Hiding Sparrows

10. Afraid of Vertigo

The shop assistant brought me four dresses, and each one was more beautiful than the last. I spent my time trying them on, secretly hoping that Ty would come back in to see, but he didn't. I was standing in the final one, a dark blue cocktail dress, for a good fifteen minutes just staring at myself in the mirror when the shop lady leaned against the doorframe and smiled at me.

"It's gorgeous, love. What are you thinking?"

I glanced nervously out the door then back at the dress, and the others. "Uh, I'm not sure."

She glanced at my face and nodded knowingly. "How about I get you another one to try?"

I nodded, gratefully. "That would be great, thanks."

She left, so I peeled myself out of the blue dress and hung it back up, then sat on the couch and waited. I let out a shaky sigh and let my eyes flicker shut. It had been hard to get to sleep the past few nights, I'd been so wound up from what was going on, and a part of me wanted to just fall asleep on the couch right there.

Then someone cleared their throat from the doorway and my eyes snapped open.

Ty was standing, his eyebrow raised as he looked across at the dresses. It took me a second to remember that I was in nothing but my underwear.

"Ty!" I yelled, frantically trying to cover my bra with one arm and lunging for the clothes I'd discarded beside the couch. "What the hell?"

He just smirked, still keeping his focus on the dresses hung on the change room wall.

"Are these your options? Which is your favourite?"

I glared at him as I pulled my clothes on. "I don't know, and I could have really used your input in the last forty minutes of trying them on."

He shrugged, still inspecting the dresses. After a moment he looked back across at me, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Hey, what does your week look like? You working any days? Robbing any more old ladies?"

I rolled my eyes. "Are you seriously going to keep bringing that up? It's like your favourite line."

"Ay, cause it's true, little bird," He said with a smirk. "Nah, but for real. Are you free Friday night?"

For a second, my heart skipped a beat. Was he asking me out on a date?

"I- I'm rostered on the night shift." I stuttered.

"Can you cover it?" He asked.

"I can try?"

He shook his head. "You won't try, you will, alright Robin? I need you on Friday night."

I felt my cheeks burn. Then, in an instant he shattered my fantasy.

"You're working for me now, right? And I need you at that birthday party. So you get it sorted out, or we have a problem. You don't want that, do you little bird?"

I shook my head, swallowing the lump in my throat. Ty nodded, looking me up and down then returning his eyes to the row of dresses.

"Get the pink one, then go get yourself some new lingerie to go with it. This is the second time I've seen your panties, and I dare say you need it."

I started scowling at him, but was stopped short when he held out a black and gold credit card.

"Wait, what?" I stuttered, glancing up at him. "What's this for?"

"Well as delightful as you were to Delilah, I doubt she'll give you this one for free. Same goes for the other shops."

I frowned. "You're not coming? I mean, staying?"

He shook his head. "Nah, little bird. As much as I'd love to watch you try on new panties, something has come up. Azael will take you home once you're done."

He turned as if to go and I coughed. "Wait! What do you want me to get? I mean, just the dress and... undergarments?"

He looked back at me and smirked humorously. "Undergarments? That sounds like something my Grammy would say."

"I just mean I didn't know if you were joking or not."

"Nah, little bird. I never joke about undergarments."

"Shut up," I muttered, my cheeks burning. "I'm serious. I don't want to spend your money on stuff you don't want me to. What do I get?"

He glanced across at the dress.

"Get yourself a new look. Bag, panties, new lipstick, whatever you need to blend in with some rich bitches. And make sure you get Azael some lunch before you head, he gets snappy when he's hungry."

He glanced up. "You know, there's a real nice restaurant at the top of this tower. Spins around like a real slow merry go round."

I frowned, confused. "You want me to take Azael up there for lunch?"

He smirked, as if that was a stupid idea. "Nah, little bird. A burger from downstairs is more his style. But if you ain't afraid of vertigo, we can go up there sometime."

I felt my heart flutter in my chest and my cheeks burned. I struggled to accept the offer, which bordered the closest to asking me on a date that he had been. So, instead, I quipped, "I'm surprised you even know what the word Vertigo even means."

Dumb. Stupid. The look he gave me mirrored those sentiments.

Before I could stumble over a justification, he pulled out his phone, gave it a quick glance and looked back at me.

"I'm out little bird. The pin for the card is grammy's lucky numbers, 9807. If you need something, tell Azael."

"Bye," I said quietly. He nodded and left.

Once he was gone, I let out a small sigh and looked back at the dress.

After a few moments, there was a knock at the door and I pulled it open to find the shop assistant, Delilah, holding another two dresses. I gave her a grateful smile.

"You know, thank you so much, but I think I'm going to go with the pink."

Her face fell for a second, then she nodded and gave a forced smile. "No problem, love. If you're ready, I can put these back and we can finalise everything."

I nodded and she left. I could have sworn I saw her roll her eyes as she was leaving.

I let out a shaky breath and looked back at the pink dress.

Soft, frilly and plain. I would never have chosen it in a million years. But Ty had told me to get it, so pink it was. I only hoped that whatever he had planned for me wearing it at this birthday party wasn't too shady. Or that I wouldn't stand out too much dressed in something so far from my style.

But, I had the sneaking suspicion it would be extremely shady. And that, whatever it was, I would stick out like a sore thumb.