Marie's Path

Chapter 37

Wrapped in nothing but a towel, Marie stood in front of her open closet door chewing her bottom lip. Raven had said to dress nice, but what did that even mean? She stared dumbly at the clothes Gabriel convinced her to buy. Pushing aside outfits, she paused at a coral pleated mini skirt. He wouldn't let her out of the store until she agreed to buy it insisting it would be a perfect compliment with her complexion. Gabriel had also chosen a gray and white lace trimmed blouse to go with it.

Did she dare? She'd be showing more leg than she was used to. Marie took a few deep breathes. What the hell, she had decent legs. It's time she stopped hiding. She could do this.

"What do think, Chase?" She held the outfit up. Chase lifted his head from his dog bed, staring lazily at her. Letting out a deep contented sigh he tucked his head back around his body and went back to sleep.

"You're a lot of help," she muttered with a grin rolling her eyes at him. She tossed the clothes on her bed before turning to the dresser to pick out a bra and matching underwear. Tossing those over as well, she stood hands on her hips looking down at her choices. Nodding to herself she dropped her towel.

Once dressed, she wondered what Raven's reaction would be. Would he like it? Or would he think she was trying to hard. She'd been dressing better, trying to do more for her appearance. But inside, she was still the girl that tried not to be noticed. She went through life worried that people were going to point at her and laugh at the girl who was nothing. That feeling was so ingrained it was hard to get over. But she was working on it.

"Well, here goes nothing," she said shutting her eyes before she turned around facing the mirror. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes and blinked. "Holy hell, I look... nice, pretty even."

Marie studied herself in the mirror. Her smile was widen as she heard Gabriel voice in her head after their shopping day. 'I don't give a fuck how pretty you are on the outside, if you're still ugly on the inside nothing's going to change for you. Use what happened in there as a chance for a new beginning. You changed the outside, now work on the inside. This can be a new start for you, Marie.'

"He was right. That really is the key to being pretty," she said looking over at Chase on his dog bed. "I had to work on how I was on the inside. And I had been, kind of. But when did I really start changing?" she asked her reflection. "It was so gradual, I didn't know it happened. Or was it always there, and I just kept it hidden?" She laughed. "Tell you one thing, I'm never going to doubt Gabriel Coleman ever again. He knows his stuff."

Slipping on shoes, she went to the bedroom door and opened it. "Come on, Chase. Let's go wait for Raven."

"Look at you!" Mindy said smiling when Marie came into the kitchen.

"Not too much?" Marie asked with her arms out. "I'll admit, I feel good in these clothes." She went to the backdoor opening it letting Chase outside.

"You look perfect," Mindy said pouring herself a cup of coffee. "Raven will love it. Where's he taking you?"

Marie shrugged coming back into the kitchen. "Not a clue," she answered opening the refrigerator. "Do we have any of those small juice...found it." She back out of the fridge turning right into Mindy's arms.

"I'm so happy for you and the guys," she said hugging Marie tightly. "You're just what they'd been searching for." Mindy stepped back wiping at her eyes. "I know you're going to have a wonderful life, Marie. And you deserve your happy ever after."

"Thanks, Mindy. That means a lot," Marie said softly. She wasn't sure how to respond to Mindy's display of affection. But it touched her that Mindy was genuinely happy for her.