Today was her first official day at work. And Catherine was late. To begin with, she unforgivably overslept, then fussed for a long time choosing what to wear. Maxim's words about her appearance were painfully hurt: "No style, no taste."

"We'll see!" She put down her hairbrush and once more meticulously examined herself from head to toe.

She was wearing a strict black suit: a pencil skirt, a jacket of a semi-fitted silhouette, refreshed by a snow-white blouse with a huge bow collar; on her feet are black low-heeled shoes.

And Catherine still couldn't find her overalls.

"The question is, how can you manage to lose something in such a small space?"

She rushed around the room in a panic, looking into the most unpredictable places. She stumbled over an empty shoe box and nearly fell, grabbing onto the headboard in time, brushing her things onto the floor. And it was immediately discovered that it was missing. She fished out a jumpsuit from a pile of laundry, carefully folded it, and put it, along with T-shirts, in an overflowing bag. And rushed off to work. Well, as “from all legs”, she never learned to walk beautifully in heels, not to mention the fact that running in her performance was still a spectacle.

Today she had to take a lot of pictures and take measurements. Katrin planned to make plans and sketches in three days, draw up a shopping list, but before that, she still had to choose specific materials, furniture, lamps with the customer, make scans and transfer all this to the project.

“And then I’ll calmly start computer modeling and fully work out the design idea.”

Catherine never stopped thinking about her work for a minute while she got to the office, mentally playing with the free space, and she already had interesting ideas.

She knew it wasn't the best thing to be late for a newbie on her first day at work, but she couldn't help it. One hope is that everyone who was supposed to come has already come.

“Good afternoon,” Katrin greeted politely, running past the stunned guards and waving a heavy bag.

On the way, I almost knocked down some weirdo, slowly hobbled towards the elevator, quickly said “Sorry” and, without looking back, rushed forward. And she thought to herself: “It seems that not everything is as strict in this company as it seemed at first glance, if employees can afford to come to the workplace whenever they want.” She did not pay attention at all to the overdressed dude hurrying from the side of the entrance. All her thoughts were about how to quickly get out of sight from the first floor.

“Three elevators, and everyone is busy,” she pressed the buttons of each of them in turn, without noticing that she began to tap the toe of her shoe on the floor.

Behind her, someone stopped and, just like her, patiently waited for the arrival of at least one elevator.

— Oh, Monsieur Bigard, good day to you! sounded nearby. Catherine's insides cringed, she involuntarily tried to pull her head into her shoulders.

"Mother! Well, just wonderful! Show up on the first day at your workplace with the CEO. She glanced cautiously at the next lift. “And if you defiantly go to another elevator?”

How glad I am to meet you! The voice that sounded behind her had an ingratiating note. “I consider it a pleasant duty to pay my respects to you.

"Hello," was the polite and cold reply. Catherine's heart skipped a beat. The CEO's low, vibrating voice made something deep inside tremble. Catherine slightly turned her head to better hear every word. “I don’t remember, do we know each other?” - said Monsieur Bigard, hinting at the fact that it is impolite to address strangers.

“Oh, yes, you don’t know me, but you may have heard,” apparently, someone extended his hand to the director, “my name is Gabriel Delavigne, I will be engaged in the design of the floor and offices.

“Yes, yes, now I remember, I saw your name in the documents that I signed yesterday,” Maxim Bigar’s tone was extremely polite.

"What a bastard!" Catherine bit her lower lip. "Even here he did not fail to point out that someone else's name meant nothing to him."

Finally, one of the elevators was at the bottom, the shutters parted. Catherine had a desire to step aside and let these two wonderful gentlemen pass so that they could continue their conversation without prying ears.

“After all, she’ll probably think that she’s chickened out,” she decided and boldly went inside.

She slowly turned to face the exit and breathed a sigh of relief: Maxim Bigar was already standing with his back to her.

“I hate it!” Katrin mentally uttered into the director’s shorn head and finally confirmed her opinion: “Still, it was a bad idea to take on this job!” And she turned her gaze to Monsieur Delavigne.

A tall, thin man of indeterminate age (he could easily have been in his thirties or forties), with blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, was wearing short, ankle-length, form-fitting brown trousers and a V-neck T-shirt, with a a bright green silk scarf was tied, and a mustard-colored jacket completed the composition.

The cold, hard look of light blue eyes slid disdainfully over the girl's figure, but even this was enough to make her feel uncomfortable in her favorite costume. Once again, for some reason, Katrin straightened the bow on her chest and proudly raised her head.

“Come to your senses! What are you doing?” – By an effort of will she made me look away. But she could not resist and furtively looked at the designer’s hair. and proudly smoothed her light brown hair.

Monsieur Bigard, let me ask you. - Monsieur Delavigne turned in profile: a high forehead is open, a sharp nose, large cheekbones protrude forward, and the line of the lips is compressed into a thin thread of displeasure. Waiting for the director's condescending nod, he continued: "Why is one of the offices struck out of my contract?" I received a phone call yesterday after lunch and was asked to come up today and sign a new contract, in which the area has changed. When I asked if it increased, they answered me: on the contrary, it decreased. Yesterday I did not attach any importance to this, but today I have questions. I am just now walking from the legal department, where they explained to me the reasons for changing the contract: Monsieur Masnado refused my services, he preferred to entrust the design of his office to another designer. - Gabriel's voice became even higher, the wings of his nose fluttered, and he himself was barely able to catch his breath. — My main principle of achieving success is to turn the desires of each customer into a clear vision. And I am quite capable of such work. This is not just a statement, but years of experience.

“Mommies! - It felt like Catherine had received a blow in the stomach: she did not have enough air, and everything was trembling inside. Only by an effort of will did the girl force herself to stand with a stone face and pretend that all this did not concern her.

Maxime turned his head and grinned, leaned almost imperceptibly towards Monsieur Delavigne and in a penetrating voice, as if talking to an old friend, advised:

“You'd better talk to him about it yourself.

Catherine studied the CEO's profile with curiosity.

“I just wanted to know the name of the lucky one who was taken instead of me. - It was evident that the designer was seriously upset: his teeth were clenched, his lips were tightly compressed, he was looking at the interlocutor intently. Catherine even thought she heard a grinding of teeth.

The elevator has stopped. Maxim went out, but turned around, shifted the messenger bag from one hand to the other, said convincingly, for some reason looking into Catherine's face:

“And you'd better talk to Monsieur Masnado about that too.

Gabriel followed his gaze and looked curiously at Catherine.

- Hello! Katrin greeted politely, and she herself was ready to fall through the floor. Before her stood the most famous avant-garde designer, whose name was pronounced with admiring aspiration not only by beginners like her, but also among those who already had a reputation. His work was set as an example, and the fees he received were legendary.

The doors closed and the elevator went up. On the seventh floor, the cabin stopped, Gabriel let the lady go ahead, following her with a curious look.