Gentlemen Only

Butterfly Effect

"I don't think this one is quite my style." Meredith lifted the seam of the skirt away from her body, blushing with embarrassment at how it strained across her backside. It was uncomfortably tight and felt like a wedgie going up her crack. She struggled to hold her abdominal muscles in to prevent the waistline from digging into her midriff. This was a testament to how small the garment was; Meredith was tall and slender.

"This is the tenth one you've tried on." The salesgirl huffed, placing her hands on her hips indignantly. "You didn't like any of them. What is your style?"

Meredith burned hotly at the girl's attitude, this time from anger rather than prudishness. "Loose." She replied curtly, far too irate with the woman to be worried about pleasant formalities. "I'd prefer something a little more modest."

"More modest than this?" The girl cried, gazing at her in disbelief. "That's the longest hemline we have!" She gestured to where the cloth ended on Meredith's calves.

Meredith's heart picked up tempo in anger. She was used to people being rude, especially toward her, if they were the type that had ever been considered popular in any sense of the word, however, this was an entirely different situation.

"You are the salesperson. Aren't you required to give me good customer service?" She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes, her upset with the situation temporarily overriding the desire to just leave quietly and skulk, as she usually would.

"Yes." The girl pointed at Meredith with lacquered nails. "But you are hopeless."

Meredith opened her mouth to retort but the girl shoved one last skirt in her hands. "Here, try this one." She shoved Meredith unceremoniously into the fitting room, and Meredith disappeared behind the red curtain that partitioned off the fitting room from the sales floor. Normally she didn't choose upscale places like this, but after the incident at the club, she felt horribly frumpy and decided that a boost to her courage would do her good if she had any hope of interacting with the gentlemen there.

Meredith sighed and slipped the skirt on. It zipped up with ease, falling just above her knees. It was a dark grey, high-waisted pencil skirt, and despite being a little snug, actually fit her well. It made her legs look even paler than they usually did, but then again, she always wore pants and rarely saw her legs. It was cute, far too cute to pair with her current set of clodhoppers. They were scuffed beyond hope, and her stomach sank as she realized that she would have to break down and buy a pair of heels to wear with the garment. Now that she was paying attention to her appearance, she noted her toenails were long overdue for some fresh polish.

"It's not bad." Meredith admitted reluctantly, stepping shyly around the curtain.

"If that's the case, I can't wait to see what good looks like." A smooth voice issued roguishly from the chair next to her fitting room.

Meredith jumped and gasped, eyes meeting a pair of twinkling green ones. "Corrigan!" She blurted, nervously smoothing the front of the skirt. "Um, let me just..." She stammered, flushing under his gaze. "Let me change." Ducking quickly behind the curtain, she heard him chuckle pleasantly. The sound made her skin crawl. What was he doing here?

"Shopping." He answered, a hint of humor edging his voice. "This is a department store, you know?"

Meredith groaned, burying her face in her hands. "I said that aloud."

The resounding, mirthful laugh resonated lowly as it drifted over the curtain, confirming her statement. "This conversation would be rather one-sided if you didn't speak to me."

Meredith hastily shimmied out of the garment and yanked on her pants, eager to leave the store and the situation far behind her. "I happened to be walking by and saw you giving the sales staff hell," Corrigan began to explain, "so I thought I'd come and see what the fuss was about."