I finally understand why people sell their soul to the devil. It would be tempting—sotempting—if I could just wipe that superior look on his face. And kick his ass.
“I need to go to a meeting, but you’ll get this done with Josephine,” he says.
“I have work to do too!” I protest.
“This is part of your work. I expect a memo on it.”
Then he’s out the door, leaving me with a personal shopper holding his shiny black AmEx.
I turn to her. “This really isn’t necessary.”
“Yes, it is, because now it’s my job. Besides, you heard the man. You’re going to getpaid to shop!” She winks.
“He didn’t mean it.”He only said that to put me in a bad situation later.
“He seemed pretty sincere, and you have a witness if there’s ever a question.” Josephine loops her arm around mine. “I’d be ecstatic if I had a boss who paid me to go shopping.”
“Your jobisshopping.”
“True. I love working for myself.” She smiles. “And Iloveto shop. Don’t you?”
I say nothing, since I don’t want to crap on her enthusiasm. Shopping isn’t fun if you’re on a tight budget. It’s morale-killing to find a pretty dress and shoes, only to realize you can’t afford them.
“Do you know what the best kind of shopping is?” she asks, obviously having sensed my not-so-sunny mood.
“When you get to do it with your boss’s blessing during business hours?”
She laughs. “No, although that isn’t bad. Thebestis when somebody else is paying for everything.” She flashes the black AmEx. “The sky’s the limit!”
But that’s the problem. I don’t want a sky-limit spree because it’s going to come with a destructive caveat or two. The naïve girl who got excited over gorgeous dresses that made her feel like a fairytale princess is dead and gone. Grant knows that—he killed her—which is why he hasn’t bothered to stay here and do the things he did back then—like look at me like I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen, or place a necklace around my neck, brushing his fingers on my bare flesh and making me tremble.
That moment is never going to come back. All the sweetness and trust that existed between us is forever shattered. But, of course, it wasn’t real to begin with—it only existed in my imagination.
But it isn’t Josephine’s fault that I can’t enjoy this. So I try to go along with her excitement. After all, she’s just doing her job.
“Want something to drink? We have Dom, which is amazing.”
“No, thank you. I have to go back to the office. But I’ll take some water if that’s okay.”
“Flat or sparkling?”
“Flat.”
A clerk brings out a bottle of water for me. I take a sip, wishing it was one of Satoshi’s or Zack’s dirty martinis.
“So what are we looking at here?” she asks. “It didn’t sound like he’s taking you on a date.”
I almost choke on the water. “We don’t have that kind of relationship.” I cough to clear my throat.
“No need to be shocked. You’d be amazed how many bosses date their employees,” she says. “So. Office clothes?”
“Office clothes.” Grant emphasized that how I look reflects on him, and we’re only together at work.
“No problem. Let’s start with ten sets.”
“Ten?” I repeat numbly. “Why do I need that many?”
“How else are you going to look fabulous? You’ll be able to mix and match what I pick out for you, which should stretch your outfit options to twenty. That way you won’t look like you’re wearing the same thing all the time. But you need a minimum number of items to work with to be able to do that successfully. It’s obvious that he wants you to look the part.”
