mine. “And maybe he won’t. But don’t live out your days waiting for that. Enjoy whatever you have now. It’s good now, or at least good enough, right?”
“Yeah,” I said softly. “It’s good enough. It’s more than I thought I would have with him.”
“Then enjoy.” Sally walked away from me then and up to a dress rack. “Now stop thinking and start looking. We need to get you a dress that’s going to blow TJ away.”
“Yeah, that would be nice,” I agreed and walked over to a display next to her and started thumbing through the dresses, though I wasn’t really seeing them. All I was thinking about was the look I hoped to see on TJ’s face when he saw me. I wanted his eyes to widen. I wanted him to look impressed, taken aback. I wanted his eyes to rove all over my body and not want to look away. I wanted him to want me more than he’d ever wanted anyone in the world. I wanted him to look at me as if I were the last person in the world. I wanted him to think I was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Not that I was or would ever be. There were far more beautiful women out there, but I wanted TJ to look at me as if I were one of them.
I wanted time to stand still. I got shivers just thinking about it. And then I started to feel teary-eyed again because I knew it would never happen. TJ would never look at me as if I were that special someone. I couldn’t imagine it. As much as I wanted it, I just couldn’t see it happening.
“Ooh, what about this?” Sally held up a dress to show me. It was short, black and the top was made of some sort of transparent lace.
“Sally, people will see my bra or my breasts.” I shook my head. “I don’t want them seeing either.”
“Fine.” She grinned and put it back on the rack. “Though, it’s a fucking sexy dress.”
“That it is.” I laughed and continued looking through the dresses. My hand stopped on a long cream dress with pearls running along the neckline. “What about this?” I asked Sally and held the dress up.
“Are you a grandma going to prom?” Sally made a face. “No way, that’s not sexy at all.”
“Fine.” I laughed and kept thumbing through the dresses. My hand stopped on a delicate, sexy black dress with a lace back and a long slit. “What about this?” I said breathlessly as I held it up for her to see.
“Wow.” Sally’s eyes widened as she glanced at the dress in my hand. “That’s hot.”
“You don’t think it’s too much?”
“Is there such a thing as too much?”
“Yes,” I laughed. “There is definitely such a thing as too much. I don’t want to be the skank at the party.”
“You, my dear, could never be a skank.”
“Yes, I could.” I laughed and then looked at the dress again. “But I’m still going to try it on.” I smiled at her. “Maybe it will go right up to the ho line but not pass it.”
“That’s a fine line.” Sally laughed and we grinned at each other, both of our worries forgotten in that moment as we shopped.
“Thanks for coming with me, Sally. It really means a lot to me.”
“Shh.” She rolled her eyes and pushed me. “Don’t get emotional. Just go and change and let me see how hot you look.”
“Fine.” I grinned and looked around for a dressing room. “I hope it looks good,” I said as I walked towards the back of the store.
“It will look great, and if it doesn’t, there are plenty more dresses to try on.”
“I know,” I said, though I knew I would feel disappointed if the dress in my hands didn’t look good. I’d only seen it for a few seconds, but I was already drawn to it. It was intricate and pretty and I loved the look of it. I just hoped that it would look good on me.
I walked into the dressing room and pulled the curtain, hanging the dress on a hanger carefully before setting my bag down. I started to take off my clothes slowly, staring at myself in the mirror as I did so. I paused for a few seconds and just stared at my face up close. I