Page 27 of One Week Wingman

Daisy makes a beeline towards a mannequin wearing a long gold skirt with a white tee and black leather jacket. The outfit does look pretty cool, I have to admit. “Try it!” Daisy grabs the skirt and the jacket off the rack tugs me towards the dressing rooms.

“I don’t need a new leather jacket,” I tell her. “I have my old vintage one, and I definitely can’t afford this one,” I add, catching sight of the price tag.

“Don’t worry about that,” Daisy insists. “Try it. If you like it, I’ll DM their PR, they’ll probably send me one for free.” She pulls me into a large corner dressing room and starts stripping off.

I wriggle out of my jeans and try on the outfit. Just as Daisy said, it’s perfect, my favorite mix of quirky and moody. “I told you so,” she beams, emerging from the neck of the crocheted dress. “It’s just your style. You’re like… A high-fashion model who had a breakdown and wants everyone to just fuck off.”

I laugh. “That’s the official name for it?”

Daisy grins back. “It is now.”

“Well, I do love it,” I admit. “But it’s way out of my price range right now.”

Especially if I’m saving for that guitar.

“Then let me buy it for you,” Daisy says immediately.

“You don’t need to—”

“No, but I want to,” she talks over me. Pulling her dress down, she pivots from side to side in front of the mirror, showing off her admittedly perfect figure. Blonde, slim, and perky—we definitely don’t share a gene pool. “Come on, Rox,” she urges. “Things are going great with my business, and when did I last buy you anything? Ooh, maybe I’ll get one too. We can twin!”

I pause. “OK,” I agree, smiling. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure. So what do you think?” Daisy poses in the crocheted dress. “Sexy cute or kid cute?”

I pull a face. She does look a little like she’s off to a kid’s birthday party.

“Kid cute,” she agrees. “Maybe without the lining…”

I laugh. “Without the lining, it would be pornographic.”

“That could be fun,” she winks, changing back out of it. I gulp. Right. A filthy dress for filthy nights with Jason.

My baby sister’s not a baby anymore.

My reluctance must show, because she immediately winces. “I’m sorry! I know you’re still getting used to me being with Jason. But he’s just…” She sighs happily. “I’ve never felt like this before, Roxy! He’s just so kind and sweet… And really, really hot. Like Stefano is,” She adds with a smirk.

I picture Sebastian, lounging on my bed last night. I cough. “Uh huh,” I manage.

“Look at you!” Daisy beams, trying on another dress. “You’re so smitten! I’m so happy you found someone. Finally. You were alone for so long.”

“I wasn’talone,” I argue, watching her snap selfies. “I dated.”

She wrinkles her nose. “But no one serious, right? I always worried you wouldn’t find someone. And I know Mom and Dad did too.”

“Great,” I mutter.

“But now you have!” Daisy smiles again. “Come on, let’s go try hats now.”

She tows me through the store, picking up more accessories on her way to the hat department. Then she hands me her phone. “Can you shoot some pics? I’ll post a little try-on haul.”

I watch her assemble a stack of fedoras and floppy-brimmed felt hats, snapping photos of the inside labels. She sees me watching. “I have to stay organized,” she explains. “So I know which brands to tag.”

“So… You’ll post these pictures and then the designers will just send you stuff?” I ask, still trying to wrap my head around Daisy’s business model, which seems to involve documenting every (picturesque) detail of her life… and then somehow getting paid for it.

“Yup,” she replies, putting on the first hat and striking a pose. I obediently snap some pics. “Isn’t it wild? But once I hit a million followers, it was like, welcome to the big leagues. I get sent so much stuff, and then there are the paid posts, too. A dish-soap company paid me twenty thousand dollars, just to film a little video of me doing the dishes. And to make it look cute,” she adds.

“Obviously,” I agree, still processing the numbers. It’s been easy to dismiss her social media as just a fluffy hobby, but she’s making insane money here.

---