I wish someone had created something to help me get over this unhealthy obsession I have with her, because I would buy the pharmaceutical company that made it.
My mind is filled with so much conflict. I want to be here, but I don’t at the same time. It’s confusing me. She’s confusing me.
Sapphire steps out of the fitting room, wearing a figure-hugging dress that makes my mouth go drier than a sponge sandwich, and I’m grateful that we’re the only ones in the store. Her friend Coral, who is just as kooky as Sapphire, stepped out for fifteen minutes to grab a bite, or everyone would see the effect she has on me. I’m on the verge of losing it.
An electric flutter surges through my chest, feeling like awe and longing, as the pressure builds against my ribs.
“What do you think of this one?” She pushes herself up on her tiptoes, mimicking a pair of high heels, imagining how it would look with a little more height, before spinning around right in front of me. Her skin shimmers under the store lighting making it look like it’s been kissed by the sun from hours of cycling around the city, her calves toned and firm are begging to be worshipped. Peach silk fabric swishes past my nose, her lavender perfume filling my senses, something I now welcome and imagine smelling even when she’s not around. Like a phantom that’s following me.
Clearing my dry throat, I reply, “I preferred the plain green one.”
She rolls her eyes. “Of course you would.” An uneasy look washes over her as she studies her reflection in the carved baroque-style mirror leaning against the wall that’s next to me. “I think it’s too short, I would prefer one that skims my ankles,” she says.
“The green one then.” I know I’m right.
“You are so predictable. Let me try it on then,” she utters quietly, walking back to the fitting room and relocking the door.
“We don’t have all night,” I mutter.
Huffing and puffing, she counters, “Yes, we do. You have nothing to do, remember?”
“I might be a grouchy pain in the ass, but you’re annoying.” I try to keep my overwhelming annoyance to a minimum.
“Annoyingly wonderful?” She giggles.
Does nothing offend her?
I can’t stop myself from smiling and I half turn in my seat to check myself out in the mirror and pull another smile.
She said I looked… What was it again? Oh, yeah, beautiful, when I smile.
Handsome.
Dashing.
Does she like me?
She must if she said she thought I looked handsome when I smiled.
What a head fuck.
What a rush.
I never thought she would see me like that.
Although what she doesn’t realize is that my outward appearance hides all the chaos inside my head. Now, that’s not pretty. Not even close.
The door unlocks again and I turn back to face her, not wanting her to know I was searching for what she sees in me that I don’t.
Expecting a green dress, I almost gasp out loud, my fingers curling around the arms of the wooden chair, making them creak under the pressure, because Sapphire isn’t wearing the dress I suggested; instead, she’s wrapped in rainbow-colored ombré silk. The colors graduate from one to the next in soft pastel shades, smoothly transitioning from pink at the top, through yellow and mint green in the middle, to light blue and lavender at the gentle flared hem, highlighting every one of her curves all the way down to her ankles.
“I like this one.” She’s practically beaming.
“I do…” My voice comes out all high and squeaky, and I cough to clear my throat and try again. “I do too.”
It’s stunning.
Sleek. Elegant. Just like her.
