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“They will be expecting you this afternoon.”
Unable to say anything, she nodded and quickly took the card from him. She left the office, mortified and returned to her little apartment. She looked down at the card and recognized the name on it as one of the expensive clothing stores in the Galleria mall. She’d walked past the store many times, and each time her wallet had started bleeding by only looking through the window.
She sighed, because she knew she wouldn’t be able to afford anything in that shop, at least not until her first paycheck. And even with her new salary, she would’ve preferred to spend it on her mountain of debt. She knew she had no other choice but to buy new clothes, and Mr. Seavey had been clear to go to that specific store. She sighed again, more frustrated, knowing she had to use her credit card that she’d just managed to pay off three months ago.
She tried to forget about the upcoming waste of money and she buried herself in work. She redid everyone’s schedules and started on the request lists. Some clients or staff wanted to speak to both or either Seavey brother, which she noted on the list. It seemed though that Silas wasn’t requested at all. He seemed to be playing a passive role, which made her job much easier.
By lunchtime Gwen had finished everything, and even had a small lunch while studying more of their property listings. She quickly changed from her flats into her pumps and printed out the new schedule and lists for Mr. Seavey. With shaking hands, she opened the door to the main house and knocked on his office door before carefully pushing it open.
Mr. Seavey seemed as if he hadn’t moved all morning. He was still sitting at his desk with the same posture, staring at his screen.
“Ms. Moore.”
She stepped closer and handed him his new schedules and the meeting request lists. “I’ve updated your preferences on the schedule and have made you a list of clients needing to talk to you and a staff list with meeting requests. Some of the people on the lists would like a meeting with you and Mr. Seavey.” She paused as that sounded weird since he was also Mr. Seavey. “With your brother I mean, and some don’t have a preference for either of you. I’ll schedule the meetings as soon as I know with whom and how.”
He gave her a quick nod with the usual serious expression on his face.
“Is there anything else you would like me to do before leaving?”
“No, Ms. Moore.”
“If anything does come up, I’ll have my phone with me.”
He seemed unimpressed, and she quickly left the office again. She never had trouble reading people and had always gotten along with all her bosses very well, but with Mr. Seavey, she had no idea what to think. With her inability to read him, she didn’t know how well she was doing–or how bad–which left her clueless how she could improve.
She went back to her apartment to grab her bag and both her phones before leaving. Halfway down the driveway she regretted her decision to wear her pumps. The whole drive was uncomfortable, but luckily without much traffic it wasn’t too long.
After a long hunt for a parking spot, she made her way to the store that Mr. Seavey referred her to. As she was walking towards its entrance, she felt totally out of place. It seemed much fancier and much more expensive than she’d remembered–the total opposite of what she usually shopped in. The stores she felt most comfortable in were thrift stores like the one on Long Point Road. They had a wide selection and were affordable for someone like her. She took a deep breath and swallowed down her insecurities before entering.
The second she stepped foot in the store, a woman who appeared to be in her thirties came closer with a bright, welcoming smile. “Ms. Moore, Mr. Seavey told us to expect you this afternoon.”
Gwen awkwardly smiled unsure how to answer.
The woman closed the distance between the two of them and reached for Gwen’s bag. “What would you like to drink? Champagne?”
Gwen quickly shook her head. “No thank you, I’m driving.”
“A glass of sparkling water then?”
Gwen nodded, taken aback by the fact that someone would offer her champagne while shopping. That seemed like something that only happened in movies.The woman led Gwen to the back of the store and to a couch.
“My name is Alexandra and I’ll make sure you find everything you are looking for today. Mr. Seavey already told us what you’re looking for and he wanted me to remind you that everything you choose will be taken care of by him.”
“He did?”
Alexandra nodded and Gwen started blushing, a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. Alexandra handed Gwen a glass of water and motioned her to sit down.
“Ms. Moore, do you prefer skirts or pants?”
“I don’t mind either.”
“Very well,” Alexandra said. She dashed away and started collecting outfits from all over the store.
Gwen spent the rest of the afternoon changing outfits and choosing what she liked and disliked, while Alexandra pampered her with compliments and overly priced clothing. Gwen wanted to stop after four outfits, but Alexandra insisted on continuing. After Gwen finally decided on seven outfits, she made it clear to Alexandra that she was done. Gwen didn’t want to overspend on someone else’s budget and with all the price tags she’d seen and added up, this would clearly be more than her monthly salary. The last thing Gwen wanted to do was anger Mr. Seavey by overspending.
By the time Gwen left the store and drove off, it was already darkening outside. During this time in the evening, traffic was the worst, with rush hour at its peak. It took Gwen close to two hours to get to the Seavey property. She parked the car in front of her little apartment and got out. As she looked up, she saw lights on the second floor, while the first floor was completely dark. She unlocked her door and carried her bags inside.
She carefully hung up the clothes and heated up some leftovers from her lunch to have for dinner. She sat on the floor in front of the coffee table and turned on her Surface. With her dinner in her lap, she started going through more emails that had arrived throughout the afternoon.
