I remained standing and holding a plethora of shopping bags in the ridiculously small outfit young Alexis had chosen for me. I "teetered" in those 5 inched high heels and could feel my face turning as red as it had ever felt before. Meekly, I just stood there haplessly. I was overcome by humiliation and the manner in which this young, black teenaged woman continued to control me. I simply watched Alexis standing with Sarah at the front counter no more than 25 feet away.
They were speaking to each other rather quietly and I remained worried and confused. Desparately, I tried to strain my ears to listen to what they could be discussing, yet I was unable to hear.
My humiliation was intensified as I looked over and noticed the myriad of items sitting on one of the small, white sofas off to my right. These were the items that young Alexis had just decided on purchasing for me. I had never even tried them on at this point, nor was I able to look at them very closely.
Nobody had actually chosen clothes for me to wear since my earliest teens. Despite my statuesque body and older age, I felt like a small child again.
It seemed as if the older white woman store owner and the young black girl were discussing the final charges for these items. Sarah was tallying up Alexis' things and then the items chosen for me when she finally tore a receipt from a large note pad. She handed it to Alexis Barron who reviewed it and then smiled. At this time, the young black woman motioned me over to the counter with her index finger.
Timidly and obediently, I minced my way towards the counter where they stood. Despite my long legs I could only manage small "baby steps" in those extremely high heeled pumps. The wide leather strap which buckled around my ankles made them much more uncomfortable and restricted my movement.
My eyes remained downward to the floor from the absolute embarrassment I was feeling as I finally reached the front counter, then stopped. There, I stood in utter shame as the young black woman handed me the large white paper receipt.
"Use the corporate card. It's a business expense." Alexis ordered, looking dead into my eyes before turning away.
"Y-Yes, Ma'am." I answered, meekly, looking at her serious face in fear. I was nervous as I took the receipt from her firm grip.
Hesitantly, I looked down to the itemized receipt in my hands. My worst fears were realized and my eyes nearly teared when I began reading it. The numerous items for myself were mostly basic items, like yoga pants and excercise suits. The dresses, skirts and blouses were the most expensive items on the list, yet reasonably priced. The heels that seemed so expensive were actually only one hundred dollars a pair.
In all, the items under the section marked "Gretchen" totaled $2,184.00. The next section marked "Miss Alexis" came to a total of $7,709.00, and each item was listed in order by price.
My eyes did not widen like one might think they would as I looked down at the nearly $10,000.00 bill. I was humbled, nervous and felt truly defeated by seeing the total cost of these items that she had purchased for me compared to the ones she had purchased for herself.
In all, the 18-year-old black woman had purchased 43 articles of clothing for me and just 26 for herself. Yet, the cost of her items were nearly four times higher.
My knees felt weaker with the realization that Alexis Barron had chosen the most expensive things for herself and the less expensive articles of clothing for me.
The thought that Alexis had just spent almost $3,500.00 on herself at Oaktown mall the day before ran through my mind. I felt degraded by the young woman's obvious and blatant greed. Still, I timidly handed my corporate credit card to Sarah to complete the transaction.
"Okay, then. Let's go!" Alexis commanded.
For a moment I just stopped and paused. My face turned a deeper crimson as I looked down at the outfit I was wearing. Once again, I realized how ridiculous I must have looked. I was scared and embarrassed by my appearance in these younger women's clothes. Yes, the all-white fine linen outfit was quite classy and sexy in many ways. Yet, the skirt was far too short for a woman of my age, and the heels far too high. The low cleavage of the white blouse was a little more revealing than I was accustomed to, and the red kitten's collar that matched my wide red leather belt felt restrictive around my neck.
The entire outfit looked more like it belonged on a woman in her 20's heading out to a night club instead of the 40-year-old business woman that I felt I was.
"How can I possibly be seen in public like this?" I thought to myself.
The young black woman had already started towards the front door when she turned and suddenly realized my apprehension. I remained standing still, frozen in a near panic unable to move. I looked towards Alexis for just a moment then dropped my eyes to the floor, in total shame.
At this time, I expected the 18-year-old black woman to yell something back to me and angrily repeat her command. But, she did not.
The unexpected silence was deafening for me. I did know what to do next and grew frightened by the unknown. My fear of her potential anger caused me to tremble a little, and uncontrollably.
As my eyes remained to the floor I could barely see her coming towards me from my peripheral vision. She was slow and deliberent in her movement as she cockily and arrogantly strolled towards me. My trembling increased when she finally stopped and stood before me looking up.
In these humiliating and restrictive 5 inch heels, my 6'1" tall frame had risen to 6'6" tall, and I quite literally "towered" high above the tiny 4'11" tall young black woman, who wore ballet flats. Yet, our tremendous size difference combined with the pure intimidation I was feeling only demoralized me even more. In turn, this fact seemed to please Alexis Barron. In some ways, it almost appeared to amuse her to have complete control of a white woman more than twice her age and more than twice her own size. She simply looked up towards me with what appeared to be a sinister type grin.
"Is there a problem?" she asked, her face growing more serious.
Trembling, I avoided eye contact with the dominant 18-year-old black woman and meekly turned my head off to the side. I was unable to speak as I looked down at the floor to my right side feeling nervous and ashamed. The mere three second pause felt like minutes to me as I continued to literally "cower" in shame above her.
Alexis Barron simply reached upwards and grabbed my face with her tiny, yet firm left hand. She squeezed my facial cheeks with just enough pressure to steer my head back to her and downwards into her serious eyes. Her bronze polished finger nails added to the discomfort on either side of my already reddened face as I continued trying to avoid her intimidating and beautiful eyes.
"Look at me!" she snarled.