Chapter 1

Faye was a virgin. In college of all places! It wasn’t that she was a prude, and she certainly was no hermit hiding away in her dorm room.

In fact, far from it. Faye was a typical, everyday, outgoing college student. She was relatively popular from all the clubs and activities she participated in and was active in community events too.

She remained a virgin because of her religious upbringing. That’s just the type of person she was. She stuck with her beliefs and the values which had been instilled in her. Even as her best friends dated and had sex, Faye stuck to her path and resisted it all.

There were certainly challenges that came with being a vibrant young woman in a big city environment. The harder she worked, the more she craved release like everyone else. Never did she expect that her budding career would lead her towards the path to womanhood, to her inevitable sexual awakening.

It was the final month of fall semester and Faye was hoping that her internship would turn into her dream job. University was almost over, and her parents certainly weren’t rich. She needed this job and she listened attentively as her middle-aged female boss explained the upcoming promotional campaign.

As a paid intern for a marketing firm in the city, Faye was being tasked with helping to create a promotional campaign to sell high-end gift baskets. These gift baskets were filled with all sorts of expensive products from the firm’s clients.

It was Faye’s shot at truly proving herself among the crowd of talented interns.

She sat in the office for a one-on-one meeting, with her boss dressed in a chic, tight fitted suit skirt and blazer; Faye dressed similarly, but at a much lower price range.

“I wish you the best,” her boss said. “To be honest, I really want to give you a full-time position after you graduate. But you’ve got to show me something.”

Faye nodded, accepting the challenge. “Believe me, I won’t let you down. This means the world to me. I love this place. I honestly don’t want to work anywhere else but here.”

“Your fellow interns share the same sentiment.”

Faye resisted the urge to frown. “I know, and I wish them all the best too.”

“This is serious stuff, this campaign. Upper management is keeping an eye on this project, and the word is that they’ll hire a couple of new recruits. It all depends on individual performances.”

Faye took a short breath, hiding the fact that she was getting nervous. At a time like this, she needed to show leadership.

“Realistically, what do you think my chances are?”

“Realistically?” the boss repeated. “I think your chances are solid, but you never know around here. Competition is fierce.”

“You’ve got that right,” Faye agreed. “These people are all so talented.”

“You think the other interns are talented? Wait until you mingle with and work alongside the executives and other top-tier brains around here. It’s a whole new level of creativity. Any little advantage helps.”

“Do you have any tips?” Faye asked with extra politeness, with a cute little smile behind her words.

“Sure, don’t fuck up.”

The two women shared a giggle and exchanged a few more words to blow off some steam. It was late in the afternoon and time to go home.

When the boss stood and fixed her blazer, a business card conveniently fell out of her pocket and landed near Faye’s feet. Oddly enough, the boss made no effort at all to pick up the card, leaving Faye to do the menial task.

The card landed face up and read: High Heels, Red Lipstick

There was what appeared to be a lipstick marking of a kiss on it. In the brief moment that Faye looked at it, she couldn’t tell if the kiss was put there by someone’s mouth, or if it was part of the print design.

Faye picked it up and handed it back to her boss as they both stood and prepared to leave.

“Here you go,” Faye said, slightly peeved that her boss, whom she deeply respected, would make her pick it up.

They always had a good relationship. A great relationship, in fact. Her boss really went out of her way to mentor and look after Faye, giving advice and pointers whenever possible. Now here they were; the boss making Faye pick up a card she dropped like the intern was nobody to her.

“Oh, thanks so much,” the boss said, feigning sincerity and putting the card back in her pocket. “I don’t know what I’d do without it.”

There was an unusual tone in the boss’s voice, like she was playing it up. Faye was a smart girl and she picked up on the cue.

“What is that, anyway? A department store?”

The boss feigned a sense of secrecy. “Oh, it’s nothing you’d be interested in. Although, I do credit them with being the key to my success.”

Faye jokingly put her hands on her own hips in a mocking gesture and gave the boss a ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ look. Normally she’d never give that kind of look to a superior, but there was an obvious playfulness to what her boss was doing. It was almost like a game where the boss was taunting Faye to dig deeper.

“If you have secrets to success, I’d like to know please,” Faye said sternly, yet politely.

“Promise you won’t tell?”

Faye’s eyes widened and she got closer. “Yes, of course.”

Faye whispered in the private office. “Yes, I swear.”

“I mean it, Faye. I could lose my job for getting you involved with something like this.”

Now Faye was thirsting for gossip. “Really? Why? What’s so salacious about it?”

“Company policy to avoid lawsuits. I’m not allowed to get this close with employees or interns.”

“God, you’re killing me,” Faye said with excitement. “Tell me already. I swear I won’t tell anyone! I’m a woman of my word.”

The boss stuck out her pinky finger. “Pinky promise?”

“Pinky swear,” Faye replied, locking her pinky finger with her boss’s.

“A woman has helped me with my confidence issues. She’s really helped me break out of my shell. If you’re interested, I can put you in contact with this group. You could be their client.”

“Confidence issues? You?”

The boss shrugged, “What can I say? It’s a common flaw most people have.”

“Is it expensive?” Faye asked, totally interested in this. “I’d love to join whatever you’re a part of, but I’m on a tight budget.”

The boss thought for a moment. “I’ll tell you what. I’ve been a loyal customer of Red Lipstick for the past few years. I’m sure they’ll give me a discount on this. I’ll pay for you.”

“Oh, thanks, but I can’t ask you to do that.”

The boss put her hand on Faye’s shoulder. “I insist. My gift to you. Think of this as grooming the next generation of talented employees around here.”

“Thanks so much,” Faye smiled. “I hope it’s not costly.”

“That’s my concern, not yours.”

Faye flashed a skeptical look. “You dropped that card on purpose, didn’t you? You wanted me to see it.”

“Who me? Never. And I’ll do this for you on one condition.”

“I want all the details,” the boss said. “Every last one. Keep in mind, everything is optional. You don’t have to do anything you aren’t comfortable with, but if you do, promise me you’ll fill me in. I want to know your progress.”

Faye winked. “I promise to keep you informed.”

As a girl of her word, Faye meant it. She never turned down a good opportunity, and she always kept her promises. Oh, if she only knew what she was getting into with this…

Thank fuck college is almost over, she thought. She truly did love the experience of it though: the new friends, the academic clubs, the life lessons. It was great, but it was a time in her life where she felt stuck as a budding flower. She wanted to grow into a woman of the ‘real world.’ Dressing nicely, rubbing shoulders with people in the subway during rush hour, and gossiping about rude employees with her new colleagues (whoever they may be).

But there would be time for that later. Right now, she had to focus on passing final exams so she could graduate by winter. Being a college student was a lot of fun, even though there was a lot of stress. With her work ethic, though, she was unstoppable.

Sure there were distractions. Namely her roommate who often pranced half naked around their little place. That was a real culture shock to Faye when she first became roomies with this other girl to whom nudity was nothing. The roommate would just return from classes and start stripping away like it was no big deal.

However, it was a very big deal to Faye. It was the first time in her life that she finally started to feel comfortable with nudity. And as her roomie was attractive, this was the first time in Faye’s young life that she truly questioned her sexuality

That was supposed to be part of the college experience, right?

When her roommate was attending class, Faye had the place to herself. She sat by the desk where her laptop was set up and opened her Skype.

At around 2 pm– the meeting time –Faye received a request message from the person with whom she was supposed to “meet.”

Once the video feed opened, Faye saw a highly attractive mid-30 year old woman sitting in what appeared to be an office. This woman looked to be sharply dressed, with professionally done makeup and red lipstick that could make a gay man turn straight.

This was Elizabeth. The woman whom her boss had arranged for her to meet.

It started off like a normal work call; they exchanged greetings and pleasantries, but quickly got down to business.

“Now tell me a little about your task,” Elizabeth said.

“Well, I’ve been tasked with creating a promotional campaign to sell luxury gift baskets. Basically the firm is using this as a way to gauge my potential employment.”

“Smart move on their part. That’s a great marketing firm, by the way.”

Faye couldn’t help but change the subject a little. “How do you know my boss anyway? Are you two friends?”

“I usually don’t discuss connections, but you can say that we’ve become friends and share a close relationship. We still like to keep in touch.”

“How did you two meet, though?”

Elizabeth winked at the cam. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret anymore, would it?”

“Fair enough,” Faye said with understanding. “Can you at least tell me what you do? Are you like a marketing strategist or something?”

“Not exactly. In this capacity, think of me as a life coach. I bring out the best in people. In exchange, if people are satisfied with my work, they reward me.”

The response was intentionally vague, and Faye left it at that. All she knew was that her boss had recommended this person, and that her boss would never let her down.

“Okay, so what next?” Faye asked.

“Start by telling me about you. Relevant details about your personal life, and from there, I’ll know how to handle you.”

So, Faye revealed the relevant information: that she was a college student who was embracing the daily grind like everyone else. Of course, she also mentioned how hard she’d been working on the internship and how she hoped to land a job after graduation.

“That’s me in a nutshell,” Faye said to the webcam. “Your typical, run-of-the-mill college student senior.”

“Ah, the good ole days. You’ve certainly got your shit together. I was a disaster at your age.”

Faye smiled, “Speaking of which, can you tell me about you? I’d love to hear about your bio or whatever.”

Returning the favor, Elizabeth talked about her outgoing youth, traveling from place to place, her major as a psychology student at a pretty decent university, a bit about her personal life, which was sort of vague, and finally about how she does seasonal work with High Heels, Red Lipstick.

“I guess I’ve always had a knack for dealing with business people,” Elizabeth noted. “My mom was an office worker, and she used to tell me all about her days and experiences, so I suppose my education began there. Since then, I’ve honed my skills in this field.”

“Sounds like a nifty skill.”

“Oh yes. Whenever a businesswoman client seeks our services, I’m often the one assigned to the job.”

“I’ve got to respect a woman who’s mastered her craft,” Faye joked.

“We’ll see about that once the job is done. Each case is different, but based on how this conversation is going so far, I think we’ll do great together. Your boss was right about you.”

Faye beamed. “What did my boss say about me?”

“I’ll tell you later, if you’re a good girl,” Elizabeth said with a wry smile.

The choice of words and the subtlety in Elizabeth’s voice left Faye unsure of how to react, so she switched back to business mode.

“Anyway…what’s the plan? Sorry to rush things, but I don’t want my roommate hearing this conversation.”

“Is your roommate a fellow intern at the same marketing firm?”

“No, it’ll just be weird if she hears our chat,” Faye admitted. “You know, the fact that I’m talking business strategy with someone I’ve met online, and I don’t even know exactly what you do.”

“Let’s try and change that, shall we? The truth is, my methods are highly unorthodox. As you may come to find, however, they do work. Either way, you have nothing to lose.”

“I’m always up for anything,” Faye said. “And my boss was very generous in paying for this.”

“When this is all over, and you get the job you want, you can return the favor to your boss, and I don’t mean with money.”

Once again, Faye was slightly caught off guard by the remark, but she chose to ignore it.

“Tell me about the gift baskets,” Elizabeth asked in a more business-like tone. “What’s in it? Who’s the target demographic?”

Finally, the conversation was less personal and more business oriented.

“Well, the gift baskets are geared toward professional, working adults. There are all sorts of things, depending on which one is purchased. For a men’s gift basket, there could be things like shaving accessories and items for a male’s wardrobe. Necessities for travel, and such.”

“And for the women’s gift basket?” Elizabeth inquired further.

“For a woman’s basket, there are things such as compact mirrors, creams, and a variety of oils. Perfect for preparation and relaxation.”

Elizabeth gave an approving look. “Are you free to meet on Friday morning, at 9 am, downtown?”

“Sure, that’ll work.”

“Bring the gift basket,” Elizabeth instructed. “And dress casually. I’ll send you the address of a boutique that my friend owns. We’ll have privacy there, and to put it bluntly, I’ll help rebuild you to become the perfect you.”