Heels

Message 1 – Monday, 10:15

”Hey, Jackie, it’s Garret. I haven’t heard from you for a while and I’m starting to worry! Call me. Love you.”

Message 2 – Wednesday, 16:43

”Jackie, Garret calling again! I know you’re busy with your new job and everything, but I’m eager to hear what it’s like! Give us a call, love you.”

Message 3 – Saturday, 00:17

“Hey, Jacks…Miss you…een you for days…ith the guys, having some beer…sorry, really drunk-”

Message 4 – Sunday, 15:57

”Hi, it’s me, Garret. Garret, as in your boyfriend for two years. We met in college? Tall, lanky? I don’t know if you remember me, but if this does ring a bell, call me, yeah?”

Message 5 – Sunday, 16:01

”Jackie, sorry about that last one. And the one before, I vaguely remember leaving one on Saturday. I don’t know if you’ve heard any of these, but I really miss you. What’s going on? Are we still together? Give me a call. I’ll stop leaving messages now. I… I love you.”

Jackie Jean sighed heavily as she put down her phone after hearing the messages her boyfriend had left, and ran an exasperated hand through her hair. Across from her, Sally gave her a curious look.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, “You look like someone died.”

During the week following Jackie’s little breakdown in the Secretary’s station, Sally and Jackie had become quite close, and now spent their lunch together every day, which was a huge lift for Jackie in her depressing and busy days as PA to the devil. Having lunch in the cafeteria was almost as awful as being in the Wardrobe. When Jackie went in there, she felt like she was back in high school – except she had no friends. It was the same thing, no one would let you sit with them if you weren't cool, and Jackie was clearly not cool.

Spending lunch with Sally and her growing belly was much more pleasant.

“My boyfriend… I’ve almost forgotten I had one,” Jackie said, giving her friend a sad look, “I’ve been using the phone Mr. Welhaven gave me, and now when I charged this one, he had left 5 messages.”

“5 messages?” Sally’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, he’s pretty upset. I haven’t spoken to him in more than a week, let alone seen him. I think I have to have lunch with him tomorrow, I feel really bad.” Jackie Jean felt a soar go through her stomach at the thought of seeing him again. He hadn’t seen her since the makeover, and she had no idea how he would react. “Wow, I just got nervous,” she said with a little uncomfortable laugh.

Sally looked at her as she popped a piece of banana in her mouth, “Why? Don’t you want to see him?”

“I look so different, I don’t know if he’ll like it.”

“You look great, Jackie, I’m sure he’ll love it. He’d be crazy not to.” Sally smiled and patted her hand, before bringing it back and rubbing her belly. “Ah, we’re full.” Sally’s baby was coming in two months, and she was going out on baby leave in a couple of weeks. Jackie wondered if her replacement would let her eat in the Secretary’s station.

“Let’s hope so,” Jackie concluded, not wanting to discuss the matter further as she had a bad feeling about the whole thing, “How’s the little one?”

“Oh, she’s fine. Dean and I are thinking about names, do you have any suggestions?” The pregnant woman leaned back in her seat, looking very content. Glowing, really. Jackie felt the same happy expectation in her gut she always got when she saw happy, pregnant women.

“Well,” Jackie said, pushing her plate away and leaning back into her chair as well, “I always liked Agnes.”

Sally’s eyebrows rose, “Agnes?”

“Yeah, my mother was called Agnes. It’s a lovely name once you get used to it. Perhaps not as a first name, but it could work as a middle name.”

Sally looked thoughtful, “Well, I actually really like it, we’ve been trying to find something a bit unusual but still normal, you know?" She looked exited talking about it, "Not Lisa, but not Peach either..." she pondered her own words for a second. "I really like Agnes, but it sounds as though you should keep it for yourself. It would mean more to you than me. I do hope you’re planning on having kids?”

Jackie took a sip of her coffee, “I am. Only a matter of getting Garret in on it, he’s not really a kid-person, he says. It’s bullshit of course, he’s wonderful with children.” Jackie smiled, thinking about it, making a mental note to call him after lunch.

“He sounds lovely,” Sally said, “like a keeper.” Her eyes focused on something over Jackie’s shoulder, and Jackie turned around, catching a glimpse of John Lubianco making his way up the stairs to Casper’s office.

She furrowed her brows. “Who is that?”

“John?”

“Yeah. Or no, I mean, how is he affiliated with Welhaven Inc?”

“He’s Casper’s brother,” Sally smiled.

“What?” Jackie looked genuinely surprised.

“You didn't know? His younger brother. He isn’t around much though; he takes care of the company’s business overseas. Sad, really, very pleasant man. Always pops by for a little chat.” Sally smiled and got up, picking up the plates on the table between them, putting them on a tray.

“They don’t look similar at all,” Jackie said frowning, trying to remember John’s face. All she could envision were his dark, friendly eyes, and those didn’t remind her of Casper Welhaven at all, he was anything but friendly. “And their names are different. He’s called Lubianco, isn’t he?”

“Well, that’s not so strange,” she let out a little laugh and shook her head, leaning against the chair she had sat in, “To think, one day made the difference between having John as our boss and having Casper as our boss. Can you imagine?”

Jackie shook her head confusedly. “I’m sorry, I’m not really following this conversation.”

Sally snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her, “Oh, sorry,” she picked up the tray, “I’ll tell you all about it next lunch, I have to get back to work. You should too, Casper probably want you up there soon. Lunch ended five minutes ago.”

Jackies eyes snapped to the watch around her wrist. “Shit!” she exclaimed, earning a look from Sally. “I’m sorry,” she said, grabbing her things from her seat, “he just hates it when I’m late. I got to go,” she made speed towards the door, “See you later!” she threw over her shoulder as she almost ran away.

A lot had changed over the last week in the building. Firstly, she had gotten a friend, something she never even in her wildest dreams dared to hope for when she first entered these doors, and got to experience just how mean women could be. Sally was the light in her day.

Secondly, she had learned to walk in five-inch heels. Well, almost. There was still some minor glitches where she would nearly fall over, or almost break her ankle on her way down the stairs, or cry because her feet hurt so much when she came home, but both the unsteadiness and the pain was slowly subsiding, and she barely thought of it any longer. She was even beginning to appreciate them.

Thirdly, she was starting to get used to the complex monster Casper Welhaven was. She had yet to endure many of the things the Pretty Blonde had warned her about, like touching or drinking or fucking, but she had learned never to expect anything. You never knew what you got, going into his office. Sometimes he would smile and call her darling; sometimes he would sneer and call her pathetic, and sometimes he would just plainly ignore her. It was all a part of her job.

She took her obligatory deep breath before rapping her knuckles across the door. “Enter.”

She opened the door and entered. The office was as it always was, but Casper was in a bad mood, she could tell from the dark look in his eyes as he stared at his screen and the deep lines in his forehead. “Hey,” she said brightly, and closed the door quietly behind her.

“You’re late,” he said grumpily, shooting her a nasty glare, “I don’t pay you to eat. God knows you do enough of it on your spare time.”

'What spare time?' Jackie mentally asked, but that was probably not a good idea to say out loud. She let the insult pass, like she had learned to do with most of the poison spilling from his lips. Her skin was hardening, she could feel it with every decrease in sting as he spoke, and yesterday she hadn’t cried at all during the day. Casper had been in a glorious mood all day. Jackie looked around the room to see if John was there. Nothing. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly, directing her eyes at him, “Sally and I were talking about baby names, and lost track of time.” Jackie had picked up Casper’s excitement when it came to Sally’s baby, and had shamelessly begun to use it to her advantage.

She could see the pressure around his brows lightening. “Oh?” He looked at her, “What were you thinking?”

Jackie almost couldn’t conceal her pleased smile. “Well, I suggested Agnes.”

“Agnes?”

“My mother’s name.”

“Ah,” he said and leaned back into his chair, folding his hands, something he did a lot, “She’s dead right?”

Jackie tried to listen for sympathy, but couldn’t detect anything in his business-like tone. “Yes, she is.”

“Well, it’s a pretty name,” he said, chewing it over, “My mother was called Isadora, which is really a horrendous name," his lip twisted slightly, "Everyone just called her Dora, including me. She was as much as a diva as the name suggests.” He was quiet for a long time. “She’s dead too.” He looked at her, and Jackie felt her brows twisting in sympathy.

"I'm sorry." Even if he was incapable of compassion, she wasn't.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t love her.” He said in the same tone from before, and straightened up, directing his attention on the screen again. Jackie stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Part of her wanted to inquire further, but the other part of her knew that that would be like poking the sleeping bear. “You should go do some work," he said, breaking the heavy silence, "I noticed you weren’t even halfway through the papers I told you to file.” He had closed off again.

“Yes, Mr. Welhaven,” Jackie said, trying to shake off the feeling in the room as she crossed the floor to get to her office. It seemed mothers were a difficult subject for the both of them.

“Wait a second. Come here.” Jackie felt her shoulders tensing from his harsh tone, and mentally started preparing herself from whatever awfulness was coming next, but did as she was told. She came over and stood by his desk. His eyes narrowed at her skirt, and he reached out to turn her around. Jackie closed her eyes, feeling pressure building up in her chest of how uncomfortable this position made her. “What underwear are you wearing?” he asked.

“Underwear,” she mumbled.

Suddenly he grabbed the hem of her skirt and pulled it up her thighs, exposing her ass. Jackie screamed and jumped forward, flailing wildly with her arms to swat his hands away. “What are you doing?”

“What is that? That must be the ugliest piece of garment I’ve ever seen!”

“It’s common underwear!” Jackie yelled angrily, avoiding his eyes and feeling color rising in her cheeks.

“Do you share clothes with your grandmother? I was just joking at first, but now I'm not so sure,” He messed up his face.

“No,” Jackie hissed, putting her hands protectively over her backside, “These are sensible panties.”

“Well, they are showing through your skirt. Get underwear that normal girls wear, or get a nicer ass, the hems are making valleys through your fat. My PA is not wearing that.” He looked at her with serious eyes, “Do you make your boyfriend fuck you in that?”

For the thousandth time since meeting Casper Welhaven, Jackie found herself speechless.

He shook his head. “As if fucking you wasn’t bad enough…” He looked away in disgust and Jackie felt tears prickling in her eyes from shame and humiliation. “Go work!”

“Yes, Mr. Welhaven,” she whispered, quickly escaping to her office, sitting down by her computer and burying her head in her hands. These were the times when she wasn’t sure if she could do it. If anyone with a soul could do it. She picked up her phone and dialed Garret’s number.

He didn’t pick up. Jackie sighed deeply, cursing karma.

"Hey, it's Garret, leave a message after the beep."

“Hey, it’s me, I’m so sorry I’ve fallen off the grid. It’s been crazy around here and I need you. I’ll call you later tonight. I'm so sorry. Love you.”