the belle of the ball & her Prince Charming
Lan’s dark eyes widened as the aged silk in her hands ripped. She cursed under her breath, then quickly went about repairing the fabric. It wasn’t her first time with a fragile sample, nor was it the first time that she had to secretly fix a mistake that she'd made. At least it doesn't look bad--
& then the bell above the front door rang, announcing the arrival of a new customer. Lan & those working in the back (her second cousin, her cousin's wife & Lan's mother) all froze, listening. If Lan's cousin greeted the customer in Mandarin, they'd go back to work. But if Lan's cousin said a quiet "Hello", too quiet to be heard from the back room, Lan was supposed to go into the main room & wait on the customer. They all knew from experience that most of their clientele were Europeans who only spoke English, plus some other Romance language. & unfortunately, some of those people looked down on immigrants. So, the Mu family brought out their English-fluent employee.
Lan didn't hear anything, so she dropped what she was holding, smoothed down her hair & rushed out to help, forgetting that she'd gone barefoot. (What was the point of wearing shoes when sitting inside?)
@etdraconis