At 2 PM, Kaede strode into the Da Stuff. The garment bag over her shoulder weighed. Her other hand also found itself overbooked with her backpack. All eyes were on her Dickies orange overall, which made her look like she escaped from jail. The party was at eight she would change when the time came.

In the meantime, the team and customers could admire her face primed for the event. Dima was formal; all Kaede had to add for the night was the lipstick and a little fixing powder retouch. For the moment, her lips glowed with a neutral tint.

Chris patted his colleague on the shoulder, “Steph, shut your mouth. If she catches you with your jaw drop, you’re a dead man, you know it.”

Everyone knew how the sales assistant secretly crushed over his manager. The man liked Kaede’s severe manner earning Steph the name SM as no one understood what was appealing in seeing Kaede boss him around. But the sales assistant had his fantasies where the manager would tell him what a naughty boy he was and the punishment he needed. At age twenty-one, the young man nourished the idea of redoing his sexual education with someone more mature than his Kpop fangirls.

“Hi guys,” Kaede said as she passed them to go up to Joseph’s office.

Steph sighed, “I hope there’s a Nanuska a latex dress with Fleet Ilya leather harness in that garment pouch.”

Chris shook his head in disapproval, ” you Asian guys are so sick, with your Hentai dreams and bondage shit.”

Steph wasn’t listening as images of Kaede blindfolding him floated in his mind.

“Knock, knock.”

“Yes, come on in Kaede.”

Kaede stepped inside. Joseph nodded when he saw her face, ” you look radiant, I love it. Hope there’s something sexy in that bag.”

“Joseph,” Kaede stamped her feet. The woman had high hopes Joseph would forget, but he never did. The man’s mind was sharper than some of the youngsters in the team. He was the self-made man who didn’t have the diplomas, but he wiped out anyone trying to look down on him with his sense of business affairs and mystical knowledge.

The woman wondered at what moment Joseph would drop the prophetic sentence of the day.

“How is it going?”

“Didn’t you see Marco downstairs?

Kaede approached the desk, “I did, but he was too busy.”

“Well, sales are soaring, as you can see, the day’s clientele is fashion week orientated,” Joseph pointed the camera. As always the fashionistas were out, Kaede wondered where all these trendsetters were the rest of the year.

It seemed they all popped out with their best wardrobe on fashion week. One who knew the designers could distinguish the brands by their shape, Yoji Yamamoto, Vivienne Westwood, Yeezy Supply, Issey Miyake, Rick Owens, technological and avant-garde seemed to be the word. A few urban brands countered the other makers, mostly men wearing Neighborhood, Off White collabs, and everyone’s friend Carhartt.

Kaede knew these people would hang around until closing time.

“Alright, things look great, I’ll goㅡ.”

“Kaede.”

“Yes, Joseph.”

“Be cool okay, today I want you to enjoy yourself, chat, make some contacts, take business cards. Also, wear the brightest one of the two and listen to your interlocutor.”

There it was the daily bombshell that had Kaede’s heart flipping like pancakes.

“Joseph, how do you know I have two dresses?”

“Kaede, that’s a thing called deduction. I had to marry and divorce four women to understand you always have an A and B plan. Plan A keep the house and the car, Plan B keep the house and the dog.”

Kaede did not know how to respond, ” Joseph.”

“Don’t feel sorry, I’m at number five. Five is a lucky number in Asian culture. Also, I got a marriage contract for this one. My wife better have a plan C because I am not giving anything if she tries.”

In all these months, Kaede worked with Joseph; she came to believe the man was on a cruise, and now she realized he too had his issues.

“Joseph, can I ask you who I have to listen too?”

There was a knock on the door, “come in.”

Talk about lousy timing, thought Kaede.

“Cynthia, what is it?”

“I had Mr. Mills, the architect from Fanalis. He says they’ll finish St honoré by next week.”

“Okay, good.”

“Also, Joseph, I’ve got all the candidates for the store manager and assistant managers booked in for interviews next week.”

“Great Cynthia, good job, can you call back the store manager candidates and tell them the position is taken.”

“Joseph,” both women yelled in unison.

“What I already have someone,” the man shrugged and went to resume watching his episode of The Boys on Amazon prime.

Cynthia shook her head and left while Kaede approached the man’s desk, “who is it Joseph, who’s the manager for the new store. I swear if it’s that idioㅡ I mean Marco. I’m gonnaㅡ.”

Joseph sat back on his chair and swung, “if you want, you can meet the person here on Monday at noon and decide with me.”

“I can.”

“Yeah, of course.”

Kaede felt honored that the man considered her opinion, “okay, cool,” she turned and left.

The preparation for the event went all afternoon. Kaede barely crossed Marco as they were both taken up by inquiries. Before everyone knew it, it was time.

As always, Joseph gave the team half an hour’s heartbeat where they could pamper up and eat. Kaede went to change in Cynthia’s office.

There she also proceeded to style her hair, which was already in two cornrow braids. Kaede gave her baby hairs a little whip. The dress Joseph prompted her to wear was tight Kaede almost broke a sweat as she tried to fit. She knew she had not put on weight between the morning and this moment. Stress was the factor that played with her.

The VETEMENTS pink flower print dress fitted like a second skin, it was short, tight, but at least it showed no cleavage, unlike the Alexander Wang dress still in the bag. She slipped on her black YEEZY high boots and looked in the mirror, “great, Kaede, you look like a hooker.”

There was no turning back. The party was about to begin.

Kaede went down and hoped to make herself as discreet as possible even if Joseph told her to mingle. The woman sighed; the party barley started and was only an hour into the festivities that the store was cramped.

The Dj and dance area took up half of the space. And even if the small accessories were cleared, Kaede already counted the loss of a few thousand dollars worth of goods either stolen or damaged.

Joseph laughed it off. The sacrifice was minimal compared to what the store would gain in notoriety. The man winked, “happy to see you wearing the colorful dress.”

Kaede tugged to pull the dress, which kept wanting to show more thigh than what she desired. The knee-highs boots also made the woman uncomfortable as the heel already began to throb.

Used to wearing oversize outfits after dropping the consultant’s suit, Kaede forgot the tedious endeavors of skimpy dresses, high heels, and the commentary that some called flattery.

Here, for instance, Marco’s whistle contributed to Kaede s awkwardness just like his stare, which in the old days would have ended with Kaede bending over for a quick, efficient yet intense sex session in the office. The woman would have come out with a crooked walk and soar back.

Kaede hated him for reviving the tension of lust.