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Kara
The nicest hotelroom in Basel, Switzerland, has a view of the Rhine River, a tastefully decorated sitting room with Louis XV furniture, and a minibar.
A minibar that my friend and client, Clara, just told me to avail myself of.
“Bea?” I call toward the en suite bathroom, where my other friend is unpacking toiletries.
“Yeah?”
“Clara said to help ourselves to the bar.” I open the mini-fridge and peer in. Someone has removed and replaced some of the tiny bottles of liquor with full-sized champagne bottles. I pull out the first one and hold it up. “Do we want to open the expensive bottle of champagne?” I reach for the next one and read the label. “The really expensive bottle of champagne? Or...” I set the two condensing bottles on the wet bar counter and pull out the third. “The really,reallyexpensive bottle of champagne?”
Bea emerges from the bedroom and looks at the bottles before raising an eyebrow at me. “Nice try, but you are out of order.” She reorders the three bottles. “Least to most,” she says, pointing.
“My question still stands.”
She points to the middle one. “This is Clara’s favorite. Nash took her to the Champagne region last year for a tasting, and that was the winner.” Clara’s boyfriend is constantly taking her on amazing foodie trips. Even though I’ve known him longer than I’ve known Clara, there was never any spark between us, so I can be super happy for the two of them and only a smidge jealous because I want that with someone one day.
“Can you taste the difference between two brands of bubbly?”
“Nope.”
I pluck up the least expensive bottle. Bea grabs glasses, and soon, we’ve got two flutes of sparkling gold liquid in hand and are toasting each other.
“To the best clients in the world,” I say, raising my glass.
“To the best boss in the world,” Bea returns. We clink and sip, both of us letting out a sigh.
Sure, this isn’tourhotel suite, but we’re getting to enjoy it. Clara’s boyfriend, Nash, is Bea’s boss and my client. The two of them are attending a gala tonight. We’re here to help them—Bea to handle them during the event and me to get them ready for it.
I’ve been a personal stylist for Nash for years, ever since his career at Heartly, a social media company based on an algorithm that promotes positive vibes, took off and put him in the spotlight. He’s brilliant, but like most utterly brilliant men, he was clueless in the style department.
Enter me, Kara Dobreva, stylist extraordinaire.
When we first started working together, it was a wardrobe refresh—or, well, a wardrobecreationbecause I advised him to get rid of most of his stuff—and event-based styling. When Bea came on as his assistant, we quickly became friends. She is the one I work with to choose attire appropriate for his schedule, coordinate appointments for manicures, waxes, and fittings, and keep up with the latest trends, especially when he’s attending a public event with photographers.
Like this gala tonight. It’s for some charity with a mission I can’t recall, but Nash and Clara’s outfits hang in the bedroom's closet, pressed and fitted. My hair and makeup kits are in the bathroom, and the only things missing are Clara and Nash.
“What time do they get here again?” I ask.
Bea grins. “Are you wondering how long we have this suite to ourselves? They’ll be here in about an hour and a half.”
I slump onto the couch in the sitting room next to Bea. “This is the life. Can you believe we’re getting paid to be here?”
Bea laughs and crosses her legs, resting an elbow on the back of the couch. She’s already dressed for the event in all black, designed to fade into the background while Nash networks and, one hopes, has a good time. We both sip, and then Bea asks, “What are your Christmas plans? Headed back home, right?”
“Well, tomorrow I have the fitting day with Peter before he goes to observe Hanukkah with his family. So, I won’t be leaving as early as the rest of you.” Instead, I’ll be spending the morning having Peter try on clothes I’ve purchased for him as his personal shopper.
“Oh, right. You’ve been working with Peter since February?”
Peter is Heartly’s European equivalent of Nash. They’re both programmers who have advanced to management, although the office in Zurich that Peter works at is much smaller than their New York office.
“Yeah. We did two virtual wardrobe edits, where I cleared out a ton of his stuff, organized outfits, and ordered new clothes. This will be the first time we’ll work together in person.”
Bea squints. “Do you enjoy working with him? Any time I talk to him on the phone, it’s very . . .”
“Grunty?” I supply.
