Kara stared in the mirror analyzing Winter Women's modernized go-go girl outfit. She took two steps forward in her knee-high white boots and felt the silky material of the pink dress against her skin. Her hair was held in place by a pink headband complimenting the 'peace sign' earrings dangling from her ears.
"You look gorgeous, dear." Ashley moved beside Kara.
Kara beamed with gratitude. "Thank you, Ms. Winters. It's an honor to be wearing it."
"It certainly won't be the last Winters Women outfit you wear." Ashley winked.
Ashley helped Kara onto the mobile platform.
"First off, big smile please." Ashley commanded.
Kara smiled.
"Like you mean it." Ashley added.
Kara relaxed. Her mind drifted back to the smooth sensation of the silk against her skin. She was wearing and modeling a dress designed by her idol. Her lips separated showing off her pearly whites. The crinkle beside her eyes revealed her true emotion. Ashley nodded in appreciation.
"All right put your right hand on your hip and lean to that side. Good." Ashley mimicked each instruction. "Now take your left hand and make the peace sign. Turn that sideways and cross it across your face, letting it stop just after it passes the eyes."
Kara held her left hand up with the sideways peace sign beside her head.
"Perfect. Don't move."
Anticipation built up as Kara remembered the state of bliss. To be frozen like a statue. Just a beautiful work of art to be admired by all. The thoughts sent shivers up her spine despite the last experience lingering in her mind. She was safe here. Safe to be art and enjoy the moment.
A quick flash and Kara was frozen. Unable to move, Kara felt the pleasure immediately, like the height of a climax, but instead of fading, it remained constant. She could see the admiration in Ashley's eyes. The admiration she so desperately craved in this motionless state.
"Perfect." Ashley smiled.
Kara couldn't agree more.
***
Winters Women's Board of Directors had five men and five women appointed, each with a respected career in the fashion industry. Most vocal was Jean Claude who had created and sold his own fashion brand within three years. Since then he started a consulting firm where he consults fashion companies all over the world. Jean demanded perfection from Ashley and lately they weren't seeing eye to eye on many of the issues the company faced. The other notable board member was Andreas Muller, a fashion icon in Germany who had since become notable in the United States.
Ashley fiddled with her emerald ring as she stood in front of the company's Board of Directors with one her esteemed executives, Samantha. She's nervous, Samantha thought as the light dancing off the gem caught her eye. She had worked closely with her boss over the past few years learning the dos and don'ts of the fashion industry. What began as admiration slowly turned to bitterness as the pupil thought she could do a better job than the master.
"Thank you all for coming. As you know I recently had a meeting with Rick Lawson of Lawson Corporation about a potential marketing opportunity. Lawson Incorporated will be rolling out a corporate service called Office Decor where models are frozen and used as office decorations for executives and managers." Ashley continued to fiddle with her signature ring.
The board members leaned in with the utmost attention. Ashley signaled to the door and Kara was rolled in and placed between the two presenters. Samantha glanced at the frozen model. Just another stupid bimbo, she thought.
"We'd first to like to thank our gorgeous model, Kara. She's here to demonstrate the freezing capabilities and show you what these models will look like wearing our designs." Ashley explained.
Samantha waved her hands over Kara's eyes to test if she was frozen. Her eyes remained blank and unmoving as she stared off into the distance.
"Is she aware?" Jean asked.
"Yes, all models are aware while frozen." Ashley answered.
The Board seemed impressed, but not enthusiastic about the idea.
"Ms. Winters, we've been advocating for girl power for several years. Don't you think this is a little misogynistic. I mean we're basically saying women are just objects for decoration." Andreas stated.
Her boss stumbled over her words trying to come up with a rebuttal. Samantha let the dead air hang for a moment before stepping forward on her boss's behalf.
"I thought the same thing too, Mrs. Muller, but Office Decor can be both men and women. It's not objectification of the female, it's a celebration of the beauty of the human body. Women should be empowered to do whatever they want, that's the real message behind girl power. And like it or not, women are beautiful. Sometimes people can't help but stare and under the right circumstances we shouldn't take offense, we should be flattered." Samantha maintained direct eye contact with Andreas.
"Regardless of what you think, it could still alienate over half our clientele. How would you show consumers this isn't about objectifying women?" Andreas countered.
Samantha looked at Ashley who was still finding her words, the fiddling of her ring noticeable to all in the room. Am I going to have to save this whole presentation? she thought. A light bulb went off in her mind.
"May I suggest we use Ashley for one of the displays. If the CEO is doing it, the public may be more receptive." Samantha suggested.
Ashley stood speechless. Samantha knew it was checkmate. If she objected, the board would shut the entire idea down.
"That's a wonderful idea." Jean said. "What do you think, Ashley?"
"I'd love to." Ashley said.
She shot a glance at Samantha, daggers in her eyes.
Samantha smiled and mouthed, 'you're welcome'.
***
Mr. Lawson opened the car door and out stepped his lovely date, Bianca. Her purple high heels matched her cocktail dress which hugged her curvy body. Like most of the women Mr. Lawson dated, she was naturally tanned, and her voluptuous chest drew eyes like flies to a flame. Her beauty wasn't the only thing he found attractive, she was also a talented painter and a highly skilled conversationalist. He learned long ago that he wanted the whole package not just an impressive cover.
Yet finding and connecting with someone was hard to do. His wife had passed when Rick was ten and falling in love again was an impossible task. He knew it wasn't the fault of the women, but his inability to move on. At first, he hesitated to date, but eventually a man had to eat.
After a few failed attempts at long-term relationships, Mr. Lawson accepted it as a lost cause and came to peace enjoying the short flings. After he bought Decor, he realized he could use the technology with one of his other passions.
Before them was a structure filled with beautiful architecture of pillars and stone. This was a museum Mr. Lawson had purchased and slowly built up over the past few years. His interest in rare historical artifacts turned him into an obsessive collector and instead of keeping the treasures to himself, he opened it to the public.
Through the halls hung rare paintings from long deceased artists and artifacts from all over the world and throughout time. Mr. Lawson saw the glimmer of marvel in Bianca's eyes as she slowed her pace and admired the amazing works of Picasso and van Gough. Her background was art and although she had sold some paintings, it was hard to get her foot prominently in the industry. She figured Mr. Lawson might be able to help but could tell he had something else in mind.
The pair stopped before two large metal doors. The recently renovated wing of the Museum was a mystery to the outside world. There were whispers of a sports or automobile wing, but those were easily disputed given Mr. Lawson's lack of interest in either. Mr. Lawson smiled and grabbed the handles.
