Chapter Text
As a small-time artist that had recently graduated, John Mactavish was not expecting a neatly folded letter addressed to him, and especially not with the logo of an obscure company. The mysterious job offer became the sole thought plaguing Johnny for the coming days.
The letter had cordially invited him to a meeting:
Mr. Mactavish,
141 Modeling is looking to offer you the full-time position of lead collection designer. On behalf of 141 Modeling, John Price and Kate Laswell have arranged a meeting regarding this position on Tuesday, April 6th, 2024. On various anecdotal and professional accounts, we consider you one of the best candidates for this position. There will be more details at the 141 Modeling office for you to debate on this offer.
Many considerations,
141 Modeling
Fancy letter, fancy packaging, and a familiar name.
John Price.
It wasn’t too long since he had last heard of the man — Price was a beloved professor for many in his “Fashion as Design” and “Fashion Systems” courses. To Johnny, Price was a close mentor, and he’d gratefully consider every ounce of critique at every opportunity he could get. Price was, by far, his favorite professor and when he announced that he made plans to quit teaching, Johnny was devastated — more than any of his peers that day. He thought of Price’s plans on the off-days, but he had never expected something like this.
After many thorough readings of the letter and flipping it back and forth to check for any extra information, Johnny set it down, processing the fact that his professor had reached out to him with a job offer. Sure, he’d made various concepts of clothing lines many times as assignments before, but for his professor to ask him to join a brand new company ? Someone he truly looked up to?
I’ll have to thank him. He was being genuine about my designs.
An interview requires a portfolio, so Johnny spent the following week picking out his best designs. All functional art statements, — not just one or the other. He wanted to come in with a bang. Carefully stenciling the sketchbook drawings onto a larger sheet with sample fabric clippings took chunks out of his day, but capturing the emotion of the concepts were of utmost importance. Every detail within each piece of clothing was carefully transferred into the compilation of ideas that he had over the course of his college years and up until just a few days ago.
Time ticked at an unusually slow pace. He got his portfolio to a nearly completed state, yet his excitement waited for nothing. Waking up the next day only to find that the interview was still days away pained his heart.
Would it hurt to just show up at their office for an early meeting? Surely they wouldn’t be too busy… It’s a small company.
An all too frequent thought. It was tempting, so tempting, to just get up and out of the house and march right into Price’s office for the interview before accepting the job on the spot. Out of the sake of professionalism, Johnny forced himself to not visit and to wait until the official date arrived.
His portfolio was neatly packaged and a small rundown of each of his beloved designs was prepared if any questions were asked. Best to be over prepared than under — this is a job interview, it doesn’t matter if he knows one of his future higher-ups.
Johnny pulled up the address on a GPS, finding the route to the office familiar. He eventually passed by the coffee shop he frequented, especially on rainy days for the atmosphere. The office itself was placed obscurely in between the quiet end of the street and between the older shops, and he remembered the soft atmosphere from the sunlight as he strolled through the area.
Thoughts wandered as to how Price had the time to set this office up, hell, how long he’d been planning this. The receptionist blankly greeted Johnny, “Mr. Price is waiting for you just upstairs.”
He nodded at her, muttering a quiet “thanks” before shuffling up the stairs with his designs. Perhaps it was the detail-obsessed part of his brain, but everything about the office felt like it was made with genuine love and care — miniature nature murals sprawling across the walls and refurbished, deep umber brown, wood steps.
The door to Price’s office was already open, faint voices chasing down the hall as Johnny took a step closer to his first job. Staring at the door, he was hit with a sense of awe. This was real. He’d finally get the opportunity to collaborate on a project made with unbridled passion.
Within the hall, he heard faint chatter, and someone stepped out into the hall. Johnny met the other’s eyes, and a cheerful voice greeted him.
“Johnny! It’s really you!” The soft timber of the man’s voice was instantly recognizable and upon another once-over of him, Johnny ran up to him and hugged him.
“ Kyle ? I haven’t seen ye since college!” He let go of him, the two standing in the hall together, “How come you’re here? Didn’t you major in communications?”
Kyle shrugged, “This is just part time for a bit, and I got curious about the fliers around. Plus the pay is good .” He started for the office at the end of the hallway, ushering Johnny along with him, “I heard from Mr. Price that you were his student just up until a couple months ago. You should take the job, I’d love to wear your designs.”
Johnny flushed with a tinge of embarrassment, “Och, Kyle, ye flatter me. They’re good, but I could do better. Jus’... most of them I couldnae let go,” He hesitated in front of the office door, “They’re not quite practical. All jus’ things I doodled in between classes.”
“Nah, don’t say that! You graduated, and obviously they have to be good, right? I’ll wear whatever it is you have planned,” Kyle opened the door for Johnny, waving him off, “I can even test them out, if you’d like. It’s nice seeing you around again, mate. Hope to see more of you here.”
He nodded at Kyle, watching the door shut behind him as he finally stepped into the office of a familiar face.
“Professor?” Habits.
Price turned to face Johnny, “Mactavish! You got my letter!” He went around, pulling a chair for him, “Sit. I’m so glad you decided to come.” He smiled at the recognition of the man standing across his desk, offering a handshake to him. Johnny took the offer, hesitantly pulling back after a couple seconds.
Johnny placed his portfolio against the desk, sweat slowly pooling on his hands as the reality of his situation started to hit. His professor was standing in front of him and was the interviewer for a job that he was offered by letter.
“Professor— Er, Mr. Price… Would you be looking for my portfolio? Or is there something else you’d like to talk about?”
Price shook his head, motioning for Johnny to not fret, “No, not at all Mactavish! Like the letter said, this is an offer. I wouldn’t even consider this an official interview in the first place!” He smiled warmly at Johnny, “I’m offering you a guaranteed position here. Not long ago, you were showing off your designs, and even graduated at the top of your class soon after.”
Johnny flustered, hands dripping wet as he tried to maintain composure, “Ach, that’s just plain flattery, isn’t it? I don’t want to take someone else’s position just because you favor me…” It felt like nepotism, something quite rampant among his classmates — they weren’t bad people, but he’d never liked the idea of favoritism and buying his way to the top.
“It’s nothing like that. Trust me, not many people are applying in the first place, and my boss likes your work. I still have some of the designs you gave me.”
Oh… Professor didn’t… he didn’t, did he?
He chuckled, the fluster on his face growing, “Mr. Price… Are ye really sure? I could just… accept right now? ”
“Yes. You could, and I’ve actually already got a request for you.” Price opened and shut a couple of drawers, eventually handing a worn manilla folder over to him, “If you do accept now, I have your first assignment. This company needs a signature branding to it. First impressions hit the hardest, so I’m hoping to leave it up to you for a clothing collection,” Price paused, gauging for changes in Johnny’s expression as he opened the folder, “I’ve talked it over with Laswell — my boss and business partner — she agreed to let you have full creative lead on this.”
Johnny flipped through the folder, printed out photos of outfits pulled from Pinterest, compiled as various beautifully crafted moodboards. The differences between each concept were drastic , ranging from pastel cyberpunk, steampunk, to casual wear.
As he finished looking through the concepts, Price rambled on with an explanation, “I tried thinking of a good style to stick with, but nothing really clicked. I’d say subdued colors should be the main thing to focus on, along with large and small silhouettes — nothing in between. Other than that, I want your genuine designs.” He gestured for Johnny to take the folder when it was pushed back, “Please, I want you to have some inspiration.”
Johnny looked back up at Price, “When’s the deadline?”
“Give it a month. Glad you’re on board, Mactavish.”
A sharp relay of knocks on the office door was cut short as Johnny opened the door, before being greeted by a man well over a foot of his height. Skull-print mask, black hoodie, character-themed chains that were smoothly integrated into his outfit, and a whole aesthetic akin to techwear and dark cyberpunk; the man contrasted with the soft browns and reds of the office, yet he fit right in.
Johnny knew he had been staring too long when he was pushed aside and the office door shut behind him, leaving him alone with his thoughts in the sunlit hallway. He started for the stairs, sliding his portfolio over his shoulder. Maybe frequenting the office after coffee would get his gears turning.
Back downstairs, Johnny got the idea to explore the rest of the place with Kyle after another brief run-in at the lobby. They exchanged their college stories for a while as they walked.
“I actually almost got caught hauling that clay out the back entrance a couple days before your birthday. You were bitching about not having enough for days,” Kyle rolled his eyes at the memory, “But it was worth it.”
Johnny poked at him with an obnoxious grin, “‘Cause I made that clay come back to you as a Keroppi chess set. Yer the one that kept asking to play with me, ye eejit!”
“And you didn’t refuse.”
Johnny shook his head.
Kyle scoffed at him, “Excuse me, remind me who kept placing that chess set on my desk every time you came over?”
“You probably misplaced it.” Johnny did in fact, put it there on purpose.
Just wanted to get some use out of it… I liked it.
“Keep telling yourself that. Anyways, I still have it nicely shelved in my room.”
“Ah, I’m glad. I actually made some extras for myself, especially the king pieces.”
“We could play some time if you wanna see the set again.” The pair eventually found themselves standing idly in front of a studio room, the placard on it reading “John MacTavish”.
Johnny stared at the placard for a couple seconds, re-reading it over and over, “How long has that been there?”
“A couple of months.”
He nodded, making a mental note to later ask Mr. Price how long this had been planned for. He opened the door to the spacious studio, the sunlight flooding the hallway. Mannequins greeted him — at the ready for fresh concepts — sewing materials neatly organized in glass cabinets, and a desk facing the windows. Johnny set his portfolio down at the desk, strolling through the room, opening every cabinet and tracing his fingers in the designs chiseled into the wall. Framed concepts filled one side of the room, and the familiarity of them brought him over for closer inspection. The messy strokes, colors, and shape language — they were his . Concepts that were turned in as assignments had come back to him as fond decoration.
Johnny inspected every detail of his new studio, finding himself enamored with the gentle care and personalization that went into this singular room. The pops of pastel colors eased him into the immersion of the room, following the designs on the walls to a door labeled “Photo Room.”
“What’s this?” He finally turned over to glance at Kyle for an answer as he opened the decorative door into a dark abyss.
Kyle stood over Johnny’s shoulder, peering into the same darkness, “Price said it’s where we’ll actually be doing the modeling photoshoots. Though we haven’t used it quite yet.”
The lights flickered on, greeting the pair with props and unopened boxes laid around the center of the room.
“Looks more like a storage room to me.” Johnny shut the lights off, returning back to his studio and leaned up against the desk, “Oh right, Kyle. Before I forget, are you the only model here?”
“Nah. But there’s only two: me and Simon.”
“Simon?”
Kyle nodded, “Yeah. You might’ve seen him in the halls or something. Unlike me, he works full-time here.”
Johnny spaced out, mindlessly tapping his fingers against the desk, “Does he normally wear skull-themed masks? Dirty blonde hair?”
“That’s him. What’s got you asking about him?”
He shook his head, “Nothing. Just a bit curious about who I’m gonna be working with.”
The rest of the day shifted into mindless chatter and childhood reminiscing between Kyle and Johnny, before making plans to hang outside of work some other time. When Kyle eventually went home, Johnny stayed behind to create collection concepts. The clock ticked away as he filled endless scraps of paper with silhouettes. Brief notes tacked onto the corner of the pages for materials and miscellaneous thoughts left him ecstatic for the chance of others wearing his designs. His best friend wearing his outfits, and… a complete stranger.
Simon.
The name spun in Johnny’s mind, the mystery man that even Kyle seemed to know. Who was he? Why did he have such a good fashion sense? Why was he so pretty?
Johnny glanced down at the previously blank paper, seeing the result of his mindless doodling staring right back at him. Simon’s messy hair and the skull-print mask in detail along with the jewelry. He would’ve gotten a closer look at them, but the man seemed busy as is.
Perhaps another day.