Inside the restaurant, both Grace and Allegra ordered the house-made lemongrass soda and “fat rice” to share. Allegra also ordered some chili prawns to take back to Sina because that was her favorite thing to order at Fat Rice. As soon as the waiter left them alone, Allegra reached into her tote and pulled out a tissue-wrapped object she handed it across the table to Grace.

“What’s this?” Grace asked, already smiling.

“Just a small token of my appreciation,” Allegra said. “Thanks for coming out in the snow.”

After hanging up with Grace, Allegra had gone to the sample room in the office basement to look for something she could bring her. One of her design assistants had been playing around with some lovely burnt-orange suede and had created a retr...

Please subscribe to keep reading.