The Wedding of Mephistopheles

I

Eight thirty Post Meridiem.

I was organizing the materials on the shelves, arranging them by color. Some needed re-rolling at the end, others were just carefully moved by me.

Behind me came the sound of the cash register opening. I immediately turned around.

"Can I go now?" Victor was leaning slovenly againts the counter, ogling contentedly into the cash drawer. He looked at me and his expression changed to bored.

I involuntarily clenched my hand into a fist and turned back to the shelves, yet still keeping my eye on the cash register. To be fair, he had nothing to do with it.

"Only after you sort the buttons."

With a dramatic sigh, the young man returned to the tin box on the small, wooden, table to the right of the counter.

He completed the task suspiciously quickly, but I let him go. I'll do it better myself anyways.

Eight forty-three. The doorbell rang. Startled, I turned to the entrance. Who at this hour...?

A woman. Her large and sodden, but undoubtedly beautiful fur drew my attention. She had a hat on her head, also wet. Dark, shiny, mysterious eyes, framed by long lashes, stared at me from under it. Her face, despite the placid expression, betrayed an exuberant nature. If the time had been earlier, if I still had a little zest for life, I would have admired her beauty. But I didn't.

"Good evening," she whispered, her voice lower than I expected. "I'm sorry about this time. I need an elegant dress."

"Good evening. Uh..." I stammered. "Dress... I mean, do you have a particular cut in mind... or should I show you the catalog?" 

"I do not... But it has to be black."

Black. So a funeral.

I invited her to the counter where I had laid out the catalogs. She flipped through the yellowed pages of dresser with elbow-length, lace sleeves with sashes at the waist that were just becoming fashionable, magazines of all sorts. It took her a good ten minutes. I know because I glanced at the clock every few seconds.

"This one," she said, again in that mysterious whisper of hers.

"I'm closing in a minute. Can you come tomorrow, Miss..."

"...Anna Morue." She looked at me so strangely that I flinched. And then she folded her hands together. "Please, please! Just take measurements! I'll come tomorrow too." She lifted her head so that her eyes seemed larger than before and her mouth slightly parted. "I'll pay you extra, but I need it quickly!"

I've never been good at saying no. I clenched my jaw. It should not take long.

Fortunately, I was right. We dealt with it in another dozen or so minutes, but I knew that I would have extra work at home with drawing. I was just hoping it would pay off.

"Please, deal with this... quickly." She turned around as she left. An unsettling smile appeared on her face.

And then she disappeared into the darkness.