Blood & Winter

Chapter 9: Desicions

I shook the leaves from my hair and climbed off, following Lucy into the house. She didn't go upstairs but instead opened a door directly off to the right I hadn't even noticed before.

She must have caught my look of surprise and explained that she had closed off part of the foyer to make herself a room. She wanted to be close to the front hall to be able to hear people coming in at all the late hours of the night. I agreed with her that this was a good idea. It was small compared to the other rooms of the house. There was a single bed against one wall and a small writing desk against another. Her bed sat beneath a big window giving her a great advantage point to see people driving up. But I didn't see a closet anywhere.

She opened a drawer in the writing desk, and pulled out a small key. "Follow me, I'm about to take you to my own personal heaven." She spun around and practically ran through the door of her room.

I had to run to keep up with her as she climbed the stairs the first floor. She walked down to the hall, and opened a door at the very end. She switched on a light on the outer wall and stepped aside. I blinked in amazement. I felt as though I had just walked into Carrie Bradshaw's closet. There were so many clothes; I could never imagine even wearing all of them.

"Lucy, what is this? I don't think stores have this much clothes stocked inside of them. And shoes? Shit, have you really worn every pair in here?" I stared at the closet in disbelief.

"Yea, I know, I have a bit of a problem, shoot me. I said business was slow, not dead." She just grinned widely at me, and went straight to one side of the closet that had dresses hung on a bar. A rainbow of colors and fabrics stared back at me. Taunting me. I had never worn something so elegant in my life. I didn't even go to my own prom.

But when Lucy turned and held up the dress she was lending me, the thought evaporated in an instant. I was afraid to even touch it. "Lucy, I couldn't possibly borrow this from you. And it would never look right on me." I shook my head fervently. Backing away. There was no way I could pull something like that off.

Lucy looked at me in scrutiny. "I don't know whether to think you're fishing for compliments, or if you really are oblivious to how beautiful you are. Is that why you dress the way you do?" She didn't wait for me to reply. She took me by the arm and sat me down in front of a vanity that was in the center of the gigantic closet.
She turned on the lights that surrounded the mirror, and spun the chair around. "We don't have much time, August will be here any moment, but that's fine. I'm just going to put your hair up. You don't even need any more makeup than you have got on already. I hate you and your perfect skin." She stuck her tongue out at me playfully and turned me back around so that I was facing the mirror.
I watched as her hands move gracefully around my head. Within minutes I stared open mouthed at my reflection. She had piled my hair on top of my head in a way that reminded me of the forties. She had decided in the end to brush a little bit of red lipstick on my lips to highlight the effect.

"Now all you need to do is get dressed. I'll go meet August downstairs. I think I just heard him come in. Besides, I think he might need a chair to sit in when you come walking down those stairs." She looked me over again, tsking at me. "You really don't know do you?" And she turned on her heals and left the closet.

I picked up the dress that she had hung on a hook. I slipped out of my clothes, my hands slightly shaking at the thought of wearing something like this. I was so clumsy. I didn't know how I would pull this off. I slipped the dress over my head and let it fall down my body. I pulled up the zipper on the side and smoothed out the dress.
It was a soft lilac blue. The bodice was covered in blue silk flowers and pearls. They flowed down to the sid3 of my dress, spreading out along the soft chiffon skirt that flowed aroumd me like water. It hugged my body, pushing my small breasts up, showing off my sun kissed shoulders. I looked in the mirror as I was slipping into the shoes that Lucy had placed on the floor beneath the dress, and my breath caught in my throat. My eyes were almost glowing, brought out by the blue in the dress.
I was dumbfounded by the image I saw staring back at me.