Chapter 35
ONE MONTH LATER
New colleague Jasmine:
Cream cashmere jumper
Chunky pearl and gold necklace
Tan wide-legged trousers
Chunky brown and cream trainers
Monday morning, 8.30 a.m., Annie emerged from the central London Tube station, all set to walk into the M&S head office to begin her first day at her new job.
A job… a career… being part of the senior team, the executive leadership.
These were all incredible new things and daunting new things.
Goodbye to TV’s How to be Fabulous, and hello to making her very best attempt at being fabulous in real life.
If she said she’d just thrown on the first things she’d seen in the wardrobe this morning, she would be lying.
Her outfit on this crisp November morning had taken days and endless conversations with both Lauren and Dinah to style from top to toe.
She’d gone soft wool, pale grey trouser suit.
Yes, trouser suit… because they were so bang on trend again.
Weren’t the Princess of Wales, Victoria Beckham and Jennifer Anniston all about looking pulled together and professional in trouser suits these days?
This trouser suit was accompanied by a silky white blouse, some strong gold and pearl accessory game on both the necklace and earring front and a pair of very up-to-the-moment trainers, as recommended by Owen.
Then came a navy-blue trench coat, a sharp new haircut in brightest blonde, her favourite lipstick, and the touch of luxe M&S, a wonderful leather workbag, smooth and conker-brown that was this season’s homage to The Row’s Devon bag. Ha!
But if her appearance said, ‘I’m here to do this job brilliantly,’ her inward self wasn’t quite so convinced.
Despite her outward armour, Annie was feeling more than a little terrified.
She was a personal shopper, a TV makeover minor personality, who’d somehow managed to be elevated to the M&S ranks of leaders.
How had this happened? How would she make it work?
How could she possibly make it work? Even as she went in through the doors to the main shopping floor, which she had to cross on her way to the elevators to the top-floor offices, she really didn’t have much idea about how this was all going to work out.
But she walked through the shop, scanning left and right and taking some comfort from the autumn/winter collection out on the rails.
Lovely woollen trench coat there, beautiful quilted outwear over there, oh and those knits were good, but oooft, those knits there, not-so-much.
Already, the sequins of Christmas were in full overwhelm.
And there were trees, robins and Santa hats everywhere.
She powered on, until she caught sight of a woman frozen in front of one of the shop-floor mirrors.
The woman was trying on a longer length blazer in deepest green and holding another jacket in chocolate-brown in her hand.
She did not look happy at the sight of her reflection.
No, she was wearing an expression that was probably similar to Annie’s – mild panic.
Annie had some time. It was at least twenty-five minutes before her official 9 a.m. start time, although she was determined to be early.
So, she walked over to this woman and said a cheerful ‘Hello,’ with a big smile in place. ‘I’m guessing important interview and you want a new jacket that is going to set you up. I’m Annie, by the way, and… I work here,’ she tried those words on for size and realised she liked them.
‘Oh… hello…’ the customer looked at her a little warily. ‘Yes… it’s something like that,’ the woman said.
‘Would you like some hopefully helpful suggestions, or would you rather be left alone? Just let me know.’
The woman looked at Annie for a moment or two to gauge whether to trust her with this personal decision. ‘Maybe a little help would be good,’ she decided.
‘Amazing,’ Annie enthused. ‘My favourite thing is to help people nail that crucial outfit.’
‘So… the green or the brown?’ the woman asked hesitantly holding up both jackets.
Annie shook her head gently. ‘I’m going to say neither, babes,’ she said in a low voice, making it sound like a secret.
‘Both are too dark for your fair colouring. We’re going to look for a soft grey, a French navy, something that’s going to give you the seriousness you want but in the colours that you will stand out in.
And we’re going to go for a jacket that’s a little shorter than this one, because that will emphasise the waist and make you taller and more authoritative,’ Annie gave her a wink at these words.
‘Sounds good,’ was the woman’s verdict.
‘To be honest, it’s my first day on the job here… and I am nervous,’ Annie confided as she held up both the grey and the blue version that they had found on a quick tour of the rails.
‘On the shop floor?’ the woman asked, slipping her arms into the grey and immediately seeing how much better it suited her. ‘You’re so beautifully dressed for a shop assistant,’ she told Annie. ‘Shame to take that lovely suit off and put on the uniform.’
‘Yeah…’ Annie decided to agree rather than explain that, no, she wasn’t exactly on the shop floor this time. ‘This is nice fabric,’ she told the woman, stroking the jacket sleeve appreciatively. ‘A good wool to polyester blend. I love it.’
‘Is your suit M&S? It’s beautiful,’ the woman added.
‘Ermmm… no…’ This was not the time to admit which designer label Annie had picked for her all-important Day One. ‘But my bag is,’ she held up the leather tote.
‘Oh, that’s beautiful. I’m going to get one of those… isn’t it exactly like one of those very posh—’
‘Bags from The Row,’ Annie finished the thought. ‘Exactly! You are looking lovely in this jacket,’ she added. ‘I’m thinking white blouse, nice necklace… try the blue on too, but the grey is really good on you.’
‘Agreed,’ the woman said, ‘this is so helpful.’
‘Totally,’ Annie had to add, because this encounter was helping her too.
This brief five minutes of going through the rails, inspecting the clothes and helping the woman to try them on was giving Annie all the inspo she needed for her new job.
She would come down here every day for at least an hour at a time or more.
She’d help people try things on, she’d listen to their feedback and get right in touch with what they wanted and how much they expected to pay for it and all this knowledge, that’s what would make her great at her job.
‘Annie!’ She turned at the sound of her name and found herself face-to-face with her new colleague Jasmine.
‘Hello, lovely to see you. Follow me up for the morning BAU meeting.’
Annie turned to her new friend in front of the mirror now trying out the soft French blue. She mouthed the words ‘BAU?’ and shrugged.
‘Business as usual,’ the woman whispered back.
‘Ah! OK… I have to go. Grey or blue, your choice, both look fabulous. Loads of luck in your new role’.
‘Loads of luck in yours!’
Annie picked up her handbag, tucked it under her arm and set off with Jasmine in the direction of the lift to the head office.
OK, babes… you can do this, she told herself. You have so got this.
She touched the citrine ring on her bossing finger for luck – brings energy and success, Svetlana had promised.
Fingers crossed, babes, fingers crossed!