Page 45 of David's Love

“Liz?” Rain calls out.

I signal Chloe to move away and return to the fitting room.

Rain lifts up a dress and studies it.

“Do you have this in black?”

“Yes. Sure. I’ll bring it right away so you can try it out.”

She gestures at me.

“No need to. This size fits me. I want to buy them both,” she says, pointing at the white dress featuring a boat neckline, back zipper, long sleeves, and a hemline that hits above the knee.

“Sounds good,” I say, ready to pivot away.

“Oh…Liz?”

I freeze in the doorway.

“Are you coming to our party this Thursday?”

“Um. Yes?”

“You’re not sure?”

Wearing only lacy underwear and fuzzy socks, she picks up another dress from the hanger.

This one is purple and has a spectacular sash around the waist.

“You want me to help you with that?” I ask, buying some time while closing the distance between us.

She turns around to face the mirror while I brush her hair over one shoulder and look down to pull her zipper up.

The fabric––swishy taffeta––glints under the ceiling light.

The color is magnificent against her blonde hair, making her eyes look like green poison now.

Her eyes meet mine in the mirror, a hint of curiosity in her gaze. She reminds me of how David looked at me when we had virtual sex last time.

We’ve talked a couple of times since then.

I’ve never brought up Colorado again, and he no longer seems suspicious.

Despite dwelling for a good while, I didn’t tell him about what happened that night and the scare that man had given me.

I didn’t tell anyone, in fact.

I’m not one hundred percent sure that what happened that night had anything to do with me.

Although it surely looked that way.

I couldn’t just erase that impression from my head either, so I kept an eye out for suspicious things.

The person harassing me online was reported, and I haven’t heard from him again.

So maybe it was a coincidence, and it was mostly about me being leery about things with no actual causality between the two events.

Things have been quiet lately. And I haven’t had any issues with anyone.

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