It was my way of saying thank you to Thea for what had happened.
I was sitting at my desk at work, going over a mountain of paperwork when I heard loud cackling laughter coming around the corner. I glanced up and saw Thea walking with a tall woman. She was wearing a bright African dress and top wrapped with a beautiful silver belt. The woman was strikingly beautiful-- a strong and handsome face with a very welcoming smile.
And then I saw it.
My sketch pad.
In the woman's hand.
"Are your Fran?" the woman asked.
Through the corner of my eye I could see my psycho boss lean over from behind the desk in his adjacent office-- watching me.
"Yes."
"These sketches are yours?" she prodded.
"Uh...yes."
"My name is L'Atrice Wyndam and I'm...are you okay, hon?"
I nodded, numb. L'Atrice Wyndam was a designer from Atlanta who had made lingerie famous long before Victoria's Secret had come around. I had heard she was doing some consulting work with us but I had no idea she was actually...here...and holding my book in her hands.
Thea opened her eyes wide at me and then excused herself, hiding her smile.
"Bye, Thea. Thank you."
"Call me later, Fran." Thea said, walking down the hallway.
I'll call you something. "Uh...yeah, sure."
L'Atrice leaned forward. "These sketches are won-der-ful." The way she said wonderful was full of drama. Intense.
Her large brown eyes stared me down.
"Interested?"
She was saying volumes with single words. I got her mode-- efficient and to the point. The bottom line was she was offering me a job. Was she?
I could see my boss fluttering in his office like some wounded bird of prey, trying to not to appear like he was interested in what was going on.
But I was interested. I stared her right back and responded with a very straight forward, "Yes."
I smiled. She smiled. I think it was one of the fastest job interviews I'd ever had.
The champagne bottle was empty. I was feeling buzzed and so was Thea. The idea was to say thank you for L'Atrice but what I really wanted to do now was rip off her clothes.
I behaved.
And smiled, sketching my finger in the sand as I drew a beautiful woman's figure wearing a sexy pair of lingerie.
"Is that for me?" asked Thea.
"It could be." I responded.
She reached over and drew a happy face on my design.
