Edmund was naturally pleased to see Sara walk back in the next morning, even though the incident in the pool was just yesterday. He could feel it in her, a growing dissatisfaction and unhappiness. He looked at her, and smiled.
“Hi Sara. I think we can give the swimsuits a rest today.” Edmund said.
Sara looked at her landlord, and her mind immediately went back to their interaction yesterday. She blushed, but felt a bit relieved when she wouldn’t be doing swimsuits. But- wait, if it’s not swimsuits- would it be the lingerie line?!
She immediately gave Edmund a suspicious look. “What- what do you have in mind?”
“Zhein!” Edmund smiled. “You know I bought over this other fast fashion brand? I thought we could have you model in some of them. We won’t show your face, of course.”
She released a breath of relief she didn’t even know she was holding, and nodded. “Okay.”
Edmund led her to a room. “Alright, the thing about dresses and clothes is pretty much lots of mixing and matching. So we’ll be mixing tops, mixing bottoms, swapping accessories a lot.”
The Zhein side of the photography studio had multiple desks with various accessories placed on them. Handbags, slingbags, watches and all that. She was immediately curious. “Who makes all these stuff for you?”
“Oh, factories somewhere in China. They essentially cover the whole business from start to the end, except for the final step which is marketing, sales portal, cash collection and all that.” Edmund explained. “Alright, let’s get started. Let’s see how many tops we can get through. Minion, I need you to tag every photo with all the SKUs that we use.”
“Got it boss.”
Sara didn’t know what that meant. “What’s SKUs?”
“Stock keeping unit. It’s a way us retailers track our inventory.” Edmund said. “Every photo we try to show which SKU is used, so that it makes it easy for customers to find the product they want. Today we have the demure style and some more country type clothes. So come, try these on.”
The clothing racks were stacked with almost 20 sets of tops and skirts, and some dresses, all in soft pastel colors, and browns. They were all made from thin cotton.
“Take off your clothes, leave just your bra and panties on.” The minion asked. “We’ll mix and match.”
“What- here?”
“Yeah. You’ve seen boss naked, and the boss has seen you naked. What’s the big deal of just wearing your panties and bra. It’s not that different from a swimsuit, right?”
Sara blushed, and looked at the perfectly normal minion. It was true. There really was no reason to be embarrassed in her undergarments if she could pose in swimwear that revealed just as much skin. But she did, and thanked her lucky stars her lingerie was conservative, and not the frilly, see through type.
She got dressed, and Edmund began snapping away. Most of the clothes were very light, and the minion helped her change quickly, mixing the accessories.
That was when she realized the poses for dresses and clothes, were different from swimwear! Dresses and clothes involved a lot more standing and hand poses, because she would sometimes be holding a bag, or a necklace, or a water bottle, or some teacups. There were more props.
The photos kept snapping away, and eventually, the whole morning was done.
“Alright!” Edmund said. “Well done! You look great, Sara. Let’s take a longer one for lunch, since it’s a Friday.”
Sara nodded. She went through the tops and bottoms so quickly that she didn’t even remember what looked good. The minion patted her shoulder. “Yeah! You were awesome.”
Edmund’s photos were somehow synchronized with his computer, and the photos appeared in his laptop almost instantly. He began going through the photos, and Sara, curious how she looked, watched.
She was dazzled, watching how Edmund began swiftly editing the photos like they were second nature. He was already uploading some of them onto Zhein’s sales page. For someone who wasn’t very good with computers, it felt like watching a magician.
Eventually, he stopped on a set of white cotton ruffle, frilly, off-shoulder top, and a light brown skirt. “This is nice. But the strap- we need something without strap. Let’s take this again.”
Sara peeked at his screen.
“You should wear it again.” Edmund said. The minion rushed off to pull out the set of clothing from the rack. The minion took the clothes, and walked to her, telling her to change.
The mood was still very work-like, so she undressed in front of him, and wore the white top and the brown skirt. Edmund nodded.
“That bra doesn’t fit the style. Go get something without a shoulder strap.” Edmund ordered the minion, and the minion did. It was one of the bras from the guiltypleasure lingerie line, and Sara stared at it.
She touched it, and immediately noticed how soft it was. So much higher quality than the old ones she used so far-
“Well, change.” Edmund turned away and focused on his laptop.
Sara looked at the minion, and obediently took off her top, then her bra. The minion teased her. “You’ve got really nice breasts.”
She blushed and put on the bra. She was amazed how well it fit. “How’d you know my size?”
“That’s my job, dear.” The minion laughed. “I’ve been handling your swimsuits, I know roughly the size I need to get for you.”
That made sense, and Sara put the top on again. She looked in the mirror, and couldn’t believe herself. She looked like a star, a model not out of place from the fancy shopping streets.
“Boss, she’s ready.”
Edmund took a few more photos, and then nodded. “Great job! Alright.”
Then Sara felt her stomach grumble. She barely ate last night, and this morning. Now, with lunch delayed because of the reshoot, she blushed. Edmund smiled. “Don’t change. Wear that. Come, let’s go lunch.”
Minion shook her head. “Not joining.”
***
Sara felt weird wearing the top, but Edmund drove her to a nearby cafe with beautiful natural decorations. It was filled with indoor plants that gave the place a calm vibe.
“How’d you know places like this?” Sara asked.
“Phone.” Edmund laughed. “People are staring at you.”
Sara noticed, of course, and then she looked away, embarrassed. “-that’s not happened before.”
Edmund teased. “When Cinderella dresses up, naturally the eyes will follow.”
Her heart thumped. Cinderella. She wanted to be pampered, to be adored, and the admiring glances, from other girls and guys made her nervous. “-I’m not used to it.”
Edmund laughed, and then a waiter came to take their order. “What can I get for you two?”
The cafe served standard cafe fair, so Edmund ordered some kind of all-day big breakfast set. Sara stared, unable to decide, so Edmund ordered some kind of grilled Salmon and Cod with fries and avocados for his lunch companion.
“Do you like coffee?” Edmund asked. “I notice we haven’t got you coffee when you’re in the studio, but if you like it I’ll get the minion to order it.”
She shrugged. “I’m 50-50 on coffee. Occasionally I enjoy it. Mostly when I’m with friends.”
The food was yummy, and the food’s plating was beautiful, so Sara took a photo of it. Edmund poked. “What kind of social media do you have? Twitter? Insta? Facebook?”
Sara blushed. “I’m old school, I used to have a Facebook but I stopped updating it. I- there’s nothing to update, I guess. I also used to have an Insta account but- I deleted my app after-“
She didn’t want to admit she hated comparing herself to her friends. She was so jealous of all the holidays they had, the good food they ate, the things they wear. Insta was the curated version of their life, but Sara didn’t even know what to show from her own daily life. Eventually, her husband told her she should delete it. So she did.
Edmund nodded. “That’s good. Most people get into lots of debt just to keep up with lifestyle. It’s a really nasty thing.”
Sara looked at him. “But you-“
“I’ve got multiple businesses. They fund my life. Besides, I work all the time!” It wasn’t polite to ask his networth, so Sara didn’t.
After food was done, they didn’t leave immediately. Edmund, naturally, wanted to infect her with this lifestyle.
“That part of the cafe is really nice.” Edmund ordered coffee for both of them, and asked her to sit down and pose. He whipped out his phone and snapped away. He sent her the photos, of course.
Her phone vibrated, and then she saw the photos Edmund took. She looked like her friends who were somehow hanging out at cafes all the time. Her fingers trembled. She- she looked happy. Contented.
The photo of her, sipping her coffee. It was just such a small, normal thing. A photo of her having coffee in a beautiful cafe with greenery, bright natural lighting. Contented. It wasn’t pleasure, but, a sense of contentment and happiness. A sense of normalcy that she was missing.
She looked at Edmund, and thought of the lie her husband told her this very morning.
James wouldn’t be able to give her the life she wanted.
Her heart had begun to crack. She looked at the photo again. So normal. Just a regular photo that’s everywhere on insta.
Yet her heart and her desires craved it so much.
