Several days went by and Martha still worked at Who Runway as Johanna Starling's second assistant. She had to do all sorts of jobs for Johanna, either somewhat important or completely unreasonable. She would hang Johanna's coat and get her coffee before doing things like buy things for her children, make reservations at expensive restaurants, and even walk her pet poodle around the city. Luckily, Heather was around to help... but not much, unfortunately.
This went on for a few weeks and Martha was growing more and more bored and tired with these annoying and menial tasks and worse, Johanna's selfish and bossy attitude. But she stayed and worked hard; hoping and praying things would get better for her with time. If they didn't, then she would leave and never look back. But she kept those thoughts to herself; she didn't want anyone to see her as selfish or lazy.
Everyone at Who Runway thought of Martha as a smart, fat redhead with little to no knowledge about fashion whatsoever, so they usually ignored her. But she was fine with people ignoring her... especially when she started bringing her framed photo of her and the Grinch to work with her. When no one was looking, she'd take it out of her purse and just stare at the photo with a smile, remembering her time in Whoville. Oh how she wanted to go back, especially during Christmastime, but she knew that neither Johanna nor August would allow it.
Months passed; it was Christmastime at the office and Martha couldn't be more chipper. She always felt happy during the holiday season. But when she came in, she saw that there weren't any gifts, trees, lights, or decorations. In fact, there was hardly anything that remotely resembled anything Christmassy. She was very surprised.
"Um, Franklin? Don't you guys ever decorate?" Martha asked as she sat at her desk; Franklin was standing near it.
"For what?" He asked.
"For Christmas, of course. You know, Santa Claus and 'Ho ho ho' and sparkling lights and giving gifts to your family and friends?"
"Oh, that. Well... we don't do that around here."
Martha's eyes popped and she almost gasped. "What?! Why not?"
"Because it's not what Who Runway does, especially when Johanna took over."
"Johanna doesn't like Christmas?"
"Not really. When I first started working here, I asked Johanna why we don't decorate, and do you know what she told me?"
"No."
"She said decorating the office for any holiday would be a distraction for the other workers, not to mention a waste of time and money. Her words, not mine. I was shocked. I heard Who Runway used to decorate for Christmas every year... that is until she was promoted to editor in chief."
"But... but that's not fair."
"I know it isn't. But nobody ever said life was fair." Franklin's phone beeped. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some files to fax." And he walked out the door just as Heather came in.
"What's with the long face?" Heather asked.
"Who Runway doesn't decorate for Christmas. It's sad." Martha replied with a frown.
"Well, there's nothing you can really do about that. Johanna forbids anything Christmassy, especially lights and ornaments, so you might as well get used to it." Heather sat down at her desk and let out a sneeze; she blew her nose with a tissue. "Blech..."
"How's your cold doing?"
"Still torture. Ugh, I hate winter."
"Really? I've always liked it, especially when it snows."
YOU ARE READING
Working in Fashion
General Fiction[The Grinch 2018] Martha May went to school to become a teacher and she thought that would become just that. But instead, she ended up getting a job at Who Runway Fashion Magazine... and she hated it.
