THE REAL HER

Chapter 8

 Today me and Alicia were on our way to go pick out outfits for the grand opening of All Stars, Bar, Lounge and Grill. The boys allowed me to bring a few people so of course I wanted Alicia to come because I didn't want to be there alone.

"So where are we going," I asked, she was driving but she had just missed the exit for the mall.

"Downtown."

"But the mall-"

"The mall is for everyday wear and basic dresses and you are anything but basic. You don't realize it yet but your going to be the real star of the night once everyone see's what you did with that run down place and you need to look the part."

We kept on driving for about an hour before we ended up at Tyson's Corner Center which was a massive mall with upscale stores and restaurants. It was a beautiful mall but one I rarely went to because even though I had the money to blow I just wasn't big on fashion.

Once inside we walked the mall and she pulled me into every store. All of the dresses I saw were either over the top and over what I was willing to spend. The first store we stopped at was Nordstrom. As soon as we walked in we shot down help from anxious employees and decided to browse ourselves.

"What about this," she pointed to an orange dress by Herve Leger. It was a nice but looked a bit short.

"How much is it?"

"If you have to ask then you can't afford it they say and I know for a fact you can so stop being so cheap," she waved me off and kept on looking. I came upon a shimmery long knit gown that I thought would look nice but of course Alicia shot it down quickly.

"That is a grandma dress."

"It is not."

"It is, it's something an old lady would wear," she told me

"It is not," I looked over the dress, "I think it's nice and it's classy."

She rolled her eyes at me and next thing I know she was getting the attention of two older women who were passing by us.

"Excuse me. May I ask for your opinion on this dress. Would you wear this?"

The two older white women looked over the dress a bit before once spoke.

"I think it's elegant," the older women in the front spoke up, "What do you think Francine?"

"I agree," the one she called Francine nodded, "So much so that I bought it last time I came and wore it to a gala my husband and me were invited to."

Alicia looked at me with a smug grin on her face and I walked away from her as she continued chatting up the women. I decided that it would be best if we cover more ground so I took the escalator upstairs and decided to try my luck on another floor.

Nothing peaked my interest until I came across a dress by Versace. It was black but it was far from a 'grandma' dress. It was floor length but had a high front slit on the left side, with a surplice v-neck front, open back and cut out straps layered with gold. It was classy yet sexy.

My phone rang and I knew it was Alicia probably wondering where I was and of course I was correct.

"I'm upstairs and I think I found the perfect dress."

"Great, see you soon."

I put my phone back in my purse and looked around for a sales associate, seems like we you didn't need one they popped up out of the woodwork but when you did need one they were nowhere to be found. I walked over by the escalators so Alicia could see me when she came up but when she appeared I wasn't expecting to see Bishop and Jayson along with her.