Caught In The Mission

Fourteen

Today was the day of the banquet, the one I had unintentionally forgotten about, I didn't have a dress so I made plans with Charlotte to go buy one. Going on a girls day shopping trip was a new experience I had never been on before. But I was actually kind of excited for it. I had wished it was Zoe and I going but I knew we couldn't risk been seen out together. I likes hanging out with Charlotte so I knew i wouldn't hate the experience too much.

"You going out?" I heard from the living room as I walked down the corridor. Alex was up and settled in there watch dare I say it, cartoons. He had his bowl of cereal in hand, pjs on and his thick framed glasses on. He truly resembled a child, on a Saturday morning. I had to stop myself from laughing.

"Yeah, I'm going to buy a dress for tonight." I said leaning on the door frame. He turned his attention from the tv, his eyes trailing me from head to toe, stopping from a brief second on my locket that stopped at my chest. He brought his eyes back to my face again, swallowing the cereal in his mouth.

"Are you going alone?" He said it an empty mouth. Thank god.

"No, I'm taking Charlotte I've got to go I'll be round lunch." I said pushing myself off the frame. "You don't need anything do you?" I asked out of curtesy. I knew I shouldn't have asked the minute I saw him smirk, he nodded placed his bowl on the sofa, leaning back on the sofa and craning his neck to at me sideways. "What?" I asked crossing my arms.

"What dress are you going to buy?"

"I don't know, does it concern you what dress I buy today?" I asked

He placed his bowl on the table and turned around fully, resting his arm on the back rest of the sofa. "As your husband I have to be concerned with everything that you do or wear." There was a hint of humour in his voice.

"Oh now you're a hands on husband." I played along.

"Yeah, You know what I should come with you." My eyes widened at his suggestion, having him follow us around while I tried on different dresses, watching me was not something I wanted this morning. "It'll be fun." He said getting up.

"Alex sit down." He didn't listen, he grabbed his bowl and walked over, stopping when he was directly in front of me. "You're not coming."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to you to, that's a good enough reason really." I answered crossing my arms. He smiled at me, flashing his teeth at me. I knew that meant he was going to do the exact thing I didn't want him to. "Alex I'm being serious." I said bitting the inside of my cheek, he just laughed, he lived off moments like this.

Unwarned, he placed both his hands on my cheeks, "Aw look at you begging, I'm going with you." He said, then removed his hands and walking away, leaving me standing by the door frame.

It was a childish move I know, but when he went upstairs to get changed, I dashed out the house. I'm certain the sound of the door slamming shut told him I left. I just wanted the morning away from him, is that so much to ask? Apparently so.

****

I picked up Charlotte on the way to town, Lexington wasn't that big so there wasn't a mall per say, but rather a number of small shops in the town centre, all of which was a ten minute drive from Regan Street. Charlotte was more than happy to go shopping with me, she knew which stores to go into and was just happy to spend time with me.

The first store we went into was a small boutique that sold a range of bridal gowns and evening gowns. The theme of the banquet was gold and black, finding a dress to fit this theme couldn't be so hard, I thought to myself. The first boutique had a small collection of dresses that were suitable for the evening but I would rather cut my hair of than be seen in puffy princess style dresses. Charlotte insisted I try them but I fought my ground. We ended up going to two other stores before finding one that had potential. We picked a few dresses some that I knew weren't the one but I took them just to please Charlotte.