Page 61 of The Titan and the Trainer

“I flipped the business to making high-quality fabric facemasks, which we sold online. A friend helped me with an e-commerce plug-in for my website, and we turned our focus.”

“Wow,” Julian said. “That is really impressive.”

“We survived; many other businesses didn’t. We still did our usual couture work, but with greatly reduced volumes. The face masks kept my team employed, so they weren’t struggling to survive on basic government furlough, and I kept the business afloat.”

Julian raised his glass to her, and she raised hers. “To Sophia, well done for surviving in tough times.” Callum joined them, clinking his own glass. He smiled, but immediately, worry returned, thinking about his ailing business.

“Now we need to sort out The Iron Works and get Cal and Jack back on track,” Sophia said. Callum kicked her under the table, making eyes at her. Why oh why did she have to bring it up right now?

“Yeah, thanks for dragging that up, Soph!” he said.

“Oh, sorry… I didn’t realise it was a taboo topic,” Sophia replied, now worried she’d spoken out of turn.

“It’s something Julian and I have been talking about, Soph, but we’ve more to discuss on it.” He looked at Julian as he said it.

“He’s told me all about their asshole landlord. I’m sure he just wants them out, which is why he’s making life so difficult. I bet he’s got a real estate deal in his back pocket. It’s all very underhanded. I’ve got my team doing a bit of digging on Mr Cott. Callum and I are going to talk once we know a bit more.” He looked to Callum, putting a reassuring hand on his knee. He could see Callum wasn’t happy this had come up, and knew those same feelings of failure were probably gnawing at him.

“Let me see if I can sort us some more drinks,” Julian said to change the subject, looking for their waiter. He was summoned, and they moved to other topics.

When Callum excused himself to use the bathroom, Sophia instantly leant in. “Shit, I’m sorry if I’ve caused an issue there, Julian, bringing up The Iron Works. I mean, I know Jack’s giving him a hard time, but I didn’t realise it was such an emotive topic for him.” She genuinely regretted even mentioning it. That was very clear to Julian.

“Don’t worry, Sophia, he’s just a bit touchy about it. He knows I’m desperate to get involved, but I need more information, and I have to tread carefully on this.”

“Yes, so it seems,” she added, thoughtfully.

Callum returned, and they enjoyed social time. They were all relaxed, fed and watered.

“We should get the bill,” Sophia said.

“Oh, there’s no bill,” Julian confirmed. “This goes on my account. I have a retainer with the restaurant.”

“Wow, thanks, Julian. That’s very kind of you,” Sophia added.

They left the restaurant and Callum did wonder whether they truly were going to stroll, but he hadn’t seen Julian texting Markus. When they reached ground level, Sophia planted herself in the midst of them both, linked arms and they strolled in the direction of 37th Street.

The city was busy with a mixture of tourists and locals. It was another unusually warm day with clear, bright blue skies.

When they reached the store, Julian was intrigued by the name. Between them, they explained the apartment-sharing story. Sophia gave them the guided tour. Her team were all working today and there were no clients present, so she was able to show Julian everything. Her team were similarly interested in the handsome, tall guy being shown around the store.

Julian was fascinated by her designs, commenting that they were works of art, not just sketches. Sophia loved this, eyes bright and happy as she took him through some of the designs she was currently working on. Julian was particularly interested in an unusual suit design, with an upturned collar and bright inner lining.

“Wow, I love this,” he said, picking up the sketch and admiring it closely. “Could you make me something like this?”

Sophia looked at him intently. “Are you serious?”

“Hell yes. I love this design,” he quickly added.

“Wow, yes. I’d love to dress you,” Sophia added, eyeing up his figure.

Callum looked on, amusement in his eyes. Seeing his best friend and his boyfriend so excited, talking ideas and getting along so well was a huge relief.

Sophia transitioned into full designer mode, and within minutes she was sketching ideas, pulling out fabric samples and talking design concepts.

Callum popped to Starbucks for coffees for them, and as it was a Saturday, it was rammed. By the time he returned, they had already fleshed out two different design ideas. Julian was blown away by Sophia’s talent; she knew he was happy to pay for bespoke designs; and Callum was just glad they had finally met, and all was well.

The final task before they left was to get Julian’s measurements. He was wearing dark charcoal formal trousers and a tight-fitting camel wool sweater with a thin white T-shirt underneath. He stepped up to the podium and removed his sweater, handing it to Callum. Sophia had summoned her assistant Rolando over to assist with the measurements. Callum had encountered Rolando previously. A nice enough young lad, but very gay, and a bit too camp for Callum’s liking.

Rolando was in big gay heaven now and sped across the room, eager to get closer to Julian. He had his tape measure out in an instant, hands-on with Julian, a little too much for Callum’s liking, capturing his vital statistics. Rolando called out measurements as Sophia noted them on the new client form. There was some double-checking of numbers when it came to Julian’s upper arms, shoulders and thighs, Sophia not quite believing the figures Rolando was calling out.