Versace black, sleeveless, corset-back dress, her hair newly cut, highlighted and styled, and her makeup professionally applied for the first time in her life. Aside from the outfit—something a little more day-to-evening than usual that she’d picked from the closet that morning in anticipation of her afternoon appointment—it was an incredible lunch-time transformation, and she couldn’t wait for Kaiser to see it when she swept off the elevator with her bag full of creams and lipsticks and hair conditioners and styling products.
The bubble of her enthusiasm popped almost immediately when she saw Kaiser’s door open and heard the high, light laugh of a woman coming from his office.
Heidi’s knees felt suddenly weak and she stopped, heart hammering, face flushed, blinking in the direction of the sound—a low murmur now, and yes, again, the laugh. It was an intimate laugh, a sexy laugh, intentionally so, Heidi mused. She continued to her desk, her wobbly legs just barely getting her to her chair, and she stashed her shopping back underneath.
“Oh Warren, don’t be such a boy scout!” the woman pouted, and Heidi moved her computer mouse, ending the screen saver—Kaiser’s 2008 runway show in Paris, a breathtaking loop she watched daily as they were now heavily preparing for the 2009
version which she hoped to see “live” in just a few weeks—and peeking around the monitor in an attempt to see without being too obvious.
“Can we focus here, Andrea?”
Andrea. She knew immediately, before she ever saw her, that it was Andrea Paxton’s arm she glimpsed snaking around Kaiser’s neck from behind, her blonde head dipping down to murmur into his ear.
“I am focused, Warren darling.” Andrea tugged gently at his tie before her fingers followed it like an arrow down his chest, heading for his lap. Heidi sat frozen, furious, sure she was about to witness an afternoon quickie she didn’t want to know about, let alone see.
“Your dresses will be completed this week.” Kaiser stood, moving away from the table where Andrea’s designs— not hers, mine! Heidi fumed—were spread out. “We’ll meet downtown this weekend for the pre-show. I think we’re almost done here for the day.”
Surprised by his obvious rebuff, Heidi watched, unnoticed, as he moved to his desk to pick up the phone to dial. Andrea stood near the window, her back turned, a woman clearly unaccustomed to not getting what she wanted.
Heidi decided she didn’t want to see any more, getting up quietly from her desk and heading down the hall to the kitchen. It would be best not to have any confrontations, she thought, pouring a cup of coffee—exactly why, she didn’t know, since she didn’t drink it—and standing there with the warm mug cupped in her hands.
All the mugs were the same, with the Kaiser logo and his signature curlicue K.
She stood there, how long she didn’t know, wondering what to do. Was she going to hide in the kitchen all afternoon? It was already five minutes past the time she should have been sitting at her desk, waiting to do Kaiser’s bidding and if he discovered this fact, she knew she was going to be in trouble. Why was she risking it? Because she didn’t want to see Andrea Paxton again, after all this time?
Because she stole my designs!
But, while that was true, Heidi knew she couldn’t prove it. Her sketchbook was long gone, and how could she possibly convince Kaiser that she, a lowly secretary, had designed something that Andrea Paxton— that Andrea Paxton—claimed was her own creation? It was an impossible situation, and Heidi had already decided, without really deciding anything at all, to do what she always did. She followed the path of least resistance.
I bend , she thought, looking at her distorted reflection on the dark, rippled surface of the rich, aromatic coffee, the cup shaking in her hand.
“Oh my god! Heidi Bauer!” Andrea gasped, looking truly surprised and, Heidi noted with some
The bubble of her enthusiasm popped almost immediately when she saw Kaiser’s door open and heard the high, light laugh of a woman coming from his office.
Heidi’s knees felt suddenly weak and she stopped, heart hammering, face flushed, blinking in the direction of the sound—a low murmur now, and yes, again, the laugh. It was an intimate laugh, a sexy laugh, intentionally so, Heidi mused. She continued to her desk, her wobbly legs just barely getting her to her chair, and she stashed her shopping back underneath.
“Oh Warren, don’t be such a boy scout!” the woman pouted, and Heidi moved her computer mouse, ending the screen saver—Kaiser’s 2008 runway show in Paris, a breathtaking loop she watched daily as they were now heavily preparing for the 2009
version which she hoped to see “live” in just a few weeks—and peeking around the monitor in an attempt to see without being too obvious.
“Can we focus here, Andrea?”
Andrea. She knew immediately, before she ever saw her, that it was Andrea Paxton’s arm she glimpsed snaking around Kaiser’s neck from behind, her blonde head dipping down to murmur into his ear.
“I am focused, Warren darling.” Andrea tugged gently at his tie before her fingers followed it like an arrow down his chest, heading for his lap. Heidi sat frozen, furious, sure she was about to witness an afternoon quickie she didn’t want to know about, let alone see.
“Your dresses will be completed this week.” Kaiser stood, moving away from the table where Andrea’s designs— not hers, mine! Heidi fumed—were spread out. “We’ll meet downtown this weekend for the pre-show. I think we’re almost done here for the day.”
Surprised by his obvious rebuff, Heidi watched, unnoticed, as he moved to his desk to pick up the phone to dial. Andrea stood near the window, her back turned, a woman clearly unaccustomed to not getting what she wanted.
Heidi decided she didn’t want to see any more, getting up quietly from her desk and heading down the hall to the kitchen. It would be best not to have any confrontations, she thought, pouring a cup of coffee—exactly why, she didn’t know, since she didn’t drink it—and standing there with the warm mug cupped in her hands.
All the mugs were the same, with the Kaiser logo and his signature curlicue K.
She stood there, how long she didn’t know, wondering what to do. Was she going to hide in the kitchen all afternoon? It was already five minutes past the time she should have been sitting at her desk, waiting to do Kaiser’s bidding and if he discovered this fact, she knew she was going to be in trouble. Why was she risking it? Because she didn’t want to see Andrea Paxton again, after all this time?
Because she stole my designs!
But, while that was true, Heidi knew she couldn’t prove it. Her sketchbook was long gone, and how could she possibly convince Kaiser that she, a lowly secretary, had designed something that Andrea Paxton— that Andrea Paxton—claimed was her own creation? It was an impossible situation, and Heidi had already decided, without really deciding anything at all, to do what she always did. She followed the path of least resistance.
I bend , she thought, looking at her distorted reflection on the dark, rippled surface of the rich, aromatic coffee, the cup shaking in her hand.
“Oh my god! Heidi Bauer!” Andrea gasped, looking truly surprised and, Heidi noted with some
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