"Catherine, Helen, Evelyn, Camille..." My boss ticked each name off a finger. She glanced at the sheet in her hand. "Where's the new client?"
My heels clicked against the marble floor as I hurried to keep up with her. She was tall woman with a long stride, and though balancing on four inches of stilettos made it nearly impossible to keep up with her, at Audrey's the dress code was clear and rigidly enforced: heels a minimum of three inches, skirts no longer than mid-thigh, blouses form fitting and three buttons undone. I shuffled through the folders in the crook of my arm. "Jessica Franks." I said as I extracted a thin folder and held it out to her. "Forty one, wife to congressman Franks."
Audrey took the folder without looking up. "Preference for blonde or brunette hair, DD cup, and Asians." She pursed her lips. "At least she's not looking for all of them in one package. What aren't we?"
"A circus, ma'am." We passed the showroom floor, Kelly and Mary on display below, clip-clopping back and forth on their heels, modeling cocktail dresses for a customer reclined in a leather waiting chair. It would probably take her a half hour and a dozen more dresses to decide which of the two of them she wanted to take to the oversized, soundproof rooms along the right side of the store.
"Always the same. Give me a whore, make me a goddess." She said as I stepped ahead of her to open her office door. "Coffee." She said, seating herself behind her desk.
The pot I'd put on an hour ago was still hot. She accepted a cup, a slim frown turning her rouge lips. "Who's in the double to triple D range?"
"Jules is, I believe." I moved to the file drawer and knelt smoothly, only years of practice keeping me from wobbling and falling in my heels and skirt. Though I couldn't see her, I could feel my boss's eyes on me as I shuffled through the drawer. Professionalism and precision Audrey demanded in all things. It was why I'd been picked to leave the floor nine months ago and work as her assistant when Amber spilled coffee on her. I found the folder I was looking for and rose. "What is the most important rule?" Audrey asked as she accepted the folder.
"Image first, ma'am. Image always."
"If that's true," she flipped through the folder, "then that nipple is certainly more than enough."
My heart skipped a beat as I glanced down. At some point when I knelt the low cut of my blouse had slipped down and one of my nipples had popped out. I slipped it back in. "I'm so sorry, ma'am, I didn't-"
She quelled my apology with a long look, a silent reprimand, before turning her eyes back to the folder. "Have Jules ready on Thursday. Red pushup, pearl necklace, fur coat."
There came a knock from the door. My boss looked up. "What now?" She raised her voice. "Come in."
The door swung open to reveal the downstairs teller, a statuesque brunette named Elizabeth. "I'm sorry to bother you ma'am, but she insisted-"
"Oh, don't apologize. The girl's a dear and I didn't give her a chance." From behind Elizabeth sauntered a tall woman with bleached blond curls. "Audrey and I are old friends. Aren't we?"
"Dina." My boss sighed and closed the folder with a snap. "You're looking well."
"The wonders of Botox, hon." Dina took the seat in front of the desk without asking and crossed one leg over the other, designer purse resting on her lap. Her voice had a throaty, faux little girl quality to it. "You really should think about it. It was easier then when I got my tits done and makes you feel ten years younger."
Audrey's eyes moved to Elizabeth in lazy dismissal. Dina's head turned to follow as Elizabeth closed the door. "I swear I'll never know how you keep your hands to yourself, hon. If it was me running this place I'd never get any work done."
Audrey smiled and sipped her coffee. "You learn."
"Not me. I'd spend all day leaned back in that chair with my legs in the air." Dina turned back to face her. "Anyway, I've got a favor to ask."
Audrey handed me the folder. "You really should make appointments."
"Oh, you know I'm not picky, hon. That hot little black number you fixed me up with last time was just what I needed." She made a smacking noise with her lips. "That girl's tongue was heaven. What was her name? Shawnton? Shaetae?"
"Shawntae." I supplied.
Dina smiled up at me. I tried to not to let the repulsion I felt onto my face. She might have had Botox, but lines still showed at the corner of her eyes and the breasts that bulged from her blouse were round and fake as water balloons. You're off the showroom, I reminded myself. Coffee and folders and names. That was what I did now. Her tongue played between her lips. "Isn't she the same one I saw you with last time? You don't usually keep them this long."
"I must be losing my touch." My boss's eyes behind her coffee cup were unreadable. "You needed a favor?"
"Nothing fancy." Dina primped her curls with a hand. "My daughter's been in a funk lately. Some drama with a boy about some other girl. Or some other boy. You can never tell with kids today. She's been sulking around the house ever since she came back for break."
Audrey laid down her cup. "You know we have rules about non-members."
"She won't be a problem." Dina made a dismissive gesture with a manicured hand. "I just thought I'd do something different than the normal mani-pedi, show her how the old lady enjoys herself."
Audrey shook her head. "We're a little understaffed at the moment." She motioned for me to get her the schedule. "Shawntae won't be available until six. We have Kelly on the floor right now..."
"Oh, you don't have to go to that much trouble, hon. What about her?"
It took me a moment to realize she was talking about me. Audrey glanced up disapprovingly as I fumbled to hand her the schedule. She accepted it and flipped it open, looked it over with a raised eyebrow. "She's my assistant."
"You can't spare her an hour or two?" Dina's hand flashed out, closing around my wrist and yanking me towards her. My heels snagged on the carpet and I tumbled into her lap. She reached up and raked the hair from my face with a manicured talon. "Look at this pretty face. You're wasting it up here."
Her other hand curved along the inside of my thigh, nails pricking pale skin as she stroked it. I bit my lip to keep from screaming, every muscle in me yelling to push her hand away. Audrey would stop this. She would say no. I was her assistant, a good one. I just had to be still.
Audrey sighed and looked up. Her eyes focused on Dina, then slid to my blouse, and I realized with a horrible sinking sensation that my nipple must have poked out again. She turned back to the schedule without a word. "Just have her back by four."
"Ma'am," the words stuck in my throat. "Ma'am, I-"
Her head whipped back up and whatever I would have said died in my throat. "Go get ready." Her voice was flat. "Room three."
Dina smiled and pushed me to my feet. "Keep the secretary look, but lose the thong, sweetie. And put on some lipstick. I want to see how far you can smear it down my strap on."
Neither of them paid me any more attention as I moved in a daze to the door and closed it carefully behind me. The world seemed unreal I clip clopped down the hall and the stairs connecting it to the first floor. This had to be a test.
The dressing room was empty except for Kelly, who was perched on the end of a stool. She was dressed in a white business jacket split down the front in a deep V that reached her navel. She wore only a black bra beneath, custom made to contain the bulge of her triple F's. Audrey liked being able to offer a variety to clientele, and beside Jules, most of the rest of the girls were in a more reasonable cup range. It had taken two operations to inflate Kelly's to their current size.
She looked up as the door opened, a deer caught in the headlights. "I needed to touch up." She blurted. "My eyeliner it, it smudged. I just needed to reapply it."
I nodded without meeting her eye and I crossed to one of the unused cubicles. I took a seat in front of the mirror. My reflection stared back at me, red blouse tucked into a black skirt, tits pushed up and high. Keep the secretary look, she had said.
"You won't tell her, will you?" Kelly's voice had dropped to a whisper. She was still looking at me, eyes wide and pleading. "Please? Elizabeth is on the floor. I'll be back on in a minute. I just needed to catch my breathe. I swear it won't happen again."
In the corner of the counter sat a stick of lipstick. I reached for it and puckered my lips without answering. Kelly opened her mouth. Closed it. "What are you doing?" She finally asked.