I was the only person in the store today. It hadn't been too busy, probably because it was a Monday. I was sitting behind the counter , partially staring into blank space. It's usually pretty boring when you're here by yourself. I heard my phone ring in the back room. As I headed out, I heard the front door ring, indicating someone was there. "I'll be with you in a second". I grabbed my phone and it was my mom saying that she was going to be home late. When I walked back in the main part of the store, I couldn't see where the customer was for the shelf in the middle of the store. I just went back behind the register figuring they would come to me if they had any questions. After about five minutes, two figures made their way up to the front. What I saw made the world stop around me. Dawson. He was standing there, with another girl fixing his hair in the back. What surprised me even more was Julia standing right beside him after she was finished. Dawson and I made eye contact before awkwardly looking down to the floor. I was a little curious as to why Julia was with him. I didn't think much about it remembering that their families had been close friends since they were young. Dawson had some items in his hand and shyly set them on the counter in front of me. I scanned all the items and put them in a bag. "Your total is 24.63" Julia began digging in her purse but stopped when Dawson handed me his card. "I got this Jules" I swiped his card and handed him his receipt and bag. "Nice seeing you Lon". The way he used the old nickname. I ping of pain settled inside when I saw him leave. It made me think about all the times he payed for my things when we dated. My mind cleared when Jack had started calling. I had forgotten we had made plans after I got off work. "Are we still on for this afternoon?" "Yeah, let me just lock up" "Okay, I'll meet you at your house!" I quickly got everything packed up and everything turned off. I locked the doors as I headed out to my car. ........ "So where are we going?" I asked, slipping my phone in the pocket of my shorts. "I thought we could go downtown. I'm not really sure what we're going to do but I thought it would be fun." "Alrighty" We got in his truck and headed to downtown. I wanted to ask him why Julia was with Dawson but I'm sure he already knew why. As we drove down the road, Jack reached over and held my hand accross the console. It wasn't a romantic thing by any means. We had done it since we were kids. It was done more in a comforting fashion. Another thing Julia was overly uncomfortable with when we first met which I do understand. Jack didn't do it as often but when he did, it was just another reminder of how much he cared. Within a few minutes, we were downtown. When we parked, we walked around a bit before deciding on what to do. We ended up walking into Wayne's. It was this country style restaurant that we had been to several times. After we ate, we walked a little more down the strip. As I casually window shopped stores as we walked down the street, we passed by this one shop with this beautiful lilac dress in the window. I guess I hesitated for a minute because Jack caught attention of it. "Do you want to go in?" He said. "I would like to if you don't mind" " Not a worry, we have all the time in the world." Jack opened the door as I walked inside, him following closely behind. It was a relatively new store seeing that I hadn't ever been here before. When I walked in, a man with the most dazzling blue eyes greeted me. He smiled brightly when our eyes met. "Hi, I'm Owen. I'm one of the dressing consultants. Feel free to try anything on." He was a very friendly guy. Jack and I looked around the store mostly filled with formal wear. Suits lined the racks on one wall while dresses lined the other. The store was beautiful to say the least. When I went to the left corner of the store, the same stunning lilac dress was on the mannequin. When I tell you this dress was gorgeous, I mean it. It was this light purple color with long sleeves. More of a bohemian style. It had a form fitted bodice with a loose, flowy skirt. It was like love at first sight almost. I think Jack got the idea I was looking at the dress because he came up behind me and said, "It's beautiful" Owen had walked beside us too, seeing that it had caught our attention. "Would you like to try it on?" I shook my head yes with a faint smile. Owen found my size in the back storage and took me over to the fitting room area. He wrote my name on the placard that was placed on the door. Jack sat on the small couch placed in front of the dressing room. Owen had unlocked the door and placed the dress on the hook. He left after I walked in for privacy reasons. I shrugged my clothes off as I took the dress off the hanger. It was truly beautiful. When I unzipped it, I slipped it on over my hips, feet going in first. I pulled my arms through the sleeves then fit the chest piece accordingly. I kind of struggled to get the zipper and could only get it half way up. "Hey Jack?" I said lowly. "Yes" he said answering my request. "Could you zip this up for me?" I opened the door so he could be able to come in the room. He took his fingers and lightly lifted the zipper while he pulled upward. When the dress was zipped up fully, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. "You look beautiful London" he said in the reflection. For some reason, my heart skipped a beat a little bit. Jack always complimented me but this one seemed a little different. I turned around in the mirror so I could see the dress from all angles. It was truly beautiful. Oh how bad I wanted it. Looking at the price tag though made me think otherwise. Sure I had plenty of money but spending almost $300 on a dress didn't really seem like a logical idea. "Let me get it for you." Jack said. "No, absolutely not. Its very expensive." "London, I've never seen you love anything like this so much. Why not let me get it for you." "It's simply too much. Maybe another day, I'll think about it." "Fine" he said with a huff, letting my stubbornness win. "Can you unzip the top?" "Of course." He took the same delicate motion from earlier to unzip the dress. He left the room for my sake and shut the door behind him. I took the dress off and slipped my casual clothes back on. I put the dress back on the hanger and brought it back out to Owen. "Not the one today?" He said. "Not exactly" I said with a smile. "Well, you all have a good one. Come back if you ever change your mind." We waved goodbye as we left the store. It was getting to be around 7pm so we decided that we would go ahead home. We hopped in his truck and took the road back to where we lived . When Jack pulled into his driveway, an angry Julia was waiting at the door. When I got out of the truck , following him, her face seemed to get even redder. "Where have you been Jack?" She asked sternly. "I was with London, Jules. What's wrong?" "So now you're hanging out with her? Whatever happened to me. Am I just your second option?" She said, eyeing me with the last of her words. "Hold on now" I said in my defense. "Sweetheart, Sweetheart, let's calm down" Jack said going to rub her back. She yanked his arm off as she yelled "Don't tell me to calm down Jack! I don't get why you won't talk to me. I texted you four times and called you 8 times. Not once did you even pick up the phone and at least tell me you weren't dead. I came here, asking your mom where you were. She had no idea either. To only find out that you're with her. You're always with her Jack! Always!" "Okay, Julia, I don't think—" I said getting cut off by her . "Shut up!" "Woah, Julia, let's breathe for a second" She seemed to calm down when Jack started talking some sense into her. He wrapped her in a tight hug and whispered sweet words and apologies into her ear. I hear her mumble something to him through tears. "What was that darling?" "I want her gone. Just me and you tonight. I don't want her to stay." She cried quietly. "She was just coming in to—" "Jack. I want her to leave now." He eyed me when she said the words. I nodded and sent him a smile. He mouthed an "I'm sorry, text you later?" I nodded and sent him another smile. I walked out of the front door after what seemed like experiencing a toddler's meltdown. I understand jealousy but she has nothing to be jealous of. I don't know what was wrong with her but she definitely had someone pull her strings. Author's Note - This is the dress
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
So the downtown in this chapter is different from the downtown she works! Much love <333
