“Well, then maybe I should just wash it off and go without any so I don’t have to worry about smears!”
The women gasped and stared at me like I was crazy. And if it weren’t for the fact that Robert was most likely paying these women to make me look like this, I would wipe it off just to spite them. But Robert apparently wanted me to look like this, and since it was his Christmas party, I would go along with it.
I went into the bedroom to get dressed and the women followed me. “What are you doing?”
“Helping you get dressed.”
“Why would I need help getting dressed?”
“So that you don’t mess up our work,” the second lady said.
I shook my head and pulled out the black dress that was hanging in the closet for me. When I saw it, I gaped in surprise. He expected me to wear this?
“No, there is no way I’m wearing this dress. Do you see how low cut this is? My boobs will fall out.”
The first lady walked up to me and smirked. “That’s the back.” She turned it around where the cut was even lower. “This is the front.”
I stared at her, sure she was lying to me. Who would wear something like this? And how would one stay inside a dress like this?
“Relax, it has a sheer overlay to hold the dress together in the front.”
“Oh, well, thank God for that. Here I thought the only problem was that my dress might open and my boobs would fall out.”
“This is elegant and by a famous local designer. You’ll be the talk of the town wearing this.”
“I don’t want to be the talk of the town. I don’t want to be seen in this at all. Get me something different.”
The woman scoffed. “We don’t have time to get something different. It’s this or you can’t go. These Christmas parties that the firm throws are elegant. The women are always trying to outdo each other. You’ll shine in this, and every man will take notice of you.”
“Great, just what I want,” I said sarcastically.
The second woman walked forward and grabbed at my robe, ripping it open. “Oh, relax. It’s a few hours of looking stunning. I’m sure you’ll survive the torture of not appearing insignificant.”
Wow, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, that kind of hurt. It wasn’t that I cared what other people thought of me, but man, women could be so brutal to each other. This was why I stayed as far away from Chicago as possible. I wanted a simple life where women weren’t this catty and snarky over something as stupid as a dress.
I quickly slipped the dress on and immediately wanted to cover up. I felt naked in the dress, and I knew I wouldn’t be comfortable the entire night, as long as it felt like my body was on display. And worse, the dress had a huge slit up one thigh. How was this supposed to be elegant? I was going to freeze my ass off half the time, and the other half I would be worried that my vagina would fall out of the bottom of the dress.
“You look beautiful,” Robert said from behind me. I turned around to see him in a tux, looking extremely handsome. But then, he looked good in anything he wore. “The ladies did a phenomenal job. You look amazing.”
That comment stung. Was I not good enough before? Did he think I needed my hair done fancy and my makeup caked on to look beautiful? I didn’t think he really felt that way, but this was what he was used to, and there was no way I would ever be the girl that wanted to get dressed up for a party. I already wanted to wash all the makeup off my face.
“Thank you,” I said with a smile. It was forced, but I did the best I could.
“We should go. The party has already started, and I’m fine with being fashionably late, but we’re pushing it.”
Shaking off my nerves, I took the clutch that one of the women offered me. When I looked inside, it was filled with makeup. I dumped it out on the bed and stuck my phone inside, along with my wallet. Makeup would be useless to me tonight. I followed Robert out to the front of the apartment and grabbed my coat, only to have him stop me.