AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I watch her work as she adds blush to my cheeks and dark, sparkling gray shadow to my eyes. She’s like a machine, focused and steady while she paints my face as if I were a canvas. She finishes it off with a red matte lip stain and then passes me a hand mirror.
Words clog in my throat. I don’t even recognize myself. The face staring back at me belongs to a gorgeous, confident woman who doesn’t take shit from anyone. She certainly doesn’t represent who I am. But the more I look at her, the more I like her. The woman is strong and bold, sure of herself. She’s everything I want to be. Seeing her gives me hope that if I keep pushing, keep fucking trying, that one day, I’ll feel what I see in her on the outside on the inside.
Never give up, never fucking quit, no matter what anyone says. The only person who can change you is yourself. That’s a hard lesson to learn, and some never do, but once you understand that, your entire life will change, just as mine is changing right now.
“Here,” she says, offering me the lip stain. “Keep it in case you need to touch up later.”
I accept the stain and hand her the mirror. “Thank you, Marina.”
“No need to thank me. Thank your man.” She winks and stands, gesturing for me to do the same.
My man? Is that what Alistair is? Is that what they all are?
My men…
Smiling, I grab my purple rose and head back outside. The driver is already waiting with the door open, so I quickly rush into the limo.
He shuts the door, and I add my rose to the pile I’ve accumulated and pick up another note.
One more stop before we meet again. Can’t wait to see you.
“Me too,” I whisper to myself, feeling more and more excited. The next stop is only a few minutes away, and as the driver parks and the snow continues to fall, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I don’t think it’s just from the champagne I had earlier. It’s Alistair. It’s this day. It’s the overwhelming emotions I’m feeling for him right now, that I’m feeling for all of them.
I don’t even see the store I walk into, too lost in a daydream, but as I head to the counter and find another rose—red with black edges—I come to and glance around.
It’s a dress store.
Not just for everyday dresses, but gowns.
Sparkling dresses of every color, style, and length hang from walls, making me feel like I’m in some kind of fucked-up dance club. Racks of dresses are scattered about the huge store. I could get lost looking at them all and become quickly overwhelmed.
“You must be Rory,” a voice says, and I turn to find a woman who looks to be in her forties. She has her light brown hair pulled up in a bun, and she’s dressed in a smart suit. I nod, and she grins. “I’m Gianna, and I’m ready for you. Come with me.”
I can’t place her accent, maybe Italian, but it sounds exotic. I follow her nervously, and my cheap flip-flops make that annoying slapping sound as I walk, making me cringe. She guides me to a private dressing room lined with mirrors. Several dresses dangle from padded satin hangers, their colors ranging from deep red and pale ivory to dark black.
“Pick out any you like,” she tells me as she stands to the side with her hands clasped in front of her.
“I don’t know where to begin,” I admit. “Do you have any recommendations?”
She smiles wide as if she was waiting for me to ask. “With your skin tone and dark hair, I’d stay away from the cream dresses. Let’s try this red one.”
She hands me the hanger, and I step behind a changing partition before stripping down and stepping into it.
I come out and look at myself. It’s strapless and tight fitting, but it doesn’t look right on me. My boobs look huge but not as perky as I’d like. Frowning, I shake my head. “Not this one.”
“This one then,” she suggests, offering me a black gown. We go back and forth, but when I step into the fifth dress, it just feels different.
Gianna beams and claps her hands together when I come around the wall. “Yes! That’s the one!”
She’s right.
I step onto the tiny pedestal and really look at myself. The dress is a slinky black number and hard to describe because it’s so unique. A thick strap bedazzled with hundreds of rhinestones wraps around my neck like a collar, and it’s connected to two straps that hang down my chest to hold up the rest of the dress. The straps are thin and also covered in rhinestones, and they reach down to the top of my breasts. From there, the gown begins. Attached to the straps are triangles of fabric that drape across my chest, but they don’t connect to either side, leaving the swell of my breasts bare and visible.
A decorative string of sparkling gemstones hangs from the center of the collar drapes between my breasts like tiny strings of fringe, accentuating them. The dress hugs me in all the right places and stops just above the knee, but the fabric on the skirt, which should cover my left leg, is missing from my knee to my hip, and instead, five evenly placed rhinestone covered straps curve around my leg, holding the front and back of my dress together. They run from my hip down to my thigh, showing off my entire left leg.
It’s sexy.
It’s hot.
