WANTED: Love of my Life

26. Semi-Shopping?

What? You don't know what semi-shopping is? I'll tell you. It's what you do when you don't have a rich boyfriend who buys you everything you want. You go into a store, pretend to buy the most fabulous dresses and accessories imaginable and then pretend to buy even more fabulous stuff. Of course you can't pay for any of it so you can't actually take it out of the shop. But with four great friends along, it can be tremendous fun and you aren't bothered at all by the fact that you leave the shop in an old knit sweater and brown woolen skirt. Not a bit. Really.

Of course the assistants catch on to what you're doing sooner or later. But as they couldn't prove we were not going to buy something some day, and as Jen hadn't yet sprayed any graffiti on the window of this particular shop, they couldn't just throw us out.

I was admiring myself in a gorgeous short dress with a red rose pattern when my eyes suddenly fell on the label.

PRADA. Figures.

My eyes moved to the price tag. 1.185 Dollars and 99 Cents. I sighed, wishing for a moment that Giacomo's pricing politics would be adopted in reality. Unfortunately, there was very little chance of that. Again I stared longingly into the mirror. The dress was just right for me: Hugging my figure in a flattering manner, it contrasted pleasingly with my golden-blond hair. And, that was the important point, it had no sleeves and reached only down to just above my knees. I almost, almost looked sexy in this dress. And that's exactly the reason why my parents would never allow me to have it, even if I could find someone willing to sell it to me for 25 Dollars.

I closed my eyes and imagined Giacomo by my side. Not in the dark park in the middle of the night, not hidden from everyone I cared about, but in the bright daylight, here at the mall, and perhaps with a bit of money of his own, so that he could buy me pretty things and watch me smile when he gave them to me, so that he could see me in this dress, looking so much more like the girl I wanted to be for him: someone beautiful, someone desirable.

With a sad sigh, I opened my eyes again, returned to the changing cubicle and slipped out of the dress and back into my stupid, boring everyday clothes. Deep down I knew it would always remain a fantasy. But nothing could darken my mood for long. Giacomo wasn't hear with me, true. But soon I would be back with him. Back in his arms. Because he and I... he and I... I could hardly even manage to think the words, they contained so much unbelievable joy: he and I were going together! He was my boyfriend. My wonderful, sweet, sensual, manly, mysterious boyfriend.

“Ange?”

Someone knocked against the wall of the cubical and awakened me from my daydream. It was Jen. “Are you finished in there? Some of us want to change, too.”

“I'll be right out.”

In fact, I got about two buttons on my blouse fastened before my thoughts drifted back to Giacomo. The others had to knock several times before I left the cubical. And when I did, Jen suspiciously stared at the goofy grin on my face.

“What's up with you today? You can't seem to be able to hide those ugly ivories of yours.”

“I'm just glad that you're well again,” I fibbed, and my grin widened. Her stare became even more suspicious, but exactly at that moment, Anastasia emerged from another cubical in a floor-length orange and pink striped gown.

“What do you think?” She asked, twirling.

“That's so you!” Sandra applauded, and we joined in. She was undeniably right. Unfortunately, that didn't say much for Anastasia' taste.

“I thought it was so vibrant. It practically screamed 'buy me!'”

“Or 'run away from me'”, Jen whispered in my ear. I tried to stifle my giggle.