Show Them What You Can't Tell Them

Bringing A Dream To Light

Just ten more steps then I will finally be at the dress shop, Alexis thought, once the guys disappeared.

"Come on Mom, let's keep looking."

His heart was racing, as he struggled to maintain a calm, non-committal manner. Without saying anything he paused, turned, and started into the dress shop.

"Where are you going? I don't think this place will have anything for me," said his mom, as he entered what was obviously a young girl's clothing store.

"M- Mom, can we please just take a quick l-look?"

"But, why would you ever want to go in there? Do you really want to go in there," she asked, surprised that he had chosen this store.

Desperate, Alexis pleaded, "Will you be supportive? Let me explore a bit." He hoped the paraphrase of Aunt Alexandra's advice would get through.

Beth paused, waiting to see if he was serious or if he was going to back out of his decision. After what seemed like an eternity, she gently smiled. "Well, I guess so. But, let's not waste too much time."

To Alexis, this answer seemed midway between totally oblivious and mildly accepting.

"Thanks, Mom."

As he crossed the threshold Alexis suddenly felt very hot, and he began to grow quite a bit more nervous, his heart still racing. At this point, he realized that he had not properly planned his next steps. BIM had not been specific about what was supposed to happen at the dress shop, and all of Alexis's focus had been on getting his Mom this far.

Beth paused at a front display table, watching Alexis out the corner of her eyes as he as began to walk slowly down one side of the store, past circular racks of clothing, gently touching the merchandise, feeling the delicate textures, and looking at the exciting colors.

Shopping for boys' clothes was never like this.

Alexis knew his mother was probably watching him carefully. He also became aware that the store owner and a younger girl were watching him from behind the cash register counter.

"Looks like you have a customer, Bri," the older lady behind the counter remarked toward the younger one, referring to Alexis.

"Yes, I'm sure he is, mom," the girl replied.

In her mid-teens, Brianna always came to work in stylish clothes carefully selected to motivate customers by holding out the hope of them being able to look equally as fabulous as she.

"Did you see that he dragged his mother in here, not the other way around," the older lady observed.

"He looks very nervous, mom. Very nervous."

"Yes, but also fascinated."

"I bet he's sweating and completely tongue-tied."

"You know they usually are on the first visit."

"Well, let's do our thing, mom. I always love to help out a new customer."

The two started moving through the store like a pair of lionesses on the hunt, preparing to separate the target from the herd.

In a flash, Ann positioned herself next to Beth, as her daughter slipped up behind Alexis.

"HI, I'm Ann Mitchell. The owner of this store," Ann began.

Meanwhile, on one side of the store:

"Hello, my name is Brianna Isabella. May I help you?"

Alexis nearly panicked at the sound of someone talking to him. He turned to look at the attractive girl a few years his senior.