Tailor my heart

Hailey's POV. "Let's welcome our ever beautiful fashionista to give us the tips on how to startup a business. please, put your hands together for the CEO of Joley clothing brand, Hailey Jones." A round of applause emanated from the crowd as I stood to my feet. With my head held high, and a radiant smile, I walked towards the podium. "She is so beautiful." I heard someone say, almost in a whisper and my smile widened. Of course I am. It took me three whole hours to put together this dazzling look- tailored yellow curve-fitting gown, a set of golden jewelries, a pair of black stilletos and just the perfect amount of makeup was enough to make me a paragon of beauty. And it was all from my brand. I am so proud of the woman I have become. "Thank you." I said into the mic. Gradually the applause died down and the hall became very quiet. "It is an honour to be here today. And I'm glad to share my own opinion of becoming a young successful CEO. First of all, it would be good to have a certain mindset, a mindset that you could fail at your first attempt, maybe a second and third. But, you have to keep going. Consistency and determination is the major attribute to becoming successful. Before-" "I love you!" Someone yelled from the crowd. I smiled again. "Of course and I love you right back. So as I was saying, without that strong mindset, you wouldn't be able to continue after a couple of failed attempts. Once you have that, think of an idea on the business you would like to do. Second, double check if it's marketable and profitable. Third, calculate the capital needed. But before then, you must make sure to find a place to set up your business. If it is online, create a platform for it. You should never -" • "Hailey!" With a drawn-out moan and a thumping heartbeat, I was immediately torn out of my beautiful dream, and pulled up to a sitting position by mom. "Hailey!" My eyes blurred slightly before it cleared up. "Good morning, mom." I said, amidst a series of yawn. "Good morning." She smiled, stifling a yawn with the back of her left hand before continuing. "C'mon, get up and arrange yourself, you don't want to be late." I stared at my mom with utmost confusion. My lips pressed together in grim line as series of thoughts played through my mind. Yet, I couldn't fathom what she meant. "Hailey!" Her eyes widened as she stared at me with disbelief. "I told you last night about the e-mail sent by Kolton fashion company." I let out a loud gasp and pressed my lips together afterward. "Oh my God! I got the job?" My heart skidded a beat. "See what sleep has caused you, I thought you heard everything I said." Her expression and tone clearly evident of disbelief. You can't blame me, I love sleeping more than anything in the world. Aside from my mom and sister, of course. Should there be a world sleeping competition, I could win it with my eyes closed. My mood instantly shot up from a drowsy mode to an elated one. I could not believe I got the job. When I went for the job interview last week, the manager had complained about my lack of work experience, but had commended my style of fashion. "Oh my goodness, I got the job!" I said to myself again. It felt so surreal. Kolton, the innovative and renowned fashion company in New York, has always been my dream right from childhood. I remembered always looking over at the gargantuan building ever-filled with activities and wished to be part of the organization, someday. Kolton, was one of the best platform to start up one's fashion career, ranging from designing, down to creating beautiful masterpiece. I scrambled off the bed and struggled to my feet. "Mom, where is your laptop? I want to check the mail." My breath raspy as I raced out of my room while Mom followed right behind me. * My eyes hovered at the e-mail as I read it over and over again. Although it was right in front of me, I still couldn't believe it. Each beautiful word got my heart racing so fast, at this rate, it could jump right out of my chest . KOLTON FASHION COMPANY Miss Hailey Jones, Congratulations, you have been considered for the position of a secretary at our company. Work start on Monday, 8:00am prompt. We look forward to working with you. Signed, Manager. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" I jumped. "Congratulations once more, honey." My mom pulled me into a brief hug that halted me from jumping once more, and I deepened it. "Thank you, mom." My voice broke and my emotion took the better part of me. She gently tore herself away from me. "This is the beginning of great things to come." She wiped the lone tear at the corner of my right eye. "Go and get ready. I will prepare breakfast." Without further ado, I rushed into my room, peeled off my night gown from my body and entered into the bathroom. Several minutes later, I stood in front of the mirror and took a quick survey. Tailored white shirt tucked into a pleated navy-blue skirt, and a white stilletos made me look the secretary part. For one thing, I was always proud to observe myself in front of a mirror - blonde hair, a pair of deep blue eyes, a pretty cute turned up nose and a thin lip could make anyone passed me for a beauty queen. But, I was not that obsessed with my looks. Adding a few finishing touches, I pulled my hair into a ponytail and adorned it with a berry-blue hairclip. Then, I clasped the golden wristwatch, Diane, my elder sister had gotten me for my twenty-second birthday around my left wrist. I immediately reached for my black handbag, tossed my resume, my smartphone and my pink purse into it, then I hurried for the door. As soon as I stepped out of my room into the living room, the sumptuous aroma of whatever delicacy my mom was making hit my nostrils and I found myself, salivating. Mom didn't noticed me, she was so engrossed in setting the table until I pulled out a chair and sat down. "Wow, Hailey....you look so-" she searched for words. "Beautiful." I completed. "No, that's not the exact word I am looking for - elegant," she snapped her fingers. " You look so elegant, so much that all the men in your work place would be ogling after you." "Oh, mom, please." Men were the least of what I wanted in my life right now. The goal is to get a good job, check. Make much money so mom and I could get the hell out of this noisy neighborhood. Become a renowned fashion designer, people would admire and respect. Only then, will I begin to think of men- perhaps, just a little. "Hailey, now that you have gotten a job," Mom dished out a portion of pasta and set it in front of me and I hurried to take a mouthful. "You should get a boyfriend." I paused, with my fork rolled pasta midway to my mouth. "Mom, please- I should be successful first." "Of course, you are going to be." She said, placing two boiled eggs on my pasta. "But behind every succes-" "Ful woman is a man." I completed, rolling my eyes. Finally, the pasta made it way into my mouth. No doubt, it was a scrumptious meal made together with few basic ingredients that still delivered unique taste and flavor and I savoured every bit. My mom was basically one of the best cook in the world. She could make do with any ingredients available, and the taste would come out, amazing. As much as I wanted to eat every single pasta on my plate, the moment I checked my wristwatch, 7:28AM. I gasped and jumped to my feet. "See you later, mom!" I quickly dashed towards the door because if my mom hadn't gone into the kitchen, she wouldn't have let me leave until I finished my meal. "Atleast, finish your meal!" She called after me. "I'm so sorry, it is very delicious but I would be late." I apologized. Mom understood me quite enough, she knew damn well how much I loved food, so she made no further fuss about it. "Wish me luck." "Good luck, Hailey." Having heard that, I smiled and closed the door softly behind me. ♦ The ride to Kolton was shorter than the last time I went. Probably because I boarded a taxi or because I didn't pay much attention to the road. My thought was filled with series of events of how my first day at work would be. I stared at the ever so familiar eighteen story skyscraper in front of me. My heart began thumping, real hard and fast. So I took in a deep breath to steady myself, and let it out in a loud gush. Afterwards, I proceeded into the first floor hallway. "This is it." I said, smiling. I checked my time again as I waited for the elevator to open. 7:56AM. Well, I was still on time. 8:00Am prompt right? The remaining four minutes would get me to the last floor. It took forever for the elevator to open. I stared at the floor reader and observed it still had a lot of floors to get to before it could return to the last floor. Two people joined me in waiting, some seconds later, more did. All of a sudden, I noticed another elevator right at the corner of the hallway. If there was another one, why do people have to wait for this one? Could it be under maintenance? Curiosity took the better part of me and I walked over to observe it. Pressing down the button, the elevator ding and opened instantly. There was definitely nothing wrong with it. I looked over at the people waiting in front of the other elevator and wondered why they made no attempt to join me. Instead, they casted me a cursory glance, each person's expression was as though I was doing something very, very wrong. But I could care less. I walked into it and pressed the eighteenth floor button. Just as the elevator door began to close, it stopped halfway. A tall handsome man in a clean tailored black suit holding a brief-case joined me. Perhaps, there was nothing to be bothered about, after all. "Good morning." I said. The man cleared his throat, but made no attempt to answer. Rude much.. I hated whenever I greeted someone and all I could get for response was a cleared throat or sheer demeaning silence. People can't be anymore boorish than that! "What floor are you heading to?" I asked, hoping he was going to answer this time around. Instead, he cleared his throat again and said nothing. Is there a frog in his throat? I thought. Clearly offended by the man's utterly rudeness, I pressed the eighteenth floor button. "How rude?" I blurted out loud. The boorish man casted a cursory glance at me. For a moment, I thought he would finally say something, so I braced myself, He cleared his throat, a little louder this time and looked away. Some people just never learn. Today was my first day of work, letting a douchebag like him ruin it for me wasn't worth it. "You know-" I started, unable to let this slide. "You could actually be less rude and the world will be at your feet, no one likes a—" I was preparing myself to give him a verbal lash when the elevator dinged, signalling our arrival at the eighteen floor. Slowly, the door parted open. "Good morning, Mr Kolton....you have a meeting in ten minutes." My breath hitched. I stared after the man, who was now walking out of the elevator, wondering if I heard correctly. Mr Sutton, the manager, who interviewed me last week, tore his gaze from the iPad he was holding to me. "Miss Jones, what are you doing in the executive elevator?"