“Cameras?” Ali said dropping the suit to the floor. “You didn’t say anything about cameras.”
Lauren wiggled fully into the suit, pulling the neck up and getting it just right. “Just do this with me and you can see what this is all about, okay? You’re gonna love it, I promise.”
A few minutes later they emerged. While they were getting dressed, Dennis had set up the pole and cameras in the center of the room. He couldn’t keep his eyes off Ali as she walked in, self consciously attempting to hide behind her hands.
“Right, so let me explain,” Lauren said hopping to the center near the pole. “This suit is the whole reason this technology works. You have to make sure to line each of the dots up with the corresponding locations on your body like your wrists, elbows, belly button, and so on.” Lauren tugged on the suit as she spoke. “These lines, you see how the stretch over my curves?”
Ali made a mock growl sound and clawed the air. “Dangerous curves ahead, baby.”
“Nice. So, they’re sort of like contour lines on a topography map but inverted. The further the distance between the lines, the greater the curve. Can you see how the stripes stretch out over my hips but then come back together around my waist? To the system we created, along with a bunch of other stuff, this data will be used to accurately design clothes that fit your body perfectly.”
Ali’s eyebrows shot up. “Seriously? Like custom fit?”
“Custom fit you can order online.”
“No shit...” Ali said, crossing her arms. Lauren smiled as she watched Ali fully understand her concept. It was a giddy sensation sharing this with another person finally.
“Alright, Dennis, are you ready?”
Lauren stood with her back against the square pole looking straight ahead. Taking the photos at the computer, Dennis instructed her to move clockwise on the four points. Once the front series was complete, she repeated the process with her back to the cameras.
“Work it dawling, work it,” Ali called out.
“Don’t make me laugh, it’ll ruin the photo!”
After Dennis declared the photo series finished, they all crowded around his computer to see the scan pop up. Lauren chewed her lip as the tiny loading wheel spun. “We’re going to have to find a way to speed this up. At least get an animation or something to show that it’s working properly. Oh, there I am!”
On the screen was a fully rotatable 3D image of her body. Dennis spun the figure around slowly, showcasing the seamless image. It was better than she’d hoped possible at this stage. Although improvements and ideas were stacking up in her mind, it was so exciting to see the first working demonstration of her idea. She couldn’t contain her excitement, jumping around and clapping her hands.
“I know how nerdy I am, but this is just incredible. Thank you guys so much for helping me,” she said hugging Dennis. She pulled away quickly as she realized he was still sticky with sweat.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, face turning pink.
“Oh it doesn’t matter! Come here you,” she said running over to hug Lev. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”
“Can I go? I wanna go!” Ali exclaimed.
Dennis repeated the process, his face growing redder as he watched her go through the steps in her skin tight suit. A few moments later he was spinning the 3D model of Ali around on the computer.
“I hate to sound like such a woman right now, but is my ass really that round?”
Lauren patted her on the shoulder. “The cameras don’t lie but let me show you the next step. Once we’ve got all your measurements and everything in the computer, we can go through the database and find clothes that are perfect for your round little bedonkadonk. We don’t have much but...” Lauren said as she leaned over Dennis to navigate to a different part of the program. A window popped up with a small collection of tops, skirts, and jeans. “Eventually you’ll be able to scroll through, sort by brand, color, everything like that. We even want to get it to the point where you can virtually try on the clothes to see how they fit, but that’s way down the line. So...that’s what I’ve been working on.”
“Wren, this is some amazing shit. I am so proud of you. You’re gonna be a bajillionaire with this! At the very least, you’re gonna knock Parker right on his pervy little ass. I also expect some wicked discounts.”
September 14th
This week has been beyond hectic. I swear, the only way I got through it at all was the thought of Landon visiting this weekend but of course, things didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped. Something came up that he couldn’t get out of, some other business he’s invested in and advising is in crisis mode so he’s had to go and help there. Hopefully he’s coming next weekend now. It wouldn’t be so bad if we weren’t both so busy we can barely speak. It’s cute though. We text each other all the time, just random things throughout the day. He sent me a photo of his lunch the other day and Henry is constantly saying hello. I hate that our honeymoon phase is spent so far apart. Maybe that means it’ll last longer?
Nick finally came for the last of his stuff on Thursday. Thankfully I didn’t have to talk to him or even see him. I’d boxed it all up and left it in the kitchen for Jess to give him. I heard him come in, talk to her for a minute, and then leave. Aside from a text arranging that pick up, we haven’t spoken since Monday. It’s been long enough now that I’ve accepted that I’ll never feel completely devastated. I’m just disappointed. We were best friends. We have such a history together and now it’s all tainted by a bunch of bullshit that could’ve been avoided if we both were strong enough to end it when it needed to be ended. I think deep down we both knew it was over months ago. That’s part of the reason we went away so we could reconnect, reevaluate. We were just so good at convincing ourselves everything was alright.
I miss him but if I’m honest with myself, the Nick I miss disappeared a while ago. That just makes me even sadder.
I told Landon that everything ended but I didn’t get into specifics, so we haven’t really talked about it. I don’t even know if I’m going to tell him about Rose or Nick finding out about him. I don’t think I will. Whatever we are, whatever it is I have with Landon, I don’t think beginning it under the umbrella of infidelity is a great idea. I could kill him for thrusting Sahra back into my life though...I’ve told him he’s gonna pay for that one.
She is just up. my. ass. I can’t go anywhere or do anything without her right there acting like we’re best friends. Well, she’s like that unless she’s trying to crawl up Parker’s ass in which case I’m given a little bit of a break. We’ve gone out to lunch twice and out to dinner once. I can’t even get a coffee with Faith without her butting in and acting like it’s girl time. She totally dominates the conversation, she’s incredibly self-centered, it’s exhausting. The worst part is we’re starting the code review this week so I have to work with her. I’m trying to take deep breaths but she is such a trial.
I also decided to take Landon’s advice and move over to the MyBFC office. Now that Nick’s gone, I can’t afford to stay at the apartment but even if I could, I don’t think I’d want to. There’s something going on with Jess and I really just want to be out of here and away from it. I only heard this through the door, but she actually brought a guy home the other night and kicked him out after an hour or so. I swear she was screaming about him not having enough money to pay! Soooo, spparently my roommate is turning tricks. Time to leave.
You know, I half considered calling Damon the other night but thought better of it. My life is complicated enough without adding him back into the mix. I realized, after weeks of not seeing or hearing from him, how weird that whole thing was. I do have to admit, the book he gave me has been helping but...well isn’t it just strange? I’m sure I’ve just built up this mythology around him, making him seem bigger than he really is. Maybe he’d be interested in investing in MyBFC...
Aside from all that, life is going well! It’s amazing how normal all this craziness feels anymore. Mom and
Dad are good, talking about coming down to visit soon. Better sooner than later. California is looming on the horizon.
14.
“So wait, I don’t get it. Why did you use jQuery? You know it’s like, hella old.”
Lauren counted to three in her head before responding. “It’s not old and besides, old doesn’t necessarily mean bad. It’s perfect for what we need it for. All of our coders are at least comfortable, if not proficient in it, so I don’t see the problem.”
Sahra pouted and squinted at the computer screen before looking back at Lauren with a giggle. “I’m just picking on you! It’s my job, right? To make sure you know what you’re doing. To be honest, I’ve never used jQuery in my life so I wouldn’t know what it does or doesn’t do.”
No one would blame me if I just stuffed her perfectly straight hair right down her throat. No one, at least nobody in this room, Lauren thought. She only had one more day of code review with Sahra. She thought the fact she hadn’t caused her or anyone else bodily harm the entire week was worthy of some type of award. To her credit, Lauren had walked into the office on Monday with a sliver of hope that after spending some time together she and Sahra would get along. The only thing time had done was thoroughly convince her that Sahra had become even more vapid than she’d been back at MIT.
“Oh gosh, look at that! I’ve gotta bop out for a bit. Parker’s taking me out to a late lunch. You’ve got all this, right?” She fluttered her fake eyelashes and it occurred to Lauren that she might not know how to communicate with people without flirting.
“Yeah, I’ve got it. You go have fun.”
“Totes. He’s so funny, isn’t he? I can’t ever stop laughing when I’m with him.” She wheeled the computer chair back to her temporary desk and flipped her hair back. “See you later, alligator.”
If I were an alligator I’d bite your foot off, Lauren thought as she watched Sahra strut away.
As she turned back to her computer, a Hipchat popped up from Faith.
We know you’ve had a really hard couple weeks so I planned a fun night out for all of us
...
Haha, okay...what are we doing?
...
Drinks, dinner, and dancing!! :) Everyone is coming, except Parker and you-know-who. You in?
It was only then she noticed the chat included everyone in the office. Lauren looked around the room to see smiling faces beaming back at her. “You guys! That’s incredibly sweet, of course I’m in! You’re awesome.” She glanced at Faith and nodded toward kitchen. Lauren smiled and got up, Faith entering just behind her.
“Are you mad? I can cancel.”
“How the hell—why would I be mad? That was one of the nicest things you could’ve done for me!” she said squeezing her hand.
Faith’s expression relaxed, the creases in her forehead smoothing. “Whew, I was worried there for a second.”
“I think it’s exactly what I need, what we all need! I know things haven’t been going well with...well, I know things haven’t been the best for you either.”
She ran her fingers through her silky golden hair and rolled her eyes. “We have our ups and downs but he’s been all over the place. You know, all this pressure really makes it difficult for some guys to...”
“Oh god!” The disgust-tinged words came tumbling out. She didn’t want to hurt Faith or diminish the relationship she had with Parker, but she also didn’t need to think about his impotence issues. “I mean, yeah, of course. Nick had that happen a few times too.”
“So that’s been a little tough. Anyway,” she said waving her hands as if trying to clear the air. “We can talk about all that later over cocktails! I’ll send you all the details, okay? I can’t remember the name of the place but we’ve been there before. It’s on 9th, that’s all I can remember. I’m such a blonde sometimes.”
“Oh stop it, I’m sure it’ll be great. I just hope I get all this done for Sahra in time.” Lauren continued in a low voice, “She’s really getting on my nerves. Not only is she not doing her job at all, she’s making it more difficult for me to do mine. I’m actually doing all of this for her. Then she’ll go back out to Cali and get some big fat promotion for snagging StyleSpur without lifting a finger. I can’t stand it.”
Both girls grew quiet as Parker and Sahra strode past the kitchen on their way out to lunch. Rochelle waved and called out to them as they left, too far away for Lauren to clearly hear. She and Sahra had become fast friends in such a short time, something that made Lauren incredibly suspicious. As the front door swung shut, she and Faith looked back at each other.
“We should just leave now and catch a super early happy hour. Go on, get everyone,” Lauren laughed.
“God, I wish. Try to hold out until six. If I find you chugging Bailey’s creamer before then, I promise not to judge.”
The elevator door opened just a minute shy of four in the morning. Proud that she’d managed to stay relatively sober in the midst of such drunken debauchery, Lauren decided to reward herself with a quick snack before bed. As she shut the metal gate, she noticed Brian’s computer was on. She walked with slow, deliberate steps to the kitchen. Maybe I’m not as sober as I thought I was...shit! Just as she entered, Brian stepped into the kitchen from the hallway.
“Hello boss lady,” he said happily. He had one pair of headphones resting around his neck and another pair covering one ear on his head. It wasn’t the strangest thing she’d seen Brian do.
“Hey, getting good work done in the quiet?” she asked as she scoured the cupboards for something that looked appealing.
“Eh, so so. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here and up this late. Everything okay?”
“Oh yeah! I had a great night out with my other work. We went out for drinks and then ended up at this karaoke place—oh holy shit, yes. This is what I want. Are these yours? Can I have one?” Lauren excitedly held up a foil package of frosted cherry Pop-Tarts.
Brian laughed and nodded. “Yeah, of course. I have two more boxes in my desk.”
Lauren tore the packet open, plopped one in the toaster and ate the other cold while waiting for it to heat. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head theatrically. “This is so good. I haven’t had one of these in years, thank you.”
“So, this might not be the best time to ask,” he said, expression twisting slightly, “but what’s going to happen to your other company when we launch? Aren’t they pretty much up shit creek? Landon’s company pulls out, their top programmer leaves to open a competitor that offers far better service and technology. All those people are going to be out of a job by the end of the year.”
Lauren stopped chewing, her jaw going slack as she listened. Not only was it one of the longest statements she’d heard Brian ever make, it caught her off guard. He was absolutely right. Several heartbeats passed as she struggled to find a response. Instead, Brian shrugged and smiled, his serious expression washing away as he pulled one pair of headphones on.
“Oh well, I’m sure you guys have planned for all that. I better get back to it.”
She was dumbstruck. How could I have overlooked that? He’s right. All those people, all my friends...I’m literally screwing them over. It’s not just Parker, it’s everyone. She braced herself against the counter, trying to fight through the alcohol and focus. She jumped when the toaster popped behind her, having completely forgotten about the second snack. Walking down the hall to her room, Lauren ran through the events of the night.
It’d been such a good evening out. For a little while, she and Faith sat together bitching about Nick and Parker and every other person that had ever wronged them. It’d been great reconnecting with her outside of work and Lauren had resolved to do it more often. About twelve people made it out, which worked perfectly at the restaurant. They took up a long, cafeteria style table and proceeded to eat like kings. After they’d finished eating, they moved downstairs to the beer hall and were lucky enough to secure a big corner area to themselves.
�
��Since Parker canceled our retreat, I say we charge all this to StyleSpur,” Faith had said waving around the silver company credit card.
“I didn’t know he canceled that, what an asshole!” Lauren had yelled a little too loudly. “Yeah, let’s do it! Screw him.”
Lauren had done her best to avoid Rochelle most of the night but couldn’t help watching her out of the corner of her eye. Young, pretty, and smart, she’d had every guy in the office vying for her attention and she was adept at handling it. Never spending too much time with any one person, she floated between the small groups throughout the evening. She’d played darts with Amit after playing a drinking game with Josh and a few others. Lauren could see exactly why she’d been picked to infiltrate their office.
Closing the door and sitting on her bed, Lauren knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep until all this was resolved. She sent a quick text to Landon.
Hey, are you up? I need to talk
As she pressed send she realized she’d used the MyBFC phone out of habit. Shaking her head, she grabbed her personal phone and sent him another text.
sorry wrong phone still need to talk tho
A moment later, Landon called on her personal phone. “Hey you, what are you doing up so late?”
“I know, I was out with...with my friends. What’s gonna happen with my friends?”
“Wren,” he chuckled, “what are you talking about?”
She took a bite out of the pastry and hissed as it burned the roof of her mouth. “What’s gonna happen with StyleSpur when we launch? We haven’t talked about that. I feel like such a shit that we haven’t talked about that.”
Landon sighed and she heard the creak of his computer chair. She was relieved she hadn’t woken him up at least. “It’s difficult to say, really. It entirely depends on how Parker reacts when you leave. StyleSpur could easily carry on, maybe pivot into higher-end clothes or do something else and keep a decent chunk of the market. I have a feeling that’s not what he’ll do. I’m afraid he’s going to take this personally.”
Playing with Power - Book 4: New Adult Office Romance Page 9