Falling for My Playboy Boss

Cora meets Mateo

Chapter 7

Cora’s POV

  I always love a surprise, but I got a big one about 15 minutes later. Olivia had made some calls to Iris, and then to Mateo, who was Iris’ boss after I got off the phone with her on the bus. I had never met him before, but I knew that he was supposed to be an up-and-coming clothing designer. I had never seen his work. He was at the starting end, where he had talent and a following, but needed to get his work into view of the people who could get him higher up the food chain. Iris sometimes wears a shirt, or a pair of pants, from his collection, and I love how they look, but right now, I can’t afford to buy anything. Next year when I don’t have so much on me, I will be sure to get some pieces for myself.

  We enter the side door of a warehouse and enter a world that is a burst of colors with a lot of people yelling back and forth at each other. I am looking around in amazement as I follow Olivia to a long worktable where Iris is standing.

  “Hey Livi, Mateo is coming, give him just a little bit of time. He has had something come up and they need it settled before any cuts are made in the fabric. It is a pretty expensive fabric, and we can’t afford to not be as careful as we can be with it”, Iris tells us.

  “I have never been to your work before, Iris. I love it here, it is a beautiful place to work with all the colors and fabrics. I feel like I have died and gone to heaven. I am making good money now, so after I get caught back up with the bills, I hope I can buy some pieces for myself next year”, I told Iris, as I continued to look around. I love bold colors, but I have always chosen muted colors or bland colors because I wanted to be taken seriously in my field. In my heart, I know that it is my work ethic and how I do my job, more than what I wear, but I have always been a kind of a “behind the scenes” kind of person when I am dressed for work.

  “Is this the woman that you were talking to me about Olivia?” I hear a deep voice behind me, and I turn around to see a handsome Hispanic man walking up to me. He is 5’10” tall and has black hair a little on the longer side at the top, and shaved sides, with his hair falling over and partially covering one of his eyes when it falls forward. His deep brown eyes were looking back at me in an assessing way, and I could tell that he was in great shape with a slim swimmer’s type of build. “She will be perfect for the line I am about to get finished,” he said to Iris.

  “I agree, and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it, except Cora was so busy with school and wasn’t living here, but she will be perfect for the line” I hear Iris say to him.

  “She will have to get her hair done and, of course, full make-up, but she has a wonderful figure and will look stunning in my clothes,” Mateo says to Olivia. “Thank you so much for suggesting her for my next show. She will rule the runway in my clothes”.

  I stopped looking around at that comment and I turned around to see all three of them looking at me. “I am sorry, I wasn’t fully listening to you all, what did you just say about me, and the runway?” I asked Mateo.

  “I reached out because you need to dress better, right? Didn’t your new boss just tell you that? Because you represent him and, since you are dressing “frumpy and dowdy” gives a bad reflection of him and his company, right?” Because you are the front line before they see him, you need to dress better. So, I made some calls because I remember a few months ago Mateo saying that he was starting to make a clothing line for girls with curves, normal girls that are not stick figures and have boobs and asses, that want to dress to accentuate their curves, not hide them and I thought of you, because you have a great body, even though you try to hide it every single day, especially at work. You always go 1 size up to hide your figure and I have no idea why, girl, you are the definition of an hourglass figure”, Livi tells me, and I blush because I have gone out of my way to not show off my curves.

  “Um, Mateo, I am not a model. I am barely even coordinated. I have never done a fashion show, and I do not know if I am the right person for you. What if I ruin your show? I would feel terrible if I messed up your night, or your day, whenever this is going to be” I, told him.

  “ It is so sweet of you to be worried, but a model falls down more often than you think, especially in smaller shows, where you have novice models. Since I have a workplace line, you won’t even really have on super high heels for most of what you would be wearing. Olivia and I have already had a bonus to entice you. I will give you the clothes that you will be wearing on the runway. I just want you to tell people who you are wearing, when they ask, and as beautiful as you are, they will ask. I only need for you to agree to do three things for me. One, talk me up if you love my clothes, whatever it is about them that you love; the color, the fit, how they feel on your skin, whatever the thing is that makes you love them, mention it when asked. Two, I will need you to agree to model to do the next 5 shows for me this year. We are having the summer show next weekend. Instead of paying you, you should keep the clothes that I make especially for you to wear in the show. I get to pick which pieces, and what colors, you will be wearing though. Um, don’t try to argue with me, you need some great clothes, and I need a great face and figure. It is a win/win for both of us. Three, I will need you to allow my friend, Franco, to give you a cut and style. I will cover the cost, consider it a graduation gift. I love both Olivia and Iris, and they love you, so you are part of my inner circle. If, at the end of our agreement, you want to continue it, we will, or if you don’t want clothes and this all works out for both of us, I can pay you to model for me. I just like to give options, honey. You think about it and let me know. I will be back in about 10 minutes.” Mateo tells me and then winks at me before turning and walking away to go into another area and I hear loud talking again rising up in that room.

  “Um, guys, is he serious?” I asked them.

  “Yes, honey, he is totally serious. He will be measuring you tonight to see what your measurements will be, and he will make at least three things for you to wear to the show next weekend. It will be 4 items maximum. I would absolutely take him up on his offer because it is more than generous. He is an incredibly talented designer, and he will just be going higher and higher as soon as his name gets out there a little more. He decided on it after he saw you, so you got this all on your own merit. I just reached out to see if he could help as I know what kind of a bind you are in and I knew that he wanted to start highlighting this curvier line too, at the same show. He is doing us a favor as I am his lawyer, and Iris works for and sometimes models for him, but he wants to make clothes for every body type, not just waif-like models. I think he is on to something and that with your now much more visible job, this is really such an opportunity for you both. He has a great eye, and every single thing that he will make for you to wear will be stunning, and nothing that your new boss can say a word about. Telling people who you’re wearing is nothing new, especially here in New York. Please say yes as fast as you can. This is truly a high honor and wonderful gift to be given” Livi tells me.

  I really want to do this, but I don’t think that I really have a place among actual models on the stage. Who am I kidding? I don’t belong anywhere near them, but Mateo obviously sees something in me that I don’t see. I will have to tell him yes, I am embarrassed enough with the looks that Lyra, Collin, and Maddie give me, I don’t want to embarrass Catherine for choosing me, even when I cannot afford to dress as nicely as she does. I am still two weeks out from payday, and when I fully take over for Catherine. What the heck, I mean no one has to know that I am modeling for him, with full hair and makeup, I will look like a totally different person anyway up on the stage, and it would be nice to shut them up. I am so totally going to do this, I am just going to see if Mateo will agree to call me Shea, my middle name, if I decide to do this for him.

  Right on cue, I saw him coming back with another employee walking right behind him heading straight for me. His arms have like 6 items in them, and I can tell that the employee is arguing with him about something as they approach us.

  “I am in charge, they are my designs and I have already decided. You can go away, you won’t change my mind”, Mateo says to her. She gave me an angry look before turning and stomping away. Mateo continues “What did you decide, Cora?”

  “I will do it; your clothing line is beautiful, and I would be honored to model for you if you really think that I can do it. I am so excited about wearing your pieces to work to display them to my colleagues and boss, it would definitely get him off my back, and his new girlfriend too”, I told him.

  “Great, because I have a few pieces from the last show that I wanted you to try on. I believe that they will fit you perfectly, as I can tell by looking at you that you are a perfect curvy size 6. You will look stunning in these pieces and as the PA for your CEO, you are indeed going to be in the people’s eye. Take these for now, and after the show next week, you will get those outfits too, and you can mix and match my pieces as your own collection grows, Cora” Mateo tells me as he starts having the clothes steamed and hung for me to take with me when I go. What a huge gift he is giving me, and I decided at once that I will do whatever it takes to do the absolute best job for him that I can, because he didn’t have to help me out like that at all, but he did because he loves my friends and now, I am his friend too.

  “Wait, what did he just say to you? You are the new PA for the CEO of the company that you interviewed for?” Iris yells out and then an ear-splitting, excited scream fills the air, “do you mean to tell me that you are working for Collin freaking Lauder?”