Read Online If You Could See What I See by Cathy Lamb - Free Book Online

Lace, Satin, and Baubles and become a documentary filmmaker full time. I couldn’t not do it. It was me, I was it, even though it meant leaving the company. I struggled with the decision night after night after night, because I felt I owed it to Grandma, to my family, to stay. I finally decided I owed it to myself to take time off, especially since Grandma ran the company.
    I had loved my career as a filmmaker, though I hadn’t made much money at all.
    I wrapped both hands around a camera on the floor of my bedroom and thought about my grandma, the business, our looming financial problems, pink negligees, zebra-striped bras, garters and bustiers, lace thongs that were barely there, buttons and baubles, and our employees.
    Know them.
    Know us.
    Know Grandma.
     
    “Hello, everyone.” I stood on top of a chair to address all of the employees of Lace, Satin, and Baubles.
    “Hello, Meggie . . . hi, Megs . . . hi, honey.”
    “First.” I smiled. “I want to tell you all again that I’m so glad to be back at Lace, Satin, and Baubles.”
    They cheered. They clapped and hollered.
    I choked back a rock, which seemed to have lodged itself in my throat. I could not even speak for a minute. Beside me, Lacey clapped, while Tory stood still and uptight on my other side. I could feel her withering anger. As she told me when I worked here before, “They love you, hate me. You’re the angel, I’m the devil. Angels are so dull, though. Devils go out and play.”
    “Thank you for working here. Thank you for your creativity and your dedication, your loyalty to my grandma and to the company. Thank you for building a company we can all be proud of. We don’t simply sell lingerie. We sell beauty. We sell dreams to women. We sell products that make them feel better, prettier, stronger, more powerful. We sell lingerie so women can get out there and write the stories of their lives and look awesome doing it and, at night, or during the day”—I grinned—“they can feel happy and confident when they’re with whomever they wish to be with in their negligees and thongs.”
    They laughed.
    “On another note, and unfortunately, after looking over our books, our numbers, and our projected numbers, I don’t have good news for you. I want to be honest and up-front. You’ve been loyal to us, I want to be loyal to you and to your families.”
    Fear, I could feel it. It rolled at me in electric waves. What I said wasn’t a surprise to them, but once the truth is out in the open, their fears become their reality. “As you know, the economy has about collapsed. People don’t have money for much of anything, and our higher-end lingerie has taken a hit.”
    I did not say that the company had made mistakes, too, because I did not want to place blame on Grandma, Tory, or Lacey. But we had. Mistakes in advertising and marketing and sales. Mistakes on our website. Mistakes in our catalog. Mistakes in how money was spent, and not spent. Mistakes in products that shouldn’t have been out there at all. Mistakes in employee costs.
    I was working to fix all of the mistakes, but it was easier to blame the economy at the moment.
    “I’m sorry for what I have to tell you next, I truly am. As you probably know, we’re struggling. We’ve been struggling for some time. We will have to shut down within the year if we don’t get our sales numbers up.” Okay, that was a little lie. I didn’t see how we could stay open for six months without a few miracles.
    I heard the collective gasp. I saw people’s hands flying to their faces. I saw them slump and lose color.
    Lance with the dented head from Afghanistan studied the ceiling, grim.
    The Petrelli sisters looked grave, too. I knew, without a doubt, that they were concerned about all the other employees, the business itself and Grandma, and not themselves.
    Maritza, Juanita, and Valeria exchanged worried glasses, and they wrung their hands. They were thinking of their children. Lele and Tinsu’s eyes