13
“YOU’RE GOING WHERE? With who?” Laura sounded as incredulous as Alexa felt.
“You heard me. I can’t quite believe it either. Do you think I’m doing the right thing, Lau?” She was still nervous and wondering if there was an ulterior motive behind Dawson’s request, but her best friend had no such qualms.
Laura’s eyebrows had risen up into her hairline, and she looked at Alexa with an open mouth. “Are you doing the right thing? Did you really just ask me that? Have I not been telling you for weeks that you need to jump this man’s bones?” They were obviously rhetorical questions and Laura poked her tongue out childishly in response. “This is a good thing, Lexi. Wait, scratch that. This is a great thing! You actually get to go away with the guy for three whole days, he’s given you his company credit card to buy everything you need, and he’s giving you a bonus in your wages on top of it all. You’d be absolutely crazy if you turned him down.”
Alexa couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s excitement. You’d swear that it was her going away for the weekend the way she was carrying on.
“Oh my God, Laura. What the hell am I supposed to buy to wear to a charity gala?”
“Panic not, my friend. I know just the place to go, and it so happens that I’m also off work tomorrow, so we can spend the day shopping together on your boss’ dime.”
“I’m not going to go crazy with it, so don’t go getting too excited. I know he said to make sure that I buy something suitable, but that doesn’t mean that I have to spend an absolute fortune.” Alexa was starting to get excited herself, but there was no way she was going to go overboard with someone else’s money. That would go against the grain as far as she was concerned, and it didn’t matter whether Dawson could afford it or not.
The two girls were in the heart of the city’s shopping area early the following morning, which, considering the fact that Laura usually stayed in bed until lunch time on her day off, was a miracle in itself. The first place that Alexa was dragged into was a boutique to a richer clientele than she was, considering the fact that there wasn’t a price tag in sight, which in itself made her cringe. After spending at least an hour trying on dress after dress, she finally put her foot down and told Laura that they needed to find somewhere else.
“I just don’t feel comfortable in here.”
Laura gave an exaggerated sigh of frustration, but she gave in to Alexa’s request, and they left the store empty-handed. The second place they went into felt a lot less exclusive, and Alexa immediately felt much happier.
“I’m looking for something to wear to a charity event. It doesn’t necessarily have to be something exclusive, but it does need to be a gown that will keep my boss happy.”
The middle aged lady serving her smiled at her reassuringly. “First things first. Is your boss male or female?”
“Male. Why?” The question really confused Alexa.
“Because a female boss wouldn’t want to be upstaged by an employee wearing something better than she is, whereas a male boss wants the employee to look as hot as possible at these type of functions so that he is the envy of every other male there.” The lady gave Alexa a conspiratorial wink that had her and Laura laughing out loud. “Women can be such bitches, and men are fickle creatures. We just need to know how to play the game, and that’s where I come in.”
She proceeded to bring out a few dresses and pointed out a few more that were strategically placed on mannequins around the store. “Why don’t you take these through to the dressing room and try them on while your friend and I take a look around for a few other options.”
Alexa took the dresses and walked to the dressing room where another assistant waited to help her change. The first two were totally unsuitable, with one being way too short and the other way too tight. “I wouldn’t mind something that was a mixture between the two, if that was possible?”
The assistant smiled and stepped back through the door into the main area, returning a short time later with another couple of possibilities for her to try on.
The same thing happened a few more times, and each time Alexa found something wrong with the dress. Until she tried another one on and turned to look at herself in the full-length mirror. She hardly recognized the person looking back at her, and her hands smoothed the material down over her hips in awe.
“Would it be okay for my friend to come back here and take a look?”
Her friend was with her in the blink of an eye, almost as though she’d been waiting impatiently outside the door.
“Oh my fucking God, Lexi. That looks absolutely beautiful on you.”
“If you don’t mind me saying so, I believe that it’s you who makes the dress look beautiful.” The lady who had first greeted them when they walked into the store had followed Laura through to the dressing room, and her words made Alexa blush shyly.
She wasn’t quite sure what to say in response. “So you both think that this one will do?”
There was a united chorus of agreement and the decision was made. Alexa gasped at how much the dress cost, but she knew that it was a lot cheaper than any of the ones they’d seen in the previous store, so that made her feel a little better as she walked out of the place with her gown carefully wrapped in tissue paper and a gift box.
“Holy shit, Laura. I’ve only ever walked out of a store with a plastic bag before. I’ve never had anything wrapped up and put in a box.”
Laura burst out laughing. “That makes two of us, girlfriend. And we are not done yet. You still need to buy shoes and a bag to match.”
Alexa let out a groan. “Can we stop and get something to eat first? I never knew that shopping was such hungry work.” She was shocked to realize that it was almost two o’clock in the afternoon. They’d already been shopping for hours and they’d only been to two places so far.
They found a small café and had a bite to eat before their shopping spree continued. Thankfully, they managed to find a pair of shoes and a matching purse in the next store they stopped at, and Alexa breathed a sigh of relief. “Can we go home now?”
“Are you crazy? We still have to find you some new makeup as well as some sexy lingerie to wear underneath that stunning dress.”
“I already have makeup, Laura, but I do agree that I need some new underwear. I don’t think I have anything that would work under that dress because of the style of it. There’s no way I’m charging that to the business credit card though. That would just be wrong as far as I’m concerned.”
Laura laughed at her words. “You can be such a prude sometimes.”
It took them almost another two hours before they were finally done and on their way home, and Alexa was loaded down with bags and boxes. She couldn’t believe how much money she’d spent, even though she’d really tried to be as thrifty as possible. She hung everything up to let any creases fall out before she and Laura had a light dinner, followed by an early night to bed.
She carried Dawson’s coffee to him the following morning and placed his credit card on top of his desk along with all of the receipts she made sure to save. He looked at them in surprise before saying anything to her.
“Well that’s a first. I’m not used to women showing me receipts for what they’ve spent. You didn’t have to do that, but I appreciate it, Alexa. Thank you.” To say he was dumbfounded was an understatement. Maybe she really is going to prove you wrong about women, he thought, and was surprised by how much he wanted that to be the case.
“It wouldn’t have been right for me not to do it, but you’re welcome.” She smiled at him as she sat down. Picking up her notepad and pencil, she missed seeing the appreciative gleam in his eyes as he noticed that she was once again wearing a skirt. “I tried not to spend too much, but it’s still a lot, I’m afraid. If you need to, then don’t pay me the bonus you were talking about. That way, I won’t feel quite so guilty about it.”
She didn’t know it, but as soon as she said that, Dawson made his mind up to double her bonus, grudgingly admitting to himself that she really was a one of a kind, special woman. He didn’t think that he had ever met a female quite like her, and considering the fact that she came from a humble, hard-working background, he thought it was pretty phenomenal of her to tell him not to pay her a bonus.
He cleared his throat and put on his business head. “Okay, so this is what I need you to do today.”
Less than twenty minutes later, Alexa was back in her own office making phone calls, sending emails, and fielding calls for Dawson. She was relieved at how normal the day seemed to be going so far, especially in light of how guilty she had felt about using Dawson’s credit card and spending so much of his money. She’d expected things to feel a little tense and awkward between them, but it was business as usual, thankfully.