Two Weeks With Chelsea

Chapter 29

The rain came over night, as predicted, and continued throughout the early part of the morning. It was a good day to laze in bed for an extra hour. Trevor's plan for the day unfolded. A few hours at the museum Chelsea had read about in the tourism guide was followed up with a few hours at the mall, Polygon.

"I think I'd like to do a little shopping on my own," Chelsea said timidly as they approached a store.

Trevor seemed disappointed at the suggestion of parting ways for a little while. He had hoped she would seek his guidance in picking out a bathing suit, but given her shy nature, he was sure she wouldn't be comfortable with him around.

"Yeah, whatever. I've got guy stuff to do anyway," Trevor said as he dramatically turned his gaze towards the store window. "You know, sitting around watching the ladies and drinking a beer somewhere."

"Why don't you go back that way to that pub at the bowling alley for that beer and babe watching," Chelsea said as she kissed his cheek. "I'll come and find you when I'm done."

"Fine," he said with feigned disappointment. "You know, I could really help you pick out something sexy to wear at the beach. But that's fine, you don't want an expert's opinion."

As she watched Trevor walk away, she realized what she had just done. Kissing him on the cheek wasn't something she had planned, it just happened. He looked back and returned her smile. She bit her lower lip and let out a giggle. As she turned towards the store, she caught her reflection in the window and paused to gaze at her own happy grin.

She sifted through a display of panties and bras, her eyes spending as much time looking around the store as they did browsing the garments in the display. She had never purchased anything lacy or as bold as the items at her fingertips. When Chelsea finally found something she might actually wear, she slipped it into the basket under a skirt she had already picked out. She felt too embarrassed to accept the assistance offered by a sales lady. After a few more minutes at the underwear display she returned to browsing a selection of blouses and shirts.

Trevor wandered slowly and eventually made his way to the upper level of the mall to the Warm'up pub for that beer. He browsed his phone for a moment as he waited for the beverage to arrive at his table. An email from his father was left unread, the subject line warned of bad news. Text messages from friends demanding a status update were read but didn't receive a reply.

In a fitting room Chelsea tried on the items she had collected in the store. For a moment she imagined herself on a shopping spree like the one featured in some movie she had seen a few months earlier. She pictured herself in a video montage, stepping out of the fitting room, Trevor waiting for her to model the outfits. He would wince at the sight of one, frown at another, the look of disgust and a violent head shake would signal a definite 'NO' for another. Why she would have even taken something so hideous from the rack in the first place didn't seem to matter. The montage would end with an approving nod, perhaps a thumbs up and a pleased look on his face for the final item in the bottomless shopping basket. But there she stood, inspecting herself in the mirror in the small room, wondering if she liked what she saw. More importantly, would he like what she saw?

She stepped out of the fitting room to find a better mirror; perhaps one that might be a little bit kinder in what it showed her. A little piece of her had hoped Trevor would be standing in the store, waiting to give his approval, but she was relieved when she saw that he wasn't there.

Something felt off with the outfit she was wearing. She had expected the sale lady to come over and rave about how perfect it looked. She thought she would likely hear the woman complement her even if she stepped out wearing a cardboard box and bunny slippers; anything to make the sale. Instead, she was asked to wait a moment while the woman located the same blouse in the proper size as well as another with a slightly different style, and a skirt that seemed a better match than the one she had on. Chelsea then felt comfortable enough to ask for assistance with picking out a bathing suit.

Trevor typed up a message on his phone, paused a moment and deleted it. He typed another and paused again. He contemplated for a moment. He wanted to tell Dave where he was, but should he say anything about why he was with Chelsea?

A skimpy thong bikini caught Chelsea's attention for a moment. She tried to imagine herself wearing something so revealing and felt embarrassed for even looking at it. She shook off the feeling and tried to convince herself that she had to make changes; bold changes in what she wore and how she felt about being seen in these outfits, even if she was the only one looking.

"Not going to happen," she whispered before moving on to items with a significantly more material in their construction.

The sales lady helped her find a few bathing suits to try on. A featureless blue-grey one-piece suit Chelsea had chosen was the most comfortable. It pinched in places and sagged in others. Clearly, it wasn't the right size at all, but as far as hiding her body, it was perfect. It wasn't one of the suits the sales lady had picked out for her, and by the expression on the woman's face, it clearly wasn't one she wanted to sell either.

The plain blue-grey suit, like her school uniform before Trevor had gotten a hold of it, made a statement about Chelsea that said nothing. It was plain. It was boring. It didn't fit. It was Chelsea in garment form. The style and colour spoke of a girl that would fade into the background; a girl that went unnoticed, hiding in the shadows at a school dance, hoping a boy would notice her while dreading that he might.

*****

Trevor slipped his phone into his back pocket when he noticed Chelsea walking towards him with two large shopping bags from one store and a smaller bag from another. They exchanged smiles as their paths merged.