05. I Can Smell Her Scent

White & CO is a fashion house owned by Carol White, a very talented fashion designer who made White & CO very famous in the country for the last twenty years and has always been the number one fashion house sought after by fashion activists and has become customer—world celebrity.

Not everyone can become a member of this famous fashion house because, apart from the goods they produce being made by hand and in limited forms, the price that must be paid by those who want to become a member of the White & CO fashion house is not tiny. Only thirty-four thousand dollars to register as an exclusive member there and access is not open to everyone, only people who are considered influential and able to raise the name White & CO can get access to become an exclusive member there. At the same time, the rest will only get ordinary members with access, which is also expected.

And today, Ananas Stein came to White & CO to buy some clothes for a meeting that was held in a few days, but Ananas' intention of only wanting to order a dress ended up being a White & CO membership because she saw a woman named Samantha come out of the dressing room with a bruised face and cut palms.

But, it wasn't the wounds and pity that Ananas had that made him register as an exclusive member at White & CO. Still, other things attracted Ananas to Samantha.

"Miss Ananas Stein, please, your exclusive card," Samantha said while carrying a small tray containing a bloody red card on a small black velvet cushion, making the card look exclusive, just like its name.

Ananas put the card in her wallet, then smiled at Carol White, the famous fashion house's owner, and designer. "I'm happy to be working with White & CO, Mrs. White, I've heard so much about how amazing White & CO is that your name has even been headlined in Forbes magazine as the most influential fashion designer in the world and then all the designs you've created have become a fashion mecca over the past few years."

Receiving praise from Ananas Stein made Carol unable to hide her happiness. She realized that she had been unhappy earlier because she was in a state of anger towards Samantha but, after learning that Ananas Stein, the daughter of the Stein family who owned the biggest pharmaceutical company in the country, made Carol very embarrassed for almost yelling at Samantha in front of Ananas.

" You give me too much praise to Mrs. Stein." Carol lowered her voice, face, and pride even though she didn't want to do the latter, but Carol White still had to lower her pride a little in front of Ananas Stein.

"Your hospital and my shop are very close. If I had known that you liked my brand, maybe I would have come to the hospital and brought something you liked." Carol tried to make small talk.

The conversation between Carol White and Ananas Stein continued. Not wanting to interrupt the conversation by standing in the room, Samantha tried to leave Carol White's office, but Ananas stopped her.

"Miss, can you stay here for a moment? I have something to say and need your permission," Ananas said, while smiling at Samantha.

Carol White felt the same shock but different from Samantha, who was surprised because she wasn't used to having one-on-one conversations with customers, especially their exclusive clients. On the other hand, Carol was scared because what she had done to Samantha could be reported as an act of violence against her employee.

However, it turned out that Ananas wasn't talking about Samantha's wounds at all but about how she wanted Samantha to be the one to bring her the clothes she ordered if she didn't have time to pick them up herself.

"But she is not experienced in that matter, ma'am. I have some competent employees who can help you with this. How about I offer them this job?" Carol White tried to offer, but Ananas shook her head.

Ananas knew that Carol White would never allow an ordinary employee like Samantha to carry tens of millions of dollars in gowns. However, with a smile, Ananas answered Carol White's rejection. "No, I like this lady of yours, Ms. White, please give her the notes and directions to carry everything I ask for later. I have some things I want on the eighth of next month, so please give her all the competence to carry them and help me wear them later."

Samantha looked at Carol White, who glanced at her sharply as if asking Samantha to refuse Ananas' request. Scared and unable to refuse Carol White's order, Samantha swallowed hard and ventured to talk to Ananas about her refusal.

"Why?" Ananas was curious because even though this was a personal request, didn't she pay a very high price to become an exclusive member? "Is being an exclusive member unable to choose who will bring me later?" Ananas protested in a tone and voice that still sounded very graceful.

"But Samantha won't be able to do that kind of work, Mrs. Stein, we still have many employees who are more experienced and competent in their respective fields, and she can only serve customers at the store without making a single delivery." Carol tried to explain while trying to tell Ananas that Samantha couldn't do anything but serve customers at the store.

However, Ananas insisted that Samantha accept her offer. "I will give you a thousand dollars every time she delivers the products I ask for, and I will immediately buy every product that will be launched, even if it's just in the planning stage, is it okay?"

Ananas' words sounded very favorable to Carol. Still, she had to let Samantha out of the store and make deliveries to Ananas Stein. In that case, it's not impossible that Ananas would do a post-mortem on Samantha and then report her to the police for assaulting her employee, and then her career would be ruined.

Ananas saw a slight expression of fear and rejection. Ananas knew the reason, but she just smiled while looking at her husband, who only responded with a light nod, as if he also understood what Ananas thought about Carol White, until Gabriel uttered one sentence.

"If you cannot fulfill this simple request, we may cancel our membership in White & CO." Gabriel's simple words sounded like a lightning bolt to Carol.

Finally, even though she felt that Samantha would cause far more problems than the problems she caused at the store, Carol reluctantly agreed to Ananas' request because of the enormous profits she would get from Ananas Stein.

"I guess I have no choice but to agree to your request, Mrs. Stein." Carol finally gave in. Before continuing her sentence, Carol glanced at Samantha again, making Samantha look down in fear, "I will train Samantha to help you bring all your orders later, Mrs. Stein. But if you change your mind and want to replace Samantha with someone else, we will be ready to replace her."

"Of course, we'll tell you that, Ms. White, but for now, my wife wants Ms. Samantha to be the one to serve her when she gets a new product from you, so please prepare everything my wife needs while our memberships are in effect." Gabriel slightly warned Carol not to go out of her way and make the fashion designer from White & CO stay obedient to them as a customer.

After talking about many things and noting down everything Ananas wanted, including scheduling body measurements once a month to match the dresses that Ananas would later wear at every event, Gabriel finally took Ananas to leave Carol's room, followed by Carol and Samantha from behind. However, before they could leave, Ananas approached Samantha, hugged her, and whispered.

"Don't worry, I'll help you get out of this hell slowly," Ananas whispered in Samantha's ear.

Samantha was stunned but could not ask about the meaning of the words Ananas said to her. However, since Carol was beside them, Samantha could only reply to Ananas' words with a smile.

After saying that, Gabriel embraced Ananas, and they walked to the parking lot with several questions hanging over her head. Gabriel started asking questions when they got into the car and helped Ananas put on the seat belt.

"What's wrong with that woman named Samantha?" Gabriel asked curiously.

"Don't you smell her?" Ananas asked back. But Gabriel had yet to learn what Ananas was talking to him about.

"What scent?"

Gabriel is still curious because, according to Gabriel, the woman named Samantha is nothing more than an ordinary Shopkeeper, a servant who has always been treated inhumanely by Carol White, her owner. And that, Gabriel could tell just by looking at the wounds and bruises on Samantha's body.

"I can smell her scent, and you should be able to smell her scent, too, just like me," Ananas said.

Gabriel, who still didn't understand what his wife was talking about, smiled and then started the car engine and left the boutique to go back to the hospital and continue their work that had been delayed.