Sincerely, Dr. Cruz

Twenty: Whole Lotta Mom and Run Down Vehicles

Chapter Twenty: Whole Lotta Mom and Run Down Vehicles
Providence, Rhode Island

“Remind me again why you hate this?”

I groaned and gave Trisha the death glare. This was about the 14th dress I had tried on today, and none of them seemed to flatter me.

“The dress is nice, Rei. You should seriously consider buying this one.”

It wasn’t a horrible dress per standards of society. It was maroon, (check) and strapless. It had a sweetheart neckline which didn’t really work for me.

“Trish, I know you like it and all, but I’m honestly not feeling it.”

Trisha sighed and nodded, leaving me to change out of the dress in peace.

 I just wanted to go home.

I soon found myself back in my jeans, trudging on to Trisha who gave me a reassuring smile.

We left yet another store without any luck and had only one more to try before having to call it quits.

Jamie’s was a dainty little store tucked into the corner of the mall, full of unique color combinations and mannequins that were in awkward poses and had t-shirts with phrases on them that made you laugh until your insides hurt. We stepped in and I instantly noticed how happy everyone working there was.

Trisha managed to drag me to a rack with yet another set of maroon dresses. They were all very pretty, but there was a problem.

They didn’t suit me.

“Excuse me ladies, I noticed you two were having some issues over here?”

I was about to tell her that we were fine, but Trisha spoke before I could.

“Yes we are actually. My friend here needs an outfit to go with a set of pearls she bought for a dinner tomorrow.”

The clerk cracked a smile, her blue eyes shining more than I had previously thought possible.

“Is there someone special?”

“If my brother counts, then yeah.” I said, returning her smile.

She giggled and motioned me over to a rack across the store. Trisha and I followed her, struggling to keep up with her stride. “Now, I don’t exactly have a dress, but I have just the outfit for you. If you can trust a blonde around here, then I sure hope you could at least try this on?”

“Sure thing.” I said, taking two hangers from the clerk and following her into the dressing rooms as she told me her name was Jenna and if I hated the outfit I could call her out again and have her try again.

It was a really sweet gesture.

Once in the dressing room, I tried on the clothes that were handed to me—a striped navy and white long sleeved shirt, followed by a high waisted maroon skirt and some black flats.

1.      I didn’t look like I was swimming in a piece of cloth.

2.      The outfit covered my shoulders and went down to me knees.

3.      I actually liked the color combination.

I stifled a squeal and responded to Trisha’s knocks on the door.

“I really like this one.” I spluttered.

“I can tell… and honestly Reina, it looks amazing on you.” Trish said with a genuine smile.

“So we’re buying this right?” Jenna said as she crept up behind Trisha. “Because let me tell you, you could kill someone with that right now. Who knows, you may come home with a date instead of your brother tomorrow night.”