Sam and Colby: The Asylum

81

I drove back to the hotel and parked the car. It was a legitimate struggle to carry a bag with five not so light bottles of milk in them as well as two dozen donuts, but there was a woman nice enough to open the hotel door for me. I was almost to the elevator when I heard a pair of heels clicking behind me.

"Need some help, miss?" a woman asked. I turned around and smiled at her. She was clearly a hotel employee.

"That would be phenomenal. Elbows are not the best for pushing buttons with," I said. She smiled warmly and pushed the elevator button for me.

"I'm not really supposed to ask this because of my job, but is your name Vanessa?" she asked in a low voice. I smiled at her and was about to answer when I saw a big man staring at us from the front desk. He definitely could have been her boss. I quickly glanced down at her nametag.

"Yes, Emilie. Would you help me carry this up? I would love that. Thank you so much," I said, stepping into the open elevator. The desk was to her back, but she seemed to catch on.

"Of course, miss," she said, taking the boxes from my hands and stepping on with me. I waited for the doors to close before laughing.

"Oh my goodness, thank you for doing that," she said back with a sigh of relief.

"I work at Chanel. I know how overbearing the bosses can be," I said. "And yes, I'm Vanessa. Nice to meet you. I would shake your hand if there weren't two large boxes and a bulky bag in the way," I laughed.

"It's great to meet you, too. Big fan," she said.

"Fan? Of what?" I asked.

"Your runway designs! They were just released yesterday so I guess it might be a little soon for people to have already seen them, but I love staying up to date with the fashion industry," said Emilie. The elevator dinged and we stepped off on the fifth floor.

"I'm sorry, my what?" I asked.

"From the Haute Couture Employee Event? Chanel tweeted the pictures from the Denver event last night. When did they start doing that, by the way?" she asked.

"St—are... can you show me the pictures?" I asked. "We can come into the room so no one sees you," I said. I pulled the key out of my purse and took everything from her to set on the counter. She dug her phone out of her crisp blazer and opened up Twitter.

"This is you, no?" she asked, handing me her phone. I looked down and swiped through a picture of me walking down the runway at our little employee contest, one of close-ups from the competition that showcased the makeup and hairstyle I'd done, and a third of me accepting the first place prize from the judge's panel.

"Oh my, yes, that's me," I said.

"I didn't know they did an employee event!" she exclaimed. "Is it new?"

"No, it's not new. It's been happening for at least twenty years, they just... they never post about it. It's not even something disclosed to the public," I said. She took her phone back.

"Vanessa Atkins, Rodeo Drive branch manager, stealing the show with her personalized look number 19 for the 2021 Spring Collection," Emilie read.

"What? Is that the caption?" I asked.

"Yeah, have you not seen this yet?" she asked. "It's everywhere."

"Oh my god, no, I had no idea. They gave my outfit the look number 19 spot?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. It's on the website already," Emilie said.

"What the hell... they didn't tell me," I said.

"You didn't see that they tagged you in it?" she asked.

"No, I don't... oh my god, I don't even have my phone! It's in Taunton still," I said.

"Taunton? What is there to do in Taunton?" asked Emilie.

"I'm filming a series at the asylum for Sam and Colby," I explained.

"Who?" she asked. I looked at her.

"You... you don't know who they are?" I asked.

"Um... no, I'm sorry. Should I?" she asked.

"Oh! No, I wasn't trying to be rude, I just... people have only recognized me from my work with them," I said.

"Well, I'm guessing that won't be the case anymore," she said.

"Apparently not," I said. "Um, well thank you for helping me out."

"Yeah, of course. Sorry to drop that on you, I figured you would know," said Emilie.

"Don't apologize, it's better I find out now than later. Your boss won't be mad, right? Is there anything I can do to help with that?"

"No, you already helped downstairs. Thank you again, by the way. I'll let you resume your day. Let me know if you need anything at all," she said. She stuck out her hand and I shook it before she turned and left.