A fictional Sage story — Part I
For months, the young woman had spoken about Paris as though arriving there would settle something.
She was going to learn handbag design. Back in Grenada, she had filled notebooks with shapes, handles and colours. In the margins she had written the names of places she hoped to visit. LaRue & Cie appeared more than once.
The boutique made Le Portique, the bag she had studied until she could picture its proportions without looking. She wanted to understand how something could seem so effortless and still hold its shape.
Six weeks, she told herself. Six weeks close to that kind of work.
When she finally stood outside LaRue & Cie, she took a photograph before going in. She wanted proof that the distance between her notebook and the shop door had closed.
Inside, a clerk watched her look at the bags. He noticed how long she studied one seam and asked whether she made things herself.
She said she was learning. Then she talked about how long she had wanted to come.
He listened kindly. Near the counter, a small notice read AIDE REQUISE. Help wanted. She glanced at it, but her attention returned to Le Portique.
She came back several times. The clerk remembered her. She photographed details when permitted, attended her lessons and posted about the city. People at home told her she was living her dream.
There were moments when she could have asked more. Who could explain the work behind the counter? What skills might make her useful in a boutique? Could a short stay include a paid role, or an introduction to someone willing to speak about the trade? What arrangements would such work require?
Each question carried the possibility of an answer she might not like. Admiring the finished bag was easier.
By her final week, she knew her way to the boutique without checking a map. She knew where the light fell across the display in the afternoon. She still did not know what the notice might have meant for her.
She had travelled a long way to get close to the work.
Now she was beginning to wonder whether closeness was enough.
We will return to her story next Saturday. For now, the question reaches beyond Paris: when an opportunity puts you near the thing you want, how will you use the time?