Back in the changing room, I unzipped the blue dress and peeled off my socks. The pink dress had annoying little eyelet hooks down one side which took half my thumbnail off as I unfastened them.
It had looked like a scrap of material on the hanger, but as I shimmied into the dress it transformed into something quite nice. More than nice, actually. I twirled in the mirror – was there a hint of Marilyn Monroe there? Or at the very least Madonna circa ‘Material Girl’?
I poked my head through the changing room curtains.
‘You might have landed on a winner, Alice.’
‘Well, let’s see you then.’
Alice now had a veil on. It trailed behind her, reaching the floor and fluttering on an imperceptible breeze that made her look like she’d just stepped out of a perfume ad.
‘Okay, now you’re going to make me cry,’ I told her.
She smiled. ‘It looks good, doesn’t it?’
I nudged her. ‘Glad you can finally see it.’
‘You look amazing too, Zoë. I knew a column dress would look great on you. You even pull off the hot pink.’
I grinned. ‘I wouldn’t go that far.’
*
With my dress chosen remarkably easily, we went to grab a coffee. I say coffee, but Alice’s digestive system was a caffeine-free zone, so it was a latte for me and a dandelion tea for her.
‘That dress shop really scares me,’ Alice whispered as we sat at a nearby café sipping our drinks.
‘Really? But you looked so serene.’
‘The first time I went, they insisted I wear gloves before I touched any dresses.’
‘You’re joking.’
Alice shook her head.
‘God forbid you defile them with a fingerprint,’ I said.
‘It helped having you there, Zoë. You never let people intimidate you. And you always know how to act in every situation.’
Is that what she thought of me? ‘I feel intimidated sometimes,’ I confessed. ‘But I make sure I don’t show it.’
‘Fake it till you make it?’
I smiled. ‘Alcohol sometimes helps.’ I was flattered that Alice thought I was some sort of Teflon-coated superwoman, but the truth was, lately, I’d been feeling more and more wrong-footed. And Simon was the reason why. Would it help talking to Alice? Her trusting eyes waited patiently. ‘I get into plenty of situations where I don’t know what to do,’ I said. ‘I’m in the middle of one right now.’
‘Has this got anything to do with a certain someone called Simon?’
For a second, I panicked that my darling brother had told Alice I had feelings for Simon, but I’d never told Pete and he wasn’t the world’s most observant sibling.
‘How did you guess?’
Alice smiled. ‘The pair of you have a fantastic energy. It’s like you both glow when you’re together.’
I felt my cheeks redden. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. ‘Is it that obvious?’
‘Only to someone who knows what to look for,’ she said. ‘What’s the deal between you?’
My coffee must have been strong, because I suddenly felt my heart beating faster. ‘I’ve never met anyone who makes me feel like Simon does.’
