Tori found herself contemplating what had happened over the last year, and looking back, she had to conclude that everything was Lexi’s fault.

Lexi Taunton, one of the admin assistants at Croft Advertising, was indubitably the only person employed there who didn’t own a voodoo doll at Tori’s effigy. There were a few people who sent her fake smiles and occasionally tagged her on kitten videos, but Tori was too smart to pretend she didn’t realize they all talked behind her back. Lexi didn’t, though. She’d been epically awesome from the start.

“I’m a pretty, blonde, ex-cheerleader, and you’re the career gal. No one else will ever like us, so we may as well stick together, honey.”

Tori loved the smart mouth her friend only made use of when no one else was within hearing range. So, when Lexi asked her to tag along on her shopping trip that lunch break, she hadn’t hesitated.

The boss was throwing a party to celebrate their successful quarter; Lexi, as a new recruit, had never attended one of these in the past. She wanted Tori’s opinion on what to wear, and Tori preferred sitting outside fitting rooms than trying to ignore her co-workers’ glares and whispers in the break room for an hour.

The animosity was at an all-time high these days. She’d just received a well-deserved, and perhaps overdue, promotion. Instead of saying ‘well done’, her colleagues had acted like she’d admitted to shooting cute little ducklings and kittens for fun. Cowardly as it may seem, she really needed a minute outside of the building.

Tori was pretty certain that her descent to hell had started in the changing room of a department store, when she helped the assistant unzip the dress she was trying out.

“Wow!”

Tori liked sausages as much as the next heterosexual girl, and lady bits didn’t do it for her at all, but her jaw still dropped, because, damn. The reserved, and lively, petite blonde was hot underneath her business casual.

“You’re going on a date later, or something?”

Lexi was wearing lingerie; sexy, edgy pieces of cloth strategically placed to hide her sensitive flesh, but most of the fabric was cut off, showing plenty of smooth skin under some mesh.

“Mh?” Lexi asked, cluelessly. Following Tori’s gaze, she looked down at herself, and chuckled. “No, I just wear kick-ass stuff for me. You power-dress with those sharp suits, I start a layer down.” She smirked. “Makes me feel powerful, I guess.”

Tori sort of understood. She wore her clothes as armor; a new, sharp, severe suit said “I’m professional” like nothing else. When she’d first started in the firm, she’d made the mistake of dressing down. She’d been in admin, like Lexi, and staff who didn’t see clients were welcome to dress as simply as they liked. Bad move. Some – in other words, practically everyone – had taken it as an invitation to walk all over her. Get her to grab their dry cleaning, pay for their coffees off-site, and other basic bullying techniques borrowed from The Devil Wears Prada. She’d put a stop to it by becoming a cold bitch, calling them out on it right in front of everyone. If HR had gotten involved, at least a dozen asses would have gotten fired, and hers wouldn’t have been one of them.

Two years later, she still played the part of a ballbuster, and dressed for it, too. That would never make her win popularity contests, but it bought her some peace.

Still, it had never occurred to her to wear decadent pieces of underwear at work. That was the sort of thing reserved for…well, never, in her case.

Tori grumbled, “I prefer being comfortable,” which only served to amuse the assistant.

“Why people assume that expensive lingerie isn’t comfortable, I’ll never know.” Lexi turned around, entirely getting out of her dress. “The red was really too much, wasn’t it?”

Tori’s mouth still hung open, and Lexi’s smile showed she noticed.

“Sorry, err- yes. We can get away with the full length, high-split-on-the-leg combo at the Christmas party, though. It’s generally very glamourous. Which you’d know, as your department is planning it.”

Lexi sighed. “Like I’d get my paws on something half as interesting. I’m still fetching coffees and sorting mail.”

Tori winced. She knew the drill.

“There’s room for growth in the firm,” she assured her. “Every quarter, Croft Advertising has been in a position to expand – get a new team set up, open up a new department. They always try to hire from within, so put your name in the hat whenever something better opens up. You’ll get somewhere.”

Contrary to what everyone she worked with seemed to believe, that was exactly how she’d made her way up the ladder. She’d applied as an administrative assistant, despite the freshly printed business degree somewhere in her personal files at home. She was picked by HR, unbeknownst to her protective, slightly overbearing godfather, who’d been half amused, half pissed when he’d found out she’d gotten herself hired in his firm.

“It’s going to be harder for you here than it would be in any other company in the city,” he’d warned her. “I’m not going to hide you’re my favorite girl, because they’d find out and assume the worse. I’m not going to help you, but they’ll all still think I am. Whatever you achieve will be because you’re my goddaughter. It’s going to be an absolute nightmare.”

She’d nodded along cheerfully. Finally, James had sighed. “There’s no talking you out of this, is there?”

She’d shrugged, and he’d let her go back to filing letters.

Years ago, James had watched her doodle some things on a corner of her notebook, and said she was talented. She hadn’t believed it, because, as much as she liked art, her teacher kept giving her Cs.

“I mean, I wouldn’t put this on a wall, but I like how you’ve showcased the shoes. The woman can be anyone; her face is irrelevant, her hair is interchangeable, but the shoes jump from the page. You’d do well in advertising.”

She’d never been able to put it out of her mind. A junior without much direction, she’d started to take marketing and business courses, until it had grown on her.

By the time she went through her final internship, she knew exactly where she wanted to work: Croft Advertising. The boutique firm was gold dust. There were older marketing companies, and bigger ones, too, but Croft won over ninety percent of the contracts they went after. They were it and she wanted in.

Lexi just laughed at her encouragements. “I like how everyone thinks we all want to have an impressive career. No offense, but I know how many hours you work. I’m good with doing my job for eight hours a day, going home, and having a life. I mean, I wouldn’t mind doing something a little more interesting every now and then, but I’m happy to be an assistant.”

Tori contemplated her words, feeling a little inadequate. Lexi was right, she did pack an awful lot of hours of work in each week, and honestly didn’t have much of a life left. Once, perhaps twice a month, she met up with a bunch of friends, but that was about it.

Suddenly, she wondered how long it had been since she’d gotten laid.

Tori blinked, as the realization hit her. No. It couldn’t have been since Jimmy, just before graduation, right? Oh, god. Not that anyone could blame her; Jimmy-the-quick-shot and all his panting was enough to make any girl re-evaluate her life choice, and even contemplate taking the veil, but still! Three years…

She winced.

The assistant came out of the changing room wrapped in a shimmery, metallic V-neck dress; it had spaghetti straps crossing over her bust, and a pleated skirt that moved with each flip of her hips.

“This one. It’s a winner.”

“You think? I like it, but I thought it might be a little too short.”

Lexi’s skirts generally were a little longer. Tori hadn’t questioned it, but now she wondered if it was to ensure Lexi’s very naughty underwear remained covered under any circumstances; she couldn’t afford a wardrobe malfunction in that sort of get up.

“No, it’s barely an inch above the knee, you’re good.” Then, out of the blue, without any reason, she said it. The thing which changed her life. It had seemed innocent enough at the time; just a bit of harmless fun. “Hey, you think you could show me where you get your lingerie? I’m intrigued.”

She wasn’t sure she’d have the guts to wear anything as daring as Lexi, and if she did, it wouldn’t be at work. Still, her friend said it made her feel powerful. Tori had plenty of wool suits to intimidate those who would otherwise refuse to take her seriously at work; but, if her dry spell was any indication, she could do with a bit of feminine magic mojo.

They caught a taxi down to Madison Avenue and she let Lexi lead her to a lush, dimly lit store. Her jaw fell when she walked in, and she stayed as stunned all the way through their visit.

It almost felt indecent, being here; like she was caught inside a kinky sex toy shop in the middle of the day. But, after shyly glancing around her, and finding a bunch of normal people going about their business, she realized how silly she was.

This was just underwear shopping. Nothing more. And sure, there were a few ensembles that really made her blush, like what Lexi had been wearing. But most of the sets on display were just an upgrade on what she saw in regular stores.

Absentmindedly, she touched a pretty, nude bra, and she found herself almost caressing it, taken aback by the softness under her fingertips.

Tori went through the hangers to find her size.

“You know, no one is actually a 34B. No one.”

Tori frowned. “That’s what I wear.”

Lexi rolled her eyes. “Yep, you and basically everyone out there. But as you’re a size four, I doubt your bust is actually thirty-four inches. Let me see if someone can get you fitted properly.”

The assistant was on her turf now, and it showed. The sales clerks seemed to recognize her, and were more than happy to drop what they were doing to give her a hand.

Tori glanced at her watch, and saw that they still had thirty-five minutes. Oh, well. In for a penny…

Lexi was right. These lingerie brands that cost three times as much as what she usually purchased were really comfortable. Even the more skimpy, provocative designs felt like heaven. The lush, soft material hugged her in a way no underwear she’d ever worn did. And wearing the right size? That was an eye opener. No way could she go back now, she’d seen the light. Although, her newly purchased bras made her boobs look downright obscene. She wasn’t sure what to make of that.

Tori bought a bunch of stuff that day; completely spoiled by actually getting some support on her bust, she knew she had to replace her entire underwear collection. “Your ideal fit is a 30DD,” her fitter had told her, a tape measure in hand. “We don’t go down lower than 32, but good news: you can go up to 32 as long as you go down a cup size. The three sets of clips at the back help with that. So, 32D. You’ll also be able to go down to 28E.”

She’d nodded along, all the while smiling like a crazy person because her bra actually contained her all boobs; no weird under-the-arm double boobie.

Thankfully for her wallet, she didn’t have the time to buy everything from Agent Provocateur.

Her shopping bag included black lace, tulle, rose-gold embroidery, and velvet brocade, all carefully wrapped in dark paper.

After work, she checked her personal email and found that Lexi had sent her a link.

This is my fav brand - it’s a little more affordable than a lot of places, and the quality is just amazing. Check it out!

So, she spent her evening with a bottle of wine and her computer, buying more lingerie.

Her favorite new set was a baby pink satin set with hot pants zipped at the back and a demi-cup bra with foil lace layered in.

She was pretty sure that if she hadn’t been wearing the perfectly tailored, deliciously decadent ensemble on Friday night, she would never have caught Bryant Croft’s eye.

So there. It was all Lexi’s fault.