Ella's Easter Eggs (BBW & Billionaire) (3 page)

"Alright..."

"And that's where you come in."

Finally, she was getting around to the point.

"Where I come in?"

"Our fit model just canceled."

"Oh...crap."

"Yeah, and we really need someone to help out." Debra was giving me the once-over again, and I slowly started to realize what they wanted from me.

"Well...I have done some modeling before."

"This is different," Debra interrupted me. "It's fit modeling. Kind of invasive. You'll have people sticking their hands down your yoga pants and stuff like that."

Now, I'd never been a modest person. But there was one issue that we needed to cover before I agreed to sign onto anything.

"What does it pay?"

"See, that's the thing," Debra whispered, looking around. "That Katrina lady who runs the catering company is insane. I've worked with her several times before.We can't let on that any of this is happening, or she'll want a cut or whatever."

"That's fine with me," I nodded. "What are you proposing?"

"Okay, so obviously you'll be on Katrina's payroll for the three days. We'll make up a story about something you're helping us out with in the guest house..."

"Dyeing Easter eggs!" I suggested quickly.
 

Not to brag, but subterfuge has always been one of my skills. I think that maybe, in a parallel universe, I could have been a fantastic CIA operative, or something like that.

"Perfect!" Debra grinned. "I'll tell Katrina that I stole you from the patio to dye Easter eggs in the back house."

"And the extra pay?"
 

There was no way I was having someone stick their hands down my pants for twenty bucks an hour, which was basically what the catering company paid.

"Fifty bucks an hour!" Debra proposed, looking me straight in the eye. "Cash. So you'll be making four hundred extra per day."

"One hundred per hour!" I shot back. "Eight hundred daily rate!"

I did have my back rent to pay, after all. And these people needed me. What would they do without a fit model?Also, an acting class friend of mine had been a fit model, so I wasn't ignorant about their amazing salaries. Fit models could command rates of seventy-five to one hundred and fifty bucks an hour. Shocking fact, but absolutely true. And this was a holiday. They were lucky I wasn't charging double.

"We have a deal," Debra agreed begrudgingly, sticking out her hand again.
 

After shaking on the deal, Debra led me down to a little cottage behind the main house. No one else was in there.

With separators, clothes, and drawings on the wall, it was a fully functioning design studio. There were tiny changing rooms everywhere, with a little staging section and a couch in the main room. It reminded me of one of those bridal studios that you see on television. But much more elegant, with dim and sexy lighting.

Off to the side, there was even a kitchen. I breathed a sigh of relief once I got in. I had been saved. The next three days would be tolerable, and I wouldn't even have Katrina breathing down my neck.

"Okay!" Debra grinned, rolling a rack of underwear towards me. "Here are your first items! This is the easy part. We don't even need to be here. You're going to try on each lingerie set, make a comment about it on the clipboard, then snap a quick polaroid of yourself. Thanks again for helping us out."

"Sounds easy enough."

"Oh, and there's some champagne in the mini-fridge," she said, winking. "Help yourself."

This was definitely my kind of job.

CHAPTER FOUR

FIT MODEL

As the day progressed, I discovered that it really was my kind of job. Trying on each lingerie set and filling out the questionnaire was highly satisfying. It made me feel like I was actually doing something productive for other plus-sized women. There were tons of sets that I rated low for being "too grandma" or having "way too much coverage."

I became familiar with all of the brands, and quickly realized what De Maio Designs was doing. By getting my feedback on their competitors' designs, they would be able to move forward with the concepts that worked for real women. It really was a brilliant idea.

By the time Debra returned, I'd already tried on about three dozen outfits.

"Whoa!" she said, picking up one of my feedback forms. "You've really put a lot of feedback on here!"

"Sorry, I'm super opinionated," I smiled.

"No, this is great!" she smiled, gathering up the photos and forms. "I'm gonna take these down to Dash right now."

Dash. I was becoming curious as to whether or not I'd get to meet this mysterious man, who'd inflamed the anger of practically every woman in the country.

"How's the party going?"

"Oh, great!" Debra smiled. "Are you okay being stuck back here all by your lonesome?"

"YES!" I said emphatically. "Believe it or not, this is the best thing that's happened to me all week."

"Crack into the champagne," she gestured towards the mini-fridge again. "You've given us a ton of feedback, and you're going through the sets really fast."

As Debra took off with my feedback and pictures in tow, I meandered over to the mini-fridge. She didn't need to ask me again. When I opened the tiny door, I was shocked to find the fridge completely stocked with Dom Perignon.

"Don't mind if I do!" I sighed, popping open a bottle and pouring some bubbly into one of the champagne flutes nearby.

There were still so many outfits to try. There were even some costumes, which I found really fun. One of them, labeled, "Rainbow Faerie," was beyond adorable. The sheer, multi-colored fabric panties were high-cut and extremely flattering, matching the push-up bra that was connected to a pair of tiny wings on the back. I decided to put on a pair of heels that were hanging out in the corner, then checked myself out in the mirror before I took a quick polaroid.

It was so cute I didn't even want to take it off. Twirling around in the mirror again, I grabbed my cell phone and took a quick selfie to send to Carlo. While I was composing an appropriately sexy text to go along with the picture, a deep male voice from the front of the cottage suddenly interrupted me.

"You get to keep all that stuff, you know!"

"Oh, God..." I was so embarrassed.
 

Taking a selfie during a modeling job? How unprofessional. I wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere.

The man revealed himself, stepping into the light of the staging area.

"Hi, I'm Dash."

Dash De Maio himself. The enemy of beautiful bigger women everywhere. In the flesh. And damnit if I didn't think he was gorgeous. Standing at about six-foot-four, his olive complexion was perfectly complemented by a mane of strawberry blond hair. He looked younger than I expected, and his intense green eyes appeared to search my soul as he reached forward to shake my hand.

"I'm Ella -- Ow!" His hand shocked me.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," he burst into laughter, revealing a set of perfect white teeth. "I'm sure it's not the first time I've shocked a pretty lady."

Sometimes in life, someone can walk into a room and completely change the energy, disrupting your pattern forever.
 

The glass of champagne I'd imbibed started to function as a truth serum. Something about Dash's presence was so magnetic, even more intoxicating than the alcohol. I didn't know if it was charisma or animal attraction, but it was something...different. And completely unexpected.

"You're not at all what I expected," I blurted out.

"Well, don't believe everything you read," he grinned, quickly appraising my breasts, which were practically thrust in his face by the magic of the rainbow costume push-up bra.

For a moment, we were just staring at one another, completely oblivious to the outside world. Then the cottage door opened, and a gaggle of people entered, led by Debra.

"Great! You're here already, Dash!" Debra said. "We've got so much stuff to get to before you guys need to go back to the party and mingle with the Europeans. Ella, you can pop a squat while we go over some of your pictures and feedback sheets."

I settled into a recliner as the design team went over my notes. It was actually flattering how much of my opinion they were taking into account. The operation was very professional. Everyone was taking notes, and sketch pads and iPads were out, as the team went over this detail or that. I was impressed.

About forty-five minutes into it, Debra looked at her cell phone and screeched.

"Crap! It's already time for dinner. Come on, everyone, let's get a move on."

The entire group began to pick up their stuff and leave as quickly as they had come, completely forgetting about little old me sitting on my recliner. But Dash didn't forget.

"Uh...hey! Debra, what about Miss Ella here? Our fit model extraordinaire. Do we need her for the rest of the day?"

Debra looked stressed.

"Crap. We don't, but...let me take care of it, Dash. You go out to meet with the Europeans, and I'll take care of Ella."

"Got it," he grinned. "What would I do without you, Deb? Oh, and make sure she gets paid her entire day rate, even though we didn't need her for the rest."

After Dash took off, Debra revealed what I had been thinking all along.

"He has no idea that you're not the originally scheduled fit model," she whispered.

I had to laugh. Debra was clearly a woman after my own heart. She knew how to "make it work," regardless of what she had to do. In this case, we had to work out how I would leave the event early, while escaping the notice of Katrina's Katerers. Debra contacted a plan, in which I was being sent into Beverly Hills to procure more "egg dyeing supplies" from Whole Foods. The white van would pick me up and deposit me at the parking lot, where I would hop in my car and drive home.

It was genius. Debra handed me the eight hundred dollars, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It really had been a good Friday.

"Oooh, and don't forget the stuff you tried on!" she said, gesturing towards the rack of bras and panties.

Stuffing a trash bag full of all of my new goodies, I proceeded towards the van pick-up area. Unfortunately, Katrina was waiting nearby.
 

Crap!

"Hey, Ella!" she squeaked. "I heard about all this extra egg dyeing work they have you doing...are you okay with that?!"

"Oh...uh...yeah. It's not so bad," I replied.

"And that bag!" she said, gesturing towards my trash bag o'panties. "Is that part of the project you're working on?"

"Yep," I sighed. Then I realized, with horror, that the trash bag was see-through. It was time to improvise. "Rich people," I grunted. "They're insisting that I use these bras and panties to 'silk dye' the eggs. That's what they're calling it."

"Oh God," Katrina said. "Well thanks so much for doing all of this. I'll make sure that you get reimbursed for mileage."

"Yes, definitely do that," I said, trying my best to look annoyed as the lovely white van approached, not unlike a man on a white stallion coming to rescue me.
 

CHAPTER FIVE

COFFEE TALK

"So let me get this straight...you're working for the devil incarnate, racking up free panties and bras, and getting paid cash?!" Daniela was practically shouting at me.

We were at King's Road Cafe, where the coffee is like crack. But in a good way.

"YES!" I laughed. "It's like the best Katrina's Katerer's gig of all freakin' time!"

"I'll say!" she laughed, taking another sip of her piping hot coffee. "That's ridiculous. So what does this jerk look like, anyway? Also, I don't know if I mentioned this yet, but the fact that we were just talking about him the other day and now you're working for him..."

"...is very Law of Attraction!" I finished her sentence. "Yeah, this is where it gets weird. He was ridiculously hot, super nice, insisted that I get paid for hours I didn't even work...and I swear, I know this sounds nuts, but he was checking out my rack!"

"Whoa...this definitely adds another element." Daniela looked genuinely shocked. "What would you do if he hit on you? I mean, he's like a traitor to our cause."

"I know, but I highly doubt he's going to hit on me!" I laughed. "I dunno, maybe I'm just making things up in my head. Anyway, his assistant swore that his comments about plus-sized women were 'taken completely out of context' so who knows..."

"Well, you may be seducing billionaires, but I'm still convinced that I'm going to win the lap dance contest in Stripper Class. So you better get your game together," Daniela announced confidently.

"Heck, no!" I laughed. "I've totally got this one locked down."

"Have you even started to work on your routine yet?"

I looked down in shame. "No! I've been working. Have you?"

"Of course I have." Daniela was so good like that. Always prepared.

"Well I guess I better get on it, then."

"What time do you have to be there today?"

"Gotta go home and change now," I said, looking down at my cell phone. "Good talk!"

"Yeah, let me know if anything exciting happens..." she mused.

After heading back to my apartment, changing into my penguin-esque catering outfit and bidding adieu to Ruby, I was on my way to Dash De Maio's compound once again. And I was curious about what the day would bring. Would they have me try on other companies' apparel again? Or would I get a chance to see De Maio Designs' magic firsthand?
 

I got there in record time, hurtling through traffic.
Katrina put on a faux sympathetic face as I showed my face at the check-in desk.

"Was everything okay yesterday, with the egg dye errand? Hope traffic wasn't too bad."

"Meh, you know L.A.," I said somewhat dramatically. "It wasn't too brutal, though. Just...grateful for the work."

This seemed to put a grin on her face. "Thank you for saying that, Ella! So few people recognize that we keep them employed while they chase their dreams."

It took everything inside of me not to openly roll my eyes. But I managed. Travis was my seat buddy on the way up the hill again.

"So how was yesterday?" he asked.