Page 2 of Falling into Place
That was a lot of affairs.
Mai slid her red-framed cat-eye glasses from her nose and set them on the desk between them. “But ...”
“But?”
“We can’t afford to lose the Princetons—or their influential friends—as clients. And even though it’s a baseless accusation, she did make a formal written complaint. So to cover Mode’s ass, I have to document that I discussed the situation with you, and the entire team will be required to retake the sexual harassment and workplace professionalism training. No one will know what sparked the training update, so don’t worry about bad press for you. I just have to make sure it doesn’t turn into a PR nightmare for the company as a whole, okay?”
Carly nodded, thankful Mai trusted her but feeling sort of gross about the whole thing all the same. “I ... feel like I should say I’m sorry, even though I didn’t do anything wrong. Mr. Princeton is such a creep.”
“Believe me, I know. And you’re right, you have nothing to apologize for. It’s more likely he does.” Mai paused, leaned forward, and, with an elbow on the desk, pressed one palm to her forehead. “God, I should have asked you that first: Have there been any issues working with him? Has he done something to make you uncomfortable that I need to address? Important client or not, if he’s crossed a line, he’s gone.”
Carly shook her head. She wasn’t about to make this a bigger deal than it already was. “Nothing I can’t handle. I appreciate it, though.”
“Of course. I hope you always know you can come to me if something like that ever came up.”
“I do,” Carly said.
Mai smiled. “Well, thanks for coming in so early today. I know it’s not the best way to start your week off.”
Carly snorted. “You can say that again. And here I thought you were gonna offer me one of your coveted full-time positions.” The second she said the words out loud, she regretted them. It sounded like she just expected Mai to hand it to her, rather than strategically outlineeverything she’d done to earn the role. She was Mai’s best stylist, and they both knew it.
“You’re a model employee,” Mai said, echoing Carly’s thoughts. “And you have the highest request rate from return clients of anyone on staff right now.”
Why did she feel abutcoming here, too?
“But hiring decisions aren’t just up to me. I’m the style part of Mode, and Kyle’s the business half. We’re looking for someone with people skills and fashion intuition, yes—and you have those in spades. But we’re also looking for people who bring fresh ideas. Innovation. Unique perspectives to keep us not only on the cutting edge of the fashion industry but also in the narrative of how our company fits into the broader picture of Midwest community and culture.”
It wasn’t the first time Carly had heard that. Mode’s business model primarily revolved around stylists working via contract and by commission, and they only pulled people on full-time if they would have a more expansive role within the company.
“I believe in you, Carly,” Mai said, likely reading Carly’s silence as defeat. “Bring us something inspired that could take Mode to the next level, and you’d be very hard to say no to.”
“That motherfucker.”
Carly clinked her drink against the glass her best friend Sasha held up, then drank. “You can say that again.”
“Do you think he’s the one who put his wife up to it? To get you in trouble because he’s pissed you said no? Or did she do it on her own?”
“I have no idea.” Carly shrugged. “But it doesn’t really matter. I know Mai believes me, but I don’t know Kyle that well. Part of me wonders if this ruined my chances of ever getting a salaried position.”
Most of the contract stylists had enough work that they didn’t need to hold second jobs if they didn’t want to. But Carly was unwillingto sacrifice having a consistent paycheck, and no matter how good she was, working on commission terrified her. Financial stability was nonnegotiable, and anyone who knew what her childhood was like wouldn’t blame her for that.
“No way,” Sasha argued. “They know how incredible you are. In a week they’ll have forgotten all about it, and you can march back in there and demand a promotion. Be the badass I know that you are and go for what you want!”
Carly glared at her friend. “You mean to tell me that a week after being accused of sexual harassment at work, you’d walk straight up to your boss and demand a promotion?”
“Well. My sister’s my boss, so. Probably.”
“It’s not that simple for me. Harassment allegations aside, Mode doesn’t just want people who know fashion. They want people who bring ‘fresh and innovative ideas’ to the company.” She air-quoted around Mai’s key descriptors.
“You don’t have those?”
“Not the kind they’re looking for. The last person they hired is the one who pitched an athletics division and landed the Thunder contract. You think I can compete with the guy who gets to dress super-tall, super-sexy, super-famous NBA players?”
“Well, when you say it like that ... no.”
Carly took another long drink and spun around on her barstool. She gestured at their surroundings. “Take Variety. Never in a million years would I have come up with something as cool as this.”
Ava, the owner who often doubled behind the bar, passed by at that moment and gave Carly a huge smile. “Bitch, you just made my whole day.”
