Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20481 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 102(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 68(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20481 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 102(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 68(@300wpm)
Not wanting to waste time, I quickly go through the store, passing names of designers I barely recognize, doing my best to avoid any eye contact with the other shoppers. The last thing I need is for one of them to ask me a question I can’t answer, like what law firm my dad works at or whether I like France or Italy more.
The first thing I do is pick out ties for Mr. Crown. I try to stick with ones that are similar to what he was wearing at the office, but not identical, and nothing too outlandish as far as colors go. Each tie is 150 dollars, which absolutely blows my mind, but I remind myself of where I’m shopping and quickly move on. I have to find an outfit and get back to the office quickly.
After about ten minutes of frantic browsing, I finally settle on a red skirt that lands just above the knee and looks great with a white Gucci blouse that is somewhat adorable and somewhat royal. And so what if the skirt costs 2,000 dollars and the blouse costs 1,300? Jude said to get whatever I wanted and charge it to the company, right? I ask the girl sitting outside the dressing room if it’s all right if I wear the clothes out.
“That’s just fine.” She smiles. “They’ll help you take the tags off at the register.”
I thank her and quickly head to the shoe section to find some heels, which I find much more quickly than I found the clothes. Black Louboutin, the ones with the red bottoms like Cardi B talks about. Does that make me basic? Maybe, but again, I don’t know anything about luxury clothes (or heels), and I need to get back to the office. They cost 775 dollars, bringing the total at the register to a whopping 4,275 dollars for a single outfit.
Ah, how the other side lives.
“Could you charge this to Crown Enterprises, please?” I ask the girl at the register. “I’m Penny, Mr. Crown’s new secretary. He sent me down here and told me to ask for Claire and told me to have her call Carlos if there was a problem—”
“I’m Claire.” The girl smiles. “And that won’t be a problem.”
I breathe a sigh of relief as she leans in and uses a remote to scan the tag on my skirt and my dress. Then I hand her the box with my heels in it, she scans them, presses a few buttons on the computer, then flashes me a cute thumbs up.
“You’re good to go. Just let me remove the security tags so they don’t think you’re trying to rip us off when you step out the door.”
“Thank you!” I say as she comes around the counter with a strange-looking device in her hand, which she uses to remove both tags from my shirt and skirt.
“Would you like a bag for your old clothes?” she asks.
“That would be wonderful,” I reply as I slip into my heels. Claire hands me a Saks bag, which I can’t wait to show my roommates. I stuff my old clothes into it, thank her, and quickly head back outside and call a cab.
The ride back to the office feels much longer than the ride down to Saks, but I’m sure it’s all in my head. Even though I was sent down here by Jude, it feels wrong being away from his desk. I’m sure the last thing Mr. Crown wants is a girl who takes all day to make up her mind and complete a simple task.
I’m not as nervous the second time I make my way through the lobby to the elevator after the taxi drops me off, but I’m a different type of nervous now. Will everyone be looking at me now? Will they notice that I’ve changed? And will they know that it was because of Mr. Crown’s rules that I’m to abide by?
I thumb the button for the 75th floor. I may be standing straighter in my new heels, but I’m as anxious as ever as the elevator rises to the top of the building, and when the doors ding and I step out into the offices of Crown Enterprises, I feel as though I’m about to take part in the most important test of my life.
Are they looking at me? I think as I pass the lines of desks, doing my best to appear confident, although I am anything but. I see Carlos standing by what must be the door to the breakroom. He sees me and nods, giving me a look that must be a look of approval. I force a smile back as I turn and make my way toward Mr. Crown’s office.
There they are…those tall, daunting, monolithic doors to his office, closed as though no one is meant to enter. No one but me, his new secretary. With a deep breath, I walk straight up to them and knock. His voice booms from within.