ALL NOVEL 57. Personal Shopper
Aurora walked through the department store, looking around at the endless racks of clothing and mannequins displaying various outfits. She felt a slight flutter of excitement in her stomach, anticipating seeing her beautiful reflection in different outfits. While she felt that it might come across as quite narcissistic, appreciating her appearance in different outfits was one of the positives she was focusing on, so she mentally excused herself for such a sin.
As they made their way around the current floor, Aurora noticed a number of glances from the other women around her. Some had glanced over to see what the minor commotion was as she walked around gaining attention from her looks, while others had given her some glances full of derision.
While she did not exactly want to be rude, she assumed that some of those looks were out of jealousy, be it because of the 2 people behind her acting like maids despite the casual clothes, or because they were jealous of her appearance.
For the latter reason, Aurora could only be slightly sympathetic. She didn’t mind people looking at her with jealousy, however, she did dislike those people who were rude or malicious out of jealousy, especially when they put no effort into improving themselves. And seeing the appearances of some of those looking at her radiating negativity, it was clear they did not put much effort into their looks. Some were overweight, others looked slightly unkept with little effort put into their clothing, while for some unfortunate others, their genetics had not been kind. One lady was unfortunate enough to have a nose large enough she could use it as a ping pong paddle, not to mention a particularly noticeable mole on her cheek.
She knew that these thoughts would make her seem rude, shallow, and quite superficial, especially with the now stunning looks and body she had received from the gods, but it was human nature to establish a person’s personality profile based on their outward appearance, and first impressions a lot of the time was a good hint to someone’s personality and mentality.
Internally sighing that the looks from these sorts of women would become her new normal, Aurora refocused on the conversation she was having with Marie about the clothing they passed that might look good on her.
It didn’t take her group long to reach the reception where Ben and Roxanne were waiting for them, Ben hefting a bag that no doubt contained another pair of trainers for his collection. After a brief confirmation that it was her appointment, the group entered into the separate private suite where they were offered refreshments.
The room was minimalistic yet stylish, all in white with the occasional splashes of yellow to represent the department store's brand. There were a couple of currently empty clothing racks around the room, two large, curved sofas in the middle of the room, and a detailed Roman column placed near the corner surrounded by a square flowerbed sporting yellow flowers.
This was Aurora’s first time using the store's service, but she was already enjoying it since it kept her out of public with everyone’s attention. A woman’s good looks would always bring more attention than a man, she mused.
After sitting down and accepting the offered champagne by the attending clerk, the group casually conversed while waiting for the personal shoppers to arrive.
Personal shoppers were something that was commonly found in large department stores like Selfridges, a service where someone experienced in fashion would help a customer with picking out clothing and attire all from the comfort of a private suite. For Aurora, it would make her life easier since they would bring her all the clothing she needed without her having to go back and forth selecting clothes that would work together.
After a short wait, three people entered, all wearing particularly unique styles. The first to speak was the woman at the front of the trio, wearing an oversized blazer over her t-shirt and short skirt.
“Hello everyone, nice to meet you! I am Emma, and the two next to me are Sam and Cal.”
After exchanging introductions, Sam, a young man in his twenties wearing a baseball jacket and jeans led the conversation.
“Ok, so the gentleman who organised this appointment told me that it would be Aurora we are helping today, correct?”
After receiving confirmation from Aurora he continued.
“Ok, perfect, so you requested a full wardrobe refresh, and I must say that I am quite excited, it's not every day we get such a beautiful model!”
Cal who was wearing skinny jeans and an oversized T-shirt exposing one of his shoulders clapped his hands together in an overly dramatic way, drawing everyone’s attention as he spoke.
“I know right! Girl, you are stunning! I can't wait to see you strutting your stuff in a sexy dress or exuding confidence in a suit. Oh, you would look good in anything! I’m so excited!”
Aurora let out a slight laugh at the clearly camp man's excitement, making comment with a slight smile playing on her lips.
“I thought I was the one who was supposed to be the most excited about this, but it seems you have my enthusiasm beat.”
Cal gave an award-winning smile as he gestured to his coworkers.
“Oh no, we can’t have that! Give us but a minute and we will bring in some items we have already picked out in advance, and we can go from there!”
With that, Sam briefly left, returning a few moments later with a sleek clothes rail filled with a large selection of items hanging. He took charge again and moved the first outfit onto one of the two clothes rails hanging from the suite's ceiling, as Cal started to explain the selection being hung in a presentable way.
“Thank you for waiting. So first we have this darling skirt and blouse combination that would look just fabulous on you…”
Cal, Sam and Emma began going through their initial selection of outfits, showing off what they thought would suit Aurora given her family's station and in their understanding, first foray into Business. Through the initial discussion, she pointed out a few items that didn’t appeal to her sense of fashion, either because they were too revealing, looked too conservative or were just tacky, but the majority of items had been approved by both herself and the group sat next to her. As she started to try things on Ben, Roxanne and Marie went out into the shop alongside Cal and Sam to go and find items that they thought she may like, leaving her with Emma and the maids to try on the selection the trio of personal shoppers had already prepared. After a short while the rest of the group had returned, their arms filled with massive amounts of clothing.
The whole experience was starting to feel somewhat like when she went shopping with her mother while she was still alive, picking out outfits for her alongside the maids that joined them. At first, she had found it tedious, but when it was a choice between that or sitting around bored, she had chosen the more interesting option. It was not until she grew up and started going shopping with her female friends did she begin to enjoy it more as she could actually start to understand the appeal of the different womenswear. That is not to say he wanted to wear it, but the idea of a woman on her arm wearing something that she found attractive was an enticing prospect. The gods could swap her body about all they wanted, but what she found appealing would stay the same.
After all of the clothing had been sorted, there were now 4 portable clothes rails in the suite all fully packed out with what everyone had selected. As it was, she had already selected a large number of the items she had tried on in the time everyone else had been investigating the department store, and seeing the excessive amount now waiting for her to look at, she could already tell this was going to be a long day ending with her buying a lot of clothes.
Aurora started to move around to check out the various clothing her entourage had selected, and a number of tops caught her attention. Roxanne first pointed her to a white halter neck top and a loose fitting black shirt with an elegant flower pattern that she had immediately become enamoured with, trying it on and immediately confirming her initial impression that it looked good on her.
The next thing on the Clothes rail was Ben’s selection, and true to her best friend's understanding of her, he had picked out a few crop tops and leggings for when she would be using the pod, in the gym, or running.
