BEAUTY

"Alright everyone listen up!" Kaye clapped her hands to get the attention of her agents. "The senior managers called us for a meeting at 4:30 a.m. which is thirty minutes from now so, what will happen is... I will be leaving you guys in Jestoni's good hands. Please listen to her for instructions so you would know what to do once your inside the production floor. There will be activities as well. I'll be back as soon as the meeting is adjourned."

"Yes, Ms. Kaye." answered her agents crisply. 

 "And make sure you address her as a woman, are we good?" Jestoni was a male with a female heart, so everyone addressed him with 'she' and 'her'. Kaye would always remind them that to avoid hurting their instructor's feelings. He really liked being addressed as a woman.

"Aye aye captain Kaye!" joked her agents while she took her coat and phone before she left everyone in silence. After making sure that their supervisor left already, everyone started whispering with their seatmates. 

"We've been in training for a month now and everytime I see her, I can't help admiring her beauty." said one of the girls with her hands on her chest while remembering how her supervisor looks. "She's dazzling! Ahhh, am I becoming a les now?"

"I know right. I was even praying that she would slip on the floor so she won't be perfect anymore." chipped in another agent while rolling her eyes.

 Jestoni, the instructor, couldn't help but smile while preparing the materials for their training. 'Girls now a days prefer beauty over characters' he thought to himself while shaking his head. 'Kaye is indeed pretty and has a good heart.'

"And she has a nice pair of legs. I'm glad we're all girls in this batch, else she would be the fantasy of men after training."

"But I am curious though..." the girl turned to Jestoni before saying, "Ms. Jess, does Ms. Kaye wear turtleneck all the time? Cause for this whole month, I've never seen her without a turtleneck." Jestoni looked at the girl carefully and did not answer for a while.

"Now that you've mentioned it, I noticed it too." added by another girl who was wearing a glasses. Jestoni faced the trainees as he tucked his hair behind his ear.

"You ladies are very observant. Yes, our pretty Ms. Kaye loves turtleneck clothing. She has a whole wardrobe of turtleneck. If you have any questions, just ask her directly 'kay?" Jestoni finished his preparation and started the training before the agents could ask him other things. "And I am pretty, too." he added which made everyone laugh heartily.

"Ms. Jess is the prettiest" commented one of the trainees.

"I know that is a joke." Jess rebutted while writing something on the whiteboard.

When Kaye arrived at the tenth floor where the function room is located, she met one of the supervisors from a different account which was one of her trainees before. How fast time flies.

"Hello Sam. You're looking good today." greeted Kaye to the other supervisor.

"Not as pretty as you are." Sam rebutted while checking her outfit. "Your outfit looks different. Is this the one from Paris? It has a different feeling in it."

"Oh shut up Sam. I always wear turtleneck clothing. What's different about it?" they both laughed at her remark regarding her outfit. "Have you tried the facial cream I gave you?" asked Kaye, changing the topic as they looked for a vacant seat. She put her phone on the table before pulling the chair to sit.

"Oh yes, dear. I'm so grateful for that. Let me know if your friend can buy another one. I would pay her twice the amount. It's very effective..." 'Of course it is effective. That's what I used before, though my condition is hopeless.' thought Kaye to herself while giving slight nod to Sam's chatter. They continued their chitchat while waiting for the meeting to start.

It was six in the morning already when the meeting was adjourned. Kaye was beyond famished so she hurried herself to the pantry and ate something before going back to her agents. After an hour, she went back to the training room to check their progress.

"Just continue." she said when everyone went silent on her arrival. She sat down on her swivel chair, turned on her two computers and checked her emails for updates.

Jestoni gave instructions to the trainees about the activity that they need to submit after an hour. He then took a seat in front of Kaye's table.

"Pretty Kaye, are there any changes on the schedule bidding that you guys talked earlier?" asked Jess as he looked around trying to see if anyone is cheating.

"Nope. They didn't go for it. Everyone was fine with the schedule bidding that will happen every six months so it was a vote of the majority to veto the proposal."

"Thank goodness. I was really alarmed with the proposal of changing the schedule monthly." Jess breathed heavily with a relief sigh.

"Girl, you're not the only one who was alarmed." she chuckled seeing the relief on Jess' face. "Hello, flexibility isn't measure to changes in time alone. You know what I mean." Kaye responded as she typed something on her computer and checking data running on the other one. A supervisor has a lot of work, so she needed to multitask.

"By the way, these trainees are curious as to why you're wearing turtleneck everyday. And that includes me too. We've been together for two years now as a partner but I haven't seen you with a different style of clothing." Jess looked into her eyes as if trying to capture any emotions passing in her eyes.

"I'm comfortable with it. Besides, beauty isn't measured with your style of clothing." she paused on her work and look outside the window. She noticed Jess standing up in her peripheral vision. 'I'm just letting you see what I want you to see. You would be scared silly if you would see the real me' said the good Kaye in her head.

She remembered her first encounter with her mother, she was the first one to say she's pretty.

"No matter what happens, you will always be pretty. If you don't like these dresses, I will give you this," her mom showed her a blue turtleneck sweatshirt "it is still beautiful." her mother said when she first arrived at her new home.

Her mother bought her a lot of beautiful clothes and her father gave her toys as well, but she never touched the dresses. Her mother gave her the first turtleneck sweatshirt back then. From then on, she would only buy turtleneck clothing. Overtime, she would wear other styles given by her friends but those are for 'Home Use Only' clothes.

Her biological parents died and she was found inside the burning house by one of their neighbors who heard her screaming. She was sent to an orphanage since she has no other known relative. She was adopted by her parents when she was seven years old and meeting her foster parents was the first time that Kaye felt love.

They never forced her to speak when she was on her adjusting period. They took care of her as if she was their own. Her foster parents doesn't have a child because her mother has a problem with her uterus.

All the blessing she has wouldn't happened if it wasn't for the woman who encouraged her to live and that childhood friend whom she couldn't forget.

"Good bye Ms. Jess. Bye Ms. Kaye!" Kaye was pulled back from her reverie when the trainees bid her goodbye.

"Bye everyone. See you tonight." she responded to them as she saved her files and turned off her computer. "Jess, I'll buy some groceries for next week, I can let you use my membership card for discount." she offered to Jestoni.

"Wonderful! I need to save for my facial treatment! Let me just grab my things." he was humming while keeping his materials on the drawers.

"Why do you need facial treatment?" she raised her brows while watching him pack his things.

"Duhh. I'm not beautiful like you. Anyway, you wouldn't understand." Kaye was speechless on his remark.

'I'M NOT BEAUTIFUL, OKAY?' she yelled internally to her colleague. "Let's go." both of them left the company and hailed a taxi going to the supermarket.

"What facial treatment are you planning to have this weekend?" Kaye asked curiously since she was not familiar with any treatment.

"I'm planning to deal with my acne and my pores -" Jess wasn't able to finish enumerating the treatment when Kaye asked him. "I understand the acne part but what's wrong with your pores?" she can't stop asking since having a pores was not a problem.

"My dear, just don't ask 'kay? You wouldn't need it anyway. You're making things difficult for me." Kaye burst into laughter seeing Jestoni's troubled expression.

"Alright. I'll stop." she looked outside the window to see the surroundings. "Sir, just drop as off at the La Vida Supermarket." she reminded the driver before they forgot where they were going.

They paid their fare and went directly to the supermarket. She took out her what-to-buy list which contains the things she needed for the next 2 weeks.

Jess also took out his phone, "uh uh uh...I learned to make a list as well. I won't just buy things that caught my eyes" he wiggled his brows and waved his phone with the list right in front of Kaye's face.

"Good for you." she couldn't help but smile at her colleague. She took a pushcart and started finding the things on her list.