The Apartment by Danielle Steel Page A

she hadn’t wanted to be distracted by Abby crying over Ivan, or Sasha coming home from work. She wanted Morgan’s attention and her always-sound work advice. Claire had no one else to talk to, and never liked worrying her mother, who wanted to believe she had a stable job. Claire wasn’t so sure, or if she should stay. She was beginning to feel she was killing her future in shoe design with what Walter expected of her.
    “So tell me, what’s up?” Morgan asked with a warm smile as Claire expressed her concerns.
    “I hate the designs I have to do for him. We hardly change the shoes from season to season. They want to stick with what they do. He hates change,” she said grimly. “What if people think that’s all I can do? And it’s so frustrating, I don’t get to do anything creative. I never get to design the shoes I want. And he’s terrified of everything I suggest.”
    “Would your customers buy more creative shoes, if he let you do them?”
    Claire thought about it. “Probably not. But he won’t even let me do one. He hates everything I do. If I make the slightest modification to last year’s shoes, he’s on my back. I don’t even have to design a new season. I could just give him the same drawings three times a year. And he’s getting nasty about it. I don’t think he trusts me, and I know he doesn’t like my style. So what do I do? If I quit, I may not find another job. The market is tough these days, and I can’t afford to be out of work. If I stay, I feel as though part of me is dying, the creative part.”
    “Do you have enough money put aside to coast for a while?” Morgan asked her directly.
    “For a month or two. No longer than that,” Claire said honestly. She loved pretty clothes, and splurged occasionally, but working in fashion, she liked being fashionably dressed, and clothes were expensive, especially the brands she preferred. She had great taste. “I couldn’t make it for six months, if it took me that long to find a job. But he might fire me anyway. I don’t think he likes me—he never has. But now we argue all the time. I feel as though we’re married.”
    “That sucks,” Morgan said with a smile. “Sometimes you have to take the leap. Only you know if you’ve reached the breaking point or not. Maybe you should start looking around, and inquiring discreetly about other jobs.”
    “If he finds out, I’ll get canned,” Claire said, worried. It was a real dilemma, and Morgan felt sorry for her. Claire obviously felt stymied, and suffocated in her job. “And I have that little twit of an intern he stuck me with, the daughter of some friend of his in Paris. She tells him everything. She’s his personal spy.” It sounded like a miserable situation to Morgan, and Claire was obviously stressed. She needed to vent, which was why she had suggested dinner with her. “I wish I could have my own brand, but that’s never going to happen. It costs a fortune to start a line of shoes.”
    “Maybe you could find a backer,” Morgan said hopefully, to encourage her. Claire seemed desperate.
    “I don’t have enough experience yet, or a name. And designing shoes for Arthur Adams, I’m never going to make a name for myself that anyone will care about.”
    “Maybe that’s your answer,” Morgan said thoughtfully. “If he’s not paying you a fortune, and you’re not building a reputation, you might be wasting your time there.”
    “I would take a pay cut to work for a better company, where I get to show my stuff.”
    “Maybe that’s what you should do—dig around at the companies you’d like to work for, and let them know you want to make a change. There’s a risk there, if he finds out. But it sounds like you’re stuck, if you don’t.”
    “I am. I feel like I’m drowning there, and killing my chances at a better job.”
    “So stick your neck out a little, and see what turns up.” Claire nodded as she thought about it. Morgan was giving her the courage she needed to