A/N: Lainie's dress is on the side!!
So I had told Keith about the bet I had agreed to and he had laughed his head off. He laughed even more when I told him my plan to get the guys numbers.
It had been two days since Henry and I decided on the bet. It was awkward between us. For example, Henry and I didn’t sleep on the same bed. He decided to sleep on the couch himself. I had been in disbelief and still was. Since when did dirty minded Henry not force himself onto the bed with me?
Anyway, we had organised a group to go on a shopping trip today, so we (mainly the girls) buy new outfits for Veronica’s birthday bash. She wasn’t coming on the trip of course; she preferred to shop with ‘non rejects.' I couldn't believe she had called me a reject.
Most of our group was waiting for the last scene for finish before going. Including me, there were six people – Keith, Natasha, Clara and her boyfriend, Aiden, and Henry. Yes, Henry. He hadn’t wanted to come, but when he heard Keith was coming, he immediately decided to join us. I had asked Steve if he had wanted to come but he had said no (of course, because he was working).
“We’re finished!”
I looked up at the sound of Clara’s voice. Clara, like Natasha, is a minor actress in the film as one of the first victims of the serial killer. Henry and Keith were right behind her, with Keith trying to make conversation with Henry, just to annoy him I think.
“I haven’t been shopping in ages,” Natasha whined, her blue eyes wide. “And I am in need of a new dress!”
Clara frowned as we started heading towards Henry’s limo outside the building. “I was just going to wear a skirt with a blouse …”
I bit my lip to hide my smile. I would say something like that too and April would chastise me for not thinking ‘fabulously.’ And then, Natasha did the exact same thing as April would do. They would really get along.
It took fifteen minutes to get to the shops and on the way there, we chatted about random topics. We arrived in front of a large plaza, surrounded by cute boutiques, cafes and entertainment stores. We all agreed the boys should go in a group and hang out together, while the girls would go shopping for their outfits and then we would meet back in front of the Chinese restaurant to eat lunch, but Keith insisted on coming with us because he wanted to help us with dress shopping.
I laughed aloud at that and especially the looks everyone was giving him. Henry was shooting daggers at him, Clara was tilting her head to the side and looking like as if she thought she misheard what he had said, and Aiden’s eyebrows were raised impossibly high on his forehead.
Natasha meanwhile looked at him disgusted. “You perv!” she exclaimed, pointing a finger at him.
Her accusation made us all laugh harder (except Henry) while Keith turned just a bit pink. “What?” He asked with a little careless shrug. “Can’t I show my love for shopping?”
“You are just weird,” Natasha said after a few seconds. She sighed and looked away. “And to think I thought you were hot!”
Keith blushed even more while the rest of us laughed even harder. Natasha ended up letting Keith tag along with the help of Clara’s reasoning.
Clara, Keith and I were dragged us into heaps of shops by Natasha, but most didn’t sell a lot of dresses. They sold casual dresses, but we were looking for party dresses. And we ended up finding a large modern looking store which sold a lot of party-like clothes.
We headed inside we were immediately assaulted by a shop assistant, whose name tag told us her name was Belle. She descended upon us and gave us all a charismatic smile. “Hello there! Do you girls need anything?”
I snickered as Keith made a face. Belle hadn’t seen him.
“Yes please. We’re looking for dresses,” Natasha announced cheerfully.
“Dresses? Of course! Do you have a particular dress in mind?” She asked.
“I’d like a unique dress … maybe one with ruffles down the bottom,” Natasha said thoughtfully. “I don’t mind about the colours, just not brown or orange or yellow.”
“And what about you dear?” Belle asked Clara.
Clara shook her head and gave an apologetic smile. “I’m fine. I prefer to find clothes myself.”
“Of course, of course!” Belle agreed with a wave of her hand. She then turned to me. “And how about … oh! You were in OK!”
“Excuse me?” I asked, totally confused as what she was talking about.
“Yes, that interview of Henry Parker and you! I’m so happy for the both of you! It’s such a pleasure to meet you Miss Watson.”
Oh. She meant that interview Henry and I had done long ago, when we had made up a story of how we met. “Um thank you and please, just call me Lainie,” I said awkwardly.
“Anyway, how would you like your dress?” Belle exclaimed, beaming.
It was funny how I wasn’t talented at all and yet Belle had recognised me. Here was Natasha and Clara who actually acted and they didn’t get noticed. But it was most likely due to the fact that both of them were minor actresses, not someone dazzlingly famous like Henry.
“Well, I want sexy but not slutty,” I ended up saying.
“Like a subtle sexy?” Keith suggested.
I clicked my fingers, impressed Keith had contributed. “Yeah!”
Belle gave me a mischievous grin, making me squirm a bit. “Impressing your man?”
My eyes widened and I didn’t miss the wink Keith sent my way. “No!” I exclaimed, a hot blush creeping up my throat. “Definitely not!”
“Whatever you say Lainie,” Natasha said cheekily. I glared at her because I had told her about the bet as well and now here she was making fun of me.
“Ok ladies, I will go and find some beautiful dresses for you!” Belle sang in an impressive soprano voice. “Feel free to look around as well!”
Clara went off ahead to look for her own dress, while Natasha and Keith tagged along with me to the long rack along the south side of the shop’s walls. As I fingered the hem of a strapless flowing dress, Natasha hip checked me.
“Impressing you man hmm?” She teased.
I rolled my eyes at her. “I already told you about the bet we made, remember?” I reminded her.
She shrugged as she trailed her zebra painted nails along a dress. “I know. I just felt like it,” she said. “And hey! Have you figured out what you’re going to make Henry do when you win?”
I blinked and realised I hadn’t really thought of anything. I had just been focusing on winning. “Umm … I’ll make him clean everything for once.”
Keith gave me a look. “Well that’s fun,” he remarked sarcastically.
Natasha giggled. “I know right! C’mon, Lainie! Think of the possibilities!”
“Yeah,” Keith said, frowning as he tried to think of a good idea. “How about making you breakfast in bed? I bet he never does that.”
Natasha waved off Keith’s comment before I could speak. Her eyes were large and sparkling. “No, no! How about a strip tease?! I bet you’d love that!”
“No way!” I exclaimed, horrified, as Natasha and Keith cackled with laughter. What I was even more horrified at though was the feeling that my cheeks were burning red. My memory was still as sharp as ever and my mind wandered back to the day at the beach and I had first gotten a nice view of his undeniably gorgeous six pack … ugh! What was I thinking?!
“She’s blushing!” Natasha squealed to Keith, while half giggling.
“I am not!” I denied hotly, giving her a light slap on the shoulder. “C’mon guys! Stop laughing and start thinking of some innocent ideas!”
“Well it’d be cool,” Keith commented after calming down. He then gave me a flirty wink. “You could dress him up.”
“Like a fireman!” Natasha cried excitedly. Then her eyebrows furrowed as she realised something. “Oh wait, that’s so cliché.”
“How about the Pink Panther?” Keith suggested.
I couldn’t help it – I burst out laughing at the ridiculous idea of Henry walking around in a Pink Panther costume. As I regained my breath, I remembered something. I remembered a certain costume was still in Henry’s suitcase …
“Elvis Presley!” I exclaimed, jumping up and down. I had finally found something else other than cleaning that Henry could do! “I packed his Elvis Presley costume here!”
Both Keith and Natasha’s eyes widened. Natasha spoke first though. “Oh.my.god Lainie! You have to do it!”
I grinned wickedly. “Oh I will.”
After chatting a bit more, Natasha was called over by Belle to try on some dresses. I then made my way around the store with Keith and tried to find a good looking dress.
“How about this one?” Keith asked, taking out a strapless mini dress with ruffles on the neckline. He held it to his body to model it, making me laugh.
“I don’t think it looks so good on you Keith,” I said ruefully.
His jaw dropped and then he waved his hand at me girlishly. “Oh please sister! It totally looks good on me!”
I laughed at his idiocy and the girl voice he had just used. “Ahh Keith,” I murmured. “You’re like the gay best friend I’ve never had.”
Keith put his hand to his heart and exaggeratedly made an offended face. “I’m insulted Lainie!”
I giggled and nudged him. “Sure you are.”
He gave me a boyish grin and I knew he was back to normal. “Nah I’m not actually. I’m quite amused. I’ve never been called gay … are you sure you aren’t blind?” He joked.
I tilted my head as I studied a little black dress. “I assure you I have perfect eyesight Mr Miller.”
After that, Keith and I busied ourselves by searching through the racks. There were pretty dresses, but they didn’t seem like ‘the one.’ April had taught me when shopping; you needed to find ‘the one.’ Keith was a hopeless shopper. He only knew about guys clothes, although he knew what sort of colours would fit me well.
I scooped up some dresses which were worth trying on and headed towards the changing rooms at the back with Keith behind me. I passed Clara on the way, who was surveying an ivory dress with a large green bow.
“You’re not going in are you?” I questioned, giving Keith a strange look.
“Of course not! I’m just waiting!” He cried with a grimace. He motioned his head over to the bench and sat down.
I smiled gratefully and tried on the dresses I had found, but I didn’t think they were that good on me, so I quickly changed back into my normal outfit and headed back out. Natasha was there, standing in front of the large mirror at the end of the small hallway of dressing rooms, admiring herself. She looked absolutely fabulous.
“Keith, what do you think?” She asked, smoothing a few wrinkles on the skirt.
“Don’t ask me,” Keith said, a bit horrified to be asked to criticise clothes.
“Just say if I look like garbage or not,” Natasha snapped. “It’s easy!”
Keith scratched his jaw and frowned. “Umm … you look like garbage … but not bad garbage! Just like the small garbage you throw in the small bins in the house you know …”
I burst into laughter as his ridiculous answer while Natasha gave him a glare. “What kind of answer is that?!” She shrieked, running back into her dressing room to take the dress off.
Keith sighed and turned to me. He blinked, surprised. “You were supposed to show me what you looked like!” He whined.
“None of them looked good on me.”
“You’re being too modest, Lainie.”
I rolled my eyes at his ‘compliment’ and sat down beside him. Pouting, I realised there was just no perfect dress for me. That was until Belle walked over towards us, carrying a small pile of dresses.
“Lainie,” she sang. “I believe I have found the one for you!”
I sat up and frowned at the pile. “That is not one,” I stated.
Belle laughed and handed me a dress from the pile. “This one will look stunning on you.”
She then turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Keith and I sitting there. I looked down at it and a small smile grew on my face. It was perfect for the masquerade party. It was a tight dark purple mini dress with a one shoulder. Surprisingly the one shoulder made it seem less ‘slutty.’
“Try it on,” Keith urged. “I bet it’ll look amazing.”
I nodded and headed over towards a stall. It took me a bit of time to get into it, but I finally was finished in the end. It showed off my long, lean legs and my slim waist nicely. I shyly unlocked the door and stepped out into the main area. Keith immediately looked up and his eyes widened as he studied me. His face then cracked into a grin and he said, “Henry’s going to die when he sees you in this – die and go to heaven.”