There has been little doubt in Shea's mind that she always wanted to be an investigative reporter; the problem was getting a break. It has been three years now since she graduated with honors from Ohio State University School of Journalism. The dream job of working for the New York Times was still a dream and the rag she did write for wasn't even in the same league. The only thing close to the dream was, she was in New York.
Shea worked for the New York Daily Courier, NYDC for short, the eighth most read newspaper in the city. Her job description was staff writer for the Fashion and Society section of the paper. The Fashion and Society section only ran in the Sunday edition so it wasn't like she had her name out there for others to discover.
She was very disappointed in her situation and the work environment wasn't that much better. Her supervisor, the Fashion Editor was a bloated, lecherous old man who would steal credit from everyone in the department, all three of them, to make himself look better with the owners. Mr. Quinn was so bad he wouldn't allow any of his writers to attend high fashion events because he was afraid they would make him look bad with a proper review of the event. Also it would cut into his sex life if they started to attend instead of him. You see Mr. Quinn would use these events to higher out high end escorts and charge it back to the paper.
As luck would have it the paper cut back on expense accounts for all departments, so Mr. Quinn lost his cash cow for his high priced dates to events. A charity ball and auction was coming up soon and Mr. Quinn was running out of options for finding a date. You see it was in bad taste to attend one of these thing solo if you were in the media. What would all of the other Editors think?
As the date quickly approached Mr. Quinn finally broke down and told Shea that she was going and would be his unofficial date for the evening. Seeing how she was the only female under the age of fifty in his department she was the likely choice. Mr. Quinn would never be seen out with and older woman, he had his Playboy image to protect in front of all of the other Editors.
Shea had two days to find a dress for the event. She scrambled for a dress asking everyone at the paper if they had one she could borrow. Most of the ones offered were either out of style or from someone's daughter's prom. None of the dresses available would be sufficient for the event.
Shea broke down and visited a rental shop and found a lovely dress that fit just right, not too revealing and more on the conservative side. Shea was form a small Midwest town and this dress would have made her mother proud.
The night came and Shea felt very excited as the cab dropped her off in front of the hotel where the ball was scheduled. As she walked into the lobby she could see a large number of guests mingling around as they made their way into the great room. Walking in a little further she spotted her boss Mr. Quinn bellied up to the bar with a group men and three or four rather scantily clad females. She could tell by the looks of the women they were escorts, and not very expensive one at that. When Quinn realized she was there he quickly excused himself and grabbed her by the arm and marched her off to a remote area.
"What the hell is this thing you have on?" He grunted with a tone of disapproval.
Shea replied that it was an evening gown and it was the dress attire for the event.
"I thought you understood when I told you that you were coming, you are the eye candy tonight and that was it. This thing is crap! I want to see cleavage and thighs young lady or your ass will be out on the street. Do you understand?"
Shea looked stunned; she was not sure how to react but nodded her head anyway.
Mr. Quinn reached into his wallet and pulled out an Amex card and told her to go to the hotel boutique and find another dress quickly before anyone saw her with him. As he handed it to her he also mentioned that this was coming out of her check.
Shea's eyes teared up a little as Quinn walked away. She was not asked hear as a journalist but as a piece of meat to be put on display to make her boss look good with the boys.
She walked across the large lobby towards the boutique sheepishly, head down, and heart crushed. As she passed some of the other women in the room she noticed the style of their dresses. Most of the women had on low cut dresses showing lots of cleavage, short hems, or long slits in the dress revealing lots of leg. Shea was not accustom to wearing this style of clothing but knew that these were the outfits worn by wealth well kept women. Most of these ladies there were either escorts or trophy wives and showing off their goods was no problem for them.
When Shea entered the shop a small chill went up her spine as she looked around at the outfits displayed on the mannequins. They looked beautiful but way more risquΓ© than she was comfortable with.
The sales person asked if she could assist her and Shea replied that she needed a new dress for the ball. Looking her up and down the lady said, "I would think so honey that thing looks like it was made for a grandmother."
She led Shea over to the back corner and showed her a few things asking her what she thought of them. Shea was not sure of any of them and was having a difficult time making any kind of decision.
The lady commented on Shea's figure complementing her on her bust size and waist. She pointed out how nice her legs were and told her if she would allow her, she could make her the bell of the ball.
Shea was shy about her figure and never thought of herself as a sexy model type but the lady convinced her to try on a few items.
Shea grew up in a small town were every one was a little on the conservative side when it came to outward appearances. She was taught to always cover up and make sure she presented a good girl image when she went out. Even in college she would wear layers to cover her herself not showing off her figure.
As far as figures went Shea was more than beautiful, she was down right gorgeous. Shea was 5'7" 127 pounds and tone. She worked out daily all through high school and college. She tried hard not to look like the typical Midwest farm girl and keep herself in good shape. She had dark auburn hair with green eyes and a light brown natural complexion. She was blessed with good genes. Her father was from Ireland which is where her hair and eyes came from and her mother was three quarters Native American allowing her to have flawless golden skin.
Shea was a natural C cup and maintained a slim waist with a firm backside. Her legs and arms were slim but muscular and because of her dedication to her workout regiment she maintained a low percentage of body fat giving her a very athletic yet graceful figure.
As the sales lady returned Shea had a moment of resolve and told the lady, "Madam, if you promise I won't look like a cheep slut you can dress me in anything you want. Just please keep it under $1,500"
The lady laughed and said, "Honey the only thing in here under $1,500 is that purse over in the window."
Shea turned green and then admitted that she didn't have that much money and couldn't afford to charge it to her bosses card. The lady smiled and told her not to fret. She whispered in her ear that if she would allow her to dress her up right and be in the fitting room with her as she tried things on she would let her borrow an outfit for the evening, but she would have to return it before she left the building.
Shea thought that was easy enough so she agreed. The sales lady smiled and gave her a quick harmless little hug as if she was extremely excited.
The sales lady scampered off towards the front of the store. Shea thought she was going to get another outfit, but she noticed that the front doors were closing and then she heard a click as the lock was turned.
Standing in the back of the store Shea was not able to see everything but she could hear the sales lady moving around and then towards her.
"Here honey take these and lets go in the fitting room." The lady said as she came around the corner.
Shea took the items and followed her into a small room behind the fixture next to the sales counter. The room was larger than a department store fitting room and had a small sofa along one wall. The mirrors were mounted on two walls from floor to ceiling, and there was a third one on a rolling stand.
Once inside the room the sales lady positioned herself on the sofa so she could see everything clearly. Shea walked to the middle of the room which allowed the mirrors to reflect all sides of her with the third mirror pulled into position.
As she stood there she asked which outfit should she try on and the sales lady told her all of them. Shea looked in her hand and realized there were three outfits but the weight of them all was maybe equal to the weight of the one she had on.
Shea tossed two of them to the sofa and held up the other. It was light and flowing, almost like a night gown. The dress was a dark red floor length gown without sleeves. It came all the way up to her neck like a chocker. There was a long slit in the dress to allow her to walk with normal steps.
Shea started to disrobe in front of the lady. She was OK with that because she was still covered by her underwear. Once she had the dress on the sales lady got up and finished zipping it up.
"That looks great on you, the lines are good and it hugs your hips in just the right way." She said. As she stepped back to get a better look Shea turned to see herself in the mirrors. She did look good in that dress, probably better than she has ever looked in any dress.