I’ll never have enough of you, NEVER!

It’s that time of the month for my sister. The time when most of her employees try avoiding making direct eye contact with her. Not because she’s Scary or bitchy or anything like that, but because she expects perfection. The next big thing. The direction of the future of her company, basically. Everyone of the designers that comes to these design staff meetings know that they need to bring their own A-game, and if they don’t have it, they know they better be keeping their mouth shut. Natalie won’t pick on anyone who doesn’t volunteer an idea, but if you don’t speak up - with an idea that she’ll expect nothing short of forward- thinking, hashtag - worthy, future- dependent greatness from - then you better at least be worth keeping around for your work. Because if after a few months, if she still doesn’t know who you are based on your ideas or your work, let’s just say, she won’t be having you as her employee for much longer. Yep I’m bragging alright. I am damn proud of my baby sister being so strong and making things successful! After our parents past away when she was still in middle school, I raised her to be exactly the person that she wanted to be, and not take nonsense from anyone along the way. When she actually decided she wanted to start her own internet lingerie label, even before fashion subscription boxes and online wardrobe became a thing, I thought her everything I know and watch her take all that and carve her own way in the world. That her world is fashion, which is about a million light years from my my world business and finance, doesn’t make me any less involved though. Just as a monthly- silent CEO though; I don’t micromanage. Really, I don’t. Not that she believes me when I show up to every single one of these design staff meetings each month. It drives Natalie super crazy, haha i know. She thinks That after 5 years, I’m still watching over her shoulder by coming to all these meetings even though I don’t know my Gucci from my Gerber. She thinks I’m here keeping an overbearing eye on my investment and all. I’m really not though. Hell, she could drive her business to the ground and take the millions I invited with it, and I would not be any less supportive of her and her next steps and adventure’s in life. But I get why she thinks what she does about my presence right next to her at this meeting. Some CEOs make a good point about keeping an eye on their bottom line. Not me. I came to these staff meetings for one reason and one reason only. … only to keep my eyes on the shyest and sexiest lingerie designer on the planet. Harper Smith. She is an enigma for sure. Unlike some of these other (oh look at me I’m just the best,) designer’s. They are always desperate to get a good job or that amazing job or something like that for Natalie, but Harper always try’s to stay invisible at all this meetings. Lucky for her, all the amazing work she does speaks louder than any words. Actually, Harper is the best designer my sister has right now. My sister hope that some of the other employees will try to learn what Harper does that makes my sister so proud that they will be able to actually make her proud instead of acting like everyone is better than the other. While Harper makes my sister feel proud, my sister has been ranking Harper up to chain for seamstress to one of the head designer’s without once speaking up in the monthly meetings. ” Okay, now that all the housekeeping is out of the way,” Natalie says, immediately causing some of her workers around the table to slide further down into their seat. “Let’s hear all those ideas for next season.” Per usual, Harper is already far back in her seat as she can be, although I do detect something different about her today. She’s nervous but it’s not like her normally nervousness. Everyone who’s ever met her knows her default personality is set to awkward, which basically involves a few barely coherent sentences attached to f*****g adorable as hell blushes that I admit, I do take an interest in making her cheek blush from time to time. Before anyone can speak up, Natalie leans forward and clarifies in no uncertain terms, ”We don’t do as well as we wanted with our fall and winter numbers so we need a spring season for books, people. Meaning I don’t want any ideas for spring that we’ve already done”. More bodies shrink back in the chairs. But surprisingly, Harper’s inches forward a bit more. Well, well, well. Of course, the usual suspects speak up first. Isaiah, who’s always done amazing work for us, gets the ball rolling pretty quickly. He’s like that red carpet commentator guy on TV people are always talking about. He’s always got solid ideas that mix in every season, even though it hardly ever makes it in the catalog cover or Prime website spots. Next up is Emily, who can be a hit or a miss with her ideas. She’s a bold out of the box thinker, which I can tell Natalie really respect’s, so even if the ideas might not be a good fit, there’s usually a ripple effect that often spurs on others ideas. Then there is Lillian. Nepotism at its most boring, if you ask me. The full of herself, more often bratty than not woman is supposedly fashion royalty or some s**t like that. The daughter of this big important stylist In the designer clothing and celebrity styling game. Is the only reason she’s still here. Here ideas are pretentious and juvenile at best, knockoffs off stuff she’s hearing is coming from others designer’s at worst. She’s got an inside track on trends, which I guess can be useful, but for me, it’s annoying, and lazy. “My mom says a few designers have been thinking of doing an anti- Valentine push,” announces Lillian, which, admittedly, is a little irritating. Natalie’s brows furrow and I can tell, she is definitely not a big fan of the idea. But she doesn’t shut Lillian down outright. “Please get me some examples.” As Lillian proceeds to get credit for essentially Copying off her mom’s homework for the next few minutes, I watch Harper’s reaction to the whole anti- Valentine’s deal. She doesn’t like it neither. Over the past few years, it’s been pretty easy to figure out all these woman’s likes and dislikes, she is definitely an open book, whether she likes it or not. And right now, it’s clear as day that underwear with “Stupid Cupid” and hammers on hearts is not doing it for her, regardless of how eye catching Lillian’s examples up on the big screen are. Will the design’s turn a profit for those other designer’s? Honestly, yes they will. But is that the direction that the buyers will want? That’s the real 100 dollar Dollar question, Natalie wants what the customer will want. I look from Harper to Natalie and back 3 times in a row to she her typing away on her phone. She looks up from her screen to inform the group, “Anti-Valentine trends do look like they do consistently well each year.” I turn my eye’s back over to Harper again and see she looks downright feisty now (well, as feisty as a cute, quite mouse can look). She’s practically leaning forward in her chair now, hands tightly gripping the folder I’m only now noticing that she brought it to the meeting. And her lips part as if she actually about to say something. But before she can say anything, Lillian (being the prize b***h that she is), give her a killing glare and quickly starts throwing more of her to cents out there, “Every year it seems like lingerie companies do the same thing- lots of hearts and pinks and reds, some years sweeter, some years sexier, but never anything new. All that makes for a cliché and frankly forgettable product line that inevitably goes in the clearance bin next month.” Harper looks a bit deflated over that, and I can barely hold my aggression in that building up inside. I have always hated she her upset. The fact that Natalie is also looking down about all this also makes me even more pissed off at Lillian. Not because of her whole anti- Valentine lingerie idea - it’s a sound idea I could honestly care less about what way it goes, it can go either way for all I care but it’s clear viperish woman is enjoying upsetting Harper and Natalie. Tough as she is, Natalie has a big romance personality (Natalie has been romantic at heart sense day one.) Natalie has always oohs and ahs over romantic gestures and melts over the smallest stuff. In fact, whenever we meet up for lunch or dinner and sometimes even coffee at least once or twice a week depending on what my schedule looks like and if I can pull it off, she’s constantly going on and on about social media love story’s that has went viral. And wether she seeing someone and how she thinks it’ll play out or if she’s single and how lonely she feels, she’s never been the type of person to hate on the holidays. f**k, If this is the direction that this is going to end up going down, I know Natalie going to be deviated. She’ll probably be on board, but very deviated. I immediately pull out my phone and I send a text to my assistant to have her send Natalie a whole bunch of Russell stover’s chocolates for $56.00 with in the next 30 minutes to an hour to cheer Natalie up so she knows she has people who care about her and love her I know she is my sister so I am supposed to care and love her because I’m family, but Natalie has lots of friends who also love and care for her. Most anyone who knows me would probably laugh until they pissed there pants if someone were to describe me as sweet, because I know for a fact that I’m far from sweet, but I step up to the plate when it comes to being the best big brother. If my baby sister needs a chocolate chip cookie dough blast from sonic to feel better after a bullying b***h makes her feel like s**t, I’ll f*****g jump to get her a chocolate chip cookie dough blast from sonic, if I have to I’ll go to the next town over to get her one. But given that all Sonic’s are shut down due to Covid-19, I shot a text message to an old friend of mine that owns build- A -bear workshop and ask him to make a Stuffed animal for Natalie sense she has loved them ever since she was a kid and asked for next day delivery. Preferably one pink, red with lots of hearts in it, because Lillian dogged on that. Our parents used to alway buy Natalie those Build-A-bear Stuffed animals,(but for her birthday, Christmas, and all of her successful milestones they’d buy her a big one thats more expensive than what they always buy her.) It’s honestly the truth, so after they passed away I kept there tradition alive for Natalie in memory of our parents. Hell, on her 19th birthday, I even paid a small Fortune to make her a never-before-made and probably-never-will-be-made again bear with a little pot and a pipe in the other hand. Just as I wait for the confirmation from my assistant to hear that he’s on it. I look up to see that Lillian is about to go in for the kill, announcing how she’ll be the happiest person to head this project and at this point, every last word coming out of her mouth is getting on my nerves. I don’t often say anything when I go to these meetings, but if no one’s got any other ideas to compete with Lillian’s one for an anti-Valentine’s line for the woman, I figure now’s a good time as any to suggest we start a men’s line. I’ve done my market research. Women buy valentine’s gift for men too. The fact that we haven’t branched out into men’s apparel before now is actually an area I’ve been meaning to bring it up. But just as I’m about to, a tiny, hesitant whisper somehow cuts through all the anti-Valentine discussion in the room. Everyone was shocked into silence, which helps us all hear her follow - up sentence. “I-I actually have some thoughts I’d love to share…” She speaks.