Sun, Dates, And Paper Plates

Chapter 5

As it turned out, a sudden surge of confidence did not change my cluelessness when it came to shopping for clothes.

I had wandered into the most crowded store I could find- to ensure the clerks wouldn't have time to approach me. Like many other people I'd rather look on my own, even if I didn't see any dresses I'd feel comfortable in.

Maybe this particular place was a bit too 'hip and happening' for me. I stopped at one of the racks, rubbing the fabric of one of the dresses between my thumb and index finger. It was so soft and thin and pretty.

I felt my resolve sink down into the floor. No way I could put this on. This was more something for Joyce and Paisley, or Vera.

Suddenly, there was a tug on the dress from the other side of the rack.

"Oh, sorry," I apologised, immediately letting go.

"...Charmeine?"

Vera's head popped up around the corner first, then the rest of her when she saw me. I realised she was dressed like the other clerk at the door. There was a name tag on her black shirt. Did she work here, too?

"Hey," Vera greeted me. "I thought it was you. How are you doing?"

"Good," I mumbled, flustered by the friendly and familiar way Vera greeted me even if she was probably just doing her job. "Just looking around."

"For a dress?" Vera guessed, gesturing at the many, many racks with dresses currently surrounding us.

"Yeah," I said. "But I don't usually wear dresses so I'm not really sure what would look good on me."

Vera nodded politely at me, but I couldn't imagine her ever having that problem. Even a garbage bag wouldn't distract or detract from her good looks.

"How about..." Vera narrowed her eyes, and I felt heat rise to my face as she scanned me. Intensely.

Vera then turned to the clothing rack nearby, rummaging through a bunch of the clothing before pulling one dress out. "This one?"

She chose one of dresses I'd already decided I could never wear. But I couldn't say no to Vera, so I gingerly took it from her outstretched hands.

It was a pale color of pink. Not a color I had ever considered wearing. Nor had I ever picked something so tight around the waist or short at the bottom. Vera was looking at me expectantly however, and that was enough to make my feet move to the fitting room and get in line.

She didn't even follow me there and she probably didn't care that much in the first place. Yet... there I was, pink dress I didn't want to buy in hand. All because I had no spine and an intimidatingly pretty girl - who worked in the store to boot- had asked me to put it on.

I reached the front of the row faster than my fragile nerves were ready for, and a friendly woman who kept smiling pointed me in the direction of a free fitting room.

Before inevitably having to put the pink thing on I sat on the bench with my hands in my hair, pondering about my poor choices and inability to say no at the worst possible moments.

When I finally got to slipping the smooth fabric over my hips, I was surprised to find it easy. Vera had somehow managed to grab the correct size in one go. An impressive feat, considering my 'birthing hips' had specific demands from pieces of clothing.

I closed the zipper before daring to peek into the mirror.

What I saw there nearly literally made my jaw drop.

"Charmeine? Are you still in there?" Vera's voice rang out from the other side of the curtain.

That broke the spell. I blinked rapidly at my own reflection before turning.