“And I’m still on my mission to give you the Christmas you deserve, so give yourself some credit and try on as many of these dresses as you like. Tell yourself you’re doing it for me if it helps?”
He winked at her, a chorus of quiet “awwws!” rising up from the three sales clerks.
“What shall we try first?” Patricia asked.
Merry scanned the racks and hesitantly reached for a bright pink dress that shimmered under the lights. It was bold — louder than anything she’d ever worn — but something about it called to her.
She took it to the changing area, pulled the curtain closed and slipped into it. It fit like it had been stitched for her alone. The fabric hugged her in all the right places, the colour making her skin glow. And yet, as she turned in the mirror, her confidence wavered. Could she really pull this off? She felt like a walking highlighter pen. With a nervous breath, she stepped out of the fitting room.
Christian looked up and a smile popped on to his face. “Wow,” he said, standing. “You’re . . . wow.”
“It’s a bit much, isn’t it?” she said, twisting a little. “I think I might be blinding the mannequins.”
“You’re lighting up the whole store,” he said, eyes gleaming.
She laughed, but tugged at the neckline. “It’s beautiful, but I don’t think it’s me.”
“You sure?” he said. “Because you kind of look like the main character right now.”
Merry bit her lip. “Could you help me out of it? The zipper’s at the back and my arms aren’t that bendy.”
“Of course,” he said, and followed her back into the fitting area without hesitation.
Inside the softly lit space, Merry turned her back to him. His hands were warm as they brushed her shoulder blades, carefully finding the zipper and sliding it down in one slow, smooth motion.
The dress slipped free, pooling around her feet in a puddle of pink silk.
Before she could reach for the hanger, she felt Christian’s lips press gently to the curve of her neck. A shiver ran through her as he kissed her again, slower this time, his hands settling lightly at her waist.
She closed her eyes, letting herself melt into the moment. But then her eyes drifted down to the dress, crumpled on the floor like it was nothing. Thousands of pounds, just lying there like a discarded wrapper.
“Shoo,” she whispered, picking up the dress and smoothing it out on the hanger. “Get outta here before someone sees you.”
“Your wish is my command.” Christian chuckled against her skin and disappeared back to his seat.
Merry lifted the hanger to a hook on the wall and caught sight of herself in the mirrors. Dressed just in her knickers, with work-weary hair, she had another jolt of guilt at taking up the store clerks’ time when they could be tending to women who were meant to shop somewhere like this.
Patricia popped her head around the curtain with a genuine smile on her face and an armful of gorgeous dresses.
“Here you go,” she said, hanging them up for Merry. “I thought these would work well with your colouring.”
Merry’s jaw actually dropped when she saw the dress that was still draped over Patricia's arm. It was perfect. There was literally no other word to describe it. She had never in her life seen a more perfect piece of clothing. It was black silk with hundreds of elegant, diamond-flecked snowflakes stitched intothe shimmering fabric. It seemed almost like a living, breathing thing as Patricia held it up, the cloth unfurling to the floor.
“Oh!” said Merry.
“Nobody else in the world owns one of these,” Patricia said, hanging that dress last. “Few people have even seen it. It’s an exclusive — Devlin designed it for a leading lady whose name I can’t tell you. She never wore it, because they fell out, and now here it is. She was about your size. Do you want to try it on?”
Merry nodded.Oh, please be my size, please please please!
Patricia helped her into it and by some magical fluke the dress flowed on to her like a second skin, cool and soft and impossibly comfortable. She hardly dared turn to face the mirror again, and when she did she barely recognised herself. The woman she saw stood tall and proud, her eyes bright and full of happiness, her smile beaming back from the glass.
“I . . .” Merry said. “I . . .”
It was too much. A tear escaped her eye, winding down her cheek.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“It’s quite something,” said Patricia.
