Splendor(20)

Tessa hesitated, not at all convinced that Julia wasn’t just feeling sorry for her. It had to be quite obvious to the always beautifully dressed designer – with her chic sheath dresses, sexy high heels and perfectly coordinated accessories – that Tessa wasn’t exactly in the same sort of financial circumstances. Her own clothes were very plain and inexpensive, and someone who had an eye for fashion like Julia did would have been sure to pick up on that fact. The navy pencil skirt and simple navy pumps were both items she wore often, though the pretty yellow blouse with the ruffle down the front was new. It had been an impulse buy a couple of weeks ago – a futile attempt to cheer herself up. Fortunately the blouse had cost less than ten dollars on a clearance rack at Forever 21.

“I don’t know,” she demurred, looking down at her shoes. “I do have a lot of work to do.”

“Do you want me to clear it with Andrew?” offered Julia. “He doesn’t scare me in the least, you know, even though everyone else around here seems to be terrified of him.”

Tessa gave a little laugh, probably the first time she’d done so in a month. “Andrew’s not so bad. He just has high expectations. The first manager I had when I joined the company was much worse than he was. And – no, I don’t need to check with him. I’d like to have lunch with you, thanks. Where should I meet you?”

Julia beamed and gave her the name and address of the little bakery café, arranging to meet just after one o’clock. She wrinkled her nose in distaste a moment later, though, as she glanced across the conference room.

“God, that guy gives me the creeps,” she confided in a hushed tone. “At last month’s meeting he actually came up to me afterwards and put his arm around my waist. I thought Nathan was going to break a couple of his fingers.”

Tessa followed Julia’s gaze and frowned. “Ah, Mr. Baldwin. Yes, he has something of a reputation around here. You’re lucky you have your boyfriend to watch out for you.”

“Does he harass you, too?” asked Julia in concern.

Tessa shrugged. “He tries, but I do my best to avoid him. I think Andrew’s been told to keep him away from all the women on this floor.”

“Hmm, I can see why. It doesn’t seem to concern him in the least if a woman is married or otherwise spoken for, does it? And he must think he’s God’s gift to women, but he isn’t that good looking,” sniffed Julia. “My Nathan is ten times more attractive. And I can’t understand why any woman in this office would look twice at a creep like Jason Baldwin when they have a hunk like Ian to stare at instead.”

Tessa cursed her fair skin as she felt a warm flush stain her cheeks. Aware that Julia must expect some sort of response, she stammered awkwardly, “Um, yes. I – uh, agree.”

To mask the sudden discomfort she felt at the mention of her boss’ name, Tessa turned her attention back to cleaning up the refreshment table. Julia thankfully took the hint and left, reminding her about their lunch engagement at one o’clock.

But a few minutes later, after everyone else had left the room, Tessa pondered the wisdom of going to lunch with the very perceptive Julia. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the bubbly, beautiful designer. On the contrary, Julia had been exceedingly kind to her from the very first time they had met back in February. And her boyfriend – Nathan – had always treated Tessa like a gentleman, never trying to flirt with her or ogle her the way so many others did. The entire design team for the Napa hotel had monthly meetings here at the office with management, and Tessa was nearly always assigned the job of setting up the room, taking meeting notes, and then cleaning up afterwards. Julia always sought her out, taking a few minutes to chat and thanking her for helping. Tessa was flattered by the attention, for she didn’t really have any friends of her own, especially no one as pretty and outgoing as Julia. Tessa just knew somehow that Julia had been one of the popular girls in high school, while Tessa had always been a loner, an outsider.

She thankfully wasn’t as socially awkward as she’d been back then – years of working so closely with others had helped improve her social skills a lot – but she was still extremely shy and not especially clever at conversation. Tessa just hoped she wouldn’t be too boring for the vivacious Julia. She knew from past conversations as well as snippets of gossip she’d overheard that the designer had attended an Ivy League college, spoke fluent French, and was a talented artist. Not to mention having a wardrobe that Gina, Alicia and Shelby were all green with envy over.