Part 2 (2/2)
”Naked?”
”Always.”
Kelly drew her clipboard to her tiny b.r.e.a.s.t.s. ”Miss Brill, December's temperature is cool in St. Tropez. Your file includes a weather report.”
She flipped the folder open. Cool wasn't in the forecast-downright cold to freezing was what Mother flipping Nature ordered. c.r.a.p.
”Sit down, Kelly.” She pushed the Lalique-framed snapshot of her NFL football crush, Brayden Brooks playing at last year's Super Bowl, to her right. Her Lanvin-cuffed wrists swept her client's lipstick project to her left.
Challenged to come up with anything more unique than Rose Petal, Sugar Plum and Earth Red for lip color names, she'd been rebranding SKUs for Baden Cosmetics. Taddy replaced their stickers with new labels, which included Double Penetration, Licked All Over and her personal favorite, c.u.n.ty Red. Clients hired her for one thing and one thing only, to get them press. Lip gloss called Sugar Plum wouldn't secure an editor's attention at HerSay magazine. But c.u.n.ty Red? Most definitely.
”What is it, Miss Brill?” Kelly pushed her unbleached chignon up and sat on the seat's edge with a sharp inhale.
”We have a problem...a whopper to be exact.” Taddy heaved her b.r.e.a.s.t.s out. She loved scaring the flat-chested new hires with her knockers.
”Do we?” Kelly asked in terror. Taddy a.s.sumed not from her boss's b.r.e.a.s.t.s, for those she knew Kelly admired because she always stared at them fondly. Her dismay was for the word ”problem” that came from Taddy's mouth.
”First, thank you for the gift. It's in red, my favorite color.” She loved this pashmina. She owned five at home identical to this one.
”I read in the company handbook you are to be branded in red at all times.”
”Red is the color for intensity-I am a deep person, Kelly.”
”I see, Miss Brill.”
”Red enables people to make quick decisions, a motto I live by.” She tapped her acrylics on the Horchow mirrored desktop. ”It also embodies strength and power. Two traits I strive for. Understand?”
”Yes ma'am.” Kelly made a noise. She swallowed hard-twice.
”I'm going to make you my new executive personal a.s.sistant. You'll get a ten percent raise and a company credit card with a wardrobe allowance.”
”Yeah!”
”Calm down.” Taddy had planned to promote her anyway.
”Thank you, Miss Brill. I'm so excited. I can't wait to tell my parents-oh boy.” She collapsed into the high-backed chair, eyes beaming.
”We must do something about your name.”
”My name?” She paused. ”It's Kelly-Kelly Ivy Kailyn Izatt.”
Taddy made an extra effort not to roll her eyes. She hated to make anyone think their birth name was not unique or that they weren't special, or above all, that they were just another Kelly. ”We have three Kellys on salary-Kelly Barnes, Kel Michaels and Kelbie something-or-another.” Taddy had reached the conclusion that Kelbie p.i.s.sed while standing although he dressed from the waist down in a skirt. He strutted better in high heels than Brill girls. Kelbie came from Atlanta. His paycheck Taddy signed each week was addressed to a ”Kelly Brian Green”.
”What about using my middle name?”
”Ivy makes me itch.” She scowled.
”What do you suggest we do then, Miss Brill?”
”Your initials are K.I.K.I. Use those.” She was keen on having an a.s.sistant named Kiki.
”Kiki's different.” Her executive a.s.sistant's face lit up. Taddy Brill's new executive a.s.sistant, Kiki, was created.
”So is that all, Miss Brill?” Shoulders raised, she went to stand.
”No-”
Kiki stayed seated. ”Oh...”
”I can't go to St. Tropez with Lex.”
”Was it my weather report?” She reached for the folder on Taddy's desk.
”I love the heat.” I love my t.i.ts. She loved showing off her t.i.ts in the heat.
”Lex and you want to go somewhere warmer, I take it?”
”Hotter. Much hotter.” Without notice, she glided her hands over her decolletage and tugged at her Carine Gilson bra straps. The lingerie purchase was a suggestion from Lex. While shopping in Paris, her friend urged her that if she wore the best foundation garments she'd be less intent on taking them off all the time. Nothing was better for her b.r.e.a.s.t.s than Carine Gilson. Regardless, the desire to go topless burned inside her.
Her a.s.sistant coughed. ”May I be personal with you for a minute, Miss Brill?” Kiki turned her face away in possible fear she'd be flashed at her boss's self-groping.
”Of course.” Taddy hoped this would be good. She loved when Brill girls dished on themselves. Lonely at the top, Taddy was no longer included in chatter at the water-cooler.
”My friend DJ Dejon spins at several parties in Europe this time of year-”
”Don't take this the wrong way.” Fighting the urge to laugh, she bit down on her lower lip and sat back in her chair. She always tried to demonstrate a high opinion of her girls. ”How does a native from Provo, Utah, have a DJ friend named Dejon who spins in Europe?”
”We're friends online through a chat room, ma'am.”
”Aah, makes sense.” G.o.d bless cyber introductions.
”Anyways.” Kiki pulled out a flyer from her paper stack. It listed DJ Dejon's tour dates.
To Taddy's surprise, he trotted the globe. ”Wow.”
”New Year's Eve, Dejon is spinning in Algarve, Portugal.”
She leaned closer. ”And?” An open tube of c.u.n.ty Red glossed her left nipple. This gave her ideas for other color cosmetic names. Taddy jotted down in her notebook MelonLicious and Utah Virgin.
”Dejon posted Algarve in his online chat room as the hottest place this winter-both temperature- and scene-wise.” She flashed her small white teeth, scoring huge with this season's tip.
”Love it. Book it. Thank you, Kiki, darling.” She reached for her cell and texted Lex the change in plans. Kiki chatted on about DJ Dejon's music while Taddy received an immediate reply from Lex. It read, ”Make the reservation under our code names”.
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