Thank you to everybody who read or review the last chapter. I'm treating this as a new story that I'm writing which it is because there's so many differences compared to last time. I even change the chapter title. The next chapter, which should be off to the beta by the end of the day, is almost a completely different chapter.
The new title comes from the Janet Jackson song Got 'Til it's Gone and the song that it samples Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell.
Chapter 2: Neither Monique nor Joni Mitchell Will Lie
May 24 2010
Marc stared at the clock drinking his coffee completely shocked he was not only up this early but completely ready at 6:43 in the morning. It was for the best. There would be a 9:00 AM press conference this morning where Monique will announce that she now controlled 50% of Meade publishing. An hour before the conference there was going to be a meeting of all the editors and creative directors at Meade.
Due to the current lack of a creative director at Mode, he and Megan would be sharing the responsibilities of that job until a replacement was found. This meant he had to be at work an entire hour earlier than normal to attend the meeting. Monique promised pastries and lattes.
If his date with Troy had not gone so badly last night he would be more upset about getting up this early. Last night truly was awful and he was in bed by 11:02 PM. Sometime over the appetizer course last night Marc realized he and Troy had very little in common. This became apparent when he tried to actually talk to Troy instead of letting him use his mouth for much better purposes. It turns out there wasn't much for them to talk about.
Smalltalk wasn't possible and really if they were dating and not just screwing around they should be beyond that but they weren't. Conversations about their families were completely off the table. Troy came from an accepting family and Marc hasn't spoken to his mother since he told her the truth three years ago. Marc's daddy issues were not much better mostly because his daddy issues involved a dead dad.
He and Troy couldn't even hold a conversation about music because Troy has awful taste. Marc discreetly downloads the latest Backstreet Boys album to his iPhone and Troy kept talking about the virtues of the Jonas Brothers and Justin Bieber. Marc still preferred Justin Timberlake. At least he could fantasize about him without feeling dirty.
His new boss liked to joke that your iPod is perpetually stuck sometime around the time you were in high school or college, he's starting to believe her.
He didn't realize Troy was so young before this moment. He was only seven years younger than Marc but it seemed like a lifetime. Maybe life experience matters more than age. Troy just moved out of his family home six months ago. Marc had to be self-sufficient by the time he was 18 if he didn't want to spend his life in a broken closet trying to appeal to a woman who will never love him for who he truly is.
That is why last night Marc came to the unfortunate conclusion that they really did not have anything to talk about besides work (nor did he actually want to talk to Troy that much). They didn't even like the same TV shows. Troy didn't even like shopping which was sacrilegious. How can you work at a fashion magazine and not like shopping? Even Betty liked shopping, granted it was shopping for her nephew but she still enjoyed it.
Any other conversation about work was off-limits right now. Everything Marc is currently working on was top secret. He and Monique along with Megan, who was rescued from Player Siberia, have been working on new material for the magazine for most of last week.
He could not tell Troy that he was the new managing editor for the creative side of the magazine because that announcement wouldn't occur until today. He could not tell Troy about the new direction that the magazine would be going in soon. He could not talk about how unsure he was about the new direction. Marc was never good at adapting to new things.
He cannot even talk about the real reason why Wilhelmina decided to leave because that was not public knowledge yet (nor would it ever be because they were still covering up for Tyler).
Even if he could legally discuss the situation he wasn't sure if he could talk to Troy about losing his mentor. It feels weird not seeing Wilhelmina on a daily basis. He missed their work relationship despite the power imbalance but he can't talk to Troy about that because he is not sure that the freshly out of college child could understand.
This made Marc also realize that he could not talk to Troy about anything else related to his personal life either. He couldn't talk to him about his decision to stay at Mode despite the fact he missed Wilhelmina in his professional life. Marc doubts Troy would understand despite the fact that that professional relationship is over, he still going to maintain a friendship with Wilhelmina and he will still be at Wilhelmina's jailhouse nuptials.
He most definitely cannot talk to Troy about Amanda. He could not tell him about how he was secretly upset that Matt was taking his place in her life now that he was back. He's even jealous that the man is taking over his midnight snack runs and the baby-stuff shopping. That was supposed to be their thing.
There's no way he can tell Troy about how angry he was about Amanda keeping her relationship with Matt a secret from him until the first breakup. He found out about their relationship at the same time he found out she was most likely carrying Matt's child. He felt like she stabbed him in the back. Amanda is his best friend, his platonic soulmate. They're not supposed to have secrets and yet she didn't trust him to know about Matt. That still hurt.
He cannot talk to Troy about being worried that Amanda will leave him behind now that she was becoming a mother and starting her own business. It is not as if they can go back to clubbing now that she is carrying the next heir to the Hartley fortune. He doubted she would leave the baby with Matt just so they could go to jockstrap night at Boy Town after junior makes his grand debut in October. (Marc chose not to examine why he believes that he will be free to go to Jockstrap night after the littlest fashion queen is born.)
Before, when Amanda was with someone, it did not seem to matter. It was always just about sex. She went to that person for sexual gratification and she came to him for emotional support. For the first time she got both from Matt (well, that was the case for now at least). He must admit that he is a bit jealous of that because he has sexual gratification with Troy but he knows he doesn't have emotional support. He is starting to wonder if maybe emotional support was better than sexual gratification. Which is why he didn't get any 'coffee' last night with Troy after dinner.
He could never talk about any of these things with Troy. Their relationship just was not that close yet. He was wondering if he and Troy could ever get to that point. If he cannot talk about this stuff with Troy then where was the relationship going? Was there even a point? Was he settling just because he was lonely?
He could have talked about this stuff with Cliff. He could always tell things to him that he usually only ever felt comfortable talking to Amanda about. He has been thinking a lot about his ex-boyfriend recently. Even before his conversation with Monique at Holston's wake, Cliff has been on his mind.
He really did not appreciate the good thing he had with Cliff until he was surrounded by the Matt and Mandy show. He just assumed it was normal loneliness cause by the fact he was surrounded by couples that triggered his trip down memory lane. Even Justin had a boyfriend and his mom just married the love of her life. Wilhelmina was back with Connor. Everyone was happy with someone except for him, who was obviously settling for the first man available. Even perpetually clueless Betty and Daniel finally made it out of denial land and were living happily ever after in London.
Candy sent him cell phone video of the happy couple making out in their living room. The happy scene made Marc want to vomit. Seriously, why does she get all the hot guys?
Even though he technically had a boyfriend, he still felt lonely. People in love who truly understood each other and trusted one another surrounded him. He had that once upon a time, but not with Troy. It's only now that he realizes how truly badly he fucked that up. Yet, he was still going through the motions because it was better than being completely alone surrounded by people in love. Maybe this is his penance for throwing such a good thing away.
It probably did not help that he saw Cliff briefly at Monique's going away party as he was going to warn Wilhelmina that Daniel was looking for her. Ironically, Janet Jackson's song Got 'Til It's Gone was playing in the background as he saw Cliff in the crowd. It was probably in honor of how much they will miss Monique, but the line "How'd I ever let you get away?" meant something completely different to Marc just feet away from the one that got away.
He didn't get to speak with him because Monique and Daniel dragged him into her office despite how much he wanted to. He saw pictures of the model boyfriend making out with a Gossip Girl or something so he hoped for Cliff's sake that he kicked the guy in the dick before moving on. Unfortunately, work came first even if he really wanted to know what was going on with Cliff.
Much to his surprise, Monique and Matt's plan worked. Wilhelmina was leaving the Company. What was more surprising was Monique wanted him to stay at Mode with her. She offered him not only a full editor position but also a managing editor position that oversaw the creative aspects of the magazine. There hasn't been a managing editor for that part of the magazine since Sheila quit after Wilhelmina became part owner of the magazine because of her almost Meade baby.
He was almost going to follow Wilhelmina to Isabella Press. Marc almost did what he always does. He did not want to leave Wilhelmina after her recent near death experience. He was well aware of the second part of Monique's plan. Just as he was about to say no he saw Cliff walk in front of Monique's door talking to some stupid guy that was not worthy of him. (Was that the closet case of a model's replacement?)
Seeing him reminded Marc of the last time they talked almost a year ago at that award banquet. He promised him that he wouldn't let his fears keep him from something good again. So far, during the last almost 12 months, the results have been mixed.
He took Daniel's job offer to be his assistant when Wilhelmina left the company temporarily. He went right back to doing her bidding shortly after her return, even though she made him a junior editor. Nothing really changed with the new title; he was still picking up Wilhelmina's dry cleaning and buying her accessories for her latest evil scheme. He was acting as an enabler. He might as well pull the trigger himself that night, because his presence was allowing Wilhelmina to keep doing the same dangerous things.
His personal life wasn't much better. The whole thing with Troy had been a fiasco from the beginning. The thought of being in a real relationship scared him and now that he was trying for something real he wasn't sure if Troy was the right person.
Professionally, if he stayed with Wilhelmina nothing would change. He couldn't learn anything else from her. He couldn't stay. He had to take this job for himself. He couldn't break his promise this time. He couldn't let his fear control him. As Madonna's jump now played in the background, he took the metaphorical jump and accepted the position. He wondered if his ex would be happy.
Maybe last night's date with Troy was a disaster because he couldn't stop thinking about his ex. The more he thought about Cliff, the more miserable he became on his date last night with Troy. By 10:00 last night, he made some excuse to leave early when Troy invited him over for a 'nightcap'. He purposely went out with Troy on a Sunday so he would have a built in excuse to leave early. (He was turning down sex, were things really that bad?)
He should have stayed out an hour more because he walked in on Amanda and Matt having straight people sex on the couch. He is going to have to disinfect that before he sits on it again. He had nightmares about that, which is probably why he slept awful and woke up long before his alarm.
He was less than pleased when he saw Matt walk into his kitchen and go straight to the refrigerator as if he actually lived there. He also took Marc's other cup of coffee which was just wrong. He can now hear Amanda doing her now daily morning prayers to the porcelain gods in the bathroom. That explains why Matt grabbed a ginger ale out of the fridge. See, Marc would have been standing next to the door with Amanda's special baby tea and mouthwash. Instead of drinking coffee that wasn't even his. Matt was just being lazy.
"Why exactly did you sublet Betty's apartment, if you're over here all the time?"
In the past, Amanda's boyfriends, and he uses the term loosely, were usually out of the apartment before he would be up for the day. Matt was there all the time. However, Matt was not a boyfriend; Matt was the father of her child.
"I'm trying to be supportive of my girlfriend who's carrying my child." Matt said in irritation. His words made Marc angrier. Where the hell were you when Amanda was freaking out over being pregnant? Nowhere. You were too busy trying to save the world to realize you were breaking her heart.
"He's going to be here a lot Marc. Besides we have an opening for a third, now that Betty is in London." He heard Amanda yell from the bathroom as she started to brush her teeth.
"I guess since you are the one responsible for her no longer being a size two, you should get to partake in the misery of Mandy being pregnant. At least I haven't had to go on a tampon run since January. I should thank you for that." Actually, he missed their monthly excuse to eat chocolate and ice cream together.
"I'm sure the tampon runs are better than 1:00 AM trips to get Phish Food ice cream and crunchy jalapeno potato chips." Marc giggled a little when he saw Amanda smack Matt upside the head as she grabbed the ginger ale from his hand.
"Sorry, it must be the baby hormones."
"You do realize you won't be able to use that excuse anymore eventually." Marc pointed out to his friend.
"I'm going to enjoy every minute of it. How did your date with Troy go last night?" Amanda asked as she drank her ginger ale and started to make her way to the refrigerator. Thanks to Amanda's pregnancy they actually kept food in the apartment now. Now that Monique was in charge, Mode employees were encouraged to eat three balanced meals a day.
"Badly. You do remember I walked in on the two of you on the couch before 11. I never complained about you having 'fun' in the apartment before Amanda, but could you please do what you did last night in his apartment?" Or at the very least not on my couch. It's very hard to get cum stains off of the fabric and no he's not going to think about the fact he learned that when dating Cliff.
"Sorry. It's the baby hormones. The book says increase sex drive is perfectly normal at this stage." Marc rolls his eyes when she said that. He knew that she was going to blame everything possible on baby hormones for the remainder of her pregnancy. It would be adorable if it wasn't annoying.
"So how did dinner go with momzilla?" Amanda glared at him.
"At least she didn't try to eat her future grandchild," he was not shocked to hear Matt say this. Monique told him stories about her country club reputation and none of it was good. "She told me to give Amanda a check to go away. That is probably just as bad. We left before dessert, after I told her to go to hell."
"That was bad. Yet the experience was still better than when I came out to my mother." Which just pointed to how dysfunctional his family truly was.
"You're braver than me. I have not even worked up the courage for the "guess what mom I'm bi" conversation. I'm sure that conversation would go even worse." Marc managed to pick his jaw up from the floor before Amanda started asking for her craving of the day. Seriously, why did all his female friends get the cute guys? (Not that he would actually sleep with Matt because he was an asshole. Yes, he was still bitter about the guy dumping Amanda right when she found out she was pregnant because of Megan's little stunt.)
"Do we have any more of the honey wheat bagels? I think we are out of salmon cream cheese too. The baby doesn't like the regular stuff." At that comment, he made a mental note to order groceries during lunch.
"We will pick something up on the way there." Matt said as he gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"What do you mean "we"?" Marc asked with irritation in his voice. Marc was really looking forward to some Matt free time with his BFF even if it was just the walk to work. He needs to talk to somebody about Troy.
"I need to be there for the press conference and the Mode meeting." Matt said as he went over to his apartment to finish getting ready.
"But this was going to be our time together. We always walk to work together except during that time where you stopped working there." Marc said a few minutes later outside the apartment as they were waiting for Matt to join them.
"Technically I am just answering the phones as I function as one of Monique's wedding planners. I'll be back to stealing things from the closet for my own clients as soon as the wedding's over and Monique gets a new assistant." Marc doesn't believe her.
He'd rather her be Monique's assistant again. At least there's constant money in that. Honestly, Marc doesn't trust Matt not to just wake up one morning and disappear. Maybe Amanda should take the check because at least the money will still be there in six months, whereas he wasn't that sure about Matt.
"I don't think it counts as stealing anymore when your unborn child owns a portion of the parent company." Marc snaked instead. At least there is the trust fund being set up. Amanda will have that unless the baby turns out to be Daniel's. Then at least she'll have a competent partner and the baby will have a decent stepmom as well.
"You're probably right. Is Troy going to be your plus one?" Amanda asked from out of nowhere. "I'm working on the seating charts today and I need to know how far to keep you and Cliff away from each other."
Of course Cliff was invited. Actually, Marc would not be surprised if he's in the wedding party because he was friendly with Gio even when they were dating and he is best friends with Monique.
A part of Marc wasn't even sure he would still be with Troy by the time the wedding rolled around. However he didn't have a chance to phrase that because instead of waiting for his answer Amanda became too busy with making out with Matt the moment he walked out of his apartment. Watching them together made him feel more alone than before, if such a thing were possible.
He was slightly happier going into the editors meeting because Monique showed him the cell phone video of Daniel firing someone in London. The audio quality wasn't that good, however, the angry and shocked expression the victim was wearing still came through. He was positive that was the moment Daniel told the idiot in question that he was the owner of the company. Daniel Meade finely got a backbone. He knew Wilhelmina would love to see this. Marc was actually halfway to her office before he remembered that she wasn't at Mode anymore.
Some of the expressions on the editors' faces were just as priceless as Monique told them that she was now the 'bitch in charge'. Yes she used that phrase specifically and she actually caused someone to choke on a muffin. He knew that Monique had been looking forward to the editors meeting, when she tells everyone that she is their new boss, for weeks. She enjoyed the misery of certain people.
However, there was one EIC more caught off guard then all the others, Carl of Outdoor Life a.k.a. the muffin choker. Of course his shocked expression could have something to do with the fact that he assumed she was the coffee girl just five minutes earlier despite the fact that she has been an EIC for over two years. He was sure the guy was less than happy with the fact that Monique had to give him the Heimlich. She was a better person than Marc because he would just let him choke.
He was almost positive Damien lost consciousness for a few moments during the excitement. His shock did not last long, because within minutes he was making snide comments about Monique; either her buying her way to the top or fucking her way there. Damien shut up quite quickly when she reminded him that his contract was up in three months. Wilhelmina would be so proud of her little ducklings going off into the world and slaughtering their own minions.
The press conference went as expected. The only shocking news to the outside world was Monique taking over the company in the United States with Claire and Daniel becoming the Vice President of European operations and relocating to the London offices. His position at Mode UK was a closely guarded secret at the moment. No one saw this coming when Wilhelmina resigned a few days ago.
Monique left them with a promise of many new things to come in the next few months such as the DC shoot or the promise that would be around for another century. He knew the truly shocking material was saved for the Mode staff meeting at 11 AM. Although she did mention the company's new diversity forward approach for all Meade publications.
Suzuki was kissing Monique's ass after the conference trying to get the real story. One glare from her and he was running the other way. Mandy told him all about what happened Friday during the one on one interview. This was also when she told him that they could not have lunch together because she was meeting with Spencer later in the day. He was happy that she was reconnecting with her father but Marc was getting very frustrated with the fact that his best friend had so little time for him right now.
"Marc I need to talk to you for a few minutes before the main meeting." Monique said grabbing him away from Amanda as she literally drug him into her new office. She had already successfully taken out many of the Daniel elements. Although the blackout blinds were still firmly in place. He may no longer be an assistant but everyone has heard about Candy having the misfortune of walking in on her boss during a special 'briefing' with her boyfriend. Marc didn't want to deal with that.
"What for?" Marc asked as he followed behind. "You have all the presentations right? I gave them to Amanda on a memory stick before the press conference. She did not flush the stick down the toilet again did she?" That would be such an Amanda thing to do.
"No, that's not it. You know I'm going to be very busy the next few weeks doing the interviews for the creative director position and trying to finalize my wedding." Monique started.
"Please tell me you're not going to make me choose place settings. I had enough of that with Wilhelmina's wedding to Bradford." Marc shivered as he flashed back to that disaster. It almost made Marc grateful that very few places allowed him to get married, almost.
"I'm just glad prison weddings don't require as much fanfare or menu tastings." There is also the fact that Wilhelmina is no longer on speaking terms with anybody in her family. They did not even bother to call when Wilhelmina was in a coma. He knew Nico was still persona non grata but he was at least expecting something from the senator.
"That is what I am paying Amanda and the army of crazy wedding planners my mom forced me to higher for. I am paying you to do magazine stuff. Therefore, I need you to take point on the Brianna West-Hartley shoot this week and the DC shoot." As well as the interview Monique managed to score with a certain DC power player about her daughter's upcoming wedding that was literally fit for a princess. Marc was certain that will end up being the cover article for August.
"I will be stopping by the shoot Thursday to see how things are going, but it is mostly going to be your vision. The DC shoot will also be your vision. Really, I'm just going down for my bachelorette party that Alex will be throwing for me with Amanda's help. DC is the only place we can meet because of schedules." Marc only knew about her friend Alex because Monique needed his help to track down various shoes for the sneaker aficionado.
Yes, it's a big deal that she's putting him in charge of Thursday's shoot. It will be the center spread for the July issue. He was happy to be trusted with that much responsibility, until he remembered what would be involved with a West-Hartley photo shoot.
"I assume as usual, Brianna is going to be in the spread?" Marc was just a little worried about spending time with the designer. He hasn't seen her since he came within minutes of throwing up on her shoes last year at a certain awards banquet that he would like to forget. Never run into your ex-boyfriend after finding out you lost your dream job to Betty, that he tried to steal from her because your Yeti instructor (that coerced you into sleeping with her) stole her dream job. That just leads to near alcohol poisoning, public vomiting, and not remembering how you managed to get home.
"Of course. Is that going to be a problem?" Monique asked genuinely concerned. He was somewhat shocked his boss was concerned with his well-being.
"If I say yes, you're going to give the shoot to the bitch that despises Amanda." And he really did not want to help Megan get a head.
"Yes, but not because I'm playing head games with you. Megan is not a very good person, but she is the only one I trust besides you to get the shoot done right without pissing off the designer."
And unfortunately it wouldn't be that hard to piss off the designer, in this case. Brianna used to be a fixture at Mode until early 2006 when she and Faye Somers had a falling out of biblical proportions. It was only her personal relationship with Monique that resulted in temperamental designer coming back to Mode.
"Fine, I will do it." Marc agreed reluctantly. He was a grown-up professional. He can deal with spending time with his ex-boyfriend's former girlfriend. Especially because rumor had it that she managed to blackball Cliff's evil model ex-boyfriend. He respects her for that alone.
"That's good. I should probably let you know that one of Breanna's conditions to display her latest collection in the pages of Mode is we used her favorite photographer." Monique just happened to say this, smirking.
"Cliff is doing the shoot Thursday?" Fuck. He does not need to deal with this right now.
"As well as, the DC shoot." Curse her.
"You're not playing matchmaker again are you?" Because this just seemed like something she would've done to Betty and Daniel to get them out of their ridiculous denial.
"Of course not. Don't you trust me?" She seemed too happy when she said that.
"Not at all."
"Look, it is possible to be friends with an ex. My ex is actually throwing my bachelorette party."
"A Backstreet Boys bachelorette party. Were you his last heterosexual relationship?" Monique just rolled her eyes at him.
"You don't have to be best friends with Cliff but I need you to be a big boy managing creative editor. I am not missing out on one of the best photographers in the business because you are just starting to realize what you lost when you fucked him over." Monique said sharply. "Do we understand each other?
"Perfectly," Marc said just before following her outside for the mode staff meeting.
This Mode staff meeting will probably be remembered for years. One of the more memorable moments included Nikolai making nasty comments about how Monique got this job. Apparently it's a popular consensus that no matter how talented you are, you can only become EIC of mode by fucking your way to the top. That was such a ridiculous assumption. Everyone knows that Faye did not start sleeping with Bradford, until after she became EIC. Monique's response was to just stare him down with a look that would have made Wilhelmina shiver just a little.
Marc was sure he was just mad that he lost a small fortune in the "When will Betty and Daniel get together" pool. Was it Marc's fault that he used insider information to make a bet along with the other members of the Detty conspiracy group? They were the ones to finally get the two clueless people together they deserve the money. Besides Nikolai was an idiot for not seeing what was going on between Betty and Daniel from the beginning.
Nikolai was also shooting daggers at him when it was announced that he would be taking over the managing editor job that Nikolai wanted since the position was vacated almost a year ago. Megan received the same angry response when it was announced that she was returning from her Player exile to be managing editor for features.
The former leader of the Mode rumor mill was not as well liked as she thought she was. Most people were happy when Daniel transferred her to Player. People were laughing at Betty's going away party when she practically fainted when Matt and Mandy started making out on the dance floor. However, even if Monique didn't like someone personally she still respected a person's talent. This was one of the things that set her apart from Wilhelmina.
There was cheering when Monique announced their new paid internship program. Monique personally was going to work with several high school and college interns, who would most likely fill in as her assistant unless Marc successfully convinced Mandy to stay on.
These students would be entitled to a very sizable scholarship for their hard work. The high school students would receive free scholarships to one of the most prestigious private schools in the city. Nepotism was encouraged and first choice would be given to friends and family of Mode employees. He already knew that Daniel persuaded Monique to choose Justin as one of her interns this summer and for the next school year. Justin was already helping Marc with his schedule until he found an assistant.
"Now that the more administrative parts of this meeting are out of the way, let's get to the important stuff. I have been in charge for exactly one week and so far things have gone exactly the way they have for the last four years. We have been putting finishing touches on the 100th anniversary issue and I felt it was best to not rock the boat. However, things are going to change around here and I'm not just talking about the fact that you're now allowed to actually eat during your lunch break." That got a chuckle from most of the table.
"Now that the last issue of the old regime is on its way to the printers, it is time for a new vision." Monique paused as Amanda started the computer presentation. On the screens behind her flashed the traditional image of the Mode girl.
"For the last 100 years we have been selling people the ideal Mode girl. For as long as I or anyone else can remember she has been this half way anorexic girl who only cares about wearing the latest styles and going to the best parties. Also, the majority of the time she was about as light as a piece of paper. Is that image really in line with contemporary values? Do your readers actually look like that? The concept of the Mode girl was not always like this. The Mode girl, just like the fashion industry itself, has changed over time." Behind Monique, images of the ideal Mode girl through the last 100 years were displayed on the screen.
"Now that the magazine world is on the cusp of a revolution, it's time for the Mode girl to change. It's time for her to come in line with modern ideas of femininity." Behind her the images of the mock covers that he and Monique have been working on appeared on the screen.
These images would have been displayed, if Amanda didn't run out of the room to go throw up again. Matt, who was sitting in on the meeting at Monique's request, followed behind her. Megan was giving her the death glare as she ran out of the conference room. Marc is halfway convinced that Monique decided to bring Megan back to Mode because being around a pregnant Amanda would be punishment enough.
"Megan unless you want to go check up on her, can you please take over the presentation? I'm sure the baby's daddy can handle everything." More snickering from colleagues that hated Megan followed.
"First of all the Mode girl of 2010 is not a girl anymore. She is a woman. She is a woman that comes in all different sizes and skin tones. She is a woman who did not necessarily grow up with western values but she still wants to be beautiful on her terms. She may even be transgendered just like our former EIC Alexis Meade. She does not want to be just the best dressed at a party or at a club. She just wants to be the best. Her outward appearance is just a reflection of her inner beauty. She cares as much about the Black Power suit as the little black dress. This doesn't just mean healthy models, this means diverse models of all types. We are going to reinvent the fashion magazine. We are going to redefine what is beautiful. We are Mode magazine. We don't follow trends, we make them."
He was expecting shocked faces instead he heard loud applause. He also saw Nikolai get up so quickly that he almost broke a chair. Marc should be worried about that. Instead, he was mentally preparing himself for Cliff day and how to avoid lunch with Trevor.
To be continued
That last name is purposely wrong because Marc is an idiot.