The next morning

"You're early," said Katie with a smile. She was returning to her hotel room from the coffee shop and found Mr. Cowall waiting outside her door. He was dressed in one of his typical suits with a lavender tie, but Katie couldn't help but admire how he commanded authority just by how he stood. He looked good. She reached out to hand him his latte as she approached. When he turned to look at her, she couldn't help but blush and smile.

The way he looked at her with those icy blue eyes sent a wave of warmth cascading through her body. It was a delicious contrast that left her craving more. His gaze lingered hungrily on her every curve and she loved it.

"I see you approve of my outfit this time," she said cheekily. She had decided that she needed to step up her game, but unfortunately all of her outfits were at least office-friendly, and the women here were not. So she made the best with what she had: opting for a vest, blouse, and pencil skirt combo, but ditching the blouse completely. The result was unadulterated cleavage that made Mr. Cowall's icy eyes pop. She decided to finish the look with stockings that met her skirt at her knees, and a simple pair of white pumps.

"V-very!" stammered Mr. Cowall, once he picked his jaw up from the floor. "I see the convention has already made an impact on you." He took the offered coffee, but didn't drink from it.

"Indeed!" She took a sip of her coffee and ruminated on the past twenty-four hours.

The convention was certainly unconventional. The women, especially, had surprised her. She had hoped to meet some high-powered business women, but the ladies there were anything but that. Katie had never seen so many hussies (as her mom would have labeled them) in her life. Previously, she would have written these women off as unworthy of her attention or assumed they were one daddy issue away from starring in a porno, but she came to learn that these women could offer some valuable insights, just as much as any of the men there. Her encounter with Carmella the previous day was one such example, but even that morning in the hotel gym, she came across another woman who she learned was named Jessica.

Katie was just finishing her workout when Jessica walked in. She was dressed in a turquoise athletic hoodie, black high-waisted leggings and impeccably pink runners. She was flashy and fashionable which was in stark contrast to Katie's usual gymwear of a t-shirt and sweatpants. At first, Katie didn't really pay much attention to her, she usually kept to herself at the gym, but when Jessica took off her hoodie, Katie was stunned by the woman's figure. There was no doubt in Katie's mind that she was in town for the convention: her black and pink tank top clung tightly to her large, fake boobs, but also to her impossibly tiny waist. It seemed like an impossible feat for a single piece of clothing, and on closer inspection Katie realized she wasn't wearing a tank top but instead a pink sports bra and a black corset.

"How do you workout in that thing? That looks uncomfortable," Katie asked. She couldn't stop herself. It was just so peculiar.

Jessica just smiled while she tied up her long raven-hair. "It's not terrible once you get used to it," she said, "But my waist is part of my brand, so I wear this trainer whenever I can get away with it."

"Your brand?" Katie asked curiously.

Jessica picked up a few dumbbells from the rack. "Oh ya. Your personal brand is an important way to set yourself apart from everyone else. If you don't have a brand, you'll find yourself missing out on so many... opportunities."

Katie continued to pick the woman's brain until she ran out of any spare time she had left. It turned out that Jessica had learned about personal branding at the convention years prior. It fascinated Katie but also made her seriously consider what her own personal brand entailed.

Jessica embodied her brand every waking moment, but Katie felt like lately she was trying to juggle two opposing brands and it was causing some turmoil in her life. Even her workout clothes were representative of one identity while she desperately wanted them to reflect another. Her sweatpants, t-shirt, and 2-year-old sneakers labeled her as a woman who valued saving money over appearances, which obviously fit the fiancé of Jake Taylor. But she desperately wanted to look like one of those girls who showed off their appearances and who caught men's attention at the gym. She usually kept to herself, generally considering the gym to be her "me time," but it would still be nice to be noticed, to be checked out while she did squats or deadlifts. That was a desire that she was finding more and more present in her daily life.

She knew she couldn't reasonably buy any new workout clothes, at least not until she and Jake bought a house. It was true that he would probably never see the workout clothes, she could reasonably keep them secret, but he would definitely notice the debits in their account. Considering she made him tighten up his own expenses, she knew that he would never let it fly if she bought expensive workout clothes and shoes just to be admired at the gym.

Of course, she could always ask Mr. Cowell to buy some for her, but he was a shrewd businessman and she knew he wouldn't just spend money without gaining some kind of value from his investments. It seemed like an impossible situation, but Katie thought about how good Jessica looked in her high-waisted leggings and her pink workout bra and she knew that in order to elevate her own personal brand, she'd have to figure out a way to improve her style outside of the office setting.

"Are you ready to go?" asked Mr. Cowall, snapping Katie from her reverie.

"I am!" she exclaimed and began walking with her boss towards the elevator. When they reached the doors and Mr. Cowall had pressed the button, Katie asked, "How do you feel about me wearing outfits at work that aren't so office-friendly?"

"You mean like your current outfit?" he asked. His glacial eyes could hardly be torn away from her chest.

"Maaaaybe..." she replied lasciviously, "How do you feel about buying some for me?"

Mr. Cowall laughed and the elevator doors opened. "I'm sure you could sway me."