It was just after noon, and after a long, arduous morning of nitpicking, Katrine was done getting her shop set up for a new release. Giving her body a good stretch to loosen her tense muscles, she allowed her body to relax a bit.

While waiting for the crowd outside to grow, she noticed that across the street from hers, Virgil was beginning to move mannequins out in front of his store. Seeing this, her heart stopped, struck by realization of what was happening. Yet again. Her eyes caught his, but she quickly cast them away, looking down at the ground, unwilling to allow him to see her sorrow.

Why do I even bother hoping for my own day to release a new collection? It’s never happened before, and it probably will never happen at this rate. Maybe I should stop hoping that it will.

Sighing, Virgil was feeling overwhelmed with guilt. He should have remembered that today was Katrine’s for releasing new items. But he had forgotten in his excitement of receiving his new shipment early. So he decided to go support Katrine as she made her announcement.

As she stood at the apex of the crowd, he watched as she surveyed the crowd and noticed him. ”Greetings everyone, I hope you’re excited because I’ve got a great news for you all! Today’s the day I unveil a new collection, the Sukeban set to be exact. It’s a cute and adorable set, with plenty of flair. So come and get yours today! And after you’ve finished shopping here at Eclectic Trends, head on over to both Threads and the Salon as I believe they both have new collections available as well.” As he heard Katrine give his and Ellysia’s shops a mention, to say he was shocked was an understatement. Yet all the same, he felt as if a dam had broken up within him as the guilt he had been feeling increased tenfold.

There has to be something I can do to make up for stealing Katrine’s thunder today. But what? Hm, perhaps Lesallia, Ellysia or one of the others can think of something...

Ellysia had finished setting up her store for the release of her new hairstyles early last night, but she knew Katrine had new things she wanted to release. So she decided to keep quiet about her new hairstyles.

Glancing out the window, she noticed as Virgil was making his way to her shop. Drumming her fingers on the counter, she waited for him to enter. The moment he did so, she asked, “Hello, Virgil. What can I help you with?”

He took a deep, ragged breath as he let out, ”I need your help, Ellysia. I feel terrible for interfering with Katrine’s release, but I have no clue what to do to make it up to her. I know you, Lesallia, and Arryn have all done the same, so I was thinking we could all work together on it. Only problem is, I have no clue what we can do.”

”We’ll think of something, Virgil. It’ll just take time,” she replied, looking out her window, once more, toward Katrine and her shop. “And it’ll be great.”