Page 28 of Home to Me

The two women laughed heartily and walked over to Lauren.

"Sorry to scare you sweetheart," said the one who had not yet spoken. "Wasn't intentional!"

Even though they were laughing, Lauren could feel the warmth coming from them and never for a minute got the sense that they were laughing at her, but rather that the laughter was just part of their personalities.

Ben said, "Come on now, ladies. Lauren's probably scared enough as it is, this being her first day and all. You need to give her a heart attack on top of everything else?"

He turned to Lauren and made introductions, gesturing to each woman in turn as he said their names. "Lauren, meet Marlene and Barbara, two of the best wardrobe mistresses you'll ever meet. They work on Home Sweet Home, and we were lucky enough to be able to snag them for Home Sweet Vacation Home as well."

Barbara stuck out her hand to shake Lauren's, saying enthusiastically, "Lucky enough to get us… Are you kidding me? We feel lucky to be dressing a woman for a change! No offense, Ben, but men's clothes can get pretty boring compared to women's."

"Agreed," said Marlene. "Now, come on over here, sweetheart, and we'll get you started."

Marlene briskly led Lauren over to the side of the room where the majority of the women’s clothing was hanging, and Barbara took Ben over to the men’s side.

"What are we doing?" asked Lauren.

"Oh, honey, we need to try the outfits on you!" Marlene said. "Figure out if they're gonna need tailoring, see how the colors look against your skin—all of that."

Lauren looked around. "Where are we going to change?" she asked.

This brought a fresh round of laughter from both of the women and Ben.

"No time for modesty, hon," said Marlene. "Trust me. I've seen it all anyway."

Lauren's eyes widened, but she didn't want to make the same mistake she almost made in the meeting, which was to make a spectacle of herself and make enemies on her very first day, so she went along with the program. As uncomfortable as she was undressing in front of strangers—and, deep breath, especially in front of Ben!—she figured that the best way to handle it would be to just take emotion out of the equation.

So, refusing to let any shock show in her face or demeanor beyond her initial widening of eyes, she turned to Marlene and said briskly, "Okay, sounds good. Where can I hang my things?"

Marlene looked impressed and turned to where Ben was standing. "Hmmm..." she said. "I like this one. She gets with the program. Not like the two hours of arguing we had to do with you!"

Ben blushed and, in a clear attempt to downplay, said, "I think that's a slight exaggeration."

Barbara and Marlene looked at each other for a moment and then both shook their heads.

"Nah," Barbara agreed. "It was a good two hours, maybe more."

Lauren smiled, feeling inside that she had won a small victory, but not a victory over Ben. This wasn't a competition. It was a victory over the hurdles she would be facing while acclimating to this new job.

She had to keep reminding herself that of course Ben seemed very comfortable with the routines and the logistics of hosting the show; he'd been doing it for a few years now. She couldn't make the mistake of feeling bad about herself because she was comparing her current performance, on the very first day, with Ben's seasoned and expert proficiency. As much as Lauren hated to admit it, because she wanted to be the best at everything right out of the gate, she knew that there would be a learning curve.

The fact that she now knew that there was one obstacle she had overcome significantly quicker than Ben initially gave her confidence that eventually she could be as good at this—if not better—than he was.

Lauren smiled to herself. Because of her competitive nature, there was always going to be an 'if not better' inserted. That was just how she was.

Lauren turned her back to Ben and began to disrobe. She heard the rustling of fabric behind her and realized that he must be doing the same. She felt a flush start to creep up her cheeks, and she wished that she could control her physiological reactions with the power of her mind.

Hey, maybe I can, she thought to herself. Let me give it a try.

Do not get red-faced thinking about Ben naked. Do not get red-faced thinking about Ben naked. She paused for a moment to see if it had had any effect, taking stock of the sensations on her face.

Nope. She could still feel heat slowly rising on her cheeks. So much for mind over matter.

After Lauren got over her initial reticence about being scantily clad in front of strangers—and in front of Ben—she found that she enjoyed the wardrobe fitting immensely.

As it progressed, she completely saw what Marlene meant about there being no time for modesty. They powered through outfits at an extremely rapid pace, Marlene helping her step into and out of trousers and pulling them up, holding shirts and jackets behind her as she slid her arms in.

As soon as one outfit was reasonably well in place, Marlene would take a quick Polaroid of it and pin it up to a corkboard—and just that quickly, they were on to the next.

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