Boss Agreement

In the clothing store

As Stephanie passed Xavier's cubicle, she was surprised not to see him there. She scanned over the other cubicles where other assistants were working, smiling at them as she tried to find the face she so desperately needed to locate.

"It can't be. This is the last thing I need. Xavier disappears just when I need to go clothes shopping!" she thought.

"I'm looking for the guy who sits here, Xavier," Stephanie said, looking like a crazy person who had stood up, with nothing else to do, to look over the heads of the assistants.

"He's in a meeting with his boss," replied the girl sitting next to Xavier, whom Stephanie had only just noticed. "I don't think he'll be back soon."

After thanking her for the information and asking for directions to the Administrative Law area, where Xavier was assigned, Stephanie saw with horror that Xavier was in the meeting room and didn't seem to be leaving soon. She didn't know what to do because he was the one who had...

"No, I have it. I think I didn't return it. Please, dear God, let me not have returned it. I beg you," she thought.

Stephanie checked the pockets of her jacket, tiny holes where her fingers barely fit, and when she thought she was out of luck, she felt it. She pulled out the miraculous plastic that was about to save her life and brought it to her lips. She kissed the credit card as if she were in love with the image of the Greek - or Roman - god printed in the center.

Stephanie would have wanted to tell Xavier that she was leaving, that she had his card, and that she would use it, as they had agreed, and that she would only buy one suit, nothing more. But unless she wanted to embarrass herself in front of everyone and make Xavier feel ashamed, she would have to leave in silence and trust that he would understand when she returned the credit card.

After grabbing her bag and making sure she had the card in her wallet, Stephanie left the office and took the elevator that took her down sixty floors. She left the building and, following Mary's directions and her good memory, arrived on the street where the warehouses met, like a commercial runway, with some of the best international women's clothing brands. She would have loved to be accompanied by Anny at that moment, but although she considered calling her, her friend would take time to arrive, and by the time she did, she would have to be climbing the seventy floors that separated her from the room where they would meet with Michael's clients.

Determined to make her purchase as quickly as possible and not be distracted by looking at suits, dresses, outfits, blouses, shirts, pants, handbags, accessories, jackets, coats, and everything else that was exposed to her view at that moment - and all so divine - Stephanie entered the first store without even checking what clothing brand it sold.

"Do you need a suit, miss?" the assistant asked after seeing Stephanie browsing the suits for a few seconds.

"Yes, thank you. I'm looking for something executive, you know, for work."

"Lawyer?" the assistant asked with a smile.

Stephanie nodded and was surprised that her profession was so easy to guess.

"We have these beautiful suits that will not only make you look very feminine but also very professional and even empowered," said the assistant as she showed Stephanie the suit that a mannequin was wearing. When she saw it, Stephanie couldn't love it more. It was perfect, just as the girl described it. Although it was dark blue, it matched perfectly with a pink blouse that gave her not only femininity but also color and elegance.

"I love it," said Stephanie as she tried to see the price on the tag. When she saw it, she almost felt like running out of the store. "Damn, with that money, you could feed an entire country for a year."

"Would you like to try it on?" asked the assistant without losing her beautiful and perfect smile.

"Do you have something else, perhaps..." said Stephanie, horrified, as she saw Michael, her boss, about to enter the same place. "I mean, yes, I want to try it on right now."

The assistant was perplexed for a moment, but with what seemed to be a sure sale, with a very juicy commission, she took the suit off the mannequin in less than a second, and by the time Michael entered the store, Stephanie was already inside the counter.

It was silly, and she knew it, but the last thing she wanted at that moment was to be seen with her boss in the store, while she was buying the clothes he had forced her to buy. In the safety of the counter, she heard Michael's voice, who had come to buy clothes, surely for the woman he had been talking to before.

"How long does he think he's going to stay?" Stephanie wondered as she took off her clothes to try on the pink shirt set. She did it slowly, buying time so that, hopefully, Michael would leave before she came out of the fitting room, but when she was already wearing the outfit and had seen it a couple of times, Michael was still in the store and didn't seem to be leaving soon because he couldn't decide between one dress or another.

"Why don't you just pick anything and leave! He's worse than a teenager!" Stephanie thought to herself.

Convinced that Michael wasn't going to leave soon, and after the second time the assistant had come in to ask if she had already tried on the outfit, Stephanie decided to come out. Time was passing, and the outfit, though divine, was too expensive for her to afford. She had to choose another, cheaper one.

"I love it, but I'm afraid I can't take it," Stephanie said as she handed the outfit back to the assistant, who couldn't hide her disappointment after waiting almost half an hour for Stephanie to come out of the fitting room.

"Is that you?" Michael asked when his gaze met Stephanie's, who, for a moment, thought he wouldn't see her or wouldn't recognize her.

"Mr. Hanks," said Stephanie, pretending she hadn't seen Michael before. "What a surprise."

"Does it surprise you to see me in a women's fashion store?"

"It was just an expression, why does he have to take it literally?"

"No, sir. It's just that..."

"That outfit must look great on you," said Michael, not waiting for Stephanie to finish answering him. "Why don't you try it on?"

Surprised, Stephanie looked at the outfit that she was handing back to the assistant, who, suspecting Michael's intentions, regained hope of making a good sale.

"Well, actually, I already tried it on and didn't like it," said Stephanie.

"But what are you saying, young lady? That outfit should look great on you. Come on, go back in that dressing room and try on the dress."

Stephanie felt more embarrassed than she had in the morning.

"That's why I didn't want him to see me," she said to herself as she timidly smiled and went back into the fitting room. "Now he's going to want me to model this outfit. How embarrassing! Why does this always happen to me?"

Stephanie didn't take long and, after sighing, opened the dressing room door. She felt insecure, despite having confirmed, with the mirror, that the outfit looked great on her, emphasized her silhouette, accentuated the curves of her body, and even gave the impression that her bust had gone up a size, but she still felt embarrassed and the last thing she wanted was for Michael, her boss, to ask her to model the dress.

"It looks great on you, miss, I'm serious," said the assistant.

When Stephanie looked up, she saw Michael's face, who, rather than looking at her, was admiring her and even got the impression that her boss had lost control of his lips and was staring at her without being able to close his mouth.

"Isn't she looking very good, sir?" asked the assistant.

Stephanie looked at Michael and waited for her boss to respond.