A Business Love

chapter 9

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A week later, Jessie was sitting in her room in front of her makeup station, nervously looking at herself in the mirror.

"Can you do a half up ponytail with curls?" she asked to her mother.

"Woah, okay! Who are you trying to impress?"

'Julian.'

"No one. It's an important meeting, that's all," she answered instead.

"Well, that hairstyle compliments you very well."

Jessie knew that full well. She usually put her hair in a tight low bun or straightened it for business meetings, but this time around, she deliberately wanted to look beautiful. She also put on more makeup than usual. Instead of her usual suits, she wore a short white and navy ditsy floral dress with clear heel strappy sandals. It wasn't very formal but still business appropriate.

After seeing her final look, Veronica gasped with delight and exclaimed, "Oh Jessie, you are glowing! They won't be able to resist you! Wait let me take a picture!"

Jessie was also satisfied and felt beautiful. It was the first time in a very long time that she had prepared herself with the idea of impressing a man. She definitely wanted Julian to find her attractive, even if she didn't even remotely think that would make him find an interest in her. She was persuaded that a guy like him must have had so many prettier girls than her at his feet. She knew Julian was single, and that he was apparently flirting with Alexandra, the director of legal affairs and after stalking her, Jessie had concluded that they made sense together and that Alexandra was probably the type of girls he was aiming for. Despite all of that, she still wanted to try to impress him.

When she arrived at the office, Ginetta was the first one to compliment her. "Wow, wow, wow! Jessie! Where are you going looking so radiant?"

"Thank you, Ginetta!" she answered while doing a reverence. "Big meeting today!"

"Oh, with a look like this, you're going to nail it for sure!"

"Thank you! Have a great day!" said Jessie while climbing the stairs behind Ginetta with a confident walk.

She continued walking and everyone she met along the way greeted her with a compliment on her looks. However, the closer she got to her desk, the more she began to wonder if this was a good thing.

When Massimo saw her, he took a step back and pointed at her for everyone to see. "This is what 'ready for business' looks like! Good job, kiddo!" he said both earnestly and enthusiastically.

At this point, she blushed and quickly walked to her desk. She had major regrets, now convinced she had gone too far with her look. She felt it was too obvious and she was afraid that Julian would notice it was all for him.

When Mariana arrived in the office, she had barely finished greeting her coworkers that Jessie was already hovering over her in her office.

"Can I talk to you?" she nervously asked.

"Wow, you look great! What's the matter, beautiful woman?" asked Mariana while she put her bag on her office desk.

"Can I be honest with you?"

"Yes, beautiful woman!"

"This morning, I woke up and prepared specifically with Julian in mind. And here's the result!" she said embarrassed, pointing to her whole body with both hands.

"Oh!" replied Mariana laughing out loud. "Well, judging by your appearance, we can deduce that he clearly has a positive effect on you," she said, making fun of her.