Lust, Lies, and Forbidden Ties ✵ h.s.

✵ one ✵

     According to my watch, it was thirty minutes past seven. Per my usual routine, I was walking up to the local café that my boss preferred her coffee from. She enjoyed iced mocha macchiatos, which I had tried once but didn't like very much. However, since today was Thursday, I was also getting coffee for some of the models that were coming in for photoshoots. Monday's were usually filled with paperwork, Tuesday's were where people presented new styles of fashion, Wednesday's were when they put together the looks for the Thursday photoshoots, and Friday's were used as days to make sure the past four days of work were completely finished.

Once I was in the coffee shop, I walked over to the pick up counter to grab my items. Thankfully, I ordered on my phone today, the line appearing longer than it usually was. Making sure there were four drinks, I went on to double-check that all the drinks were correctly made. The walk to the office building where I worked wasn't too difficult and only about two blocks away. Most people were too tired to shove their way down the streets in the morning, so I didn't have to worry about the coffees I was holding. Taking a deep breath as I waited to cross the street, the little sign lit up for me to walk. Not much later, I found myself walking up to my office building.

Samuel, who was the doorman, held the door open for me and asked me if I was having a good morning. Nodding, I questioned if he was as well, smiling at him when he said that his day was going smoothly so far. Once inside the building, I pressed the elevator button to go up with my elbow, not wanting to risk the coffees in my hands. It took longer than I was anticipating, but after the doors opened, I knew it was because people had probably gotten on to come down to the first floor. Stepping inside, I used my elbow again to hit the twentieth floor. My boss's office was there, and Mrs. Woods was happier when I arrived before her even though it was not necessarily a requirement of my position.

About a minute passed before I made it to the top floor, leaving me to exit and walk past reception. The woman who worked there wasn't here just yet, so I wasn't dumbly questioned as to what I was doing up here like usual. Carefully using one hand to open the large door, I managed to get my foot between the other door and the wood, pulling it open more. Setting the drink carrier on the desk, I took Mrs. Woods' drink out, placed a napkin down, and then the drink. It was followed by checking that everything on her desk was neatly straightened before I was sitting in one of the chairs, opening my phone to check my work email.

< to: fin.amato@gucci.com >

< from: nw@gucci.com >

Miss Amato,

Please keep in mind that we have models coming tomorrow morning. I expect you to look your best, as you usually do. I also hope you are excited to work closely with them since I will not need your assistance throughout the course of the day. You are to be an assistant to the models. I hope you don't mind, especially since I will be spending most of my day doing paperwork.

Regards,

Mrs. Natalie Woods

President of New York, New York Gucci Branch

Sighing, I knew what it meant to be an assistant to the models. I had done it several times in the past, but I didn't always enjoy that job. Depending on who was here, they were either very kind to me or then treated me poorly. It was sometimes annoying when they were rude to me, but there wasn't much I could do about it. After all, it was my job.

The doors were opened about ten minutes after eight, Mrs. Woods walking in quickly. Her heels clicked along the linoleum loudly, and she sat down at her desk the moment she was behind it. I sat up a little straighter, watching as she stirred her drink, and then sipped it. She followed that by turning on her desktop, the woman in front of me sighing loudly.

"Good morning, Mrs. Woods."

"Morning, Miss Amato. I appreciate the coffee, but if you don't mind, please go two floors down. The models are supposed to arrive at eight-thirty."

I stood up, pulling my skirt down some. "Is there anything you needed me to do for you first?"

She shook her head. "No, just go. I'm in a bad mood, and I don't want to take it out on you, darling. I'll take it out on the receptionist that acts like she is way more."

Smiling, I nodded, waving goodbye. I took the coffees with me downstairs, seeing Jamie at the desk. She asked me where I was going, and I just brushed her off, acting as if I didn't hear her. The elevator didn't take nearly as long to travel down two floors, and I was stepping off not much later. Walking to the room that some photoshoots had been held before, I was a bit surprised to see no one was inside. Turning the lights on, I set the coffees on a table noting that there wasn't any staging equipment or any sort of cameras in the room. Staying there for close to five minutes, I decided that I should probably call Mrs. Woods. Just as I went to grab my phone out of my bag, it began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Miss Amato, hi! I told you the wrong floor, I apologize. It's actually twelve."

"Oh, okay," I laughed. "I was just about to call you because it seemed odd that no one was in here. No worries, though, I'll head there now."

"Okay, good. Also, what's their name—oh, yes, I believe we're having one of the more prominent models for Gucci today."

"Oh?" I asked, not really getting an exact idea of who she was talking about. "I'm used to Grace and Quinn, are they not the prominent ones?"

"No. My brain is all over the place today, I apologize. Both of them are prominent, but we're having Harry with us today."

"Uh," I started, grabbing the coffees, and shutting off the lights as I headed out of the room. "That name isn't very familiar to me."

"God, you live under a rock, Miss Amato. I can't believe you don't know who I'm talking about just by the first name. Aren't you in college? Don't all the girls freak out over him?"

"I go to night classes, so it varies."

"What about friends?"

"Uh, they're basically all guys. I think I have two friends that are girls, and it's because they are dating my guy friends."

"Jesus, I can't believe this. Well, anyway, he is constantly on the news or in articles. You have to somewhat know Harry Styles. He was engaged to Kristen Klark, you know, the singer? But then it was a messy split. Come on, Miss Amato!"

"I really don't remember. I try not to dig into other people's business. I'm about to get on the elevator, so I'll chat later."

"Ugh, you're too young to be so clueless."

"Goodbye, Mrs. Woods," I laughed.

"Ciao."

I hung up the phone carefully, stepping onto the elevator, and hitting the twelfth-floor button. My phone had been slipped back into my bag, and I wished I knew who Mrs. Woods was talking about. A part of me felt like I vaguely remembered something in the news related to those names, but not enough so for an image to pop into my mind. Honestly, I was just hoping the guy was nice to me and not an asshole like some usually were.