Center Courtship (19 page)

“I need a dress for the Whoopster's dinner tonight,” I said quickly.

“Oooh, you've come to just the right place! I've heard about that event. It's the talk of the town,” she eyed me from head to toe. “How did you score such a lucky ticket?”

I closed my eyes. What should I say? If I say I'm going with a team member, will she even believe me? Girls like me don't go to things like that with people like Casper. What other reason could I possibly have? I decided to go with it and spilled the truth. “I've been invited by one of the players,” I didn't tell the rest of the story, the part about being a seat-filler. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. I noticed she wore four rings on each hand. The only naked fingers were her index fingers. I briefly wondered what they had done to lose ring-wearing privileges.

“I am so jealous! Which player?” I wasn't sure exactly how to reply and then she looked at me sideways. “Oh my! You're the girl from the internet. I've seen you on Facebook and Twitter! Are you going with Elsu?”

I sighed. “No, he is just a friend. He's taking Saraya, his girlfriend.”

“OH, she seems like such a sweet girl, too!”

I smiled and nodded. I kept from rolling my eyes and turned toward a rack with dresses on it to avoid telling her my true opinion.

“Mae!” I turned and saw Colette running in. Her oversized purse tucked under her arm. Her salon was situated across the street from the mall, so she was able to get to me quickly. “Thank goodness!” She looked at the woman, smiled, and introduced herself as my best friend.

“Well, let's get you a dress and get you off to the ball!” said Jill who led me to a dressing room.

I quickly remembered why I didn't do well with clothes shopping. Dressing rooms. It was small and I eyed Colette who saw my problem. “Do you have a VIP room?” she asked nonchalantly.

I looked at Jill and smiled shyly. “But of course!” she guided me toward the back of the store and ushered me into a much larger room with two couches and mirrors situated so I could see myself from every horrific angle.

I stood looking dumbstruck at the lavish room. Gold trim, cream walls and cushions. I was afraid to touch anything for fear I might rub off on something.

“Ok, what was your name again?” asked Jill.

“Mae,” I said.

“Ok, Mae, we need to get your size, so let's get you down to your bra and panties, and I'll measure you.”

I removed my clothes, stood in front of the mirror, and looked at myself in disgust. The last person I had gotten this undressed for was my doctor. The room was silent. I looked at Colette and Jill's reflections. Their eyes were on my body. “I told you, Colette. I'm hideous! This isn't going to work. I saw something in Sears that didn't look too bad.” I went to grab my clothes and Colette snatched them away from me.

“You are the complete OPPOSITE of hideous, Mae. I would give my left arm and right hand to have a body like yours. But we're not looking at your body, we're looking at this!” she ran a finger under the strap of my bra. “What is this?”

“It's my bra! What does it look like?”

Colette stood behind me and reached over my shoulders and lifted the straps. “First of all, this is a sports bra. You are NOT wearing this to the party. Second of all, your tits should be lifted, not just hanging there. And why in the world are you wearing these cotton mammoth granny panties?”

“They fit?” I asked, genuinely confused.

Colette shook her head and looked at Jill, “Mae, just because you can put them on, doesn't mean they fit. Please tell me you sell bras and panties,” she begged of Jill.

“Absolutely.” She pulled a tape measure from her pocket and began measuring me up one side and down the other. Once she was happy with her figures, she left the room.

“I don't need a new bra. I have others at home.”

“If they look anything like this, no, you don't!” She shook her head at me. “I knew you needed work, Mae, but I had no idea how much.”

Jill returned shortly with a number of dresses and some bras and panties. “I can't let you try the panties on, health code and all that. But you can try the bras on, and these panties go with the bras I pulled.” She hung the dresses beside each other and my eyes bulged. They were gorgeous.

“Those will NEVER fit me,” I said as I looked at the narrow pieces of fabric hanging from the wall.

Jill walked behind me, “come on, hands up.” I raised my hands cautiously and with one quick movement, she removed my bra from my body. I quickly covered my breasts in embarrassment.

“We all have them,” said Colette with a smile at my shyness.

“You suck, you know that? Casper better appreciate this!” I said.

“CASPER!?” said Colette. “Why are you going with Casper?”

“Umm, he invited me? His son was his ‘date' but his mom canceled on him last minute. So he needed a seat filler,” I said as Jill helped me into a pretty pink bra with black lace trim. Once it was hooked, I looked at my profile and was amazed. “Wow!”

“See?” said Colette. “Perk! You're too young for sag! She'll take it!”

Jill quickly unhooked the bra and put the next one on. This time it was satiny and creamy white. A touch of lace around the cup and a small heart shaped charm hung between my breasts. I had cleavage. I ran my hands along the curve of my bust and was impressed with how high they were. Jill reached for the
matching panties and showed me that there was a matching heart charm hanging from the center of the waistband.

“She'll take those too,” said Colette. “And don't forget the panties for that pink one!”

“Guys, I'm here for a dress, not a bra and underwear! I don't have a lot of time!”

“Not one of these dresses would look good with that thing you were wearing,” said Jill.

“Not one of those dresses is going to fit me. I think there's something wrong with that tape measure you used.”

“You're going to be surprised,” Said Jill.

“Fine, this bra is pretty. Let's get to dresses.” I wanted to stop showing everyone my boobs.

“Do you know what Casper is wearing?” asked Jill.

“I'm assuming a suit? I don't know.”

“He's not the type to go crazy with colors, is he? He's probably going to be in something neutral, right? Black or blue? Maybe gray?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I haven't the foggiest.”

Jill pulled a pretty royal blue dress off the hanger. It was long with a slit up the side, different colored beads decorated the neckline. I knew it wouldn't fit and couldn't wait to say ‘I told you so'. Then I felt the zipper zip up my back with no problem.

“See?” said Colette. “I told you you had a body! Like a SMOKIN' body, Mae! Elsu's going to wish
he
had invited you!”

“I'm sure Saraya would have appreciated that.” I glared at her reflection as I looked at the dress. “I don't want to be bitchy, and I don't want to sound ungrateful, it's pretty and all. But I just don't care for it. It's not me.”

“No problem at all! There are plenty more!” said Jill as she quickly unzipped me.

We went through the dresses she had brought into the room and I was still not happy. I didn't know what I wanted because I had never worn anything like them before. I just knew I hadn't found it yet.

Colette snuck out of the room to look for herself and Jill took the dresses, leaving me alone in the dressing room. I grabbed my phone from my jeans pocket and saw I had missed a call from my mom. She was slacking, it had been more than a day since I
had insulted her children. Just as I went to swipe the notification away, the phone rang again and I accidentally answered another phone call…from my mom. Of all my luck.

“What do you want, mom? I'm kind of busy,” I said.

“That's no way to talk to your mother. You should say hello first.”

“Ok, hello, mother. What do you want?”

“You are ridiculous!” she breathed out. “I need to talk to you! Christopher said you insulted your sister! I'll have none of that!”

“Ok, mom,” I sighed. I just wanted her to shut up and hang up.

Jill walked in carrying four dresses and saw I was on the phone. She held each one up asking for my opinion. I gave each one a thumbs down. I felt bad.

“And what's this with you and that basketball player?”

“He's just a friend. It was a good-bye hug that someone took out of context. Don't worry about it,” I said.

Colette walked back into the room with a long, odd-shaped red form slung over her arm. She held it up and I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a jumpsuit. What was she thinking? I nearly dropped the phone. “What are you doing, anyway? You sound like you're in a tunnel.”

“Trying on clothes for a formal event, mom,” I hung up the phone, leaving her to ponder my words.

“What is that?” I said as I eyed the suit.

“It's a jumpsuit. The coveralls of the rich and famous.”

I walked to her and felt the fabric. The red satiny material felt cool between my fingers. It was strapless and had a part at the waist that flared out almost looking like a floppy tutu. A gold chain decorated the waist and dangled down to mid-thigh length. The legs tapered to the ankles. “You're insane if you think I'd be able to fit into this. Besides, it's strapless, how do you wear a bra with this?”

“You buy a strapless bra, silly.” She pulled a bra from behind the jumpsuit and showed me that indeed, they did make strapless bras.

“Just try it on, for me?”

“This is the biggest waste of time! I need a beautiful gown! Not pants!”

“There is no rule about pants versus dresses. You've got a body made for this, I just know it!”

“Fine, give it here so we can move on from this silliness.” Again, I removed my bra for Colette and Jill. I was starting to think they were enjoying seeing the girls.

Once the strapless bra was in place, I stepped carefully into the jumpsuit and stood for Colette to zip the back. I took a step into the line of the mirror and froze. Who was that woman in the mirror? That was so not me. She had legs with curves, her butt was rounded just enough to give the tutu a little extra flounce. “Where is my fat ass?” I said as I ran my hands over my rear.

“It's sitting in the pile with that nasty bra you had on. It never existed. Mae, you've got curves in all the right places for this. I have the perfect necklace and bracelet set to put with it at home. You're going to knock them over when you show up! I figured out the problem with all the dresses poor Jill kept bringing you. It wasn't the dresses. It was the fact that they weren't pants! This is you on every level,
plus
some!”

I looked back to myself in the mirror. Maybe she was right, maybe it wasn't terrible. Besides, it was just one night. No one would see it again, and it was surprisingly comfortable.

“There is one benefit to this,” I said as I eyed my bare ankles. “I don't have to shave my legs.”

We all laughed. I think Jill thought I was kidding. Colette knew I wasn't.

I looked at Colette's reflection as she stared at me, I realized then that she was crying. “That's it, baby girl! You're all grown up!”

I wanted to slug her for being so silly, but in a way I felt like she was right. I did feel grown up. I looked at myself from my profile and over my shoulder at my back and then again from the front.

“Stop it. You need to see yourself the way everyone else sees you, Mae. You're gorgeous.”

I shook my head, still not believing her. I looked at myself from every angle again and smiled. Whether it really was as amazing as she was telling me or not, I was out of time. “I'll take it!” I said to Jill, resigning myself to the fate of the jumpsuit. I
looked at the remaining bras that still hung on the wall. “I'll take all the bras and panties too.”

“You need a thong, I've got a matching one out on the floor.” Jill stepped out of the dressing room as I looked at Colette in disbelief.

“A thong? Why in the world do I need a thong?”

“No panty lines,” smiled Colette as she lifted the ‘tutu.' “By the way, I'm buying the bras and panties,” said Colette as she grabbed them off the hook. “You need shoes.”

“Shoes! I can't do heels, I'll kill myself!”

“Don't worry, trust the heel-wearing master!” Colette was on her feet all day cutting hair and did it in heels. If I could learn from anyone, it was her.

At the register, Jill rang me up. When I saw the total I nearly fainted. “Three hundred?” I gasped.

“That is totally worth it,” said Colette. “I'm honestly surprised it's not more!”

I reached into my purse and pulled out the wad Casper had given me. I hadn't counted it in front of him, because I didn't want to be rude. But now I had to so I'd know how much I'd have to put in. Colette's eyes bulged when she realized I had just counted out one thousand dollars and kept going.

“Did you rob a bank?” She squealed.

“No, this is from Casper. I'll have to make sure I give the rest back to him.” I finished at three thousand dollars. “Did he really expect me to spend all of this?” I asked as I paid Jill.

“He didn't give it to you to make paper dolls out of, sweetie. I think you'd be insulting him if you didn't spend it!”

“I'm not a money grubber. Much to the disbelief of the people online. I'm paying him back for all of this.”

“You do what you think you need to do,” said Colette as we left Créme and headed towards the shoe section of one of the big, fancy department stores.

I bought a pair of black heels with skinny straps that wrapped around my ankle. Colette said they'd make my legs look even longer and sexier. Was I really going for sexy? She gave me a quick lesson in walking as the staff laughed at me. I finally got the hang of it enough to get me from point A to point B. I was
just praying that the two points were never more than a few feet apart.