If and when necessary, they would not hesitate to sacrifice her.
Actually Timothy was also not thrilled with the samples but he would hold his tongue and say nothing.
Because he would not give Wendy the time to make amendments to the designs.
In this instant, he said, "I think the three samples that you referred to are quite good. As for the details, we cannot expect them to be perfect.
"In regards to whether the clothes will hang well on the wearer, since our target is the mid to high-end market, we can expect the wearer to be of a certain class and therefore able to carry the clothes well."
"Erm...," Wendy appeared to be caught in a dilemma as she protested, "But, since there are flaws, shouldn’t we try to fix them first ? And revert to the original sample if the results are still unsatisfactory?"
"I’m quite happy with this one," Timothy insisted.
Patting Wendy on the shoulder, he said, "Let’s go with this one and proceed with the manufacture as soon as possible please. If possible, let’s have the first batch manufactured within ten days."
The manufacturer looked at Wendy, obviously waiting for her to give them the go ahead.
Since Timothy had already approved one of the samples and requested for the manufacturing process to be kick started, Wendy could do nothing but nod in agreement.
In the past, Wendy would have insisted on perfecting her designs.
But right now, her objective was Christian.
Since Timothy was the one who had made the decision, on her behalf, to proceed, he would be made the scapegoat in the future.
She had secretly fretted about Timothy being displeased with the samples and making her amend her designs.
Nodding, the manufacturer said, "Good. We will work overtime and ty our best to produce this. However, a ten-day turnaround is indeed challenging. I must ask for your patience in advance, in the event that we cannot meet the deadline."
"Sure," Timothy nodded, adding, "Just make sure you do your level best."
The manufacturer left after they had confirmed the necessary arrangements.
Frowning, Wendy asked Timothy, "Why were you in such a hurry to go to market with this collection?
"I got the impression that all you cared about was that the clothes should be manufactured asap, and not whether the clothes were perfectly designed and made."
Of course, Wendy knew what the reason was. She was just pretending to be puzzled and therefore had to ask Timothy.
Naturally, Timothy was unable to tell Wendy that the reason for the big rush was because Christian needed the funds to compete against Michael.
So he replied with a smile, "Any design of yours would be perfect. Honestly, I see no flaws in these samples.
"You’re probably exhausted from working too hard. And, being a perfectionist, your expectations are a tad high. That’s why you feel that the samples are not good enough.
"Besides, there can be no perfection in the world, can there?"
"Is really like as you said?" Wendy responded, putting on a display of self-doubt.
Then she continued, "Nonetheless, your sense of appraisal is much better than mine.
Perhaps it is as you said, that my expectations are too high."
"Exactly, no doubt about it. If you don’t believe me, just wait and watch the sales numbers of these clothes when they are launched," Timothy replied.
Patting her on the shoulder, he added, "Come on, let’s go eat lunch."
In fact, Timothy was not at all concerned about the sales numbers.
Designed by Wendy and produced by HG, these clothes would simply fly off the racks, despite the little flaws in the first batch.
He was confident that, with these two reputations behind them, the clothes would sell like hotcakes even before they are fully launched.
In any case, did anyone really care about quality in this day and age?
Most people only cared about the brand above everything else.
No one would wish to be left behind and be an outcast when everyone else around them was wearing a coveted brand of clothing.
Of course, the quality of their brand of clothing was also good.
That was why Timothy was not at all worried.
"I guess you’re right," Wendy nodded in agreement.
"What would like for lunch?" Timothy asked.
Looking at the time, he realized that it was almost one and suggested, "I’ll get my assistant to make the reservation right now."
"Are we eating out?" Wendy asked.
Frowning, she said, "Let’s not do that and just eat here. I want to meet with the distributor channels and give them a heads up. Since we’re planning to launch the second series of the Moonlight Collection in ten days’ time, I must make the most of the time available to me."
Timothy hesitated. Since she had a ton of follow up work to do, he was naturally not going to drag Wendy away for lunch.
Pretending to be worried about her well-being, he said, "I’m sorry that you’d have to work harder during this intense period. However, please don’t push yourself too hard if it affects your health."
Nodding, Wendy urged, "Come on then. I’m a bit rushed for time here. We must finish eating in thirty minutes otherwise I will be late for my meetings."
Walking ahead of him out of her office, Wendy said to Timothy, "Oh, before I forget.
Over the next two weeks, I expect to be shuttling between the manufacturer’s and the distributors and will be away from the office most of the time.
"If you need me for anything urgent, just call me. Otherwise, inform Zen and I will respond when I find the time to do so, OK?"
Timothy nodded instantly.
After all, it was definitely not in his interest to say that it was not OK.
Presently, Wendy was the most important person at HG.
After a simple meal at the company’s cafeteria, Wendy headed out for her meeting with the distributor partners.
In fact, she did not even go into the office at all over the next two or three days.
On his part, instead of sending her to and from HG, Todd would always ask for her location before heading there to pick her up after her meeting to send her home.
Meanwhile, far away in Lake City, Michael was also working extremely hard, preferring to spend all his time at the office even after his work was done for the day.
Because he feared going home.
At home, he would see images of Wendy everywhere around the house.
He even feared closing his eyes.
What he really wanted was to drink himself into a drunken stupor and forget about everything.
But he did not have the courage to do it and, more importantly, he cannot and must not do so.
He must not allow himself to revert to that irresponsible brat from the past, thinking only about his own suffering, and not considering the feelings and safety of others.
The time for a showdown with Christian was just around the corner. He must not drink himself into a stupor and end up in hospital.
Both Wendy and Yonina were doing their utmost in their concerted fight against Christian. If their plan got detracted because of him, he would not be able to forgive himself.
