Xavier wasn't sure when he'd started noticing her.
The woman in the deep emerald green satin dress had been there for a while now, moving quietly through the crowd. She didn't call for attention, but somehow, people turned to look all the same. There was something about the way the dress glided around her legs, how it caught the light softly as she walked.
He told himself it was just the kind of thing anyone would notice. That's what Tobi would have said too, if he'd realized how often Xavier's gaze had wandered in her direction.
At first, Xavier thought it was just the normal pull of curiosity. When everyone else looks, you look too. Nothing more.
But then he kept looking.
There was something about the way she touched her hair, the small, absent-minded movements she made, the way she lightly adjusted the sleeves like she wasn't used to the way they felt on her skin.
It stirred something in the back of his mind.
Tobi caught him, of course. "You're looking again."
Xavier didn't even bother to defend himself. He just smirked faintly, eyes still trailing her from where he sat.
"She's beautiful, I'll give you that," Tobi added, leaning against the table. "Is it her you're really watching? Or are you just following where everyone else is staring?"
"I don't know," Xavier murmured, though his attention hadn't drifted yet. "She just looks… familiar."
"Familiar?" Tobi raised a brow, instantly intrigued. "From where?"
"I can't place it." Xavier frowned, running through the past few weeks in his head, flipping through casual meetings, familiar faces.
The woman moved again, reaching for a drink. The light brushed her skin, her hair framing her face just right. There was something about her hands, the way she lightly smoothed the fabric, how she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear with the smallest, unthinking gesture.
It clicked.
The shop.
The wedding dress.
Amara.
His tailor.
It hit him so suddenly, he almost laughed at himself.
Of course. He'd seen her before.
But not like this.
This wasn't the same Amara he knew—the one who worked quietly, hands always busy with stitches and fabrics, never raising her voice, never staying longer in a conversation than she had to.
This version of her looked nothing like the girl who had measured him for his suit with barely a glance his way. She didn't fade into the background now. She stood out.
Tobi noticed his silence. "You know her, don't you?"
"She's… she's the tailor."
Tobi stared at him, then shook his head in disbelief. "Wait, that's your tailor?"
Xavier nodded slowly, still watching her.
"Man, you didn't tell me she was fine like that."
Xavier allowed a small laugh. "I didn't know."
Tobi's grin widened. "You sure you're not going to talk to her?"
"No. She's probably here with friends. I just… I didn't recognize her."
"Well, you're recognizing her now," Tobi teased. "You've been sneaking glances since she walked in."
Xavier shook his head, more amused than flustered. "It's nothing."
"Right," Tobi smirked, clearly not believing him.
Xavier turned his attention back to the drink in his hand, but his thoughts stayed with her.
Not because he was attracted—at least, that's what he told himself—but because she had shifted from someone he thought he understood to someone entirely new.
She was still just the tailor.
But now, she wasn't invisible.