Page 1 of Pretty Ruthless

Chapter One

Claire

“I told you if we were going to do the rose shaped bottle, that it needed to have a handle. This mock-up looks like a vagina.” I sigh into the intercom on my desk, “maybe have the stem wrap around with leaves and thorns so it doesn’t look like we’re marketing pussy perfume.” How could someone even think that this was a good idea, how do you market a perfume for all if it looks like an X rated bottle.

“So no hole in the center of the bottle, got it.” Reed, my marketing executive, laughs into the phone. I lift the mock-up of the bottle in my hand and imagine a hole right in the middle of the petals, I can’t stop the laugh that escapes my lips.

“No, no hole in the center. That’s even worse!” I cackle, shaking my head at the insanity coming out of his mouth.

“We could make the bottle nude and the liquid inside could be pink.” He jokes and I can’t breathe, I’m laughing so hard. I pull in a few quick breaths to try and even out my laughter, but it’s really fucking hard at this point.

“Absolutely not. No see through bottles and no pink liquid, it’s like you’re trying to get me fired for sexual innuendos.” I say through my laughter. I flip through the photos of the bottle, continuing to be amazed at how wrong this is.

“Gah, you are no fun!” Reed laughs and the sound fills the room echoing though my entire office.

“Okay, let’s look at some different bottle mock-ups. Maybe try a tulip or a lily, basically anything that doesn’t look like you could fuck it.” Anything other than a rose that looks like you’re about to watch a porno.

“Aye aye captain, I’ll have some new mock ups over by the end of the week. Do we want to talk about the neutral palette that’s starting promo at the end of the month?”

My email dings on my iPhone and I lift the device to check the preview. “Ugh, can we talk about that one later this week? My brain is mush from the perfume bottle.” I don’t pay much attention to the email as I put my phone face down on my desk like it was before.

“Absolutely. Have a fabulous day, Claire,” the red light on my office phone turns to black before I can respond, alerting me that he hung up before any goodbyes were returned.

I spin in my chair and look out over the San Francisco skyline, my office at Bloom Beauty is above the fog that blankets the city this time of year, actually every time of year. I’ve been the CEO of Bloom Beauty for the past three years and I can honestly say that I’ve never loved a job more than I do this one. We’ve expanded from two dozen stores on the West Coast to over one hundred fifty stores nationwide. We are planning to open a store in Paris next year and two more in London the following year. Many would say it’s well deserved success but success isn’t deserved, it’s earned. I’ve lost almost every relationship I’ve ever had climbing tooth and nail to the top.

My eyes wander to the picture of Kennedy and I on graduation day. Devon is standing behind her with an arm over her shoulder and our red gowns are a stark contrast to the fake and bake tan we thought we needed. I stare at the photo for a lot longer than I probably should with all the work I have piling up on my desk and the unanswered emails.

Emails.

Shit, I flip my phone back over and pick it up to check the email notification that came through while I was on the phone with Reed. I roll my eyes when I see the notification.

“It’s that time! Can you believe it’s been ten years?”The header line reads and I internally cringe at the fact that it’s been ten years since graduation. I scroll through the email catching a few words here and there until I get to the bottom and check the date.

June.

I can do June. I open the calendar tab on my Outlook calendar and check the weekend. I have a meeting with some ad executives but I can easily do that from my car on the way back to Brighton. Or, I could have Elena reschedule those. Who am I kidding, rescheduling isn’t in the cards, not for me.

Chapter 2

Claire

I haven’t been home in years, I’m not exaggerating either, it’s been close to five years since I’ve been back to the place I grew up. After my grandpa passed away I didn’t see a need to go back, after all he was the only tie I had left to that town. Especially after how I left things, I’ve sunk myself into my job to keep busy.

Miranda Lambert’s voice croons through my stereo system speakers about not going home again and it’s like Pandora knew what I was thinking as my tires ate up the road. I’m over half way back to my hometown and as soon as I left the city it felt like a massive weight had lifted off of my shoulders. I don’t like it though. The weight keeps me grounded, like a helium balloon with those small weights they use to keep them from floating off into the ozone. I need the weight of work and my responsibilities to keep me from flying into unknown thoughts and memories.

I push the green call button on my steering wheel as I take a large drink of my iced coffee. It’s only my second of the day and the lack of caffeine is making me itchy.

“Call Elena.” I say after the beep, my assistant knows where I’m going but I didn’t tell anyone else I was going to my ten year high school reunion this weekend. I didn’t need the jeers of my employees when I got back.

“No,” she answers on the second ring. “No, I’m not going to feed your need for work this weekend. There are no emergencies, there won’t be any emergencies and if there are they can all wait until you get back. When was the last time you took a vacation?” Her voice is filled with animosity, like she’ll find a way to ruin my life if I try to work while I’m on “vacation”. This isn’t a real vacation though, it’s a curiosity trip. Hopefully the last one I ever have to make back here. I have a few doors that aren’t shut all the way, and I need to know if Brighton is officially a thing of my past.

I take a moment to think about it, “I was in Cabo last year.” I answer, annoyance hitting my tone.

“Wewere in Cabo for a sunless tanner promo, that’s not a vacation, that’s a prettier office.” she scuffs, like she didn’t have a fucking blast drinking Mojitos on the beach. Meeting a stranger under the stars as the water crashed against her feet. We totally vacationed there, it just so happened to be with work in tow.

“Oh speaking of sunless tanner, can you-” Click. I turn the dial on my volume and check the bars on my phone. The wordscall endedflash across the screen.

That bitch really just hung up on me.

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