Cassia Montgomery stepped into her black leather pumps and smiled at what she saw in the mirror. The outfit she planned the night before looked just as she imagined on her curvaceous body. Her eyes started up her body slowly, starting at her feet. Now clad in a leather black pump, her size 7 feet looked like it was built for those shoes. Her toned calves led to toned but thick thighs that looked amazing in her Ann Taylor dress pants. She turned slightly to look at her full ass, and smiled again, and reminded herself to thank her trainer Marcus for helping her get herself into shape. She turned back to the mirror and remembered just 7 months ago when she was 67 pounds heavier. Her eyes roamed over her green silk blouse and how perfectly her 40 DD breasts looked under it. Her milk chocolate skin shone beautifully from the sun peeking through her window.
"Today is the day, Montgomery. Pull yourself together," said into the empty room.
She smoothed her hands over her hair, which she'd recently cut into a chic A-line bob. Her brown eyes shone hopefully, and she coated her full lips with a perfect shade of maroon. She gave herself one last lookover making sure her hair and makeup was in place. Satisfied by what she saw, she made her way into the living room tip-toeing carefully on the plush carpet of her condo. She shimmied her way into her black thigh length trench coat, grabbed her to-go cup from the Keurig, her black leather purse and walked out the door.
She pressed the call button on the elevator and hummed lightly to herself while mentally running through her day. The doors opened and the brightest smile greeted her. Her heart instantly warmed.
"Good Morning Ms. Gloria," Cassia said as she stepped onto the elevator and greeted the old woman who lived upstairs on the 13th floor.
"Good Morning Sweetheart, and don't you look lovely! You start that new job today, right?"
Cassia smiled genuinely at the woman who remembered that detail from their conversation three weeks prior.
"Yes I do! I'm so excited, a bit nervous though." Cassia stepped aside to let her walk off the elevator. As they walked out the building Gloria turned to her, grabbed her free hand, stopping her. "You walk in there with your head held high. You deserve every bit of happiness you are about to come into, enjoy it, and enjoy the ride. They are going to love you. I mean honestly, how could they not?"
She reached up and touched Cassia's cheek. "God bless you baby girl."
Cassia had never tried so hard not to cry in her life. Cassia met Ms. Gloria 9 months ago when she moved to Chicago from Brooklyn. They instantly hit it off because she reminded her of her wonderful grandmother back in New York.
"Thank you so much Ms. Gloria. I'll be sure to stop by when I get off."
She smiled, "I would love that! Now go, before you're late for your first day."
Cassia walked to the taxi near the corner and waved good-bye to Ms. Gloria. She gave the driver the address and leaned back into the seat for the 20-minute ride into the city. She pulled out her iPhone from her purse and saw text messages from her best friend Carissa, her sister Monica, and her mom Lisa. They were congratulating her on her first day as an editor at one of the largest publishing companies in the world, Leopard-Hill Publishing. She thanked them for their well wishes and promised to call them and fill them in after she got off later that evening.
The text from her best friend Carissa made her chuckle as she insisted she come over and "celebrate." Celebrating to Carissa usually consisted of a bottle of great wine, watching old black shows and take-out. That kind of thing was right up her alley and she loved spending time with her friend, so she happily agreed. She looked out as the streets zipped passed her. Chicago was a wonderful city and she loved her new home, even though she missed her family back in New York.
About a month ago, as her internship at Leopard- Hill was coming to an end she got a message that her supervisor wanted a word. A little nervous, she immediately tried to remember if she had forgotten anything. She really liked her supervisor and looked up to her greatly. She took a deep breath and remembered how much she loved this job. She knocked on the door and was called in.
"Good Morning, Ms. Kincaid." She walked in and sat on the chair facing her boss. Alexandra Kincaid was one of the top editors at the company, and was well respected in the field. She worked her way through school, and found her love for writing young. Now, at 64, she was still on top of her game, but age started to take its toll. Her roots were now sprinkled with gray, and her eyes creased deeper with each smile. She wanted to retire, but she loved her job too much.
"Morning Cassia. How are you this morning?" She asked as she pulled off her glasses and placed them on the stack of papers on her desk.
"I'm fine thank you, a little nervous that you called me in here so urgently. Is everything ok?" She felt her heart rate start to increase, and she wiped her hands on her pants to reduce the sweating she felt building.
"I always loved that you aren't afraid to say what's on your mind. But I wanted to talk to you about your performance during your internship here with us." She said looking at her calmly. Cassia found that it was always hard to read what she was thinking. She didn't know if she should be nervous, or worried, but she squared her shoulders and raised her head a little higher. She could handle this.
"We have been keeping a very close eye on you since you came here highly recommended by Dr. Jones from Columbia University. Dr. Jones and I went to college together so I knew whoever he sent me would be great."
Ok, not too bad, Cassia thought.
"You have shown amazing drive, you work great with the team, and you show a strong sense of sniffing out talented writers." Cassia was starting to relax a little as the woman she looked up to sang her praises. She was both shocked and humbled.
"Wow, thank you Ms. Kincaid." She rushed out.
She simply smiled politely and nodded. "As you know I'm getting a little old, and my eyes just don't read as fast as they used to," she chuckled a little at her own joke. "And before you have a heart attack in my office, I wanted to offer you an editor's position here at the firm."
Cassia heard the words, but her brain was a few seconds behind. AN EDITOR?! Her mouth hung open with shock. Was she really being offered her dream job, by one of her biggest role models?
"Oh my God!! Are you serious? You're offering me a job as an editor? Me?"
She smiled and nodded again, "not just any editor, but I want you to fill my position. You're exactly what we've been looking for and sure do hope you say yes. But from this reaction I don't think you're going to say no. Are you?"
Cassia was shaking her head in the negative. "I am just so blown away Ms. Kincaid. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"You're very welcome, and congratulants. I gave my 30 day notice half hour ago, so you kind of didn't really have a choice." She laughed out loud then, and cassia couldn't help but join in.
She felt the cab lightly jolt to a stop, and she stepped off memory lane. She paid the driver and gave him a pretty big tip, for which he smiled brightly and thanked her. Why not spread the love, she thought. She walked into the now familiar building, and walked to the security desk.
