Several days went by and Martha still worked at Who Runway as Johanna Starling's second assistant. She had to do all sorts of jobs for Johanna, either somewhat important or completely unreasonable. She would hang Johanna's coat and get her coffee before doing things like buy things for her children, make reservations at expensive restaurants, and even walk her pet poodle around the city. Luckily, Heather was around to help... but not much, unfortunately.
This went on for a few weeks and Martha was growing more and more bored and tired with these annoying and menial tasks and worse, Johanna's selfish and bossy attitude. But she stayed and worked hard; hoping and praying things would get better for her with time. If they didn't, then she would leave and never look back. But she kept those thoughts to herself; she didn't want anyone to see her as selfish or lazy.
Everyone at Who Runway thought of Martha as a smart, fat redhead with little to no knowledge about fashion whatsoever, so they usually ignored her. But she was fine with people ignoring her... especially when she started bringing her framed photo of her and the Grinch to work with her. When no one was looking, she'd take it out of her purse and just stare at the photo with a smile, remembering her time in Whoville. Oh how she wanted to go back, especially during Christmastime, but she knew that neither Johanna nor August would allow it.
Months passed; it was Christmastime at the office and Martha couldn't be more chipper. She always felt happy during the holiday season. But when she came in, she saw that there weren't any gifts, trees, lights, or decorations. In fact, there was hardly anything that remotely resembled anything Christmassy. She was very surprised.
"Um, Franklin? Don't you guys ever decorate?" Martha asked as she sat at her desk; Franklin was standing near it.
"For what?" He asked.
"For Christmas, of course. You know, Santa Claus and 'Ho ho ho' and sparkling lights and giving gifts to your family and friends?"
"Oh, that. Well... we don't do that around here."
Martha's eyes popped and she almost gasped. "What?! Why not?"
"Because it's not what Who Runway does, especially when Johanna took over."
"Johanna doesn't like Christmas?"
"Not really. When I first started working here, I asked Johanna why we don't decorate, and do you know what she told me?"
"No."
"She said decorating the office for any holiday would be a distraction for the other workers, not to mention a waste of time and money. Her words, not mine. I was shocked. I heard Who Runway used to decorate for Christmas every year... that is until she was promoted to editor in chief."
"But... but that's not fair."
"I know it isn't. But nobody ever said life was fair." Franklin's phone beeped. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some files to fax." And he walked out the door just as Heather came in.
"What's with the long face?" Heather asked.
"Who Runway doesn't decorate for Christmas. It's sad." Martha replied with a frown.
"Well, there's nothing you can really do about that. Johanna forbids anything Christmassy, especially lights and ornaments, so you might as well get used to it." Heather sat down at her desk and let out a sneeze; she blew her nose with a tissue. "Blech..."
"How's your cold doing?"
"Still torture. Ugh, I hate winter."
"Really? I've always liked it, especially when it snows."
"Ugh, don't even get me started on snow. It is the worst. It's cold and wet and you can't do anything in it."
"That's not true; you can do all kinds of things in winter. You can go sledding, you can go ice skating, you can build things like forts or snowmen, you can have snowball fights and—"
"Yeah, I'm hearing this." Heather made a talking gesture with her hand. "...and I wanna hear this." She made a shut up gesture and Martha stayed quiet. Heather suddenly shot up. "Oh no! The benefit! It's tonight! I've been looking forward to it for weeks! I can't be sick, I need to be there."
"Ladies! I need you." Johanna's voice called from her office.
Heather and Martha looked at each other before slowly getting up and heading into Johanna's office to see what she wanted from them. They stood in front of her desk, anxiously waiting for their superior to speak.
"Johanna?" They both asked.
"For the benefit tonight, I need you both fully-prepped on the guest list." Johanna answered.
Heather and Martha looked at each other with wide eyes, then turned back to their boss.
"Both of us?" Martha asked. "But I thought only the first assistant went to the benefit."
"Only when the first assistant hasn't come down with such a contagious, pathological disease." Johanna said.
"But, Johanna, it's just a cold." Heather said.
"Yes, but it's still contagious, isn't it? But that's where you come in Martha. You will come and help Heather... That's all."
"Yes, Johanna." Both girls said, turning on their heels and heading back to their desks.
Heather took out two three-ring binders and gave one to Martha. "Okay, these are all of the guests who will be in attendance tonight. Johanna invited every single person in here and we have to make sure that they think she knows exactly who they are. I've been studying for weeks."
"I have to learn all of these by tonight?" Martha asked, flipping through the binder in disbelief.
"Don't be silly, Martha May. These ones, too." Heather pushed the second binder into her co-worker's hands and gave a smug smile; Martha sighed.
"August is going to kill me for this."
"Wait, what?"
"What?"
"You just said something about someone killing you."
"Uh, no I didn't. I didn't say anything."
"Yes, you did. Who's August?"
"Just someone I know. I'll tell you about him later, Heather. I gotta go; I've got a lot of studying to do. I also need to style my hair and pick out an outfit and shoes and everything."
"Wait, is there something I shoul—?"
"Bye."
Martha grabbed the two binders and briskly walked out the door... leaving her new purse behind. Heather noticed and picked it up before she started to rummage through it.
"Seriously, Martha?" She muttered. "No compact mirrors, eye liner, lipstick, or mascara? Just cheap lip balm, a wallet, a book, and a..." She spotted something else and reached for it. "...What's this?" She took it out and saw that it was a framed photo of Martha as a little girl with a creature she has never seen before. Her eyes widened. "What in the world is this?" She set the picture on the desk and took out the small book; it looked like Martha's diary. "Oooh, this oughta be good." She opened the book and started to read the first page.
"Heather, what are you doing out there?" Johanna called.
"Nothing, Johanna." Heather lied.
"Hey, I forgot my—Hey!" Martha's voice cried; Heather quickly turned around and hid the book and purse behind her back. "Heather, are you snooping through my purse?!" She snatched the bag, the book, and the framed picture from Heather and held them close. "How dare you!"
"How dare I? You just left it lying around." Heather retorted.
"That's no excuse to look through my stuff. Why would you do that?"
Heather opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the right words. Martha furrowed her brow and twisted her lips into a snarl as she put the journal and the picture back into her purse.
"Let us discuss this later." She hissed.
"There's something you're not telling me." Heather deduced with a sneer. "Why do you still have a diary? What's the point in carrying around that stupid picture? What was that green thing?"
"LATER."
Inhaling through her nose, Martha turned on her heels and walked out the door, leaving Heather completely speechless.