“Hey Em, which shoes do you think look better with this dress?” I called out to my best friend and roommate. I held a black strappy sandal in one hand and a silver ballerina flat in the other. Standing in front of the mirror in my room I contemplated the footwear, trying to decide which went better with the black pencil skirt and white blouse I was wearing.

“Hot date?” Emily asked as she came into my room.

“Yeah,” I said, not looking away from the shoes. “David is taking me out tonight. There is some new restaurant we wanted to check out. It’s called Poppy, I think. They do tapas and stuff.”

“Oh Bernadette, forget the shoes, you look like you’re going to the office, not on a date.”

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” I asked defensively. Examining my outfit, it did look a bit more business formal than what I was going for.

“It’s not really sexy,” Emily said, but kindly. “I mean, it is if David’s into the whole hot secretary thing, but maybe something a bit more risqué. Oh, I know!” With that, she ran off to her room down the hall.

“You know I don’t fit into any of your clothes,” I yelled, but it was pointless. A few moments later, Emily came in holding a shimmering dress of deep purple silk.

“What do you think?” Emily asked, smiling.

“It’s beautiful, but I don’t think it will fit me. I don’t have your body.” It was true. Emily was tall, statuesque and graceful. With her blond hair and high cheekbones, she could have been a model if she hadn’t decided to go into PR. As it was, she definitely fit in during the events and parties she went to as part of her publicist duties. I, on the other hand, well, let’s just say I rocked the secretary look better. My dark curls were always getting in my face, which is why I usually kept my hair up in a bun. And though I was short at five-foot-three, I rarely wore high heels, preferring my flats. Ok, that combined with my glasses and blouse, and I could see why Emily thought I looked like I was going to work.

“It’s fine. This was a bit loose on me, so I’m sure it will fit you.” Emily was also thin as a rail, while I was better endowed in the ways of bras and butts.

“Ok, I’ll try it on,” I said, knowing Emily wouldn’t stop pestering me till I put the dress on. I pulled off my skirt and unbuttoned my blouse and slipped on the dress. Surprisingly, I actually did look pretty good. The violet color of the fabric made my pale skin look more luminous and less washed out. And the low plunge of the neckline gave a nice view of my cleavage, something I knew David would appreciate. The hem came to just below my knees and the skirt flew out as I did a turn.

“You don’t think it’s too much?”

“You look amazing, Bernadette, really you do. That dress never looked as good on me, you keep it.”

“Thanks, Em.” I hugged her.

“David is a lucky guy.”

“Speaking of which, I need to hurry up.” Realizing that David would be here any minute, I quickly applied my makeup and took my hair out of its bun. I decided on a rarely worn pair of black heels I had in the back of my closet, and prayed I wouldn’t trip in the restaurant.

Finished, I gave myself a once over. I had to admit, I looked hot. I sat on the couch and read a true crime book I had picked up at the library and waited for David to pick me up.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Half an hour after David had promised to arrive, I finally called him. As soon as he picked up, I asked him where he was.

“Sorry, hon, I meant to call you, but work is just really running late. I don’t think I can make dinner tonight. I’m so sorry. It’s just work is so busy right now, you know.”

I sighed, feeling a stab of disappointment and annoyed at the wasted time I had spent getting ready. I took a deep breath, not wanting to sound as petulant as I felt. “No, it’s ok David, I’m sure work is crazy. Maybe we can take a raincheck?”

“Sounds great. Thanks, I knew you’d understand. Besides, this will give you some more time to look for work. Ok, love you, bye.” And with that, he hung up before I had a chance to say anything else.

I sighed again. He was right. While I had wanted a night free of worrying about my lack of employment, ignoring it wouldn’t help. A few weeks ago, the law office I had been working in as an administrative assistant had laid off twenty people. I had been one of the unfortunate ones. Despite several interviews, nothing else had materialized on the job front.

Figuring I might as well do something productive, I went back to my room and changed out of the lovely dress. I pulled on some sweats and took my laptop into the living room where I booted it up and began perusing the online job ads.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on a hot date?”

I looked up to see Emily had come into the room. “David has to work late, so it got postponed.”

“Bummer. He should have told you earlier.” Emily sat down on the couch next to me.

“It’s ok. He gets pretty caught up in work.”

“Even an investment banker, or whatever he does, should take the time to have dinner with his girlfriend,” Emily argued. I agreed but didn’t say so. I didn’t like to say anything disparaging about David.

“So, what do you want to do now?” Emily asked. “I don’t have plans. We could go out and have a best friends date night!”

“Thanks, but I’m trying to look for work. It’s starting to get really stressful not having any offers.”

“Oh hey, that reminds me.  A client of mine did mention that a contact of hers was looking for an assistant.”

“Really?” I asked, suddenly interested.

“Yeah, but I have to warn you, this guy is kind of weird. Like he’s not dangerous or anything, but he’s a private investigator. My client was going through an ugly divorce and this guy got photos of her husband, now ex-husband, cheating on her that she used as evidence in court. Got her a ton of money in the divorce settlement.”

“A private investigator? I hadn’t really considered something like that. I was really looking for another office job, you know, something big enough to provide health insurance and regular hours.” But even as I said it, I wondered if assisting a private investigator would be interesting. I wondered if his cases would be anything like the true crime stories I’d read about.

“Come on, it could be cool. Why not go on an interview and decide if you’d like it?”

“Sure,” I said, only a bit anxiously. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“He says no. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Now, sure I can’t convince you to go out with me? It’s my treat.”

“Well,” I said, my resolve weakening. A night out with Emily sounded like a lot more fun than a night of applying for jobs. “It would be nice to get out. And if you connect me with this detective guy, it’s basically like I did some job search tonight.”