Page 49 of Three's a Crowd
‘Daisy?’ Zach said, from the other side of the curtain.
‘Yes?’ she called back.
‘We might have found a dress for you to wear this evening.’
She adjusted the final top she was trying on and pulled the curtain back to reveal Zach standing there with the manager of the store, a red gown held out in his hand.
It had to be the most beautiful thing Daisy had ever seen.
It was a deep blood red and its delicate material seemed to glow in the soft light of the shop. It was strapless, apart from a single, thin, spaghetti strap which crossed from under one arm across the neckline and over the shoulder to the opposite side on the back. The fine boning on the bodice gave it a structured look and the material flared out from the hips, before pulling gently in at the knees and flaring out again suddenly at the bottom in a short, fish-tail train. Zach turned it round on its hanger to showher the back, which was cut low and finished at the bottom of the cut-out with three tiny heart-shaped buttons.
‘It’s beautiful,’ she whispered. ‘Can I really borrow it?’ she asked the store manager, who nodded her consent.
‘Thank you,’ she said with a tremor in her voice. She thought she might burst into tears at a strange rush of emotions that were threatening to overwhelm her. ‘Can I try it on?’ she asked.
‘Of course,’ the manager said, nodding curtly.
Zach handed it to her and with a grateful smile at him she strode back into the changing room and pulled the curtain shut.
Just as she was carefully removing her outfit ready to try the dress on, Zach’s phone starting ringing. She heard him answer.
‘Yeah? What, really? What time?’ His voice became fainter as he walked away to take the call in private. She was just undoing the dress to put it on when Zach called to her again through the curtain.
‘Daisy? I’m really sorry about this. That was my PA. Apparently, they’ve scheduled me in for a last-minute interview which starts in about two minutes. I’m going to have to go and leave you to it.’
Disappointment rushed through her. She was having so much fun and she really wanted Zach to see her in the dress. She kept her feelings in check though, not wanting to seem too needy.
‘Okay, don’t worry, I’ll be fine,’ she said with as much good humour as she could muster.
‘I’ll see you later, okay? I’ve asked my PA to drop off the tickets and directions for the premiere and party afterwards at your hotel. I’ll see you there.’
She heard him murmur something to the store manager in French before striding away, the shop door banging closed behind him.
Daisy felt a swell of sadness at his going. How had she ever thought she hated him before? He was kinder and more considerate than she’d ever given him credit for. It just went to show how little she really knew him, even after all these years.
Both of them being older and more sure of themselves had helped too, though. She was definitely able to handle her emotions better now.
Sighing, she carefully dropped the dress over her head, allowing it to slip gently down her body. It felt heavenly to wear. The material clung to her figure in all the right places and the undulating shape gave her the most fantastic curves. The colour was just right on her too. It brought a healthy glow to her cheeks and her dark hair contrasted beautifully with the rich red tone.
After admiring herself for a moment in the mirror, she strode out to the main floor of the shop. The manager was waiting for her and clapped her hands in delight when she saw how well the dress fitted her.
‘I ’ave some perfect shoes to go wiz it,’ she exclaimed, her pretty French accent sounding like music to Daisy’s ears.
She left and went through a staff door, returning a minute later with a pair of beautiful, dark-red shoes. They were made out of soft leather with a sharply pointed toe and tiny straps criss-crossing over where the top of her foot would be. Daisy raised her eyes at the length of the heels though. She’d never worn anything so high before – she’d never needed to, feeling comfortable with her height. In these, she’d be almost as tall as Adam.
She took them from the manager and, sitting down first, put them carefully on her feet. When she stood up, she nearly toppled over on the spindly heels, but managed to steady herself in time. Walking carefully to the nearest mirror and lifting her dress a bit to see them, she admired them in the reflection. They were perfect.
‘Unfortunately, I cannot loan zese to you,’ the manager said, nodding down at them. ‘You would ’ave to purchase them if you want zem.’
Well, she had to have them. The dress was crying out to be worn with them. Maybe she could wear them again one day, if she was ever in the position to own a gown like the one she was wearing. Unlikely, but you never knew. Though perhaps Zach would invite them to another premiere some time and she could hire one like it.
If not, they’d be a wonderful memento from her time here. Or she could sell them. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to bring herself to do that, though.
‘I’ll take them,’ she said, turning to the manager and smiling. She walked slowly back to the changing room and undressed, pulling her old clothes back on. She felt dowdy in them now, compared to the magnificence of the dress that she’d just been wearing. With trouble, she chose three of the outfits she’d tried on and loved and took them, together with the shoes and dress to the till. She was shocked to find that all together, they cost nearly all the euros Zach had given her and she handed over the money sadly, telling herself it was money she’d won, so it wasn’t really real.
Easy come, easy go.
‘You are ver’ lucky to have such a wonderful boyfriend, no?’ the sales assistant at the counter said in her lulling French accent.
