Page 24 of Eddie
Silas looked confused for some reason but Austin beamed. “Thank you. It’s nice to have someone appreciate hard work.”
“Color combinations can be difficult but I imagine it’s even harder for club wear.” I hadn’t thought about it but I wasn’t surprised when Austin sighed and nodded. “Oh, before I forget…because my brain is still really floaty. Those panties look great on you but if you like them you need to get more right now.”
“Oh?” Austin cocked his head and inched closer before looking down at the panties under his sheer skirt. “I know they’re last year’s line but they’re so cute.”
“The designer who was handling the lingerie line was just quietly fired because he was pushing back against moving the production line. Let’s just say they’re still going to be charging handmade Paris pricing for work that isn’t the same quality.” It was going to destroy their business but the new head money man in charge wasn’t that smart.
Austin winced. “Okay, that’s one stock I need to sell. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” That was probably a good idea too but I hadn’t been thinking of it from that angle. “They just switched over but the new stuff hasn’t hit the shelves yet. You have to buy now, though.”
As soon as the current stock sold out, the new crap would appear and then it would be all downhill from there.
“Rumor is that they’re not using natural dyes for the new ones anymore either.” For panties that were about a hundred dollars a piece that seemed like a ridiculous decision. “Someone’s going to end up breaking out in hives and then suing.”
That was going to be an itchy discovery for some poor soul.
Even Austin winced. “That’s…that’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.”
“Unfortunately.” I shrugged. “I don’t know what kind of NDA they have but I thought it would’ve been more well-known by now.”
Nodding slowly, Austin let out a low hum. “That’s a good point too. I’m going to have to make some calls. I don’t like all this and I’m not sure how it’s going to effect the industry as a whole.”
Terribly for the short term.
“I heard it from a regional buyer whose cousin was sleeping with the janitor who cleans the old designer’s office.” People really shouldn’t ignore the staff quite as much as they did.
For some reason that was what made Austin’s head cock so he looked like Silas and Not-Henry was barely holding back laughter. “What do you do for a living? Your application said currently unemployed and previously in sales.”
Yes.
“That’s right.” Some people couldnothandle being told no. “I was a personal shopper, but I got fired when I told…well…someone important that I wasn’t going to buy them red. It was just. No. I wasn’t going to put my name on that.”
I was right but that hadn’t gotten me my job back.
Stubborn assholes.
“Oh.” Austin’s eyes went wide. “I know that. It was.”
We were both shaking our heads as Silas frowned and Not-Henry giggled.
Giggled.
“I thought you’d have that in common.” Flashing me a grin as I shrugged, Not-Henry seemed pleased with himself or the situation. “They got the attention they wanted.”
But it’d come at a high price.
Utter disdain on every show and in every article that covered awards season.
“I liked the white suit you wore. It looked amazing against the red carpet.” Austin had looked beautiful, a perfect mix of masculine and feminine, and the leather suit he’d managed to get Silas into had been an amazing complement. “You were both fashion perfection.”
Austin’s beaming smile outshone Silas’s frustrated grumble. “Thank you. We got a lot of positive feedback and didn’t blend in with the red carpet.”
“All you could see was her head. It was. The pictures.” Tragic couldn’t even begin to describe it. “I just couldn’t support that nonsense.”
Rich and famous did not automatically come with common sense.
“I don’t blame you.” Still looking like the whole situation gave him indigestion, Austin shuddered before pulling himself together. “Okay, no more negative talk. I can’t keep an erection with that image in my head.”
