Window Shopping
“You’re getting ahead of yourself. We haven’t even done the interview yet.” It’s hard for me to say those words, because I sound like a grade A asshole, but she’s about to walk. I can feel it. She needs me to be tougher on her than I’d like to be in this moment because my kindness is making her feel guilty. I’m not going to point out what that says about her character, as much as I’d like to. So I reach my hand out for the folder instead. “Why don’t you start by showing me what you brought?”
Her fight-or-flight instinct is in high gear.
She shifts in those boots, like a runner waiting for the gun to go off.
My pulse is sprinting but I try not to show it. Try not to show how badly I want to stay in this stairwell with her and keep talking.
Finally, she rolls her eyes, stomps up a few of the stairs and hands over the folder, before clomping back down and resuming her defensive stance. But this time, there is a spark of determination and hope lighting up her expression, thank the lord.
I let out my pent-up breath, flipping the folder open to find a copy of her résumé, which holds all of the same information as the online application form. Beneath it is a series of sketches. They’re good enough to make me sit up straight—and my spine is already as vertical as a highway mile marker by default. “Talk me through this one.”
I hold up a sketch of a window featuring a red dress in the center surrounded by greenery. Vines with big pops of white. Cut-out butterflies hanging from the ceiling. Along the bottom of the window are the words, “Give them a new beginning.”
Stella’s eyes are closed, but she takes a deep breath now and starts talking. “Give and take. That’s the theme I settled on. Next year is all about renewal, a fresh start after two years of lockdowns and masks. We’re looking past the melancholia of Christmas and cold weather. The message is this: help your loved one find their footing again.” She nods at the artwork I’m holding. “A lot of people wouldn’t buy themselves a bright red dress like that, but if someone else did, it would be a breath of fresh air. Suddenly they’re wondering, am I the kind of person who wears a red dress? The answer is we all are, we just need help believing it. A loved one’s vote of confidence goes a long way. It can lead to discovering more of your own.
“As far as the ‘take’ in ‘give and take,’ studies show that consumers, especially women, do a lot of shopping for themselves while buying holiday gifts. They’ve just gotten their work bonus. Or they’re using holiday stress as an excuse to splurge. So why not take this opportunity to draw them into the store and make them want to come back in the new year?”
She rolls her finger at me, and for a few seconds, I’m confused, because I’ve gotten completely absorbed by her voice and the way she’s just become…animated. I can barely glance away long enough to hold up the next sketch, which is a rainbow assortment of shoes arranged in a geometric shape, drawing the eye from the front of the window to the back.
Inviting. Eye-catching.
“That’s where ‘take’ comes in. Take a new beginning. Buy the shoes. Wear the lingerie for yourself.” She pauses to wet her lips. “Vivant has always been high-end. My opinion is…either lean into that image or don’t. Your current window is accessible and that’s fine, but it doesn’t match what’s in the store. They’re coming in expecting Macy’s prices and finding five-hundred-dollar Hermès scarves. It’s important to brand as much as it is to sell products, so the first step is a clear vision before we start executing.” She shakes her head a little. “I don’t mean to say ‘we,’ as if it’s a foregone conclusion.”
I like her saying “we.” A lot.
Probably too much.
My instinct was to give her the job the second she started talking. Not only do I agree with everything she’s saying, not only are her designs well-defined and vibrant, but I want to believe in her. So this is where I have to check myself. I’m an optimist to a fault. I was taught to search for the best in people and—refusing to take my attraction to her into account—I see a lot of good in the person standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding her breath for my response. She wants the position more than anyone I interviewed upstairs. She needs to prove herself…to herself, doesn’t she? And I want to help her do that. If this was a perfect world of my own design, I would say, “you’ve got the job!” and we’d cut to a music montage of her working diligently, hair tied up with a pencil while we try not to make eyes at each other in the break lounge. But this isn’t a perfect world. She needs a chance, but she’s also averse to receiving one. I have to do this in a certain way.