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The woman’s head jerked up, and she nearly spilled the mug of coffee next to her as she hurried to slam her laptop shut.
“M-Miss Lawrence!” the woman gasped. “I didn’t know you were coming in today!”
Nicole glanced dismissively at the woman and rolled her eyes. “Hmm. Fetch me Maia.”
Raina gaped as the saleswoman rushed off, nearly tripping in her haste. “Who are you?”
Nicole smirked. “Oh, did I forget to mention? This store was my fifteenth birthday present.”
Raina shook her head in amazement. “Do you actually run the store? Like do you have a say in anything?”
“I have a say in everything,” Nicole replied. “I choose which clothes go on the racks, I hire designers, even decorate the place. I basically make all the decisions and then let the managers do the day-to-day running.”
Raina nodded slowly, stopping to run a hand over a silky pink dress. “Um, these clothes are great, Nicole, but they’re a little fancy.”
“Oh, we’re not staying up front.” Nicole set off toward the back, coming to a stop next to a table full of tops.
“What do you mean?”
Nicole only smiled mysteriously, motioning for Raina to follow her. Pulling another card out of her back pocket, she pressed it to the wall and a hidden door sprung open.
“Ta-da!” Nicole announced, throwing her arms wide. “Welcome to paradise.”
Raina hurried to catch up, peering around the new room in amazement. Dozens and dozens of clothing items were scattered around the space, in seemingly no order or categorization. Clothes lay in boxes, hung on racks, and were even slung over the backs of chairs. Iridescent skirts flashed, bejeweled dresses shone, and neon orange swimsuits were featured as Nicole made her way toward the middle of the room. Following, Raina even thought she spotted a rack of cardigans on the far side of the space.
“These were brought in from England,” Nicole said, stopping by a rack of shirts. She pulled a hanger off the rack, showing Raina a light pink top. “Look, light pinks and purples are your colors. Blues too. So let’s look around and find a couple of things, then you can try them on.”
Nodding, Raina began to explore. She took a purple fitted t-shirt off one table, grabbing a pretty sweater off another. Every now and then, Nicole would appear, handing Raina a new article of clothing. Raina didn’t particularly love anything Nicole picked out, which were usually shorter or tighter than what she was used to.
“Try it on,” Nicole insisted after the fourth time Raina protested her additions.
Sighing, Raina placed the jean skirt Nicole shoved at her on top of her growing pile of clothes. “Can I try these on yet?”
“Almost,” Nicole said, studying Raina critically. She darted over to a table full of accessories, coming back with a set of lavender clips, not dissimilar to ones Raina already owned. “These will look good on you.”
“Thanks,” Raina said as they headed back to the main store, claiming an empty dressing room. “Are you going to try anything on?”
Nicole shrugged. “I was here a couple days ago. There’s not really anything new.”
“That’s not fair,” Raina objected. “If I have to try on this massive pile of clothes, then you should try something on too!”
Nicole laughed, her voice lacking its usual bite. “Well, unlike you, I enjoy trying on clothes.”
“Fine, then you have to do something you don’t like.”
Nicole crossed her arms over her chest. “What did you have in mind?”
Raina thought for a moment. She’d never met anyone as closed off as Nicole Lawrence. What was something that would help her learn something about the other girl? “For every outfit I try on, you have to answer a question.”
“Fine,” Nicole agreed. “But try on the blue dress first.”
“It’s ridiculously short!” Raina called as she pulled the dressing room door shut behind her.
It took little work for her to take off her clothes and wiggle into the dress, which as Raina had predicted, fell a couple inches above her knee.
Nicole whistled when Raina came out, standing up to help with the zipper. Placing her hands on Raina’s shoulders, Nicole spun her around to look in the mirror. “Damn, Cohen, you look great.”
Raina admired the dress in the mirror. Letting her gaze drift down, Raina tugged on the bottom hem of the dress.“It’s a bit short, don’t you think?”
