What was it like working at Lytton's? Today, Juliana would have said it was positively dreadful, because at Lytton's one tended to deal primarily with customers who were too obsessed with themselves to treat you like a person — but she recognized that her answer today would have been colored quite heavily by her interaction with Mrs. Reading. And that wasn't what the young woman was asking, anyway; as she continued it became clear that she was more interested in the product than the customers. Juliana had never had an eye for clothing, so the wonder of Mr. Lytton's creations mostly passed her by unnoticed.
"It's much the same as any other shop, I imagine," she said as she returned to the fire, stain remover in hand. "Some pleasant days and some stressful ones. Oh, we're closed now," she added, on noticing that the young lady had taken Jules' cue and stripped down. "I ought to have said that straight away. So you needn't worry about anyone coming in and seeing you half-dressed."
No wonder she'd been reluctant to remove her outer layer! Jules had been so busy with the biscuit and the stain potion she'd failed to convey some essential information. "Even the seamstresses have already left for the day. But even if they hadn't, no one would be shocked," she added with a smile and a shrug. "This being a dress shop, they see ladies changing all the time." Not usually in the front room mere feet away from the floo-connected fireplace, of course — Jules was responsible for this room, which just involved date books, receipts, and making trays of tea and biscuits to greet customers. The most she typically saw someone undress was when she helped them to remove their coats.
"Oh, you know — they have robes in the fitting areas," she remembered suddenly. "I should have offered you one. I don't typically work there — I just book appointments and handle bills, mostly. I'm an absolute loss on the fashion side of things. Just a moment," she said, putting down the potion and running to fetch one of the big, fluffy dressing robes.
"I'm sorry I'm so scattered. It's been quite a day," she said apologetically as she held the robe open for the young woman. "Do you work here in Diagon, too?"
Jules
"It's much the same as any other shop, I imagine," she said as she returned to the fire, stain remover in hand. "Some pleasant days and some stressful ones. Oh, we're closed now," she added, on noticing that the young lady had taken Jules' cue and stripped down. "I ought to have said that straight away. So you needn't worry about anyone coming in and seeing you half-dressed."
No wonder she'd been reluctant to remove her outer layer! Jules had been so busy with the biscuit and the stain potion she'd failed to convey some essential information. "Even the seamstresses have already left for the day. But even if they hadn't, no one would be shocked," she added with a smile and a shrug. "This being a dress shop, they see ladies changing all the time." Not usually in the front room mere feet away from the floo-connected fireplace, of course — Jules was responsible for this room, which just involved date books, receipts, and making trays of tea and biscuits to greet customers. The most she typically saw someone undress was when she helped them to remove their coats.
"Oh, you know — they have robes in the fitting areas," she remembered suddenly. "I should have offered you one. I don't typically work there — I just book appointments and handle bills, mostly. I'm an absolute loss on the fashion side of things. Just a moment," she said, putting down the potion and running to fetch one of the big, fluffy dressing robes.
"I'm sorry I'm so scattered. It's been quite a day," she said apologetically as she held the robe open for the young woman. "Do you work here in Diagon, too?"
Prof. Marlowe Forfang
Jules