The Padded Party

V

The girls got to the coffee shop a few minutes after 3:00 the next day. They had spent hours selecting the perfect outfits, doing their hair, and making sure their makeup was perfect. They were determined to look their best on the off chance that Sofia Ponomarenko or one of her employees were there to meet them. The coffee shop was small, so it didn't take long for the girls to look around, eyeing each customer to see if they were Sofia.

After a moment, Emily nudged Lauren. "Holy shit," Emily whispered, "that's her." She didn't look like a billionaire to Lauren, but it wasn't like she had ever met a billionaire before. The woman was pretty average looking. Attractive without trying too hard, well-dressed without wearing anything fancy, medium height, brunette, slender, the woman looked like any normal thirty-something that Lauren had passed on the streets many times. Could this really be the billionaire that Emily was so obsessed with?

"Are you sure that's her?" Lauren asked, thinking that Emily could easily be mistaken. "I'm sure," Emily whispered, "now what do you think we should do? Should we just go up to..." She was interrupted when the woman looked at them, smiled, and walked over.

"You must be Emily and Lauren," she said warmly, holding out her hand for a shake, "I am Sofia Ponomarenko. I'm very pleased to meet you." Lauren timidly reached out and shook the woman's hand. "It's nice to meet you," she said.

The three women ordered coffee and found an empty table in the back of the coffee shop. Emily still couldn't believe that she was meeting THE Sofia Ponomarenko, but she did her best to act casual and collected even though she was freaking out on the inside. Lauren was a little more calm. She knew, logically, that the woman they were talking to was the richest and most powerful person she had ever met, but she looked just like any other early-thirties woman. Sure, she was more attractive than most women, but it wasn't like she was a gorgeous, bombshell, super-model. And she didn't flaunt her wealth. Her clothes looked like things any person could buy at any department store, and her Ukrainian accent was so faint that it was hardly noticeable. Most importantly, the woman had a friendly and casual attitude that made Lauren feel at ease.

After the usual small talk, Sofia's tone became serious as she addressed the girls. "I'm sure you're both wondering why I asked you to meet me here," she said, "I trust you both know who I am and are familiar with my companies." Lauren and Emily both nodded. "Good," Sofia continued, "I asked you here because I can see the modeling potential in you. I am launching a new clothing line targeted at young women, and I am currently looking for young, unknown models to be the face of the brand. I've looked through thousands of modeling portfolios, but something about the two of you really stood out. I love the way you work together and are comfortable in different environments and styles of clothing. My staff is still working out the details, but would this be something you would be interested in?"

Lauren and Emily looked at each other in disbelief, hardly able to process their luck. After a few moments of silence, Emily spoke up. "Miss Ponomarenko," she began. "Please call me Sofia," Sofia said warmly, smiling at the girl. "Sofia," Emily continued, "I would like to say, on behalf of both of us, 'thank you so much for this opportunity.' We are very interested. Working with Timelessness is like a dream come true, and being the face of a new clothing brand is like my greatest wish being granted. You have no idea how honored we are." Lauren nodded. "This means so much to us," she said, "we have been working so hard on becoming models, and working with you would be an enormous honor."

"I'm glad to hear that," Sofia said, smiling broadly, "but just to be clear, I'm not offering you the job yet. You two are finalists in my selection process. I've narrowed the finalists down to about twenty candidates, and I will be meeting with all of them separately. I like to personally know every model that I work with, especially if I will be centering a clothing line around them. If I sign you, this will be a multi-year contract, and I want to make sure that I am getting the right people. I anticipate hiring about five models for the project. Your chances are looking good, but the job isn't yours yet."

"We understand," Emily said as Lauren nodded, "and I have to apologize. We didn't know this was an interview or we would have come with our photo portfolios and resumes." Sofia shook her head. "I purposely set this meeting up to not be an interview," she said, "I have all the pictures I could possibly need of the two of you. I just want to get to know you personally. If we work together, we will be spending a lot of time together, and I want to work with girls that I enjoy being around."

The women talked for over an hour, and Lauren could tell by Sofia's reactions that the meeting was going really well. Lauren found herself really liking Sofia. She had imagined that the billionaire would be stuck-up, full of herself, and condescending, but Sofia was really down-to-earth and spoke to her and Emily like they were equals. Lauren knew that working with Sofia would be a dream come true.

The conversation was interrupted by Sofia's phone vibrating. "I completely lost track of time," she said, checking the cell phone, "I have to get going to the airport. I have a meeting in New York in a few hours that I can't be late for. That text was from my driver letting me know that it's time to go."

"Thank you so much for everything," Emily said, standing up from the table, "we look forward to hearing from you soon."

"Of course," Sofia said, "you'll definitely be hearing from me soon. In fact, that reminds me. Are you two girls busy next month? I ask because I throw a private party every year on my Caribbean island. It's pretty intimate - only about forty or fifty of my closer friends. We leave from Miami on my yacht three Saturdays from now, returning ten days after that. I would love it if you two would come."

"Of course we'll be there," Emily said without hesitation. "We would be honored," Lauren said, "are any of the other finalists coming too?"

"Only a select few," Sofia said, "so I would say your chances of being selected are looking really good, especially if we get along well at the party. It will mostly just be friends of mine. Most go to the party every year, but there will be a few new people there as well. It will be great. I will have some of the finest chefs in the world, fireworks every night, jet skis, scuba diving, laying on the beach - anything you would want to do, I will have. It's always my favorite time of the year. I work so hard all year with my businesses that I really need ten days of relaxing to keep my sanity. Now I really have to go. I'll email you the details."

Emily and Lauren said their hasty goodbyes and Sofia stepped into the limousine waiting in front of the coffee shop. They waved goodbye as Sophia sped away, racing toward her private jet at the airport.

"That was insane," Emily said. "I know," Lauren agreed, "I can't wait for this party. It's going to change our lives forever."