Chapter Text
It's six in the morning, and yet, the scalding Los Angeles summer sun is already warming up the room through the large windows. Even though her beloved air conditioner is on, Trixie can feel hints of sweat at the edge of her pores, and the loud alarm joins in as part of the small inconveniences that remind her that it's time to get up. Trixie whines as she slides out of bed and makes her way into her suite bathroom, enjoying the feeling of the cold tiles against her feet.
"You got this. You made it all the way here, this is just another day in the job. You got this." She gives herself a pep talk before picking up her hair brush.
Today is one of the many days where Trixie has to look forward to having three meetings in a row at work, all of them too important to last less than two hours. It's just a day in the life of a CEO. After putting rollers in her hair, Trixie takes her time doing her skincare routine, something she is very particular about, and why she wakes up so early even though she does not have to be at work until 9 a.m. Owning a makeup brand means having to look absolutely flawless every single time there's a chance someone might see you. At least that's how Trixie feels. "You can't sell beauty if you aren't beautiful." She tells herself. Some might say it's a bit of an exaggeration on her part, but Trixie's perfectionism is undebatable and incontestable. Every single day she cleans her skin, moisturizes it, puts on eye masks, face masks, then primes it, making room for foundation, concealer, powder, contour, blush, highlighter, eyeshadow, eyeliner, brow liner, mascara, lipstick. And then, she's beautiful.
Trixie is naturally stunning as she is, and she knows that, but ever since she was a little girl, nothing ever compared to the feeling of looking at herself in the mirror after getting dolled up. Trixie has always been her own favourite doll. She takes off the rollers in her hair and smiles at the familiar big bouncy blonde waves she gets from them, then applies a decent amount of hairspray. She takes a good look at herself in her well lit bathroom vanity mirror and smiles. She likes what she sees and remembers why she does what she does for a living. Trixie loves beauty.
Trixie steps into her walk-in closet and puts on a white Versace button up shirt, a classic look she always relies on, and pairs it up with one of her favourite baby pink pantsuits. It is definitely way too hot outside for this outfit, but once Trixie decides what she wants to wear, there is no 40°C weather that could convince her otherwise. And the cherry on top of every single thing she wears, red bottoms. They're the classic Louboutin pumps, in white. Trixie takes a good look at herself in the floor to ceiling mirror and a rush of confidence strikes her immediately. She looks absolutely gorgeous.
The LA traffic is, as usual, utterly insufferable, but Trixie manages to make her drive to work enjoyable in her brand new white Cadillac CT5 by blasting the AC and her favourite playlist, which features Michelle Branch, ABBA, Loretta Lynn, The Violent Femmes, amongst many others that represent the extremely eclectic music taste that Trixie is proud to have. It definitely helps make the ride smoother, and before she knows it, she's parking her car in the business tower's garage.
"Good morning, Oliver!" She says to the door security guard of the building.
"Morning, Ms. Mattel! Looking gorgeous, as always!" He replies with a smile.
"You're too kind!" She smiles back, then walks towards the elevator. "Good morning!" She says, generally, to everyone in there, which results in polite smiles and quiet 'good morning's from the others.
Trixie can't believe sometimes how lucky she is to be so respected by other business people, given how young she is and how her business started. Trixie used to post makeup videos on her youtube channel as a teenager, some of which suddenly went viral as she was a business school student, a few years later. She hopped on the sudden success wave and used her newly discovered business and marketing talents to quickly build her brand and solidify herself as one of the most powerful young women in America. Her fame is, of course, niche, but it's relevant enough in the business and cosmetics world that soon enough, Trixie had her very own cosmetics company. It's not the easiest thing in the world sometimes, even for a pro like her, but Trixie adores what she does and the company she's build. She does acknowledge that having a father in the business world might've given her a head start, but he never let it be too easy for her. Her father has always kept her grounded and humble.
"Morning, everyone!" She says enthusiastically as she enters the Trixie Cosmetics office on the 13th floor of the business tower.
"Good morning, Trixie!" An employee smiles at her.
"Hey, Trixie!" Another one waves.
She walks into her office and places her bag on her neatly organized desk right beside her computer and sits down on her extremely comfortable white chair. Oh, if Trixie only knew what kind of day she is about to have, she probably would just go back home.
"Hey, Trixie." Jaida, Trixie's assistant, says, apprehensively.
"Hey! You don't look too happy, is everything alright?" Trixie asks with genuine concern.
"I'm okay, it's, um...I just got the briefings for the three meetings you have today and...it's not looking too good."
Trixie can feel her stomach drop. For a perfectionist like her, this information is enough to ruin her entire week. "Why is that?"
"Well, for starters, the lab wants to renegotiate their contract again."
"What, again? We just had this discussion with them not even a month ago, we raised their part to over thirty percent. What more to they want from me?"
"I don't know, Trixie. Since they've switched owners it's been very difficult to collaborate with them, other brands are having similar problems."
"God, this is awful. We have too much going on, we have three new collections lined up, we can't just switch labs right now...But I also can't afford to lose that much money on them like that."
"Maybe it won't be too bad during the meeting." Jaida says, hopeful.
But it was. Trixie had to sit in the meeting room for two hours while greedy old men explained to her why she needs to give them more money, and by explaining, they mean coercing. Trixie is completely cornered, but refuses to give them an answer right away before consulting with other specialists who are in the same situation as her. She is stressed, but she tells herself she'll figure it out. She always does.
Trixie has a fifteen minute break before she is dragged back into the meeting room to speak with some of her investors. And so, round 2 of greedy old men asking for money begins.
"I don't understand what the issue is, we have been doing great lately, our sales are ever growing, never decreasing." She asks one of them, her palms sweating.
"It's not good enough. Have you seen some of those other influencer brands? They're not nearly as big as you, but they have numbers! Numbers you don't seem to have, for some reason." One man spits out at her.
"You can't keep up with the current marketing scenario." Another one scoffs.
"I just don't think it's effective to..." She tries to calmly explain, but immediately gets interrupted.
"I'm starting to believe you don't know how to run a business, Mrs. Mattel. This is a mess."
Trixie can feel her blood boiling. She knows exactly what's happening. There's nothing wrong with the way she runs her company, with the way she markets her products, with how she spends the money. But they want more. And the only way they're gonna get it is by pushing her over the edge.
"Gentlemen, I appreciate the feedback and all of the great advice on how I should be doing my job." She gets up from her chair and looks down on them. "But I have no concerns about the financial status of my company, and our marketing strategies have proven to be extremely effective, precisely because we are not doing what everyone else is doing. I don't intend on making any significant changes right now, and if any of you have any issues whatsoever with the way I handle my business, you are more than welcome to go find a company as young as mine who brings the same results." She is firm, polite, assertive. Trixie runs out of breath after her short speech, so much that she sees a few dark spots.
The room is silent for a few lingering seconds. Trixie knows she took a very bold risk by confronting her investors like that, however, she wouldn't have forgiven herself hadn't she put them in their place. And sure enough...
"Thank you, Ms. Mattel. We will reevaluate our stats." One of the men says, seemingly embarrassed as he quickly gets up and gathers his documents.
Trixie exhales heavily once they all leave the room, not even realizing she had been holding her breath for that long. Part of her wants to stress cry. Part of her is too tired to do so. So Trixie simply zones out and walks back to her office, immediately burying her face in her arms, crossed over her desk.
"Please tell me my next meeting is with Hello Kitty and friends and they're just gonna tell me how much they love me." Trixie whines as she hears Jaida walk in.
"I wish it was." Jaida giggles. "But it's probably gonna be your least favourite of the day."
"Why?" Trixie mumbles, head still buried in her arms.
"It's with your father." Jaida lets out a sigh.
Trixie quickly lifts up her head. "What? What does he want?"
"He didn't say much, just that he needed to book a meeting with you."
"Are you kidding me? Oh, God..." Trixie leans her head back against her chair, sighing heavily. "Why did all men choose today to try to ruin my life?"
"I felt so bad once I had your full schedule for today."
"You know what? It's fine. I'm just gonna go deal with my dad and then I'm gonna go grab something to eat. Maybe three pounds of ice cream." Trixie gets up and walks towards door.
"Good luck!" Jaida says, pouting.
"Thanks, I'm gonna need it."
Trixie drags herself back into the meeting room, rolling her eyes at the sight of her father, Eric, standing by the floor to ceiling window, looking out.
"Hi." She says, unenthusiastically.
"Hi, Beatrice." He says, matching her energy. "Have a seat."
She sighs. "This is my office, but sure!" She mutters, not caring if he heard her or not.
"I just have one question for you." Eric says in the most entitled way possible. "What are you doing?"
"What are you talking about?" Trixie replies, already over it.
"I'm talking about this. This business. Have you learned nothing? Did I pay your college tuition for nothing? Let you intern at my company for nothing?"
"Can you get to the point? I have a job to do."
"You're doing a terrible job! There! You wanted me to get to the point? There's my point. You don't know how to run a business. Your marketing is weak, your investors are mad, your partners are mad, what are you doing, Beatrice?" He loses his temper.
Trixie sighs heavily and clears her throat before speaking, calmly. "I'll tell you exactly what I'm doing. I'm doing a good job. My customers are satisfied. My employees are happy. The money is there. The good ratings are there. I built this company relying solely on my knowledge and my instincts. You never invested in this business, you're not our partner, I don't get why you care so much about what I'm doing."
"Because you're my daughter. What you do is a reflection of what I taught you, and every time you fuck up, it's a bad look on me."
"You're just mad I'm not hanging my head low and saying yes to whatever those disgusting businessmen say to me. But guess what, dad? They're still here. If my company is such a financial burden, why are they still here? Why do they still invest in this? Why are all my partners, especially the lab, still here even though I keep telling them no? Because I'm not a gullible idiot. I have boundaries and self respect, and I'm not gonna give that up. This is my company. It's mine. Only I get a say on what's right and what's wrong. Got it?" Trixie notices she raised her voice a little bit more than she intended, but she got her point across.
"You're gonna see what I'm telling you when you're older. You're too naive to see..."
"Oh my God, stop being so condescending! I don't have to keep listening to this, I'm done." She gets up and walks away, being followed by her father to her office. "Can you leave, please? I have work to do." She asks as calmly as she can, still taken over by extreme stress, as she sits at her desk.
"No, I'm trying to help you! You're my daughter, I wanna see you succeed!" He sits on a chair across from her.
"Dad, I need you to please understand something. I am successful. I'm very content with what I'm doing, I know exactly what I'm doing and I do not need your help. Okay?" She sounds almost supplicant.
He sighs heavily. "If you say so." They sit in silence for a while as Trixie tries to reply to some emails. "Are you coming over for dinner with your mother and I this weekend?"
"Yeah, I...I'll be there." Trixie sounds exhausted.
"Okay." Eric mutters as he stands up. "See you then." Then walks out of her office.
It's already 4 p.m. by the time Trixie finally gets to be alone on her office, and not listening to any men telling her how horrible she is at her job. She does as much as she can, slowly replying to emails, sending references to her collection photographer, amongst many other things. Jaida brings her dinner, since Trixie didn't have time to eat lunch, or anything for that matter, and she's only able to grab a few bites due to how stressed out she still is.
"Hey, everyone's left already. You good?" Jaida asks carefully as she walks into Trixie's office. It's 9 p.m.
"I..." Trixie is just sitting in the dark, staring into the screen saver of her computer, the only light source in the room. "I'll be on my way soon." Her voice barely comes out.
"Is there anything I can do?" Jaida asks earnestly.
"No, it's okay..." Trixie immediately breaks down crying, something she hasn't done in quite a while, surprisingly.
"Trixie..." Jaida sits across from her, concerned. "Go home, take a bath, try to get your mind off of things."
"Yeah, yeah..." She sniffs. "I haven't had a shitty day like this in a while...Actually I don't think even the worst day on this job even compares to this." Trixie finally shuts down her computer. "You can go, Jaida. Thank you so much for the help today, you're amazing." Trixie says earnestly, still fighting the tears.
"I'm just worried about you. Are you sure you're gonna be ok?"
"I'll be fine. Really, I...I'll just do what you said, I'll go home, take a bath..." Trixie can still spot the concerned expression on Jaida's face. "I'll be fine."
"Okay. Well, I hope you feel better. Let me know if you need anything." Jaida picks up her bag and walks towards the door. "Goodnight, Trixie!"
"Night!" Trixie's voice comes out almost in a whine. She stays in her office for another half hour, sobbing. The stress is so intense that she feels numb after a while, not thinking straight, blacking out every few seconds.
How many 30 year old self made millionaire CEOs are there? Especially women? Not many. But Trixie became one in a million, thriving by the minute. She's grateful for what she has, but it's not an easy job. The daily pressure gets to her so bad that she does something unprecedented for her, but very much stereotypical for someone in her position; A trip to the strip club to unwind. And she's not even embarrassed. In fact, she has a weird feeling that this choice might be, somehow, life changing.
Or maybe she just got too drunk too fast.
The place is extremely high end, fancy, big, crowded with men in suits. The red and purple lighting in the place is somewhat relaxing for Trixie. As her second double whiskey on the rocks hits her blood stream, she is already blinded by the sparkly beautiful women walking around the room, giving men lap dances, dancing on poles, taking their tops off. They are all extremely beautiful, and their costumes probably cost more than Trixie could guess. She gets distracted by a neon sign that says "SEDUCE & DESTROY", but no thoughts are going through her head. She contemplates paying her tab and going home, but then a fancy looking man with a moustache that's offensively pornographic, walks up to her.
"Hello! Welcome to The Diamond, I don't think I've ever seen you here before. You're not...looking for a job, by any chance, are you?" He seems worried.
Trixie frowns. "No, I just came here to drink." She grunts.
"Oh, okay! Cause I was gonna say, wearing a suit is probably not the ideal outfit choice if you're applying...um, anyway, may I introduce you to one of our girls?"
"It's fine, I just wanted a drink..."
"Hey, there's no judgement here! Watching beautiful women dancing is one of the many blessings of this life, you're a lucky woman for being able to appreciate that."
"I've never really been to a strip club before, I don't know what..."
"I can get you a private room with one of our finest girls. All you have to do is sit, tip her and enjoy! How does that sound?" He sounds optimistic. Enough to convince drunk Trixie.
"Um..." She thinks about it. The lack of food in her system is making it hard for her to even finish a thought, and with her third drink in hand, Trixie gives up on any sort of moral dilemma that could keep her from going to the damn private room. "Sure, yeah."
"Awesome! I'll lead you to it, our dancer will meet you in there." He walks into a bright red hallway and Trixie follows him. The very hallway which has the "SEDUCE & DESTROY" neon sign right above the entrance. "We don't get that many women here, as customers, so this is exciting! I wish we had more lesbians hanging out, just between us, some of those guys can make our girls uncomfortable sometimes."
He pulls a curtain open, revealing a small room, also lit up with red and purple lights and a fancy chandelier hanging in the middle, where there's also a pole. Around it, there's a circular red couch, with only a small gap so Trixie can squeeze through and sit. She feels like she needs a shower.
"Just sit and relax, she will be with you in a minute. Would you like your drinks to keep coming? Say, every fifteen minutes?"
Trixie sighs. "Yeah, sure."
"Perfect! I hope you enjoy it." He walks out, closing the red curtain.
Trixie's drunk, looking around the room and hearing the muffled beat of some Nine Inch Nails song playing in the distance. Trixie asks herself how did she end up there. She's in a tiny red room, sipping on her third double whiskey, waiting for a stripper. To be fair, there are worse places she could be. Like her own office. In the meeting room. Just as she's about to relive those angsty emotions from earlier today, the curtain opens and Trixie feels like the floor just vanished from below her and she is free falling endlessly.
"Hello, darling." The woman says. Her voice is probably the sexiest sound Trixie has ever heard in her entire life.
"Hi..." Her voice barely comes out. Trixie's head almost hurts with how incredibly beautiful this woman is. Someone so immaculately gorgeous she looks like she came from heaven, but so seductive she could've come from hell just as well. Only the devil could be this alluring.
"I don't think I've ever seen you here before." The devilish angel says, with a bright smirk that melts Trixie's insides.
"I've, uh...I've never been here before." Trixie gets nervous by the second as the woman makes her way towards her.
"What brings you here? And if you don't mind me asking, what's your name, my love?"
"It's Beatrice." Trixie doesn't know why she just full named herself. No one, aside from her parents, calls her that. "And I...just had a really bad day."
The woman leans over to whisper in Trixie's ear. "Well, Beatrice, it's very nice to meet you. I'm Katie, and I'm gonna make you feel a whole lot better tonight."
Katie walks towards the wall where there's a sound system and presses play, filling the room up with the sound of Warm on a Cold Night by Honne. Trixie is still in shock after having that goddess of a woman whisper like that in her ear. It's like she just did heroin for the first time ever and she's experiencing the high of a lifetime. Katie is not too tall, not too short. Her hair is long, only slightly wavy, her bangs are a little overgrown, nearly covering up her icy blue-gray eyes, that stand out due to the dark eyeshadow on her eyelids. Her outfit is simple, but effective. She's wearing a red bra with an over the top flattering cleavage, it is extremely detailed with fine rhinestones, and the small beaded fringes on her panties make her movements even more beautiful. The cherry on top, however, is the red on her lips. Trixie could stare at those lips every day all day. Every time Katie smiles, Trixie feels like the woman just stabbed her in the heart.
Even more so when she walks towards her.
"What would you like me to do for you? Do you want me to take my clothes off or do you want me to just dance for you? For the right price, I can do both." She whispers in Trixie's ear, supporting her weight with her hands on Trixie's thighs.
Trixie has to hold her breath at the touch. Her panties are definitely gonna need to be thrown out. "I...I want you to dance." She says without thinking much, still a bit shy.
"I can do that for you." Katie squeezes Trixie's thighs a little harder, making the woman let out a faint, embarrassing whine. "There's just a few rules you need to remember. First, hands to yourself, you touch what I let you touch. Second, since this is your first time here, your first dance is completely free, but if you want me to keep going, the money also has to keep coming. Last thing, if there's anything making you uncomfortable or off limits for you, you have to tell me. I'm not a mind reader. Do you understand everything I just said?" Despite the bossy tone, the woman says everything in the softest voice she can. And because of that, Trixie can't even speak, so she just nods. "Use your words, baby. Do you understand?"
"Y-yes, ma'am." Trixie says almost involuntarily, cringing at herself afterwards. Katie lets out a giggle.
"You're adorable." She says before moving over to the pole and starting her dance.
Katie swirls her hips around slowly, making intense eye contact with Trixie. She does a slow lap around the pole while holding on to it, never breaking eye contact. Once the beat changes, she's bending over backwards, her long hair nearly touching the floor, then spinning around on the pole. Katie makes it look so easy and smooth that Trixie gets distracted by her movements, not even noticing when the woman makes her way to sit on her lap facing her, grinding against her legs, leaning her head backwards and spinning it around all the way back to where it's only inches away from Trixie's face.
"Oh my God..." Trixie mumbles almost accidentally, unable to contain her fascination for the woman. She can feel the sweat dripping down her back, her breath growing unsteady by the second.
Katie smiles, that devilish smile, and proceeds to dance in front of and on top of Trixie. Her seductive skills are so flawless that it completely takes Trixie's mind off of the stress she's had to endure earlier today. Trixie can't keep her eyes off of that woman, staring into her blue eyes, and occasionally, when they were right in front of her face, her boobs and her ass. Katie's talent is unheard of, she knows exactly what to do, where to move, where to touch, running her fingers through Trixie's hair, holding her by the back of her neck, it all feels like a wonderful hallucinogenic trip. Until, when Katie is once again sitting on Trixie's lap facing her, their foreheads touching, the song ends.
"Song's over." Katie mutters, slowly moving away from Trixie.
"Wait..." Trixie drunkenly cries, reaching into her purse and holding out a $100 bill.
Katie smiles and leans forward, signalling for Trixie to place the bill in her cleavage. "Very well..."
Just as Katie is about to play the next song, a half naked waitress comes in to hand Trixie her fourth drink, and that's how the night goes. Trixie is taken away into a powerful trip into Katie's eyes, feeling her breath near her face, her neck, her hands on her thighs, her hair, her
face. At one point, Trixie's blazer is gone, thrown away somewhere, and three of her shirt's buttons are undone, sleeves pulled up. It's too hot. Katie's too hot. Everything she does, mixed with the ongoing alcohol Trixie's consuming, sends the woman into another realm, a heavenly realm she isn't afraid to keep paying for, up until 3 a.m.
"I would love to stay with you 'till the morning, sweetheart, but we're closing soon. I have to go." Katie whispers in Trixie's ear, her voice raspy, tired and even sexier than before.
"Hmmm..." Trixie whines. "I had...such a shitty fucking day. And you..." Trixie drunkenly smiles at Katie, earnestly too. "You made me feel so good."
"I'm just doing my job." Katie smiles. "Come on, let's go pay your tab so you can go home."
Trixie grabs her blazer and her purse and stumbles out of the private room. Katie guides her back to the bar, where she pays her tab and hands the bartender her car keys. The bartender says it's unnecessary as long as she doesn't drive in that state, but she is too drunk to listen.
Trixie calls herself an Uber and heads home, undressing almost instantly and immediately falling asleep in her underwear. She dreams of Katie. Of Katie's red lips, blue eyes, blonde hair. This woman drove a truck into Trixie's fragile little heart, and she won't leave her brain anytime soon.