Creativenonfiction #111 ~` She Dropped The Bombshell And It Hurt.
“There is no friendship in business”, I have heard this statement time and time again. Even though I knew better now, there was a time that I thought I could make an exception for a friend of mine.
Back then, I had a friend whom I used to make clothes for. I figured since we were friends, I didn't have to charge her as I do my other customers. Sometimes I do see some for free.
I also do some things for her that I don't normally do for others. For instance, I help her make a lot of amendments to her clothes. Most times whenever she sees a leftover material that I had used to make a cloth, she would tell me to help her add it to her clothes even though she doesn't pay me for it. I admit that I enabled her which made what she did to me hurt me deeply.
Sometimes when she visits me, she goes through my phone gallery for any new clothing styles that she would like me to sew for her. One day, she was checking my gallery as usual and came across the cloth I wore for my engagement. She quickly talked about how much she loved the attire and asked that I would be making the same for her for her upcoming engagement ceremony but I would be adding a little alterations to hers.
On the day we went shopping for her engagement, I took her to a shop where she would get beautiful fabrics at affordable prices. We also bought other things before heading home.
Then, about two days later, I called her to know when she would get the fabric to me so I could begin work immediately. I should have suspected foul play when she said she needed to show her fiancé the cloth and her aunt also said something about praying over the cloth. I knew her to be very religious so I believed her.
After some weeks, I asked her for the fabric and she told me she would send it to me soon. Since she assured me I am still the one who would help her make the dress, I decided to get all the materials needed to make the dress with my own money since I believed I would get it back when she pays me.
About ten days to her engagement ceremony, I knew something was up when she still came up with excuses.
“I don't want to do a last minute job for you”, I told her when we were chatting on the phone. “I want to take my time to make the dress well, especially the beading part of it”, I explained to her so she would know I needed to start immediately.
“I will get it to you in two days time, I promise”, she gave me her final assurance.
After dropping the call, I decided to start working on some parts I wouldn't be needing the fabric for just yet. Since I have her measurements, I drafted some parts and started working on them. Hoping that when she finally brings the fabric, it would be easier for me to finish up on time.
The two days she promised came and that was when she dropped the bombshell.
“I'm sorry rukkie, I didn't know how to tell you”, she said to me when I received her call very early in the morning.
“I don't understand, what are you talking about?”, I asked as it seemed I was hearing things. Then she told me she had given the fabric to another fashion designer a friend of hers recommended to her.
I blamed myself for everything. Why didn't I make things professional?She hasn't even paid me a dime, so why did I start working on what I haven't been paid?
“Wow! I can't believe you did that and didn't inform me on time”, I told her and she kept saying she was sorry. After ending the call, I began to blame myself for getting all the materials even for cutting out of it. I decided since I wouldn't be using it for her,I would keep the ones remaining and use it for another customer who might need it.
It only hurt me that I had used some part of the materials which would no longer be useful since I am not sewing her dress. I learned through her actions that going forward, I would wait to get paid before I start cutting any fabric for anyone.
A day before her engagement, I called her to ask if there was anything I could help her with in terms of the preparations and she told me a friend of hers was with her and they got everything under control.
On the day of her engagement, I got there and saw her dress was very beautiful. The only thing I noticed was that the dress was a bit big on her which could only mean the fashion designer didn't get her correct measurements as she(my friend) couldn't even bring herself to get the correct measurements from me.
I could see she was not very comfortable dancing in the fabric and I helped her secure it well with some pins.
About a week after her engagement ceremony, she came to visit me and she thanked me for attending and for helping out. Then I saw her bring out the dress from her bag and asked me to help her fit it to her size.
I told her I can't make any changes to the dress, that it would be best if she took it back to the person who made the dress for her. That was when she started telling me all that happened.
From her story, a friend of hers told her that the fashion designer is very good at her job, that all that was needed was to send her measurements and when the designer sees her picture, she would make a perfect dress for her that she wouldn't even need to go for fittings.
I would not totally blame the fashion designer who made her dress because she told me that her friend took her measurements and sent them to the designer. That was probably why the dress was big on her.
When I asked why she didn't return the dress for proper fitting, her response was that according to her friend, the designer doesn't have time to amend clothes.
“Oh that was why you remembered me?”I asked her, looking directly into her eyes.
“Of course not, I was coming to thank you for attending, so I decided to bring the dress so you could help me since you already have the materials”. I couldn't believe the audacity for her to tell me to use the materials I got without being paid to help her amend the dress.
“Well, I am sorry, the materials I got will be used for clients who want to make a dress from scratch”, I told her point blank.
She was surprised when I told her I wouldn't do it. She left afterwards when she saw that I wouldn't budge.
She kept her distance from me since that day and I couldn't care less.
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
This is one reason why business should not be mixed with anything else.... I'm happy you didn't allow her take advantage of you the second time
I am also very glad. Thank you for reading.
Welcome
She only remembered you because she needed you. It can be hard to sometimes understand certain actions especially from people we weren't expecting them from. It's a pity that there are others who would've appreciated your gesture, but she's spoiled the chances of those other people.
It's sad but I learned my lessons. Thank you for stopping by.
There are many cases like this, people who like to take advantage of friendship and profit from it. We don't need people like that in our lives because they don't bring us anything good and their feelings are not sincere.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Excellent day.
You are right, people like that are not worth having around. I'm glad I didn't give her any more chance to continue to take advantage.
Thank you for reading.
Hmm, this friend of yours did not try at all. She could have opened up from the scratch and let you in on her plans without all the merry go round.
Exactly. That would have saved me a lot of time, money and effort. Anyways, it's her loss.
Thank you for coming around.
Yes I agree. It was her loss indeed