Chapter 5

"Shea!" Yells Ellery as she starts ruffling through the papers on her desk. "Shea! Where are they!"

"Where is what?" I ask as I look for my uniform today.

"That's a good questions," says Ellery as her runs her hands through her blond hair, she got extensions since she first opened and colored it so many different colors. The current color now was blonde. "I just want to know where they are!"

"I would like to know that as well, but I don't know where my uniform is today," I say as I help her look at her desk for something that looked important

"CRAP! I knew I forgot more than this! We have a potential client! They saw me in the international completion a few days back and I need the figures! Where is it!"

"Why don't you ever bite off less than you can chew? It's always more work for me…" I say with an aggravated sigh. .

"That's why I need you," laughs Ellery as she takes the papers from my hands. She quickly turns and was about to dash out of the room before I stopped her.

""What about my outfit!" I say, catching her just in time.

"Oh! Right! I got the guys out, but I forgot about it," says Ellery as she stops and looks into inventory. "By the way, make sure to push the things that are going out of inventory. I have no space to add any more clothing and $21,000 to spend. Oh! And by the way, I'm trying to get Trevor onto our staff. I've been hounding him forever to join. He's our best costumer and he has spent a lot of time here. He is the best candidate to join my high end shop. You know, all my other employees have impeccable taste and have been going to my boutique forever, except for you. I think you're the only employee in history to demand a job! I still remember that day that you came here. What time is it!"

"About 3-ish," I say with a shrug of my shoulders.

"CRRRAAAAAPPP! I'm late!" yells Ellery as she rushes out of the inventory room once again.

"What about my outfit!" I yell.

"I trust you to pick it out yourself! Make sure it's with inventory that we are almost out of and make it flirty and expensive. I trust you," says Ellery as she leaves the shop. I start to panic a little and start to look through the inventory stock. I start to take off layer after layer as I start to form the outfit in my mind. I pick out the pink and white striped-ribbon T-shirt that was from Le Spark and pull it over my head. Next I cover it with a Black and White Polka-dot Cami and pull my arms into a purple Lacy Bolero from AZ-USA. I pick out a pair of black distressed jeans from StageDive and a White and Black Bow-Trimmed Beret from PopQuiz. Both of which I knew Ellery liked. I then looked through the jewelry and took out tinted sunglasses from AZ-USA and a white heart necklace from Marzipan Sky which I thought was the most gorgeous thing in the world. I pulled on the Lucky purple Star ankle socks from my favorite store, Mint Sprinkles and covered them with Yellow laced-up Platform Boots by StageDive. I look in the mirror to asses my outfit and the price tag just natural popped into my head, making my jaw drop. It was exactly $653.40. I could feed Shelly and myself for about 3-4 months, if Shelly didn't beg for candy like she normally does.

I need to stop calculating the price of my outfits, I am in the high fashion business which means that everything I wear will be out of my budget and I will just have to accept that, or I would have to quit the business. I take a deep breath and smile in the mirror, getting my sale's smile down.

"What are you doing?" asks Danny as he and Gordon start to undress out of their St. Smith's uniform to get changed into their store uniform. Their uniform today was a white checked shirt by Aeronef, a black Tweedy Suit Coat from Castellan, black Suspender Pants by Castellan, green striped knit gloves by Dept. 9, burgundy Buffalo-Check Fedora by Aeronef, deep red Thick-Rimmed Glasses from Aeronef, a purple Tie from Castellan, gray Nordic Socks by Aeronef with black and beige Work Boots from Dept. 9. Apparently when Ellery was rushing around, she had the time to set out the boy's uniform instead of mine. I just sign and walk out to the front.

"So you're just going to ignore us?" asks Gordon as he and Danny follow me out of the back and start to take care of folding the clothes.

"I'm not really ignoring you, per say… I just don't know how to answer it," I say as I continue on tallying up the money earned yesterday.

"Excuse me? Excuse me?" asks a Customer

"Yes? How may I help you?" I ask as I quickly grab the customer before Danny. Gordon was like my shadow, following to learn the ropes. I looked up her profile quickly before grabbing her. She was Shae, someone who was very well connected as well as being a top customer. She was a rich heiress with a love for what Ellery designs.

"Good evening! Is Ellery out right now? I heard that she won the International Contest," she says excitedly.

"Yes she is. She is restocking the inventory and then going to compete in another Elite Contest soon," I say with a charming smile. "I will be of assistance today."

"She must be something really special!"

"Yes she is, I'm a big fan of hers!" I say as I smile, remembering the first day I meet her, I remember her being so big and god-like and yet so small and delicate at the same time. "But I hope I can be of assistance to you in her absence. I have been training under her for a year now."

"Actually, I'm meeting a friend later. We're going for a dinner cruise and I'm really looking forward to it. But I really need a luxury outfit so I don't stick out too much. Can you help me instead? I really am in a hurry," she says, a little antsy

"Of course! Right this way ma'am and please wait as I get your outfit ready," I say as I usher her to a comfy chair for her to wait.

"So what are we doing now?" asks Gordon as he follows me into the inventory section as we shuffle through clothes.

"We're doing what the customer asked," I say as I pull out the last yellow Lace-Striped Long Dress from Cantata Modo. "Now remember to find luxury items that go with this."

"She was a little rude, wasn't she?" he asks as he pulls out a beige One-button Bolero from Zhade and I switch the dress with a gold Sparkly Strapless Dress from Zhade, which was also the last of it's kind. I match it with a white Buckle Clutch from Strava.

"She's the customer. And the customer is always right. Not to mention it says that her bank figure is 7k, something like that means that she is our God at this point," I say as I put a white Faux-Fur Hat from Zhade.

"I wouldn't stand for that kind of thing if it was my store," says Gordon as he compares the Jet Stone-Tiers Necklace and the black Beaded Collar Necklace, both from Zhade. He ended up picking the more expensive one.

"Then you wouldn't do very good," I explain as I pair it with white Faux-Fur-Cuffed Boots from Zhade, making the total out to be $4,993. I try not to think too much into it, and take a deep breath. "Now wish me luck!"

I step out and hand over the outfit with a smile, "Please try this on!"

"You want me to try it on?" says Shae, a little flustered. "All right then, you're on! I'll be right out."

She steps into the changing room and walk out, strutting her stuff. "How do you like it?"

"I'm so glad you got me to try this on! This outfit is the whole package! I mean, it's so luxury. And the accessories are the icing on top of the…er…package. Well, you know what I mean. I'll take it!" She says as she quickly changes out of it. I wait for her at the cash register to ring her up.

"I 'm glad you like it," I say as I hand her a bag with her newly purchased clothes in it.

"Wow… it's so beautiful…! I could hold my head up high anywhere in the world in this outfit! Maybe romance will blossom on my dinner cruise… Teehee! Thanks for the sweet outfit!"

"Thank you for shopping at Lucky Star! And hope you have a great day~!" I say as I wave her cheerfully away.

"You're really good at this," says Gordon with a charming smile.

"Of course she is! I taught her everything she knows," says Danny as he comes back to check out a customer. "Thank you! And thank you for shopping at Lucky Star!"

"More like the other way around you jerk!" I say as I elbow him playfully in the stomach.

"What about Ellery?" asks Gordon as he leans against the folding table behind the counter. "I came here to study under Ellery's hand. The person who won the International contest. But all I got was this girl."

"Well … She was able to teach me… but she is so busy, being an International winner ten times in a row means that everyone wants to get designs from her… plus she has to keep up her appearance and also continue to sharpen her skills. I know she would want to train you herself… but…"

"Ellery means well… it's just that she bites off more than she can chew most of the time. Shea normally takes care of the customers and keeping up revenue," explains Danny, trying to not make Ellery sound like… well Ellery, but it was really hard thing to do, since Ellery will always be Ellery in all intents and purposes.

"So she basically runs the store right?" says Gordon with a smirk, and a little bit of pride it seems like.

"Teaches the newest recruits, manages the accounts, and remembers all the customers' names. She takes care of the financing of Ellery's extreme fashion sense which means she's basically the brains behind the operations," explains Danny

"She means well and everything… It's just that… she's more creative then financially stable. She has a shopping problem and… well…" I say as I start to busy my hands with the little trinkets near the cash register.

"Shea! Shea!" giggles Shelly as she rushes through the door. There were a few mumblings and cross words about the child in a store like this. I didn't care. I just stoop down and hug her tightly.

"My little angel!" I say as I hug her tightly, squishing her school uniform. She has been accepted into Sweet Mary's All Girl Elementary school. Ellery had graciously paid for it, saying she couldn't resist such a sweet girl's smile. In all honesty I think that she did it to get rid of money. She had more money than she needed since winning the contests and when she wasn't trying to win a contest she was out trying to spend it all. Sometimes she got close, but she always had $100 in her pocket if not more. She tries to use it in good conscious but sometimes…. It doesn't turn out the way she hopes.

"Look! Look! I made a picture in art class today!" says Shelly energetically as she shows me the picture.

"It's beautiful! I'll put it in the locker room later, okay? So why don't you go in the back and put it up," I say as I give her a tighter hug before I send her to the back.

"You work really well with kids don't you?" asks Danny as he watches me taking care of Shelly with some sort of emotion in his eye that I couldn't put my finger on.

"Can you please help me?" asks Juno interrupting my thought process.

"I'll be right with you in a second!" I say as I start to walk over to the customer "And please look after Gordon for me Danny! You would be such a life saver."

"Hello, What a beautiful morning! No matter how early it is, I always have my hair and makeup done. You've got to face each day with everything you've got! No slacking! All I need now is a pair of bold, flashy shoes, and I'll be set! Go on, impress me!" says Juno with a defiant stance. It was both intimidating and invigorating.

"Of course! Please wait here, I'll bring them out for you quickly," I say with a sweet smile as I walk to the back.

"Sissy!" giggles Shelly as she squeezes my neck tightly after I entered the inventory room.

"Hey there little angel," I say as I pat her on the head. "Can you please find me some bold shoes?"

"Kay!" says Shelly as she runs through the inventory room and searches for some shoes. Danny then comes in the back with Gordon in the inventory room right after Shelly ran off.

"I got an order for bold pants and a matching base layer," says Danny as he starts ruffling through the inventory stock.

"Shelly is looking for bold right now, ask her to ask for a base layer and pants as well," I say as I shuffle through a few of the shoes in front of me that were at arm's length.

"I'll ask her when I see her next, thanks," says Danny as he picks out a blue textured tube-top tee from AZ-USA.

"Here are some shoes I think would be good, and they are the last of their kind!" says Shelly as she hands me beige Strap-Trimmed boots from Harlow Heights

"Thank you little bunny!" I say as I kiss the top of her head.

"Hey Sweet Heart, do you think that you can get us some bold pants?" ask Gordon.

"Good luck!" I say as I take out the beige Strap-Trimmed boots from Harlow Heights, it was only $168, right in her budget. "Here you are ma'am, why don't you try them on?" I say with a smile, handing her the boots.

"My, you're certainly confident! I'll just try them on quickly. I'm sure they'll be perfect!" says Juno as she takes them and sits down to put them on. She looks down at her feet for a second and then a smile spreads across her face, "I'm so glad I put these on! It's cool how right they were for me! I soooo wanted something bold like this! I feel like splurging on myself. Why don't you show me what else you've got? Go see if you can't find me a full outfit that would go well with these."

"Very well miss," I say as I go back into inventory, the boys were walking out just when I was going in so I knew Shelly would be done helping them. I squeal a little and do a happy dance before I turn to Shelly and clear my throat, "Shelly! I need every bold item we got! We've gotta make an outfit!"

"Right boss!" says Shelly with a salute. I picked out a blue Textured Tube-Top Tee from AZ-USA and Shelly runs in with a white German One Shoulder by AZ-USA.

"This is perfect Shelly!" I say as I ruffle her hair and add in a Leopard-Spot Jacket by AZ-USA. Shelly picks out some black 'Liberties' Skinny Jeans from StageDive that was the last in stock. "Another perfect choice! If you don't stop this, you will take my job!"

Shelly just giggles as I pair the outfit with a Star-and-Moon Necklace from AZ-USA. I roll out the Mannequin out to show Juno. "What do you think of this?"

"I've been waiting all my life for an outfit that's so bold! You don't mind if I try this on, do you?" asks Juno as she looks at the outfit.

"Go ahead! Be my guest," I say as I usher her into the changing room.

"Good!" saus Juno as she goes and tries it on. There was a slight pause, possibly her looking in the mirror before she says, "As soon as I put it on, I knew it was love! This is just what I wanted! I'm going to buy it right now!"

I wait for her to change out of her outfit before walking to the cash register. "These shoes are ultra glitzy! They're really going to help me tie my outfits together."

"Thank you for shopping at Lucky Star! And hope you have a great day~!" I say as I cheerfully wave good-bye.