Fate, Chance and Circumstance

FCC Chapter Two

Unperturbed, Maggie danced her way over to the heavy glass doors and kicked the stoppers out of the way, letting both fall shut. I followed her halfway down so I could still hear her.

"So what?" she said with her back to me, locking the store up tight and flipping the OPEN sign to CLOSED. "I turned twenty a month ago. I'm not legal."

"You also don't look like a twelve year old playing dress up with her mom's clothes," I got out through clenched teeth. Not that anyone had ever said that to me, but it was how I felt more often than not when people gazed at me in confusion, clearly trying to figure out my age.

"Oh!" she gasped, spinning to face me, blond hair flying out behind her. Her face was pure mischief and excitement as she dashed past me back to the counter. "Speaking of dressing up."

Her head disappeared behind the huge mahogany counter and a shiver of trepidation ran the length of my spine. The feeling only increased when she emerged with a garment bag, throwing it onto the counter.

"G'head," she said when I peered at it uncertainly.

"Um, go ahead and what, exactly? Hang it up? Send it off for dry cleaning?"

An enormous sigh of exasperation preceded her answer. "Go ahead and open it," she said slowly, like I was stupid.

I let loose a sigh big enough to rival her own, but indulged her anyway. My sigh quickly ended on a laugh. "Is this a joke?"

And though Maggie was grinning deviously at me, she shook her head.

"Then what is it?" I asked, pulling a sleek, navy blue dress the rest of the way out of the bag. Specifically, it was the dress I'd been coveting since the day it came in three months ago. Not only was it among the very few that fit me without making me look like I had dwarf blood in me, but it was elegantly made, with a modest cut.

I'd tried it on enough times to know it hit me just above the knee, and while it dipped low in the back, it rose up high enough in front and clasped around the back of my neck, ensuring that only the barest amount of my non-existent cleavage was on display.

Elegance and modesty; two things that were a must for a girl like me when dress shopping. The vivid, rich hue of blue also made my eyes stand out, and I knew without even trying that the barest hint of eyeliner would make them appear luminescent in the right lighting.

"That, my friend," Maggie gushed, failing to contain her excitement, "is your very first purchase from Wiltshire and Lennox. And like most women who go crazy in our store, you didn't even have to spend a single cent on it!"

Never before had I heard such a contradicting statement. Still, I waited patiently for the punch line, fingering the fine, silky fabric, and when none came I elbowed Maggie in the ribs.

"Okay, stop playing. Seriously, what do you want me to do with the dress? Did a customer come in and put it on order?"

A forlorn pang hit me at the possibility; we'd only got one dress in each size, and the one I held in my hands just happened to be in mine.

Clucking her tongue, Maggie flicked her voluminous blond locks carelessly over her shoulder. "Maybe I should speak in caveman terms so you understand me better." She put on a face, complete with an exaggerated frown, jutting her bottom jaw forward and baring her teeth. Slumping her shoulders and grunting loudly for effect, she thumped her own chest and said, "Me, Maggie. Give Avery dress. Gift from white man. He pay with shiny plastic card. Best thing since fire."

I nearly ended up on the floor, I was laughing so hard, and she was giggling before the last words left her mouth. Then what she actually said registered and I recovered faster than if someone had tossed a glass of ice water in my face.