Chapter 108 She Wouldn't Make the Same Mistake Twice
"Hey, Miss Astor," Jessica said, eyeing Tristan. She knew the closer she got to Bella, the more likely Tristan would notice her.
With that in mind, she flashed a big grin. "I've already taken tomorrow off. Where should we meet up?"
Bella glanced at Tristan and quickly replied, "We'll figure it out later. Why are you even at work today?"
"I figured since we're hitting up Grand Era Mall tomorrow, I'd come in today to knock out some urgent stuff. Hanging with you is cool and all, but I can't slack off at work." Jessica shot another smile at Tristan, showing she could juggle work and hanging with Bella.
Hearing Grand Era Mall made Tristan's brow twitch. He casually pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
"Alright, get going," Bella waved Jessica off impatiently and then dragged Tristan away.
Her heart was pounding until they got to the Forbes Mansion. Only after seeing Tristan didn't care about her going to Grand Era Mall did she chill out.
She then focused on keeping Adelaide happy.
Monday morning, the store manager's meeting dragged on till almost noon.
Before heading to the meeting, Laura felt uneasy. "I got a bad feeling. Katniss, you should stay in the warehouse and go over the employee handbook."
"Got it," Katniss didn't argue and took the handbook to the warehouse.
She'd only been there a few minutes when Brenda showed up. "Katniss, Cynthia and I need to hand out the new dresses to customers in the lounge. It'll just take a few minutes. Can you watch the store?"
It was just a few minutes, so Katniss put down the handbook and stepped out, only to see Bella and Jessica at the entrance.
'So that's what it was,' she thought.
"Katniss?" Jessica was surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Bella pulled Jessica into the store. "Katniss works here now. Let's support her business."
Word about Katniss's transfer had spread, and Jessica knew about it.
People had asked her where Katniss went, and no one believed her when she said she didn't know. They thought she was hiding it.
But she really didn't know. After the Rupert incident, she didn't dare look for Katniss.
"I don't usually wear a formal dress," Jessica muttered. She couldn't afford it anyway!
Bella waved her hand like it was no big deal. "No worries, pick any dress you like. It's on me."
Jessica was so pumped she almost laughed out loud but quickly put on a polite face.
Then Bella practically dragged her into the lounge, and Katniss took a deep breath and followed.
Brenda and Cynthia immediately stashed their phones, greeted Bella, and then bailed.
"First, get us two cups of coffee," Bella ordered, sitting down and placing her bag beside her like she owned the place.
"Sure thing." Katniss went to get the coffee and brought back some snacks too.
Jessica was blown away. A clothing store that served coffee and snacks? What kind of fancy place was this?
She kept quiet, scared she'd say something dumb and get laughed at, nervously rubbing her hands on her clothes.
"Pick a dress that suits Jessica," Bella continued bossing Katniss around.
Katniss turned and picked out a dress that matched Jessica's look. "Try this one."
"Okay!" Jessica grabbed the dress with both hands. The fabric felt like liquid silk!
She bit her lip, barely containing her excitement, and followed Katniss to the fitting room.
While trying on the dress, Jessica whispered to Katniss.
"Katniss, don't be mad. Miss Astor asked me to go shopping with her. I couldn't say no. Now that you're gone, no one's got my back at the company. I have to listen to her, right? Don't worry, Miss Astor is buying me a dress today, and I'll help boost your sales. It's a win-win."
Boost her sales? Katniss chuckled to herself, wondering if Jessica was really that naive or just plain clueless.
She didn't bother responding.
When Jessica stepped out of the fitting room in the dress and looked in the mirror, her eyes lit up.
She had never seen herself look so stunning!
The black spaghetti strap dress was super slimming, making her look way more elegant.
"Miss Astor, this one looks amazing. I'll take it!" she said without a second thought.
Bella glanced at her coffee cup and asked Katniss, "How much is this dress?"
"Eighty-eight thousand dollars, discounted to seventy thousand," Katniss replied.
Jessica's jaw dropped. Seventy to eighty grand for a single dress? That was insane!
It was way too fancy, and she couldn't wear it to work.
"Too cheap, pick another one," Bella pointed to a red dress on a mannequin. "Try that one."
'Cheap? Wow, must be nice to be loaded,' Jessica thought. She felt like she had just stepped into a whole new world.
Katniss grabbed the red dress, and Jessica liked it even more. But Bella thought the color was too bright and casually pointed to another dress.
Green, blue, white—Jessica tried on dresses in every color before realizing something was off.
She was still wearing the last pink dress she tried on, which didn't suit her darker skin tone.
"Miss Astor, I think the first one was fine, and it was cheaper. Wearing something this expensive would be a waste. Let's stop trying on dresses," Jessica said. She looked at the pile of dresses on the sofa and then cautiously glanced at Katniss.
It was clear Bella was making things difficult for Katniss.
"What are you worried about?" Bella stood up, walked over to Katniss, and deliberately said, "Worried your sister will have a hard time cleaning up? She's just a server now, and you're her customer. It's her job to fetch dresses for you, serve you tea, and even give you a shoulder massage if needed."
Katniss stood there with a calm expression, her eyes slightly raised as she looked at Jessica.
She said nothing and did nothing, but it was enough to make Jessica uneasy.
"Today, try on every dress here and pick the one you like the most," Bella ordered again, then asked Katniss, "Do you have any objections?"
"Of course not," Katniss replied with a professional smile.
Seeing Katniss being suppressed, Jessica felt a mix of satisfaction and inexplicable fear.
She tentatively pointed to a dress and said, "I want to try that one."
"Okay." Katniss turned to get it.
After bringing the dress over, Jessica didn't take it but said, "I don't think this one looks as good off the rack. Can I try another one?"
Bella covered her mouth and laughed. "Of course, feel free to change."
Katniss said nothing, waiting for her to choose the next dress.
"I want to try that one," Jessica pointed to a dress covered in rhinestones in the display window.
Katniss looked over and smirked, "That dress is the most expensive one in the store."
"I want to try the most expensive one. Why can't I?" Jessica said, her tone becoming more aligned with Bella's, making things difficult.
After a few seconds of silence, Katniss squinted and smiled, "You can try it, but I must remind you, as a customer who doesn't come often, that if the dress gets damaged, loses a rhinestone, or gets dirty during the fitting, you'll have to pay the full price or compensate for the damage."
Even losing a rhinestone would be too much for Jessica to afford.
Jessica glanced at Bella, who was sipping her coffee, acting like she hadn't heard a thing.
Clearly, Bella wasn't going to help her pay!
"Then I'll try that one," Jessica pointed to a light gray dress.
Katniss helped her take it down to try on.
After several more rounds of this, Katniss stayed silent, letting her choose and change dresses.
Jessica felt more and more uneasy. While Katniss went to get some juice, she sat down next to Bella, asking, "Miss Astor, isn't this enough?"
Half of the dresses had already been tried on.
"Enough?" Bella looked at her with displeasure. "When she was sleeping with my man, did you say enough? Feeling soft-hearted? She and I are destined to be enemies. If you feel soft-hearted, I'll find someone else."
Finding someone else would mean Jessica falling out with Bella.
Jessica immediately said, "Of course not! I'm just worried you'll get tired sitting here for so long."
"Tired? No, just bored. I want to see something interesting," Bella hinted.
Any adult would understand her meaning, and Jessica was no exception. She bit her lip, lost in thought.
Katniss came out with two glasses of juice and placed them on the table.
Jessica immediately said, "I want milk tea, and these snacks aren't good. Do you have anything else?"
"Yes." Katniss went to get milk tea and snacks without a word.
Seeing Bella, she had already anticipated that the morning would be terrible. Since she couldn't argue or make a scene, she decided to face it calmly. After all, she wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
The entire morning passed, and by almost eleven, the lounge was in a worse state than before.
Bella, now in a good mood and hungry, was ready to leave. Jessica didn't dare mention that the dress Bella promised to buy hadn't been purchased yet.
Following Bella out of the lounge, Katniss came along.
Laura, returning from the meeting, saw this and frowned.
Bella whispered something to Jessica, who then shouted, "What's wrong with your store? I want to file a complaint!"
Cynthia, who had been waiting, immediately brought out the complaint book, but Laura stopped her.
"Miss Astor, and this lady, what would you like to complain about?" Laura asked.
Jessica arrogantly said, "I want to complain about your server's poor service. We felt uncomfortable, and she didn't say anything nice to make us happy."
"Our servers are here to serve and assist, not to entertain you," Laura smiled slightly and asked, "How exactly was her service inadequate?"
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