You Never Knew

Chapter 17

After a whole day of girl talk and pampering, Monday no longer feels like a gigantic mountain of doom that I have to climb.

I'm placed in marketing for the week, being paired with...

"Nelly Yang." Her handshake firm, her posture impeccable.

"Kiara Clarke."

She eyes me and give me a crooked smile. "You have done well in the challenges and I've seen some of your work. Impressive."

"Thank you! You won the office space challenge at the beach, right?"

"Right. And I like the odds of us going for another win."

I smile at her, feeling the thrive for conquest burn within her. "Sounds like a plan."

We spend most of the day working on proof reading a couple of campaigns that are about the be released, tweaking the use of words before handing over to the copywriter.

Nelly is focused and assertive, her eyes always on the target. We make great progress and I almost feel overwhelmed by her work ethic.

"...and I feel that this should be moved over to this side...

"Something is off with the font, perhaps something more like..."

"Excellent idea!" She scribbles our notes down with an elegant handwriting and goes off to get the changes approved by the manager.

Jennie comes up to me, almost skipping, bags in hand. "Ready to be transformed?" She crooks an eyebrow, amused.

I take the pen out from between my teeth, checking the time. "Now? I really wanted to..."

"I don't think we have been introduced." Nelly walks over and put out her hand toward Jennie. "Nelly Yang, Kiara's partner for the week."

"Jennie Brown. Kiara's team mate from the first week." She smiles warmly at Nelly, who returns it with a simple twist of the corner of her mouth.

"Funny how fast times move around here." Nelly notice the bags in Jennie's hand. "Getting ready for the dinner tonight?"

Jennie nods excitedly.

"Mind if I join you?", Nelly ask.

I look at Jennie, who smiles excitedly. "The more the merrier!"

The gigantic women's bathroom on the 10th floor, located next to the office gym, is swamped! Apparently, all female Wavers had the same idea.

The sinks are covered in make-up and hair products, the noise level high and everyone seems to be in a good mood.

"Just stay still for a little longer..." Jennie stands in front of me, my back against the mirror. She is wearing a daring yellow dress, matched with snakeskin-patterned pumps and impeccable make-up. She is currently adjusting the last of mine.

"Done!" She smiles at me, excited, and then put on a serious face. "You may look."

I give her a quick smile and turn. "Holy...!"

The knee-length red long-sleeved dress hugs my body in all the right places, with a slit showing off my right leg. The make-up accentuates my best features, my eyes popping and my lips painted a darker shade than my dress.

"You can thank me later." Jennie rests her hand on my shoulder, smiling wryly at me in the mirror. I smile at her, and then take a second look at my dress, tilting my head.

"Does the slit go up higher than when I tried the dress yesterday?"

Jennie quickly looks away before grinning at me. "As I said, thank me later."