Letting the days go by

While Nick had been on his date with Sylvia, there was someone else he had a date with the next day, and she was feeling pretty frustrated.

Clad in lingerie and back behind the counter, Kim drummed her fingers impatiently on the glass as she contemplated just how much she hated being here.

It was odd… only a few days without having to uphold her obligation, and that had been enough to transform a job that she’d grown to accept as part of her daily life into a major imposition that she couldn’t wait to be over.

Okay… I’ll admit it. I got used to taking days off work. …But that doesn’t mean anything! Kim quickly shook her head, trying to banish the intrusive thoughts that kept trying to worm their way into her brain.

Nope! There’s no way I can make a regular thing out of using that transformation!

Every bone in Kim’s body wanted to go back to the way things had been yesterday, when she was free from her obligations and could do the things she wanted to do, rather than the things she needed to do.

And could she really be blamed for that? After a whole life of always doing what she needed to do, it was only natural to want to focus on herself a little bit.

That was the trap Dakota had laid. And Kim had walked right into it blindly.

If only I’d never used that Sick Day transformation in the first place… then none of this ever would have happened!

If only…

If Kim had just resisted temptation the first time, she never would have known what she was missing. And then, she wouldn’t be feeling so miserable right now, with part of her wishing she could have just taken another day off, damn the consequences.

She knew that was part of Dakota’s plan. To open Kim up to the possibility of using her transformation, get her hooked, and then **** her to do the mature thing and stop. Like some two-bit **** dealer giving the first hit free, and making customers pay through the nose after they got hooked.

Kim balled up her hands into fists, digging her nails deep into her skin as she checked the clock.

Still a half-hour to go…

Because of her deal with Sylvia (which Dakota had thankfully honored) Kim only had to work four hours every day. And she’d started early in the morning, and it was getting closer and closer to lunchtime. That meant, any minute now, she would be free, and could take the rest of the day off to do what she liked.

Any minute now… or more like thirty of them.

Twenty-nine, actually. Yay.

This was far from the first time Kim had urged a clock to move faster on the job. Many a day had gone by where she waited impatiently to rush out that door to glorious freedom. And that had happened on this job once or twice, too! But somehow, it felt like the clocks had never gone as slowly as they were right now. That was ridiculous, of course- but not to Kim.

She’d believe Dakota was screwing with time itself, in her current condition.

Of course, the rational side of Kim knew that Dakota wasn’t to blame. She’d made an offer and Kim had chosen not to take it. She could be lounging by the pool with a drink in hand right now, wearing sunglasses and working on a tan. But she’d chosen to do the responsible thing, and go into work today.

…

Kim had never resented being responsible more than she did right now.

Twenty-seven minutes.

Nobody had come to buy lingerie today. At least if somebody had, things would have gone a bit faster, even if they decided not to make a purchase. But no, the ticking clock was the only company Kim had at the moment, and it wasn’t exactly a great conversation partner.

I wonder what Nick’s doing right now? I bet he’s probably in the middle of his date with Sylvia, huh? Wonder if they’d come this way… nah, I doubt it. Kim suspected Nick probably wanted to keep Sylvia far away from the other contestants when they were on their date together. Which made sense, considering how much Kim had teased him last time, when he came in with her and Amelia.

Whoops.

That’s an idea. I can come up with date plans. I still haven’t thought of anything to do with Nick tomorrow, have I? Kim knew that she was going to use Dream Alley. That went without saying. She had the BP to afford it, she was even taking a Sick Day off for it, she wanted to make this date absolutely perfect.

Because it was going to be the date where she and Nick finally went all the way.

They’d been dancing around it for weeks at this point. Even though Kim had been ready for some time now, somehow or another fate kept conspiring to ruin the mood. Well, no more! Kim was determined to get plowed tomorrow, if it was the last thing she did!

…Maybe she wouldn’t put it in as vulgar of terms as that, but still.

Taking a deep breath, Kim exhaled, and started going over ideas. That’s when she realized that she was thinking too much about this. All the stuff she was aching to do today? Why not just do that with him, tomorrow?

Yeah, that’ll work! First, we can… or maybe… hm, would he like that? When she thought about it that way, about trying to do what she wanted rather than trying to blow him away with the most impressive date ever, the ideas just wouldn’t stop coming! She thought fondly back to her first attempt at setting up a date, and how it had been derailed by Nick’s suggestion of going to the Amusement Park, where they’d shared their first kiss.

Back then, I needed him to tell me to do what I wanted to do. Now, it’s just coming out naturally. Kim couldn’t help but smile as she started to work out a concrete plan. And then, something struck her.

That’s right, I haven’t looked at the clock in a while, have I?

How long had she been coming up with ideas? It must have been at least five minutes. Maybe even ten! Probably not more than that, but it was possible, right? She’d know as soon as she looked at the clock… but she couldn’t.

She was on a roll now, and if she looked at the clock, it would all come crashing down. Because if she looked now, it would definitely be less time than she thought.

No, better to focus on the date, rather than the clock. Looking at the clock would be her reward for when she had the perfect idea ironed out!

So with her resolve reignited, she finally found something she could spend her remaining time at work thinking about!

DING!

Kim jumped, nearly falling over in shock. Her head snapped over to the door, filled with unreasonable resentment towards the prospective customer who hadn’t come during the three-and-a-half hours she’d been bored out of her skull, but right now when she actually had something to catch her attention.

When she saw who it was, that unreasonable resentment turned into ire.

“Heyo, Kim! How’s life in the lingerie business?” Vivian swaggered in like she owned the place, the way she usually did when it came to clothing stores.

Kim sucked on her gums and sighed.

“I was just in the middle of something, actually,” she replied, and with her concentration broken she couldn’t help but glance surreptitiously at the clock on the wall.

Twenty-one minutes. Fuck! I knew it.

“Anything I can help with?” Vivian asked, lowering her sunglasses.

Kim took a deep breath, and **** one of her best smiles onto her face. “No need!” She replied, trying to sound cheerful. “That’s my responsibility, after all. You’re the customer. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Vivian grinned. “Nah. Just window shopping. Killing time.”

Kim’s lips twitched and her smile nearly cracked off her face. Killing time? No kidding! You know what else you killed? My train of thought!

But she didn’t let her frustration leak out. Vivian had no idea what she’d interrupted, it wasn’t her fault. And as much as Kim didn’t like her, she wasn’t going to hold the other woman responsible every time she so much as stubbed her toe.

Besides, if Vivian didn’t need her help, she could return to thinking about her date!

…Or, she would, if not for the way the heiress was eyeballing her.

“…Is there anything else?” Kim asked, trying her best to remain polite.

“Just wanted a brief chat. You got time?” Vivian leaned over the counter like she was chatting up an old friend on the job, in spite of Kim’s well-documented antipathy towards her.

Kim glanced at the clock, then sighed. She turned back to Vivian without even bothering to put her smile back on. “…I have nineteen minutes,” she replied.

Vivian cringed a little, as if the idea of being on a timecard repulsed her. Kim felt the same way.

“Your date with Nick, that’s tomorrow, right?” Vivian stroked her chin, her eyes sparkling playfully over the rim of her sunglasses.

“That’s right,” Kim nodded. She studied the heiress’s mysterious smile suspiciously. “…Why?”

“Just curious. Wanted to compare notes, is all. You seem like a pretty meticulous person, so you’re the best one to ask.”

Kim blinked in surprise. “…Meticulous?”

“It means showing great attention to detail,” Vivina clarified.

“I know what it means,” Kim said snippily. “And why not ask Dawn? She’s much more ‘meticulous’ than I am.”

“Tried that. Morgana said she’s taking the day off, just hanging out in her room or something. Nice bed, I guess.”

Vivian shrugged. The Luxury Suite’s accommodations were rather similar to her own home furnishings, so she would know.

Back home in her mom’s apartment, Kim slept on a pull-out sofa.

“I still don’t see why you would come to me,” Kim replied, crossing her arms over her chest. It was an **** gesture showing her lack of comfort with Vivian’s presence and her desire to put up a wall between the two of them, which the heiress picked up on. So instead of cracking wise, she decided to opt for honesty instead.

“I’m a little nervous, myself.”

That threw Kim for a loop.

“You? Nervous?” She asked Vivian suspiciously, wondering what angle the heiress was playing. “I find that hard to believe.”

“Really?” Vivian cocked her head to the side and smirked. “Just because I’m such a savvy gal, Kim, doesn’t mean I can’t get nervous from time to time.”

Obviously that was true, Kim certainly could believe Vivian felt nervous on occasion.

But telling that to her? She found that a little harder to believe.

“Well, as much as I’d like to help,” Kim said in a tone of voice that indicated she’d like nothing of the sort, “I’m not sure what you want from me.”

Vivian shrugged. “You’re planning your date with him, right? Lay it on me. What’s the scoop?”

Kim raised her eyebrow. Was Vivian serious right now? “What’s ‘the scoop’? Seriously? You think I’m going to just tell you what I’m planning for my date?”

Another shrug.

“Couldn’t hurt. Maybe I could workshop it with you. Iron out the finer points, maybe?”

Her smile looked sincere. But then, could Kim really believe it? This was Vivian Carrington, after all, and she’d been breezing through her first week on the show causing trouble wherever she went.

“So you want us to help each other out, is that right?” Kim asked, considering Vivian’s words carefully. “Plan out dates together?”

Vivian nodded. “That way, we can make sure we’re not stepping on each other’s toes,” she pointed out. “You’ll get to do something fun and original, and so will I! And that way, Nick will remember both of our dates a lot better!”

Kim could definitely see the logic in that. The heiress’s angle was obvious, if they worked together to make sure they didn’t overlap their ideas, then they would both have a better chance of standing out in Nick’s mind.

Two problems though.

“First of all,” Kim said, “I doubt that you and I would come up with anything even remotely similar to each other.”

She suspected Vivian would probably invite Nick to go surfing in a wave pool made of caviar or eat at gold-wrapped restaurants or buy a small country or something like that. Not exactly the sort of fanciful activities Kim would find herself coming up with.

“Second, it seems like this benefits you a lot more than it does me. I’m going first, after all, so even if we had the exact same date planned, you’re the only one who’d suffer for it, not me.” Kim suspected that Vivian was trying to get her to do something less impressive, so she could wow Nick in comparison. And it’s not like the heiress would have to keep her word, either. Once Kim’s date was finished, Vivian could change hers up and do whatever she liked.

No, no matter how she looked at it, this proposal had nothing but downsides for Kim.

Vivian just smiled. The gleam in her eye suggested that she’d anticipated exactly these arguments from Kim, and it seemed like she had responses loaded up and ready to go as well.

“Just because you’re going first, doesn’t mean it’ll be an advantage for you,” Vivian pointed out. “If two people design similar dresses for fashion week, they both come across as derivative- regardless of who goes first. People remember uniqueness and originality. First… isn’t as much of a factor as you might think.”

Kim frowned. That almost sounded like it made sense.

“Plus… I think I could give you a run for your money, regardless of if we have the same date or not,” Vivian added.

If not for the anti-**** rules, Kim would have socked in her the jaw on principle.

But again… Vivian had a point. She was stylish and classy, and knew how to have a good time.

“First” wasn’t worth a lot in comparison.

“…Fine,” Kim relented. “You wanted to talk about ideas?” She checked the clock again. Ten minutes.

“So you’re in?” Vivian brightened.

Kim held up her hand. “I’ll think about it,” she replied.

Vivian’s offer wasn’t without merit. Everyone had a lot of fun at the beach party the other day, and that had been spearheaded by the heiress. Gina might have been the party girl of the harem, but Vivian knew how to have a good time as well.

And honestly… Kim was lacking pretty heavily in the dating department. It wasn’t like she had a deep well of experience to draw on.

Maybe getting advice from someone who could throw a party like that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, even if Kim personally didn’t like her very much.

Wait… that’s right!

A murky feeling rose up in Kim’s gut as she remembered her earlier boredom and frustration.

If it wasn’t for that party, I wouldn’t have used my Sick Day transformation in the first place!

Vivian had cajoled and manipulated her, damn near threatened her, all to get Kim to take a day off work for the party.

That wasn’t to say that Kim hadn’t agreed with her reasoning at the time. And she’d even had fun doing it, too. If you held a gun to Kim’s head and asked her if she regretted going to the beach party, she would have to honestly answer “No.”

But that wasn’t the point.

If it wasn’t for Vivian disrupting her daily schedule and showing her what she could have every day if she wanted, Kim wouldn’t have gotten a taste of the higher life of slacking off, and she wouldn’t have been suffering so much this morning over what had once been a passing obligation she barely even thought about.

Again, Rational Kim knew that blaming Vivian for that was completely unreasonable. But Rational Kim was the same boring square who got her into this mess in the first place by convincing her not to take a Sick Day today.

Kim could have been lounging around taking it easy. Instead, she was here, **** to talk about date plans with Vivian for another eight minutes.

So Kim came up with an idea. It might have been a little naughty, but she figured that with all the fun Vivian had at other girls’ expense, maybe she had it coming just a little bit.

Even if she didn’t.

“Actually, I still have to be on the clock for another ten minutes or so,” Kim said, interrupting Vivian before she could pitch any ideas. “Maybe we could wait until I’m done here?”

Vivian blinked. “I mean, sure, but why?”

“Oh, there’s this great place I know, just down the street,” Kim said, nodding her head towards the door. “A hot spring? It’s got a spa. I like going there to relax after a long day’s work. I’m kind of at the end of my rope here, so any ideas I might have, they probably won’t be very good until I’ve had a chance to unwind.”

Vivian brightened and nodded in understanding. “Oh, totally! I completely agree, unwinding at a spa is just the best. I know this great place back home, it’s rated incredibly high in terms of wellness. All the biggest movers and shakers go there with their mistresses because of the amenities.”

Kim had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep her smile plastered on her lips. “Is that right?”

“So, ten minutes, right?” Vivian asked. “I’ll do a bit of window shopping, then when you’re done, we can head over for a dip in the spring.”

“Right, shouldn’t be long,” Kim nodded, glancing at the clock. Six minutes. “Oh, and we should absolutely check out the steam room while we’re there. Dani said it was a great place to… unload. After a massage? Fantastic. Never been myself.”

“Well, sounds like a party!” Vivian grinned. “My treat.”

She headed off to browse the shelves, leaving Kim to think things through.