How It's Going To Be [h.s.]

Chapter 25

"Your dresses are lovely," I managed. I had no idea what my "status" was. I supposed being the girlfriend of Harry Styles made people slightly interested in what I wore. Apparently I had been to the shop before and wore one of their dresses.

"Harry called in this morning and said you would need a dress for tonight. He explained it was a black tie event. He gave me a few more details, but I'm not supposed to disclose them because of the surprise," she winked. "So we've pulled a few samples for you to try on."

"Great," I smiled.

"Follow me!" she turned around and started toward the back of the store.

The fitting room Sasha took me to had three dresses hanging on the wall. She explained each dress and named the designer. Each designer was a familiar London Fashion Week frequenter. Sasha left me alone with the dresses to select the one for the surprise.

The three dresses were all beautiful, but I picked the one I liked best. The dress was black and sophisticated with short sleeves. It had a high neckline and low back. It was a fit and flare style that stopped above my knee. There was a single blood orange horizontal stripe in the skirt of the dress. It was exactly my style.

"Is that the dress?" Sasha asked excitedly.

"I think so."

"Brilliant! Let's find you a pair of heels to wear."

Sasha helped me find the perfect pair of black heels to wear with the dress. As I stood in front of the mirror looking at my reflection, I felt pretty. Harry's surprise, whatever it might be, was off to a good start.

"You are so gorgeous," Sasha blurted. "Harry is so lucky to be with you."

"Thank you," I blushed. I was used to having people tell me I'm lucky to be with Harry. Hearing it the other way around was flattering.

We walked to the front of the store and Sasha went behind the counter to retrieve a pair of scissors. She cut the tags off the dress I was wearing and threw them in the bin. Another one of the women working at the store came from the fitting room with a bag. She had neatly folded the clothes I had arrived to the boutique in and placed them in the bag with my shoes.

"Harry's credit card information is on file here at the store and he's taking care of the dress and shoes. We had instructions to charge a dress, shoes, and whatever else you wanted to his card. Is there anything else you want to try on or look at?"

I was a taken aback by Harry's generosity toward me. I simply shook my head, "These are fine."

"It was so great to have you in again," Sasha smiled. "I hope the dress works for you. Have fun tonight with Harry!"

"Thank you, I will."

I exited the store to find Peter leaning against the side of the car waiting for me. His eyes lit up when he saw me, and then he opened the door for me. "You look great."

"Thank you, Peter." I smiled and got into the backseat of the car.  

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Peter took me out of London and into the beautiful countryside. The drive was not without stunning views. Snow was no longer covering the ground and the temperature that afternoon had felt more like early spring than late winter. An unobstructed sun was shining down and illuminating the scenery.

The drive took nearly two hours from the center of the city to somewhere in the country. I began to grow anxious as we continued to pass small towns that looked frozen in a time long before the current century. There were stone buildings covered in ivy and nearly every person we passed stared at the car. I repeatedly asked Peter if he was sure of where we were going. Each time, he would look at me through the rearview mirror with smiling eyes and assure me we were getting closer.