Falling for My Playboy Boss

The Deal

Chapter 8

Cora’s POV

  “Yes, it has been a busy week and I am sorry I haven’t kept you up with how it went. I am not sure that I will be keeping my current job. Collin can be a real piece of work, and he is not the nice guy that you think he is, Iris. I promised Catherine that I would tough it out until her training is done at the end of three weeks, so I have two more weeks to go, but I was going to tell you what I was doing on Sunday, at brunch. I just happened to tell Livi tonight as I was talking to her on the way home on the bus”. I told her and hope she isn’t completely furious with me for not telling her who I was working for.

  “I cannot believe that you are working for Collin Lauder, you are the luckiest b***h in the world,” Iris tells me and lays her head on the tabletop to try to calm down. I can see by her red face that she is really worked up and is just trying to calm back down. I see her head pop back up and the wheels start working. “Cora, you are going to have to get your hair done tomorrow or Sunday, and I don’t know if Franco can work you in that quickly. Let me call him and tell him what is up, either that or you will have to get it done next Friday night or Saturday morning, but that will be right before the afternoon show, and that would be cutting it way too close. Let me call him quickly right now, we have to get this on the books now”, Iris tells me and then runs off to go make the phone calls.

  “She is right, the show is next week starting at 2 pm and you will need to be here by noon to get your hair and makeup done, and to try on your clothes and make sure that they fit you well. Please wear a flesh-colored, strapless, underwire bra as I haven’t decided exactly what I will be designing for you, and some seamless underwear so you don’t show any panty lines. Go ahead and come over here so I can take your measurements and get them noted and then we can discuss what you would feel most comfortable about modeling, but I am sure you will say pants suits, maybe one pants suit, but wearing pants and a jacket can be boring. I see you in a nice pencil skirt with a small slit on either side, instead of the back. It will still be very modest and cover you, but at the same time be flirty and confident, you have great legs, and you should show them off. How do you feel about rompers, a dressy one for work and into the evening? Maybe one with a diagonal neckline. You could wear a jacket with it in the office and lose the jacket to go out at night. I love this idea, and you could show it working on the runway. From the workplace to a club or dinner. How do you feel about dresses? Do you have an evening dress? Every woman should have an evening dress in their wardrobe. I will make that be one of the pieces for you. Either this week or next week, honey, no later than a month from now. As his PA, you will eventually be in the limelight and will need it, so that will be one of your pieces. Do you want to suggest color, or let me choose the style and color for you? You have great measurements just like I knew you would. You are 36-26-36, “Mateo spoke the whole time he measured me, and I didn’t even answer half the questions. I just shook my head, yes or no, when I had an opinion, but I am really overwhelmed. Mateo started speaking again after he noted my sizes on his clipboard. “What size shoes do you wear? I have my own shoe line and I need to know what size shoe you wear so they will be ready as well for you next week”.

  “I am size 9, I am not super tall, but I am 5’9” and a half, so I have kind of big feet,” I told him.

  “Your foot doesn’t look big at all. It is totally proportionate to your body. I know you are doubtful about modeling for me, but I have been wanting to do this clothing line for curvier women since I started 2 years ago. I am just starting to make some headway and I want all women to know that their body is beautiful and that I want to design something that they will love and for them to feel beautiful and confident in. These days, I feel like people are shamed into covering up their curves, especially plus-sized women. I want people to know, no matter what size you are, that you are beautiful, right now, in your own skin. If they get nothing else from my designs, as long as they get that, I will be wonderfully happy. Women don’t have to be all the same size as if cut from the same cookie-cutter. We all need to celebrate our differences, as well as how we’re the same”, Mateo said.

  “So, I don’t need to bring shoes with me?” I asked.

   “No, you don’t, the shoes are an extension of the clothing, my designs are like art. I want them to be colorful and beautiful pieces to wear out in the office, or club, or restaurant, or even walking down the street. When people see them, they need to draw out emotion from them when they see the clothing. I want my clothes to elicit a response from them, good or bad. We all have our favorite painters, musical artists. I am the same. Some will love me, some will hate me, but it will elicit a response from everyone. That is what I want to do with my clothes”, Mateo tells me, and I have never heard anyone speak so passionately about their job before. Mateo impresses me increasingly more as I get to know him better.

  “ OK, I got with Franco, he said that he could get you in tomorrow at 7 pm, that is when his salon closes, and he will get you done after hours. As this will be the first time that you are getting your hair really done, and you don’t know him and might be afraid to be there alone with him, Olivia and I could go with you to see how your hair turns out. I am really excited to see what he does to your hair. Not that it isn’t beautiful, but you have never had anything really done to it, just the split ends cut off of it. I think that you will look best with long layers, Cora. Mateo, Olivia, what do you think of Cora getting long layers? Iris asked them.

  They are all now looking at me and studying my hair for a few minutes.

  “I think the long layers will be best with some highlights added as well. But tell Franco to do what he believes is the best route to go. Just as you would come to me to find a fabulous outfit, you would go to Franco to make your hair a masterpiece as well.

  “Please take these as a bonus for agreeing to model and work with me, Cora. I am OK telling anyone who asks that your name is Shea, to protect your identity. I know how everyone ends up with truly little privacy these days as it is. I don’t know if it will even come up, but you are Shae from now on unless we are all alone and then I will call you by your name. You never know you could end up a famous model by showing my clothes”, Mateo tells me and gives me a side hug.

  “Thank you for giving me this chance to make a trade with me modeling for clothing. You make such beautiful outfits and whatever I can do to help promote you, I will. You are getting me out of a bind with my clothing problems and I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for the haircut too. I already feel spoiled rotten. I will do my best to make you proud next weekend”, thanked Mateo and told Iris good night, and gave her a hug too. Olivia and I exit the warehouse and I hang my new outfits on the hooks in the back seat.

  “Thank you for thinking of me for this modeling job, Livi. You have solved a problem for me that I had no way of solving for myself. I really appreciate it, you are a great friend”, I told her.

  “Well, I tried honey, but I will tell you all joking aside, that you don’t need to worry about walking in on your boss again. I am sure that Catherine told him what was up when he spoke with her. You also said that his friends Nicholas Caldwell and Dalton Fossett also came in to visit him. I have heard of Nicolas, and he is a great lawyer, so the yelling you heard coming from his office before you left was probably Nicolas telling him what a freaking moron that he is, and to tighten up before he gets sued. So don’t be surprised if he doesn’t have a little “dessert” at the office anymore. He couldn’t afford the lawsuit that would come with it, and his stocks would take a hard nosedive. Finance is a fickle market and it is all about perception in a lot of cases. Even though it is his business, it is clearly s****l harassment, and you shouldn’t have been privy to what you saw at work”. Livi tells me as we head back to my house.

  "See you tomorrow. I can drive us into Manhattan to go see Franco. I, for one, am also super excited to see what he does to your hair as well. You are already beautiful, with a totally bare face. Next week when you are on the runway, you are going to be stunning. I am absolutely positive of that”, Livi tells me as she stops the car to let me out. I will see you tomorrow at 630. It is only 10 minutes away, but you know how traffic is. We can maybe have dinner afterward or something”, Livi tells me before she drives away.   

  I unlocked the door and entered the house. It was only a little after 10 pm, but I already knew that my parents were in bed. So, I locked the door back and set the alarm. I know my mom sleeps lightly so I call out to her softly as I pass their door that I am home, as I head to my room.  

  I lay the clothing down on my bed and unzip each bag and look at the beautiful clothing. He knew to give me beautiful and tasteful pieces to wear to the office, and I cannot wait for next week as I have a dress, a black pencil skirt, and black dress pants, a black jacket that will go with the skirt and the pants and three new shirts. The shirts are as soft as butter, and I am sure that they are silk and need to be dry cleaned. I will ask Iris tomorrow. With what I already have, I can mix and match for two weeks now and I love each one of them. I tried each one of them on and they all fit me very well, to my surprise. Every single piece fits me as if he had already designed them for me. He picked them out before he even measured me. My impression of Mateo grows again, this time into the stratosphere, and I realize just how blessed I am. I have some beautiful pieces already, and after the show next Saturday, I will have even more pieces. I hang everything up in my closet and realize that it isn’t even half full. Working this modeling job for a little while will really help me, my closet, and my pocketbook out. I have already decided that if he wants me for more modeling gigs, I will surely be taking the clothing as p*****t for however long he wants to work with me. I went to bed and lay down, smiling at the ceiling. I may have had a really tough week, but my friends and Catherine made up for it. I turn onto my side and fall asleep quickly.