“I’m sorry I even asked,” Stella said meekly, drawing their attention back to her. “It was inappropriate and none of my business.”
“Of course, it’s your business! You’re going on a date with him tonight. You have to know what to expect.” Tasha slipped back into her usual playful tone with ease, and then marched across the dressing room to grab Stella’s arm and pull her out to the tall mirror. “I only hope Sam knows what to expect. Because my goodness, this outfit is incredible.”
Stella had put on the clothes without much thought, too caught up in the conversation happening on the other side of the door, but now that she was looking at herself in the mirror, she realized she looked awesome.
The white linen pants Melanie had picked out were cinched at the waist with a large white tie, but the legs were wide and airy, cropped at the ankle. Tasha quickly tucked the front of the fuchsia shirt into the pants, and the outfit was made. It was simple but colorful, casual but classy, and as soon as Tasha handed Stella the slip-on leather sandals, she was ready for a sit-down dinner or a walk on the beach. It was the perfect outfit, and Stella felt fabulous.
“I feel like this is so simple that I should have been able to do it myself, but I never would have picked these things out.” Stella turned to admire herself from all angles. “This outfit is perfect.”
“You’re perfect,” Melanie amended. “Like Tasha said, we took your style and elevated it. This was already you; we just helped you find her.”
It was silly, but Stella’s throat felt tight.
She’d walked into the shop ready to find an outfit for Sam, but now she was walking out with an outfit for herself. Clothes to represent the future she wanted. The future that, with every day, was becoming a little clearer.
12
As soon as she got back to the inn, Stella carried her bags up to her room and lay down on the bed. The date hadn’t even happened yet, and she was already exhausted. The temptation of a nap hung over her, threatening to pull her eyes closed, but then her phone rang.
She rolled across the bed and pulled it out of her purse but froze when she saw Mike’s name on the screen.
When she’d left notice that she would need an additional week off work, rather than email Mike and have him talk her out of it, she’d called his office phone and left a message. It took him days to check his messages, and she knew by the time he got around to it, it would already be too late for him to argue. But now her chicken had come home to roost, and she was going to have to explain herself.
Stella answered the call and brought the phone to her ear with a wince. “Hello?”
“Stella. I just received your message. Branch policy is to submit PTO via email.”
“Oh, is it?” Stella knew that. She’d suggested the idea after the second time Mike had almost fired someone for being late only to realize they’d requested the day off a week in advance.
“Yes, and I have to say, there couldn’t be a more inconvenient time to take off. Your workload is substantial.”
“I’m two weeks ahead of schedule.”
“Yes, but since this is a new client, and an international one at that, we will need longer than the standard review process to work out all of the bugs.”
Stella rolled her eyes but did her best to keep her voice neutral. “The client being international doesn’t change anything on the technical side of my work. The only difference is the country listed on the ‘about’ page. And even if we do want to put this design through a more rigorous process, our usual review process takes a week. Like I said, I’m two weeks ahead.”
The line went quiet for too long, long enough Stella knew Mike was squeezing his forehead together with his thumb and forefinger and pursing his lips in frustration. It was the face he made when he was trying and failing to win an argument.
“I just don’t know if I can approve an entire week off for you right now. I allowed you to have Friday, but losing five days of work is excessive. Even Brenda is here on a Sunday.”
Stella wanted to tell him it was because Brenda had been too busy packing suitcases at Stella’s house to get her work done Friday, but she kept that information to herself. “I have two months of accumulated vacation days. I never call in sick, I rarely go on vacation, and I always turn my work in on time. I do not see how one week off when I’m already two weeks ahead on this project is going to hurt anybody.”
Her hand shook around the phone from sheer adrenaline. Standing up for herself at work wasn’t something Stella had ever done. There hadn’t really been a reason to. She’d always shown up when she was supposed to, done what she was asked, and never complained. This was the first time there had been any conflict, and still flush with the confidence her new outfit instilled in her, Stella was ready to defend herself.
Mike huffed out a breath, but Stella cut him off before he can speak. “And I’ve been meaning to talk about our daily design reviews. I think they’d be more beneficial as a once-weekly check-in. As it is, they are slowing me down and giving me fewer hours to work every day, wouldn’t you agree?”
There was another long pause, and this time, Stella couldn’t imagine Mike’s reaction. She couldn’t picture his expression or guess at what he was thinking because this situation had never happened before. Stella had never once pushed back, and she had no
