Shopping Tags

"Greetings, Elena." The redhead greeted with a gleaming smile as she entered the London centered shop. The auburn haired girl at the register popped her head up from the fashion magazine in her hands to give a nod of greeting. Ingrid, the tall redhead with the gleaming smile, continued her stroll to the back of the shop. Once she reached the employee lounge, she tossed aside her purse and made a beeline for the coffee pot.

"Can't you stay away from that stuff for like, an hour?" A voice teased from the entry way. Turning around with a cup of sweetened coffee in hand, Ingrid smiled at her boss, Abbey.

"Good morning to you too, Abbey." She laughed, taking a seat at the long meeting table, "Any new jobs for today?"

The blonde took a seat across from the redhead and nodded, "Yes, you have a meeting with a very important woman at ten, forty-five. She's looking for a new dress for a charity event or something. I assume she'll have more details for you once she arrives."

Ingrid hummed in thought, sipping her coffee. There were so many ideas fluttering in her mind. She set aside her coffee and fished out her iPhone, opening up her calender.

"Alright, that doesn't sound too severe. I can finish that by three at the latest and if you don't have any other appointments for me, could I ask for the rest of the day off? Florence has an appointment with the vet scheduled and I'd hate to have to reschedule it." She rambled, locking her phone and setting it aside.

Abbey made a soft sound as she considered it. "I suppose I can let you go home at three. If you finish before three, you can stick around and help Elena run the shop front." She smiled, folding her hands in her lap.

"I guess that sounds fair..." Ingrid trailed off, chewing the inside of her lip as she thought some more on it. Elena could be a pain with her constant carelessness and lack of general fashion knowledge. At least Ingrid had studied some fashion and marketing during her short years in university but the auburn haired girl had no desire to try to learn. Abbey and herself were among the best in the London fashion culture, even doing some work in Paris and Milan from time to time but she took her job for granted.

"She's not so bad, you know." Abbey spoke, seeing the inner conflict written over Ingrid's freckled face.

"Still bad." She countered, getting up from her seat and shouldering her purse.

"Get over it!" Abbey called as Ingrid left the room, headed for her personal office.

Once inside, she shut the door and set her purse aside. Her peace and solitude was best found here. No dog to distract her, no clients to pester her, and the sweetened coffee to keep her company. She opened her purse and retrieved her collection of current fashion forward magazines, as well as a pad of blue sticky notes from her desk drawer.

Ingrid kicked off her nude pumps and slipped her feet into her ‘office shoes’, a pair of slippers that stayed strictly inside her office. She sipped her coffee as she studied the images in the latest edition of Vogue and similar magazines, making notes on the blue pad and slapping her notes to each page. She folded the pages dog ear style before she closed her second magazine to take up her third one.

“Ingrid,” Elena knocked on her door, “You client is here.”

The redhead sighed and tossed her magazine aside before slipping back into her nude pumps, “Thank you, Elena!”

She plucked up her iPad and stylus, ready for the meeting. She checked her appearance once more, fixing her mint blouse and reapplying her lipstick. Once she was prepared, Ingrid left her office, brushing past Elena as she stood in the corridor.
“What are you doing? You need to be in the shop front when no one else is.” She scolded the auburn haired girl, shaking her head in disapproval.

“Well someone had to come get you.” Elena countered, brow quirked in what Ingrid summed up to be a snotty manner.

“I don’t have time for you right now.” Ingrid groaned, “But I will be having a discussion with you later.” She warned.

Turning into the shop front, the redhead reattached her smile as she found her new client standing in the middle of the room with her hands clasped behind her back. The woman had a unique frame, wide in the hips, long in the arms, and a bit thick in the legs. It was apparent that she had spent part of her youth playing some taxing sport. Ingrid placed her in her mid-fifties and admired her stance of power.

“Ah! Bonjour, madam!” Ingrid greeted, holding her hands out in a welcoming gesture.

“Oh, vous parlez français?” Her client smiled, revealing crows feet in the corners of her stunning brown eyes.

“Non, I’m sorry. I fear I only know how to welcome.” She smiled sheepishly, “I’m Ingrid Chaput, your new personal shopper and stylist.”

“I am Margaret Jones.” The aging woman held out her hand.

The redhead didn’t hesitate a second, shaking the extended hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am. Would you like to take a seat?”

Ingrid gestured to the Victorian couch and accompanying chair huddled around a delicate coffee table. She took her typical place in the chair, crossing her ankles and folding her feet back. She unlocked her tablet and logged into her client account, waiting for it to load.

She raised her hand and waved to the girl behind the counter, “Elena, would you be a dear and fetch us two cappuccinos.”

The auburn haired girl didn’t put up much of a fight and disappeared to the employee lounge to fetch their drinks. Ingrid opened a new document to take notes on and held her stylus at the ready.

“So, this event you’re attending, would you mind telling me more about it?” She smiled, sitting up straight.

Margaret fished through her purse and pulled out a delicate envelope, passing it to the redhead, “It’s a charity event, black tie of course. I hope the invitation will give you some inspiration.”

Ingrid opened the invitation up and looked it over critically. It would be inside, meaning sleeves were optional and it would be in a rather regal hotel, meaning the dress shouldn’t be too modern. It wasn’t appropriate to mix modern fashion with a classical venue.

“Oh, I didn’t realize the Salmon-crested Cockatoo was so endangered.” She hummed in thought, scribbing down some notes before handing it back to Margaret.

“It’s not all the endangered but my sister simply loves them. It’s just an excuse for her to hold another charity event, the woman wants to die a saint.” Margaret explained, rolling her eyes at the absurd focal point.

“Well that’s certainly interesting.” Ingrid muttered, filling out more of the tablet screen with notes.

She was so entranced with her note taking that she hardly noticed Elena deliver their drinks. When she looked up and caught sight of her client sipping her coffee, Ingrid felt a strong desire to drink her own seeing as she hadn’t finished her morning coffee.

“Alright, Margaret. I’m think something long and flowing in the skirt, with a bit of something just below your breasts to give you more height and an almost goddess like appearance.” The redhead read off her notes, keeping in mind all the new trends listed for the winter season.

Over the rest of the meeting, they discussed fabrics, colors, and a number of other things before Ingrid felt she had a comfortable lead. She locked her tablet and set it aside, walking her new client to the door.

“I’ll see you Friday with at least seven dresses that I feel would fit you best and the event as well.” She pulled out her phone and opened the calendar app, “I say we meet at around eleven here and we’ll even stop for lunch along the way. Does that sound alright with you?”

A wide smile crossed over Margaret’s lips and she nodded, “It sounds like a plan. I will see you then, Ingrid dear.”

Ingrid stood on the doorstep and waved goodbye to her client, watching as she strolled down the block and got into a fancy sports car parked along the curb. Stepping back inside, she heaved a sigh of relief.

“Tell Abbey that I’m taking the company car.” She waved to Elena, strolling to the back of the shop and grabbing the keys off the hook in Abbey’s office.

“Where are you going?” Elena asked, following behind the redhead as she entered her own office.

“Shopping, duh.” Ingrid rolled her eyes, slipping on her ‘shopping shoes’, a pair of the most comfortable black heels money could buy.

“When will you be back?” The auburn girl continued to pester, leaning against the door frame now.

“I’ll be back by two forty-five, which is when I will babysit you for fifteen minutes before I take that wretched dog to the vet and groomers.” She explained, getting up from her chair.

Ingrid shouldered her purse, plucked up her coffee cup, and turned off her office lights. Elena rolled her eyes at Ingrid’s tantrum and made her way back to the shop front where she belonged. The redhead shook her head with distaste and locked her office door, fear of a snooping Elena very realistic. She slipped into her heavy coat and wrapped her scarf around her neck before she left out the shop’s back door.

The parking lot was small, meant for only a handful of cars and a delivery truck. Ingrid located the small car parked against the building and unlocked the doors so she could toss her purse on the passenger seat before she rounded the car and got into the front seat. She started the Mini Cooper with no trouble and plugged her phone into the jack, playing whatever Iron and Wine song she had been listening to previously in the morning.

She drummed her fingers along the steering wheel, driving along the main streets in search of the shops already coming into mind. A few boutiques would offer the unique dress Margaret wanted. She had made it clear she didn’t want to have the same dress as another woman, or one that looked too similar. It was her reasoning for firing her last personal shopper and Ingrid wasn’t about to have her first unpleased customer.

The perks of being a personal shopper and stylist were far and wide. Shops all around offered her special discounts and exclusive sneak peaks into the newest collections and trends. That was how she did it, that was how she became regarded as one of the best personal shoppers in London and potentially all over the United Kingdom.

Like she had said, Ingrid was back in the shop by two forty-five to ‘babysit’. She unloaded the new dresses in her office, locking them away in her special wardrobe and placing the keys back on Abbey’s desk.

“Alright Elena, listen up.” She began, taking a seat on the coffee table and holding a rather displeased look on her face.

The auburn haired girl looked up from a tabloid and tried to look interested in what was being said to her. Seeing the distraction, Ingrid snatched it up and ignored the protest from Elena.

“Do you have any clue of how lucky you are to work with Abbey and myself? Abbey is one of the best designers around and I’m regarded as one of the best personal shoppers around. You could learn so much from the both of us but all you do is sit here, pop your bubble gum, and read this trash.” Ingrid tossed aside the bit of paper, “If you’re going to read on the job, read Vogue. If you’re going to slack off, do it at home. We have no room here for wasted space. Do you understand?”

Elena listened with a brave heart, trying not to speak out against her boss. She wasn’t the best employee and if it hadn’t been for Abbey being her aunt, she would have been out the door weeks ago.

“Now, I’m leaving and wont be back for the rest of the day. You’re in charge until Abbey gets back at four, do you think you can manage it?” The redhead quirked a brow, only earning a nod, “Good. I will see you on Tuesday.”