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xp_logsHope tries to help Topaz with an appropriate working wardrobe. Topaz proves to be a challenge.
"When you said questionnaire, I didn't think you meant an actual paper questionnaire," Topaz muttered, thumbing through the rather thick pile of stapled together papers. She had known what she was getting into when she'd asked Hope to go out to lunch and help her do some clothes shopping. Or she thought she had, anyway. She took a sip of tea.
Hope took a dainty sip from her own cup. "It is better than it looks. See, it has pictures you need to pick, as well as various checks." She flipped through a couple of the pages, showing why it was so thick. "Besides, you said this was for a whole work wardrobe, so I figured we better be thorough. But if you want, we can just go through it verbally and it'll give me an idea what you're looking for."
"Writing is easier," Topaz admitted. Writing gave her time to think and not feel on the spot. If she took ten minutes to answer a question, then it wasn't as weird. "Did you make this just for shopping today or do you have these things lying around?"
"It's from the image coaching course I took last January. After the craziness of my internship I wanted to do something fun." A small grin played around Hope's lips as she explained: "I added a few things of my own and left out a few things I already had a pretty good sense of. But since you might be working on those papers for a little bit, how about a few scones with clotted cream and jam? Or even better... lemon curd?"
"Must we choose?" Topaz asked, flipping to the next page. "I don't know about you, but I haven't eaten all day."
"Not a bad idea... I just had some yogurt for breakfast." Hope signaled one of the waitstaff and placed the order before looking back at Topaz. "You look like you are solving a calculus question instead of considering clothes..." She commented after the look had not abated after a minute or two.
"You know I'm rubbish at this." She tapped her pen against the table, huffing. "Nothing looks good on me." The words weren't self-deprecating in any way - just a simple statement of fact.
"And you know I have always disagreed with that. You simply haven't quite found the look that works for you yet." It was like a ritual to them, this exchange. "Let's see if we can change that today. I only have one condition: we are going to a tailor afterwards." She was interrupted by the waitstaff arriving with scones and the assorted condiments.
Topaz raised an eyebrow, waiting for the staff to finish and grabbing a scone before saying, "A tailor? Why?"
Cutting open her own scone, Hope applied a general amount of clotted cream and lemon curd before replying: "Because virtually all clothes are made for a body that very rarely exists. A good tailor is one of the biggest secrets in looking good, because they can actually get clothes to fit like they are supposed to."
"Great." It wasn't quite sarcasm, but there was certainly no enthusiasm either. "You know I appreciate this, right?" She had to make sure given how unenthusiastic she was.
Hope grinned and shook her head. "I am well aware... How long have we known each other by now? Almost ten years?" She nibbled on the scone for a moment before adding. "Come on... back to work..."
* * * * *
Topaz was taking the credit card Marie-Ange had handed her and buying something ridiculous with it after the clothes. Or at least something unnecessary but useful. Books? No, she probably had enough of those for now. Something ridiculous for the office, maybe. She'd figure it out later.
"All right," she said with a sigh, stepping out of the changing room with the latest outfit Hope had picked out. It wasn't bad, honestly - a dark pink shirt with a long black sweater and dark pants. It still felt too much like she was pretending. "What do you think?"
Hope reached out to twitch the long cardigan in place and studied her friend with a critical eye.. "To be honest, I think this is one of the looks I like best and I would say it's one that is easy to adjust, depending on the situation you are in."
"Hopefully no situations in the office that involve a quick wardrobe change," Topaz said dryly. "Of course, nothing is out of the realm of possibility when it comes to our lives."
"It is completely possible with how things tend to go for us." Hope commented with a straight face. "But I was more thinking that it would for example be easy to dress it up with a blazer if you need that little bit of extra. You can easily keep it on a hanger in your office."
"I work in a cubicle or at the front desk," Topaz said, slipping back into the room to change. "If I had a job title it'd probably be assistant to assistant's assistant. There's nowhere to hang things."
"Did Marie-Ange not give you the credit card? I can tell her that we succeeded in our mission, but that you do need the surroundings to match the outfit?" Hope spoke a little louder so Topaz could hear her and quickly sent off the sales woman that had popped up to bring the full range of colors available of the shirt that Topaz had been wearing before starting to sort through the rest of clothes. "Okay, I know that fancy shoes are not an option for you, but how about a few pieces of jewelry?"
Topaz sighed inwardly. "We can talk about that. Maybe."
"When you said questionnaire, I didn't think you meant an actual paper questionnaire," Topaz muttered, thumbing through the rather thick pile of stapled together papers. She had known what she was getting into when she'd asked Hope to go out to lunch and help her do some clothes shopping. Or she thought she had, anyway. She took a sip of tea.
Hope took a dainty sip from her own cup. "It is better than it looks. See, it has pictures you need to pick, as well as various checks." She flipped through a couple of the pages, showing why it was so thick. "Besides, you said this was for a whole work wardrobe, so I figured we better be thorough. But if you want, we can just go through it verbally and it'll give me an idea what you're looking for."
"Writing is easier," Topaz admitted. Writing gave her time to think and not feel on the spot. If she took ten minutes to answer a question, then it wasn't as weird. "Did you make this just for shopping today or do you have these things lying around?"
"It's from the image coaching course I took last January. After the craziness of my internship I wanted to do something fun." A small grin played around Hope's lips as she explained: "I added a few things of my own and left out a few things I already had a pretty good sense of. But since you might be working on those papers for a little bit, how about a few scones with clotted cream and jam? Or even better... lemon curd?"
"Must we choose?" Topaz asked, flipping to the next page. "I don't know about you, but I haven't eaten all day."
"Not a bad idea... I just had some yogurt for breakfast." Hope signaled one of the waitstaff and placed the order before looking back at Topaz. "You look like you are solving a calculus question instead of considering clothes..." She commented after the look had not abated after a minute or two.
"You know I'm rubbish at this." She tapped her pen against the table, huffing. "Nothing looks good on me." The words weren't self-deprecating in any way - just a simple statement of fact.
"And you know I have always disagreed with that. You simply haven't quite found the look that works for you yet." It was like a ritual to them, this exchange. "Let's see if we can change that today. I only have one condition: we are going to a tailor afterwards." She was interrupted by the waitstaff arriving with scones and the assorted condiments.
Topaz raised an eyebrow, waiting for the staff to finish and grabbing a scone before saying, "A tailor? Why?"
Cutting open her own scone, Hope applied a general amount of clotted cream and lemon curd before replying: "Because virtually all clothes are made for a body that very rarely exists. A good tailor is one of the biggest secrets in looking good, because they can actually get clothes to fit like they are supposed to."
"Great." It wasn't quite sarcasm, but there was certainly no enthusiasm either. "You know I appreciate this, right?" She had to make sure given how unenthusiastic she was.
Hope grinned and shook her head. "I am well aware... How long have we known each other by now? Almost ten years?" She nibbled on the scone for a moment before adding. "Come on... back to work..."
* * * * *
Topaz was taking the credit card Marie-Ange had handed her and buying something ridiculous with it after the clothes. Or at least something unnecessary but useful. Books? No, she probably had enough of those for now. Something ridiculous for the office, maybe. She'd figure it out later.
"All right," she said with a sigh, stepping out of the changing room with the latest outfit Hope had picked out. It wasn't bad, honestly - a dark pink shirt with a long black sweater and dark pants. It still felt too much like she was pretending. "What do you think?"
Hope reached out to twitch the long cardigan in place and studied her friend with a critical eye.. "To be honest, I think this is one of the looks I like best and I would say it's one that is easy to adjust, depending on the situation you are in."
"Hopefully no situations in the office that involve a quick wardrobe change," Topaz said dryly. "Of course, nothing is out of the realm of possibility when it comes to our lives."
"It is completely possible with how things tend to go for us." Hope commented with a straight face. "But I was more thinking that it would for example be easy to dress it up with a blazer if you need that little bit of extra. You can easily keep it on a hanger in your office."
"I work in a cubicle or at the front desk," Topaz said, slipping back into the room to change. "If I had a job title it'd probably be assistant to assistant's assistant. There's nowhere to hang things."
"Did Marie-Ange not give you the credit card? I can tell her that we succeeded in our mission, but that you do need the surroundings to match the outfit?" Hope spoke a little louder so Topaz could hear her and quickly sent off the sales woman that had popped up to bring the full range of colors available of the shirt that Topaz had been wearing before starting to sort through the rest of clothes. "Okay, I know that fancy shoes are not an option for you, but how about a few pieces of jewelry?"
Topaz sighed inwardly. "We can talk about that. Maybe."
