"These are amazing Adam, the themes are very coherent. Wow I love these clothes especially but I've never heard of Voluptuous Designs before." Claire said as she pointed to the sketches I worked on the night before.
"They're by far my favorite plus size brand. Do you think these are okay?" I shakily asked Claire.
"Did you miss the part where I said these are amazing? When you go in for your meeting be confident, I don't want to hear you second guessed yourself." Claire ordered.
I nodded even though I still felt like I was in a dream. I gathered up my sketch book and took a deep breath. Claire grabbed me and hugged me, somehow that was the final push I needed to face the boss of Millennial Magazine, Alex Mikenna.
"You are the only validation you need. I have no idea where I got that but it seems appropriate right now." I chuckled a little at Claire's attempt at being inspirational as she let go. I left Claire's office and walked to the elevator.
The ride up to the 12th floor was devastatingly slow even though I only went up a floor. The doors opened to reveal one long white receptionist's desk. There was a severe looking woman answering phone calls frantically.
"Yes, Mr. Mikenna's office please hold, this is Mr. Mikenna's office please hold... I understand, I'll be with you in a moment." She looked up at me with a strained smile.
"How may I help you?" the receptionist asked.
"Um yes, I was told to see Mr. Mikenna as soon as I got in today." I rushed.
"He's expecting you. Walk to your right and keep going until you see the two glass doors." She returned to the phones after pointing in the right direction.
I continued walking to the right just as instructed. It didn't take long to reach the doors but I couldn't decide if I should go in or knock. Luckily for me both doors slid open on their own. I stepped into the office to find Mr. Mikenna seated at a black desk. He had the same charming smile on his chiseled face and his five o'clock shadow had turned into a borderline beard.
"Adam, I'm glad you came. Have a seat." Mr. Mikenna pointed to the seat in front of him. I took another deep breath and sat down.
"We need something to freshen up this magazine. I haven't spent a lot of time with the people behind the scenes, but I plan on changing that since I suspect that our department leads aren't fostering enough creativity in people like you. What you're envisioning would make our magazine inclusive of an important demographic. What were you thinking about when you were creating your sketches?" He looked genuinely interested in my thoughts and I was taken aback, enough to focus on something other than his face anyway.
"I guess... I was just tired of seeing people that didn't look like me." I didn't know where to begin so I let my thoughts spill out.
"We all wear clothes, right, so I don't understand why heavier people get shoved in a corner. I can't tell you how many times I've been so frustrated with the limited styles I've had access to because of my size. I'm tired of having to prove that I deserve to be seen in something other than a cloth sack!" I didn't know how passionate I was, until I was practically yelling my convictions to the high heavens.
But Mr. Mikenna was actually... nodding in agreement. "This is what we need. Purpose and passion, that's the direction I want to take Millenial Magazine. Do you need a team?"
"Sorry?" I had no idea what he meant.
"If you think you can handle the plus size outfit section then I'm fine with that. If you need help then you can pick a group of up to three people and please have your selection by lunch." I heard him say the words but I didn't fucking believe them. I was going to head a section of the magazine?
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Confectioners Sugar (BoyxBoy)
Roman d'amourI saw voluptuous curves calling to me through the window and I couldn't help but drool. The vibrant colors adorning God's amazing creation had me dizzy with desire for the fine specimen. You know the palpitations your heart feels when you know you'r...