something the cat had dragged in from the alleyway. Something not entirely welcome.
“Can we help you?” A slightly older lady with perfectly coiffed blond hair approached us with a thin smile.
“We’re just looking at dresses.” Sally smiled back confidently and flicked her hair back. “My friend is going to an important party tonight so she wants to make sure that she has a dress worthy of the occasion.”
“Oh, well, we can definitely help.” The lady’s eyes fell to me and I could see that she was sizing me up. “Our dresses are very expensive, ma’am.” She looked at me in the eyes and I knew she was thinking that my Target and Ross bargain clothes had not impressed her. “There’s a T.J. Maxx up the street.” She continued as she stared at me. “It might be a bit more affordable.”
“I think we’ll still have a look,” Sally said, her voice loud as she looked at the lady dismissively. “Thanks for your help.”
“We should leave,” I whispered at Sally. “She’s a bitch.”
“Forget her.” Sally shook her head. “All the sales ladies in these places are bitches. Our goal is to get you a hot dress. We have to ignore them.”
“I guess.” I sighed and made a face. “I just really don’t feel good about giving her money.”
“If we buy a dress here, we’ll ask for the owner’s name and then send a scathing letter, okay?” Sally grinned at me. “That way, while she might get some commission, she’ll still get in some trouble.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “Deal.” I looked around the store and my eyes grew wide at the ample assortment of evening dresses. “I don’t know how we’re going to choose a dress.” I made a face. “I don’t even think half of these will fit me. They all look like size zero.”
“Many are size zero because they are straight from the designer,” Sally said, nodding in agreement. “But there will be many that aren’t. And tonight, we’re going to have you in a long red dress, with a plunging neckline and a high slit up the legs.”
“Whoa, what?” My eyes nearly bulged out. “That sounds a bit much.”
“You need to be a bit much.” Sally raised an eyebrow at me. “This is TJ, remember? The love of your life. You want him to want you more than anything else in the world, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but not just for sex. I want him to want me for my mind and my body. I want him to think he can’t live without me.”
“This is step one,” Sally said. “Guys think with their small heads first. You need him to be obsessing over you and wanting you in his bed at all times. Then he’ll start to realize just how much you mean to him in every area of his life.”
“I guess,” I sighed. “I just don’t know if TJ will ever feel that way about me. He’s not the guy I thought he was, you know? He seems more damaged than I thought. A bit darker and deeper, not just the joker I always thought.”
“He’s dark because he’s into kinky sex, Mila.” She laughed, but I shook my head at her as our eyes caught.
“No, it’s more than that. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s more than that.” I sighed. “But who knows? Maybe I’m imagining it. Maybe it’s not anything other than what I want to think and believe.” I paused as I heard my phone beeping. I looked down and saw TJ’s name on the screen and ignored it. I didn’t need his playful teasing right now. Not when I was already so confused about everything.
“Stop overthinking everything, Mila.” Sally gave me a pointed look. “I know you over-analyze everything and sometimes that is good, but this is not one of those situations. Just let it go where it goes.”
“I guess so. That’s hard, though.”
“I know.” She nodded. “But life is hard. No one ever said it was going to be easy.”
“I want it to be easy.” I moaned. “I want him to just wake up and say, Mila, I love you, let’s make this real.”
“Maybe he will,” Sally said softly, her eyes on