AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ah,” Lainey responded dejectedly, dropping the turtleneck from her grip onto the floor. “I didn’t even think of that. My shoulders are unprofessional?”
“Yes.”
“That’s sexist.”
“Is it? Could you see his shoulders?”
“No, but I would support his right to show them to me. A workplace should focus on office morale, not the existence of or lack of shoulder skin showing.”
Jill pressed her lips together and nodded as if Lainey were explaining gravity to her. “Mmm, mhm, good point. So, Lainey Girl, would you buy a car from a man wearing a tank top?”
“Maybe,” Lainey responded jokingly. Jill just stared at her pointedly.
“Okay, would you let a man with a tank top on . . . what does Mr. Arnault do again?”
“He develops medical devices.”
“Would you let a man with a tank top on sell you a medical device he just developed?”
“I’d insist a man selling me a medical device he just developed wear a tank top.” Jill raised her eyebrows. “No, I know. I just didn’t think about it,” she finally admitted forlornly.
Jill motioned for her to follow as she led her into her room and started removing clothes from her closet and holding them up against Lainey. “Lainey, it’s going to be okay. You know what this is called?”
“What?”
“Growing pains.”
“I’m not twelve.”
“Biggest lie adults ever got away with is telling kids you stop growing. So, he told you your outfit was unprofessional. So what? I’m sure you were great the rest of the day. You gotta take the good with the bad.”
“Actually, he didn’t say a kind word to me all day. He was sort of rude. I was, like, four minutes late because of work on the road, and I parked in the guest parking lot. He sort of chewed me out.”
Jill looked up from examining a silky, burnt orange button up. “He was rude to you?”
“Kinda!” Lainey tucked one foot against her leg in a tree pose. “He brought me into his office and said all kinds of stuff about how he thought I’d know better than how I acted and dressed. It was humiliating.”
“Who is this guy?”
“Only, like, the leading biomedical engineer right now.”
“What does that even mean? Leading for what? For who? In America or . . . ?”
“I don’t know. I just said it, and I didn’t expect you to ask any follow-up questions,” Lainey admitted. “He’s just very successful, okay? It’s very rare for someone to become an actual billionaire doing what he does.”
“Is it? Seems like something I’d expect people to get rich doing, America being a hellhole where healthcare is a capitalist venture and all.” Jill scoffed.
“Rich, sure, but it’s very rare for anyone to become a billionaire. Plus, it’s a niche market. Most people become billionaires by making something that a celebrity can advertise on Instagram. He can’t exactly do that with medical equipment. And he’s paying for me to go back to school, and I just want him to feel confident in his choice to do that.”
“Wait, what? You didn’t tell me that part.”
“I told you about it when I came home from lunch, remember? You were working on that painting?”
“When I’m creating, I’m not present. You know that.”
Lainey rolled her eyes. She knew Jill was kidding, but she also knew Jill was only half kidding.
“Can I see him?”
