Business was going extremely well as Miss Vivian's Intimacy Boutique. Not only was she selling a lot of lingerie, but she was the go-to designer for a lot of Animalian fashion. But she wasn't kept too busy. There were other companies outside of Lyre who were providing clothes for Animalians. And there were more fashion designers getting set up in Animalia, like the two raptor twins.
But with so many expecting mothers ordering maternity clothes, especially the "sexy maternity" clothes, Miss Vivian decided it was finally time to hire some extra hands to help manage the workload. Though Miss Vivian had to be very choosy about who she was going to hire. She did have an image to uphold and if it became necessary to reveal her secret psychology project, she would need someone she knew would keep her secret. But before that could even be considered, she wanted someone who had similar tastes to her. The last thing she wanted was someone acting like they were in one of the modern trashy vampire romance novels. That was really the main factor here. Selling lingerie was a pretty simple job with the right training.
There had been a lot of wannabe vampires who had wanted the job, but too many of them were expecting to become sex gods. Naturally, Miss Vivian crossed them off the lips. There were some who did go in the right direction, but more than a few were more like, as high school kids would say, 'the whiny goth type'. Vivian thought they were putting on a gloomier air than Jet and Rift, but seemed to do more complaining than espousing on the darker aspects of mankind. Vivian highly doubted they'd make good employees.
The most favorable candidates were Woodrow Wolfe and his new wife, Carla. The pair were interesting as they both showed symptoms of experiencing a midlife crisis. Woodrow found his job working at a hardware store unsatisfying and Carla considered the rundown daycare center she had to work in a living purgatory. The two had chanced to meet when Carla had to go to Woodrow's hardware store to get some supplies to repair the daycare. Actually, because of the daycare's dilapidated state, she made several trips to the store. Woodrow and Carla got to know each other rather well and soon found they had several interests. Before long, they had fallen in love and decided to marry and leave their one-horse Arizona town.
To some people, this whirlwind romance didn't look like it would last long. But Vivian had seen enough couples to know what true love looks like and if people have the actual attraction to make a long-term relationship work. And Woodrow and Carla did have that genuine spark. And there was more than that which made Vivian favor this pair the most out of her applying candidates. They had moved to Lyre not just because it was a growing community with new jobs available, but also because they wanted to live out a shared fantasy. And considering Woodrow's last name was 'Wolfe', it didn't take a doctorate to guess what it was. Miss Vivian hadn't considered the werewolf angle before, but it could certainly work at her boutique. So long as they had proper ideas of what a werewolf should be like.
"So, what are your views on modern werewolf literature?" asked Miss Vivian.
"That's not an easy answer to give," said Woodrow, "I mean, no two book series depict werewolves identically. There are some that are better than others, obviously."
"Ok, and what would you say would be the lowest rating for werewolves?" asked Miss Vivian.
"Easy, Twilight," said Carla, "I know they were meant to be more like skinwalkers, but that doesn't mean they had to be Native American underwear models."
Vivian peered at Carla's dark bronze skin. "Are you Native American, by chance?" she asked.
"Technically, but not the way you're thinking," said Carla, "I'm more descended from Aztec, but I've got enough Spanish blood to dilute it."
"Frankly, I think the only reason the werewolves were included in the Twilight books were so that the vampires would have someone to feud with," said Woodrow, "They could have just had been vampire against vampire."
"That's all I need to hear on that topic," said Miss Vivian, "But what are your preferences for werewolf literature."
"Well, I'll admit that I don't mind romance, but I would prefer it to be more like a 'Beauty and the Beast' tale than something trashy," said Carla, "Something that requires actual work from both parties."
"I like romance too, but I don't want it to be all romance," said Woodrow, "I want to see some world-building, show just what are the rules of lycanthropy and what else there is in the world. And I would want to see some action."
"By that, you mean a fight," said Carla.
"Well, yes, werewolves are fighting machines. Do you expect them to act like giant lapdogs?" asked Woodrow.
"And how would you expect werewolves working at this boutique to act?" asked Miss Vivian.
Woodrow and Carla exchanged a look at that. "Well, that's a bit hard to say," said Woodrow, "I mean, a lingerie store isn't a place where you'd normally find a werewolf."
"I hope you're not expecting us to act like your thralls or like we're here to model your goods," said Carla.
"Perish the thought," said Miss Vivian, "We'll figure out the best way you two will fit in after your conversions."
"We've got the jobs? Just like that?" asked Carla.
"Not quite," said Miss Vivian, "You might not get the positions, even if the odds favor you. But I've at least heard enough that I can sponsor your conversion without worrying about you ruining the werewolf name." With that, she wrote out a check that would pay for their double-dosing. "I'll talk to you after you've been changed," said Miss Vivian, "The one thing I request is that you two make your conversion...as interesting as possible."
Woodrow chuckled as he took the check, "Don't worry about that. Me and Carla have been fantasizing on that for a while."
Carla gave a wide grin and said, "I can hardly wait."