“Try this one!” she exclaims, thrusting a book into my hands. Another shirtless couple on the front. “You’ll love it. Promise!”
“Laney, you don’t have to buy me any books. I can’t pay you back.”
“Oh stop! I want to. This is fun. We should read the same book. Have our own little book club,” she says, bouncing on her toes with her hands clapping rapidly in front of her face. She grabs the same book she handed me and we head to the checkout line.
Laney pays for the books and we continue down the strip to a cute boutique decorated in all pink and black. It’s full of colorful, expensive clothes. We browse for a while and then I see her walking towards me with her arms full of clothes.
“You have to try these on!”
“No, that’s okay.”
“Come on. I’ll try some on too. It’ll be fun.”
The stiff older lady with her hair pulled into a tight bun parades us to the dressing rooms. Laney throws a bunch of clothes into my room and takes a few into hers.
“I want to see how they look,” she sings through the curtains of the side by side dressing rooms.
I put on a pair of jeans. They look like the ones I saw Candice wearing. They have little jewels on the pockets. They hug my body and feel so soft against my skin. I pair it with a cute pink button down shirt that’s form-fitting, unlike the misshapen t-shirts I’m used to wearing. I stand in front of the mirror, twisting from side to side. I take in all of me. My hair, my nails and the clothes. I just can’t believe it’s me. I suck in a deep breath and fan my face in an attempt to dry the approaching tears before they fall, and then I walk out of the dressing room.
“Oh my God!” Laney comes out of the dressing room with her hands on her cheeks and her mouth in a big O. “You are hot. Holy hell. Your tits are awesome!”
I immediately turn ten shades of red.
“Seriously Amy. Your body is to die for. Do you like it?”
“I love it,” I admit quietly.
She persuades me to try on about twenty more outfits. With each one, I feel more and more confident. I come out twirling and bowing and we giggle as if we do this all the time, like she’s my best friend. I feel like this is a dream and I’m going to wake up at any moment.
She collects all of the clothes that I just tried on and hands them to the sales lady. The lady finally breaks a smile. Just as we’re about to head towards the counter, something catches my eye. A bra. Laney comes to stand next to me as I’m touching the soft silky pink fabric. It’s such a simple thing. A bra. Laney grabs it from me with a big smile.
“It’s really pretty. You should have it.”
“I’ve never had one.”
She looks down at my well-endowed chest. I layered a shelf bra tank and a t-shirt from Laney’s closet this morning.
She takes the pretty bra to the sales lady and adds it to the pile of clothes I tried on.
“Laney, I can’t buy all of this stuff.” I saw the tag on the jeans and they alone were over one-hundred dollars.
“Don’t be silly. It’s fine. You can’t keep wearing my over-sized clothes and hide that figure of yours. Besides, Dillon will love what you bought.” She winks.
“I don’t know how I’ll ever pay him back.”
“He won’t expect you to. Dillon is the most generous guy I know and he doesn’t spend any money ever, so believe me, this won’t break the bank.”
The lady removes the tags off of the bra, a pale pink skirt, and a light white button down shirt for me to wear out of the store. We walk out of the boutique with about five bags between the two of us.
“This is just like Pretty Woman,” Laney says excitedly.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, I forgot. It’s a movie. It’s about a guy that falls in love with a prostitute. He’s rich and takes her shopping and…….”
She probably notices the horrified look on my face. I hear my mother’s words ringing in my ears. You’re a whore, Amy.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m fine.”
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I really didn’t mean anything by it. I keep sticking my foot in my mouth.”
“Laney, I’m fine really. Sorry, I feel stupid.”
“Don’t feel stupid. I don’t know everything that happened, but I’m sure this is all a lot to take in. I’m sorry if I’m pushing you too fast.”
“No. I really had a good day. It was a lot of fun. Thank you for everything.” She wraps me in a hug. A hug. I sink into her and let her hold me, squeezing her back. Tears cloud my vision. I try to wipe them away before she sees them, but I’m too late.