Free Maid for Me by Kat Lieu, Eve Lieu

you I’m a girl?” Mina tugged at her shirt.

    “I’d rather not be blinded. Listen, let’s just get you the clothes and call it a day.”

    “Fine.” The guy’s paying me to get a makeover. Why not? Besides, I can’t wait until Kit sees the new me.

    Mina convinced herself dating Alyssa was only a phase for Kit. Mina still believed she had a sliver of hope in winning her best friend’s heart. Her new hairdo and nice clothes would definitely help.

    Jaiden drove two blocks down to Fifteenth Avenue, where all the designer boutiques of the Uptown were. He stopped in front of Mungo, the chicest of high fashion boutiques in the city. Through the wide glass windows, one could see a plethora of slim mannequins dressed to impress.

     

    MUNGO

     

    The golden sign in script-font glittered as it reflected the morning sunrays.

    Jaiden double-parked his car. “Okay, let’s go.”

    “You’re just going to park here like that?” Mina gave Jaiden a funny look. “Aren’t you afraid it’ll get towed?”

    “Of course not. Government officials and their families can park anywhere they want.” Jaiden pointed to a silver card he placed on the dashboard. He grinned and hopped out of his car.

    Head shaking, Mina walked into Mungo like an impressed and intimidated tourist-she had never dared to even window-shop around Fifteenth Avenue in the past. She figured people would think she were a shoplifter if she stepped into a designer boutique. The treatment she had received at Trendy Star was nasty enough, and Trendy Star was a boutique for the middle-class.

    “Are you lost, Miss?”

    Mina turned to face a pretty shop attendant in a light pink uniform. The attendant stepped into Mina’s personal space and stared her down as if Mina were a petty thief.

    “I… no.” Mina prepared herself to turn around and leave, forgetting for a moment her billionaire boss trailed behind her.

    The attendant scowled. “You know this is Mungo. Celebrities shop here. We don’t allow loitering or soliciting.

    Jaiden walked up to the attendant and smiled. “My girlfriend and I are here to shop, not to loiter or solicit.” He removed a shiny onyx credit card from his wallet and handed it to the attendant. “Charge everything she purchases on this card please.”

    “Alright,” the attendant said, taking the card and recognizing it to be a limitless Onyx credit card. The card didn’t impress her as much as the Daniels’s name—Jaiden Daniels, the youngest and most eligible bachelor in all of the Uptown was shopping at Mungo.

    She swallowed a lump of pride in her throat, disappearing to the back counter before returning with a smile. Her cheekbones reddened like two small apples.

    “What are you looking for in particular, Miss? Mungo has everything from purses, jewelry, shoes, to dresses and jeans.”

    “First, she’s looking for an apology,” Jaiden said, planting his arms across his chest.

    The attendant bit her bottom lip. “Right. I apologize for my rude behavior earlier.”

    Mina scratched her neck and raised her shoulders in a shrug. “Apology accepted.”

    “Next, she’ll need a handful of different outfits, party and cocktail dresses-just turn her into a princess.” Jaiden grinned at Mina, who felt like she had become Eliza Doolittle overnight. At home, her wardrobe consisted of hand-me-downs from her mother and clothes she had worn since she was eleven.

    “Right away, Mr. Daniels. Please follow me, Miss.”

    About three hours later, Mina left Mungo with ten orange shopping bags in each arm. She had never tried on so many clothes before-lacy and sparkly cocktail dresses, shimmering party gowns, high heels, five-hundred dollar jeans, and hundred dollar leggings with holes. She felt just like a model-a size ten one with large calves and no butt. Leave it to the wealthy to spend hundreds on clothes that looked like rags. The total cost for Mina’s wardrobe today: eighteen-thousand dollars. The satisfaction of