Beauty Hurts

by Rowan Hanlon

  Liza started, “We’re still bouncing around ideas for the July issue. We wanted to go with a more bohemian chic look. We were thinking Morocco.”

  “Is that in the budget?” she asked and shook her head slightly.

  “It could be.”

  “Yeah, no,” she said. “Morocco is getting a little tired, don’t you think?”

  “What about Ibiza?” someone countered. “No one ever shoots there.”

  “Of course, they do,” Liza snapped at the young woman before turning back to Celeste. “I really like this theme.”

  “How about Miami? It’s closer, it’s not in the Middle East, it’s Cuban. That sounds like a winner to me. And I know we have the budget for that.”

  “But it’s not really bohemian,” she said. “It’s Miami. I was going more for a rich hippy look. You know, like the sixties with the big hair, really overdone eye makeup, long dresses…”

  “Yeah, a little tired, too,” Celeste told her. “I like Miami for July. I see stick thin women in white bathing suits, overly tanned skin and crystal clear blue swimming pool waters. That’s July. Morocco? A little dusty in July.”

  “So Miami,” Liza said, conceding, though the bitterness in her voice was perceptible.

  Celeste replied, “Was there ever a question of that?” When Liza didn’t respond, she turned her attention to everyone else. “What else?”

  Victoria took a stab, “I was thinking about covering this all-female group for a features article. They call themselves Likely Story and they’re like Fugazi on cotton candy.”

  “I like that,” Celeste said, nodding.

  Kael narrowed her eyes at Celeste. Did this woman even know who Fugazi was? Then she thought about it. Yeah, she was probably old enough to have once dated their drummer or something.

  Victoria continued, “So, what I was thinking was maybe have them in high-end designer but shoot it in Soho? You know, really edgy but super cool. Grungy. Have them on their instruments in a dive bar while wearing haute couture or maybe even vintage.”

  Celeste seemed to respond well to that idea. “Are they big?”

  “Not yet. But they have a lot of buzz. They play their own instruments, write their own music and totally rock. Seriously. They will be huge.”

  “What? Like Spice Girls huge or Hole huge?” Celeste wanted to know.

  “Well, they’re punk rock, so I don’t think they’re thinking about world domination,” Victoria said and gave a sly smile. “Or, rather, girl power.”

  Kael smiled at that. Victoria was always so good with this stuff. And she’d just come up with it off the top of her head. And, oddly enough, Celeste always gave her ideas the green light. Always.

  Celeste nodded. “I like it. It’s edgy but urban and still feminine. It will appeal to our younger audience while not really alienating our older. Contact their manager and set it up. Next?”

  Knowing she’d given Victoria the green light gave Kael the courage to pipe up, “I was thinking about doing something on handbags. You know, going from the higher echelon of high-end designer to vintage you can find at thrift stores to even those you see at flea markets, you know the hand-crafted ones. Put them with some really high-end ready-to-wear to kind of bring it to the streets kind of thing. Totally approachable and yet affordable. Everyone is looking for the next it bag.”

  “You’re not in accessories,” Celeste said. “Give it to Laurel.” She pointed to Laurel, who was sitting to her right.

  Kael stared at Laurel, a thin, mostly quiet brunette who’d worked for the magazine a few months longer than herself. She turned back to Celeste. “But it was my idea. And it could be a feature.”

  Celeste didn’t attempt to hide her irritated sigh. “If you came up with it during work hours, the idea belongs to Haute Woman, not Kael Cafferty. Next?”

  Was she serious? Kael knew she was. And why was she saying her name like that, Kael Cafferty? She rolled her eyes and turned to Victoria who shook her head a little, telling her not to push her luck.

  “If I could interject,” Laurel said. “I was actually thinking about doing something on an up and coming handbag designer, so I can’t actually commit to Kael’s idea just yet. Also, I have that thing with the jewelry designer and that’s going to take a while.”

  “That’s fine. Just put it on the backburner.” Celeste took a short breath, then let it out. “That all?”

  Everyone in the room nodded. The staff meeting was, as always, short, to the point and efficient, just the way the boss liked it. Kael and the rest of the staff braced for what came next, which was Celeste’s weekly pep talk, which was always laced with a slight tongue-lashing.

  Celeste took another breath and began, “Okay, I just wanted to thank everyone for all their hard work but I also want to take a moment to really emphasize that we are working for today’s woman. Okay? Today’s woman is who we should focus on. The woman who’s juggling career and family and God knows what else. Today’s woman is our core audience and I don’t want to get too far away from that. Yes, we want to bring in more readership with the girl bands and all that, but we do not need to get too sidetracked. Remember today’s woman, people.”

  “Don’t you mean yesterday’s woman?” Kael mumbled under her breath.

  Celeste eyes popped a little, showing that she’d caught the remark. “Excuse me?” she asked.

  “Oh, nothing,” Kael said and straightened up, then just went for it, not really thinking about what she was saying or how it would be taken, “I mean, yeah, focusing on today’s woman is all well and good but what happens when she graduates to another magazine better suited to her needs? Don’t we need to focus on the younger generation as well? Aren’t they important to bring into the fold?” She paused for effect. “Don’t you think we shouldn’t focus so much on who these women are but rather who they aspire to be?”

  “Kael, that was out of line,” Celeste snapped. “But I’ll overlook it.”

  Kael’s face burned but she couldn’t let it go, “What? I mean, just listen to me, okay? This magazine, if it doesn’t change soon, risks becoming antiquated.” She stopped, noticing that everyone in the room was staring at her as if she’d lost her mind. Victoria groaned under her breath.

  “Antiquated? How long did it take you to look that up in the dictionary?” Celeste said and then turned to her other staff members. “Maybe she got one at her engagement party.”

  Everyone laughed, showing loyalty to their queen. Kael’s face burned even redder with embarrassment. Celeste dismissed her and turned her attention back to everyone else, indicating that she was ready for this meeting to be over.

  “That all?” she asked.

  Everyone nodded and watched as she rose from her seat and exited the room with her assistant on her heels. Kael turned to Victoria who lightly touched a finger to her tongue, touched Kael’s arm and hissed.

  “You just got burned,” she said, a smart-assed twinkle in her eye.

  “She is such a bitch,” Kael whispered to her.

  “And now you gotta tell her about the dress,” she said and pouted.

  “Oh, damn,” Kael said and groaned. “Why did you remind me of that?”

  “That’s what friends are for,” she said and laid a hand on her shoulder before getting out of her chair. When she saw the look on Kael’s face, she said, “Just go do it and get it over with. You’ll feel better after.”

  “I appreciate that but I don’t think I will,” Kael told her.

  * * * * *

  A few hours later, on her lunch break, Kael inspected the now totally ruined dress at the dry cleaners. She stared at the clerk who shook her head with empathy and told her they’d tried everything but the process just basically ripped the dress to shreds. What was she going to do now? The thought of just not saying anything about the dress and hoping no one noticed did cross her mind. Another thought of trying to find one exactly like this one crossed her mind, too. And a thousand
other scenarios of how to fix this problem so she wouldn’t have to tell Celeste about it crossed her mind. But none of them held any weight. She knew what she had to do and what she had to do was tell Celeste what had happened and hope she didn’t flip out about it.

  “Oh, well,” Kael told her, stuffing the dress into a garment bag. “Thanks anyway.”

  She left the dry cleaners and picked up a hot dog at a stand on her way back to the office. She had a strong urge to call Nick and get some reassurance but didn’t want to bother him at work. This was her mess—which had been inadvertently caused by him—and she’d have to fix it. She thought about how pissed Celeste was going to be as she chewed the rest of her hot dog, threw the wrapper in a garbage can and then hailed a cab, heading back to work.

  As soon as she stepped off the elevator, she nodded at the receptionist then started towards Celeste’s office, just wanting to get it over with. Once she got to her door, she took a breath then knocked.

  “Yes?” Celeste called.

  Kael opened the door and said, “Hey, it’s just me.”

  Celeste looked up from her computer at Kael and barely contained her groan. “You know I don’t like to be interrupted when I’m working, Kael.”

  “This won’t take a minute,” Kael replied and didn’t give her time to ask what she wanted; she just got right to it, saying, “Sorry, but I have some bad news. The dress I borrowed kinda, sorta got ruined. But I’m going to pay for it, totally.”

  Celeste digested this and stared at her. “Oh, you are?”

  “Yeah, I just wanted to tell you it happened and that I intend to make it right.”

  Celeste turned in her chair and, as she rose from it, motioned for the dress.

  Kael held it back. “You don’t want to see it. It got pretty ruined.”

  “What happened?” she asked and stepped in front of her.

  “My boyfriend sort of threw up on it,” Kael said, feeling her face burn with embarrassment at the situation.

  Celeste looked repulsed and shuddered then stepped back.

  “Anyway, I took it to the dry cleaners and they completely messed it up, too.” She stared at Celeste who wasn’t really giving her anything to go on and babbled, “I know, I know. I’m sorry. It was a mistake even borrowing it. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

  Celeste leaned back onto the desk and crossed her arms. She didn’t say a word and this made Kael very nervous.

  “So, that’s it. Just wanted to let you know.” Kael gave her a nod and started walking backwards out of the room. Just before she reached the door, Celeste held up a hand for her to stop. Kael stopped. “What is it?”

  “Well, I guess you broke an anvil, didn’t you?” she asked.

  “Excuse me?” Kael replied, not getting it.

  “You can’t just pay for that dress, Kael,” she said. “You broke an anvil.”

  “What?” Kael said, trying to decipher what she was saying.

  “I made a play on words which you obviously didn’t get,” Celeste replied dryly, then continued, “You can’t just pay for that dress, Kael. It’s a Jacob Anvil. Couture.”

  “Huh?”

  “It’s couture. You know, one of a kind, every little sequin hand sewn by three, four people for weeks at a time. Irreplaceable.”

  “I know what couture is,” Kael said and refrained herself from an eye roll, but barely. “But I didn’t know that this dress was couture. Who does a mini couture?”

  “He does. That’s his thing. Couture for the younger, hipper woman. It’s quite brilliant if you think about it. And the dress was quite good and now it’s ruined.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Kael said, feeling really bad. “But I’ll pay for it.”

  “It’s one of a kind. You can’t just pay for it. He’s being backed by a huge fashion house now whose garments we need to have our cover models in.” She sighed with obvious frustration and muttered to herself, “This girl is nothing but trouble.”

  Kael caught her words and became a little miffed. She said, “Excuse me?”

  Celeste stared at her and said, “Nothing. But this could be a big debacle.”

  Now Kael was getting perturbed. She felt bad, yes, but it was just a dress for God’s sake! She couldn’t take it anymore and said, “Surely it’s not that big of a deal.”

  “Really?” Celeste said and turned her hands and fingers into a steeple and placed them under her chin.

  Kael nodded. “I mean, this is fashion, not brain surgery.”

  Celeste, obviously taken aback, straightened up. “You’re going too far, Kael,” Celeste told her.

  “How’s that?” she almost snapped but caught herself just in time. She corrected the tone of her voice and said very seriously, “It’s just a dress, Celeste. Like I said, it’s not brain surgery.”

  “How dare you take such a flippant view of this?” she snapped. “Of course, we couldn’t be doing anything as vital as brain surgery, could we? It’s all just for show, isn’t it?” She paused and pointed a finger at her. “But that’s where you’re wrong. If it weren’t for fashion, Kael, women would still be in corsets and long skirts. Why do you think fashion is so important? There’s a reason. Fashion moves women forward and not just in clothes but in their minds.”

  “I get that I screwed up, okay?” Kael said. “But please spare me the plight of the over-entitled.”

  “Oh?” Celeste said. “Oh, I get it. You think you’re too cool for this job, don’t you? Maybe this isn’t the right career for you.”

  “What?!” Kael exclaimed, exasperated.

  “You obviously look down on what we do, so why stay here?” she asked. “Why waste your precious time?”

  “I love my job. I love fashion! I just don’t take it that seriously.”

  “You don’t take anything that seriously, do you, Kael?” Celeste said.

  Kael stared at her for a moment, not knowing how to respond, then said, “Listen, I am sorry about the dress, okay? But I don’t think I need to be patronized.”

  “No one is patronizing you, Kael,” Celeste said and smiled slightly to herself. “But why don’t you just clean out your desk and go home?”

  Kael’s mouth dropped to the floor. She picked it up and exclaimed, in an almost screeching tone, “Are you serious? You can’t fire me!”

  “I can and I just did.”

  Kael stared her, thinking how unbelievable she was. What a catty bitch! She told her, “You can’t fire me, Celeste. I’ll go to Patrick.”

  “Oh, your fiancé’s parents’ friend,” Celeste said, nodding. “I see.”

  “Yeah, the publisher of this magazine and about fifty more, Celeste. Yeah, that guy. If you fire me, I will go to him and I will have your job like that!” She snapped her fingers for emphasis. Celeste didn’t look fazed, though. She did, however, look pissed.

  “Oh, you got me, don’t you, Kael?” she snapped. “Do you really think you could do my job at your age?”

  “I’m positive of it. But that’s not the point. The point is that if you mess with me, I will mess back.”

  “Get a grip. No one is messing with you. That’s just your insecurity talking.”

  Kael scoffed, “My insecurity?”

  “Listen, I can see right through you, okay? And I’ve see hundreds just like you. You walk through that door and because you’re cute and nice you think that everyone should bow down to you. It takes more than that to run a magazine.”

  Kael shrugged. “Not much more.”

  With that, Celeste seemed to have had enough and in three long strides was in Kael’s face. She pointed her finger at her and hissed, “Let me set you straight, little girl, while you might be younger than me, you are not prettier and you’re certainly not smarter.”

  “I beg to differ,” Kael said, not skipping a beat, but noticing how wound up Celeste was getting. It showed in the pinched look on her normally smooth face. She looked about a breath away from los
ing it. Kael had never seen her like this. It was unsettling.

  “Oh, I can see it,” Celeste said. “Your very own pathetic Cinderella story. Poor little Appalachian hick comes to the big city and finds her prince. Then takes over a major magazine after she trounces the big, bad evil witch editor. Becomes a huge success and then goes on to quit and have ten beautiful babies.”

  “Are you fucking serious right now?” Kael spat. “Let me set you straight, lady. Firstly, I am not from a poor background. My father is chief of police. Okay? And secondly, I am not after your job. Where are you getting all this? And why are you ripping into me? I just told you about the dress because I’m honest.”

  She stopped and caught her breath, staring at Celeste, who seemed to have become a little unhinged, not much but enough for Kael to notice it. Maybe she had gone too far but what else was she supposed to do? She wouldn’t let anyone talk to her like that, not even Celeste.

  “You? Honest?” Celeste said and rolled her eyes. “Please. I can tell what you’re doing and I won’t allow it to happen.”

  “I’m not doing anything! What is wrong with you? It’s not like that!”

  “Oh, it’s not, is it? I didn’t just have this fucking job handed to me,” Celeste hissed. “I had to work my ass off and do things you would not even begin to fathom. And you think you’re going to waltz in here after two years and take it from me? Think again.”

  “I don’t want your job!”

  “Then what do you want?”

  “I just want you off my back,” she said. “You’re crazy. That’s what you fucking are, Celeste! And I think I will go to Patrick. He deserves to know that you have gone off the deep end.”

  That did it. Celeste obviously couldn’t help herself. Before Kael could even blink, Celeste had slapped her right across the face. Kael stood in shock for a moment, feeling the sting of the imprint of Celeste’s hand on her face and the residual humiliation it was supposed to employ. Then she realized what had just happened and this made her very happy. Now she had the upper hand and no matter what Celeste did, she could never recover it. She now had something on the evil queen, something many, many people would love to have.