I stopped short in front of a store. An elegant dress hung in the window under a bunch of lights. It was a slightly off the shoulder, A-line dress with a beaded sweetheart neckline. The satin skirt was full-ish but still sleek–not straight but not puffy. No train. It saidI’mtheprincess,notI’maprincess.It could be pale gold, it might also be pale pink, or even off-white. I couldn’t tell with the way it was lit.
But I knew it. This wasThe One.
“Spence, I need to try that on,” I breathed, consumed with an overwhelming desire to have that dress.Please don’t be itchy.I’d cry if it were itchy.
Or had a low back.
“You found it.” Spencer wrapped his arms around me. “Let’s try it on.”
“Wow, you have good taste,” Riley whispered. “The girls at school covet these. They’re peak excellent eighteenth party goals when you’re stupid-rich.”
We went inside. Soft music played. Like Ferrel, it was sophisticated, but it had more of an elegant princess undertone.
“Oh, that’s pretty,” I breathed as we passed another mannequin in a pale pink, puffy dress.
“My mate would like to try on the dress in the window,” Spencer told the associate.
“Which one?” he asked.
I pointed to it, since there were two windows, one on each side of the door. “That one.”
“Lovely choice. That’s part of our Sapphire Collection. Why don’t I bring you over to the modeler? Not all stores have it, but we do.” He led me over to an area that saidDubois SapphireCollection,and there was a kiosk and some sort of photo booth.
“Can’t I try on the dress?” I blinked.
“Step into the scanner and it takes a complete 360-degree photo of your body. At the kiosk, you can see how you’d look in any of our Sapphire Collection dresses. You order what you’d like and pay at the kiosk. They’re made to measure and will be here at the store for you to collect in about eight weeks,” he informed me.
My heart fell. “I don’t have eight weeks.”
“I’m happy to show you a couple of lovely dresses that we have right here in-store that are similar,” he offered.
“Why can’t she try on the one in the window? It looks like it’s the perfect size,” Riley questioned.
My thoughts exactly.
“Um, I have to talk to the manager. Usually we don’t do that,” he replied.
“Darling, why don’t I talk to the manager, and you look around and see what else you can find? They do have lovely dresses here,” Spencer said.
“Okay.” I followed the associate, telling him about the party we were having. He pulled out some exquisite dresses. I had to admit that some of them could work if I couldn’t have the one in the window.
He led Riley and I back to a beautiful dressing suite and brought us pink lemonade and little pink cakes.
“Just try,” he suggested. “If none of these from the special occasion collection work, we still have the rest of the store. Wewillfind you the perfect dress in time, even if we need to order dresses from Paris or New York and have them overnighted here for you to try on.”
“Okay, thank you.” I appreciated his positivity.
“Would another store have that dress in a different size?” Riley asked.
“The Sapphire display dresses are returned orders. Each store has different styles and sizes. It’s not that we wouldn’t sell it to you, but they’re a pain to take off,” he confessed. “But the manager will have the measurements, so if it’s close, maybe she will?”
Did Spencer know my measurements? Never mind, he’d bought me dresses before, and if he didn’t know them exactly, Andre probably had them from my fittings.
I tried on a pale gold dress that was a very similar style but with a different neckline and a hint of a train.
Oh? I took pictures and sent them to Evan and Verity.
Verity
