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At around three o’clock that afternoon, Mariah came into the office. She brought with her two assistants who each had three garment bags with them. Nate was in a meeting, so I greeted his mother myself.
“He’ll just be another half hour,” I told her.
“It’s you I came to see,” Mariah dismissed my concerns.
“Really?”
“Well, you and him,” she amended her statement. “We have some clothes we want you to try on.”
I looked at the two assistants, uncertain whether to believe Mariah or not. “I’m not a model,” I hesitated.
“These are just samples from the first run,” Mariah explained. “We don’t need a model; we need an ordinary woman to wear them for a few days.”
“Oh,” I swallowed all the rest of my objections. “What happens after a few days?”
“You can keep them,” Mariah replied triumphantly.
One of the assistants draped her collection of garment bags over my desk. She pulled out one bag and unzipped it, allowing me to see the contents. I stepped close, delicately sliding the black plastic out of the way. Inside was a gorgeous pink and yellow dress with flowy sleeves and a layered skirt. Beneath that was a blue and white power suit with a trim belt and broad lapels.
“How many of them are there?” I asked, stunned.
“Two or three per bag,” Mariah said.
I looked up to find her watching me with a look I could only call maternal. I gave her a hug. I couldn’t help myself. It was all too much. I wasn’t sure if they actually needed someone to try on the clothes and wear them around, but I didn’t care. It was just feasible enough for me to swallow.
“How am I going to get these home?” I asked.
“We’ll take them to your car,” Mariah announced, checking with her assistants.
“Yes ma’am,” one said.
“I’ll show you where my car is.” I grabbed my keys from my desk drawer.
“Later,” Mariah scoffed.
The assistants looked uncomfortable. The bags were probably heavy, and they were forced to act as glorified porters. “It’ll just take a minute,” I lied, to get them off the hook.
“Okay,” Mariah relented. “But hurry back. And leave one of the bags here, I want to see how they look on you.”
I shuffled the bags around to leave the first one on my desk, picking up the other two and walking toward the elevator. Both assistants followed me, the first one accepting the burden back despite my protestations.
I showed them to my car, which was parked a good distance away. They didn’t ask why, and I didn’t offer. I knew they were expecting me to be parked in the garage, and that the extra few blocks were a hassle they hadn’t counted on. But I didn’t have the money to make their lives easier, and I didn’t have the balls to tell them that. So, I just kept my mouth shut and let them wonder.
Back at the office, I tried on the yellow dress first. Mariah asked me to spin around, and I felt a little bit silly. It was fun to try on new clothes, and to feel like a fashion icon. A little bit of my birthmark was visible below the dress. The neckline wasn’t what I would have chosen for myself.
Mariah either didn’t notice or was too polite to point it out. The assistants didn’t seem to care either. They promptly sat down on the couch in the waiting area and pulled out their phones. When Nate came out of his meeting, Mariah went to him, eager to show me off.
“What do you think?” Nate’s mom asked, taking her son by the hand.
“Impressive,” Nate approved.
I don’t know why his opinion mattered so much, but it did. I was pleased that he thought I was pretty. Sewing my old outfit up in the garment bag, I hung it on the coat rack in Nate’s office. I wore the yellow dress for the rest of the day, not caring what anyone thought.
Chapter 11
Nate
I straightened my cuffs, glancing at myself in the mirror. After a morning workout, followed by a shower and a shave, I was ready to go out. Friday night had been fun but the traditional rules of when to work and when to take off didn’t really apply to CEOs. I had a lunch meeting with a financial backer, someone I had to impress with my willingness to work on Saturday.
