Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 61851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
It was a feeling she never wanted to end.
Chapter Eighteen
The following Monday afternoon, sitting in the office area in the back of the boutique, Jessica checked the website design for the launch of Curvy Girl Couture Lingerie, which was set to go live in less than two weeks, right when the new line of intimate apparel debuted to the fashion industry. She loved the sensual but modern layout of the site, the sexy new logo, the branding, and especially the tagline across the top that read: Every woman deserves to feel sexy and desired.
Jessica grinned, her heart swelling with pride and excitement. That statement, which she’d come up with herself, summed up exactly how she felt about the entire collection of lingerie and her reason for creating each piece. She wanted every woman to know that they were sexy and desirable, no matter their shape or size, and she couldn’t wait for her creations to finally become available for purchase. Definitely on this new website and here in the boutique, but also hopefully with Belle Demoiselle, for more exclusive items not available anywhere else.
Exhilaration and indescribable joy filled her, to know that the past year’s hard work was so close to becoming a reality. That she’d accomplished something special that would lift a woman’s confidence and make her feel beautiful in the process.
Finished with her perusal, she typed her notes and the few minor changes she’d found into an email to the website designer, just as her cellphone started to ping with social media notifications. Wanting to get this information sent before the end of the day, she ignored the annoying alerts.
Jessica finished with the email just as Avery came running into the back room clutching her cell phone, her eyes wide and her expression panicked.
“Oh, my God, Jessica!” Avery exclaimed.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Jessica abruptly stood up from her desk, trying not to panic at her best friend’s distraught look. “Avery, is everything okay?”
She shook her head frantically. “No. You need to look at your phone right now and any social media notifications that have come through.”
“Okay.” Worried now, Jessica picked up her phone, unlocked the screen, and was shocked at the number of notifications, all tagging Curvy Girl Couture.
Feeling a trickle of trepidation, she clicked on her Instagram link and sucked in a breath when she saw what was circulating online . . . four untouched, not-yet-photoshopped, raw photo images of the women wearing her lingerie creations. None of their stretch marks, cellulite or blemishes had been smoothed out, and she immediately recognized the pictures from the recent photo shoot for the Curvy Girl Couture Lingerie catalog and launch. But these weren’t the images she had selected for the final campaign, and she couldn’t figure out how any of the originals had leaked.
Until she remembered Claire had been in this back room last week, and Jessica had caught her sifting through the pictures. Jessica had startled her and Claire had dropped one of the photos she’d been holding and whirled around, one hand clutching her purse. Clearly, she’d managed to steal a few of the images before Jessica had interrupted her.
With a lump in her throat, Jessica scrolled through the various social media posts, devastated by the ridicule and negative, mean comments directed at the models, who’d been so proud to showcase the lingerie, the loungewear, the seductive boudoir pieces. They didn’t deserve to be targeted like this, let alone be humiliated by assholes who believed they were superior in some way. The power of anonymity on the internet, she thought bitterly.
Avery stepped beside her and put an arm around Jessica. There was nothing her best friend could do or say.
In silence, Jessica continued her browsing until she came upon a forward of the original post with the headline, Not every woman deserves to feel sexy and desired, an obvious attempt to mock her original slogan.
Jessica couldn’t breathe. It was such a personal and direct attack, fueled by online trolls and internet bullies who hid behind random usernames. She felt so helpless as the notification pings continued. The reposting and body shaming snowballed into something so huge there was nothing she could do to stop the onslaught of demeaning, cutting remarks and criticism. Not just of the models but of any woman who didn’t fit the ideal mold of current beauty standards.
Her eyes filled with angry tears, and feeling absolutely defeated, she sank back down into her chair because her legs were too wobbly to keep her upright. Avery just stood by her side, her rock until the bitter end, which was coming all too soon. It was only a matter of time before Belle Demoiselle saw the belittling posts that were directly connected to Jessica’s lingerie brand . . . and then what?
Everything she’d worked so hard for would come crashing down, and she wasn’t sure how she would recover. The emotional toll of the harsh criticism was bad enough, but the damage to her business and her character couldn’t be repaired.