by Avery Kirk
I’m told it’s a gift that I don’t normally care what people think. Clearly, when I had elaborate makeup on, it was an exception. A very noticeable and very awkward exception. Kevin must have noticed too because he would rub my back every so often as we walked. I could feel the skin from his hand through one of the holes in the back of my T-Shirt. He was trying to soothe me, I think. I looked down almost the entire time.
I was walking through the glossy and impeccable floors of Nordstrom, heading toward the escalator in my Superman fleece pajama pants, steel toed work boots, and a holey T-shirt. In contrast to my glamour style makeup with a seriously smoky eye and rosie peach colored lips. This was the first time I’d ever let the public-or any person other than my mother-see me with this much makeup on. My insides squished as I imagined every eye in the place sizzling on me. In reality, I’m sure not one single person bothered to look, but I didn’t dare to check.
When we got to the back of the store, in the personal shopping area, Marcy was ready for us. She was a petite lady, about sixty or so. Her hair was mostly gray but pulled back into a sophisticated, loose bun. She wore a black skirt that narrowed at the knee with a shiny white blouse that poofed poetically at the wrist above a French cuff that closed with shiny black buttons. Her necklace was long and silver with many strands overlapping. On her wrist was a coiled green stretchy key holder with a few keys hanging from it. She smiled broadly and held her hand out to shake each of our hands.
“I’m very happy to meet you both. I’ve set up a dressing room with some beautiful selections for you.” She said.
Kevin looked at me, and seemed to be assessing me. I glanced at him but was pretty much not locking eye contact because I was still super uncomfortable.
“Marcy” he said “could I ask you to hang this up for me?” He said, handing her the bag draped over his arm. “Miss Mel here doesn’t like to be choosy so I figure I’ll narrow down the selection for her since I know her very well and I know she won’t try on 10 dresses.” he said with a smile.
For some reason, I felt lighter. It was a comfort to know that someone knew me well enough to be comfortable narrowing down my selection. It was also smart because I’m sure some of these dresses were very expensive and I would feel awful if I accidentally chose one of those.
Last time I walked into Nordstrom I was about six and I had a white dress on with tiny pink roses all over it with my new white tights. I remembered my mother whispering ‘your father would kill me’ every so often as she looked at the price tags. She ended up buying a dress on clearance that she wore for years. It was layer upon layer of black chiffon that fell to the knee. She loved it. I remembered her perfume, the fancy stuff that she would only wear when they went out. I remembered that I would cry when I would smell it because it meant that I was going to be staying with a babysitter.
“I’ll sit over here.” I mumbled. I sat in the chair that my mother used to call the husband chair outside the dressing room.
Kevin followed Marcy into the dressing room. I overheard Kevin make a few comments and smiled to myself a little. He spent the next ten minutes narrowing down the dresses to remove the fussy ones, anything he thought would be too scratchy, and anything with too much pink.
He came to get me while Marcy removed the discarded dresses with a smile. I wondered if she thought Kevin was some overbearing boyfriend who had to pre-check my dress choices. He didn’t seem to care what she thought; he never explained himself.
I walked into the mammoth dressing room on my tip toes to avoid the clonk of my work boots on the camel colored carpet. The walls were a peachy taupe color and the room was lit mostly with indirect lights and had many mirrors. The mirrors were not the normal dressing room kind. These had ornate frames.
On the far wall, on padded hangers hanging from brass hooks, I saw three dresses hanging up. One of them was a pale purple, the second was solid black, and the third was a layered shiny gray with open black lace on the top. I walked directly toward the last. I thought it was the most beautiful, most classy dress I’d ever seen. It was deep gray on the bottom layer with a kind of shine to it. The top layer was a loosely patterned, non-uptight black lace. I looked back at Kevin and he had an indulgent smile on his face. As Marcy walked in, he stepped out and she closed the door.
She narrated as I touched the lace. “It’s just lovely, isn’t it? It’s a cap sleeved scalloped V-neck dress with a wraparound waistband. The V neck is both front and back. The hem is scalloped as well and falls right at the knee. Just beautiful.”
“Can I try it on?” I asked, feeling like I needed permission.
“Of course!” She said brightly.
Marcy removed it from the hanger and unzipped it, getting it ready for me to step into. “If you would prefer that I leave, I’m happy to, or I can help you to try it on.” I tried to quickly remove my bare feet from my work boots and rub my toes on the brown, soft carpet to hopefully remove any leather chips stuck to my feet while she was distracted, arranging the dress for me to step into.
“I’m OK if you stay. He’s my friend, he was surprising me. I wasn’t planning on this.” I explained. Hoping it would defend my pajama pants.
“Such a nice surprise. And you had your makeup and hair done as well. Was that part of the surprise?” I nodded. Why over-explain. I wasn’t totally lying.
“He’s a very nice man. It’s not too often we get men around here.” She smiled.
A man. I never thought of him that way. I always figured he was a guy, not a man. My Dad was a man, but not Kevin. My stomach twanged, so I decided to concentrate on the dress. God I hope it fit. I would feel like such a tool if they had to get the next two sizes up or call another store. Or if I ripped the damn thing.
Marcy spoke up, “I already asked my assistant to have the size above each of these dresses and the size below waiting at the desk-just in case.”
“Wow, you’re good.” I said.
“Well, you never know with all these manufacturers.” She said with a smile.
I stepped into the dress, expecting to feel the lace slightly itchy. It didn’t happen. The satiny gray bottom layer was all I felt and it was as smooth as I could ever imagine.
“My goodness, this dress really shows off your beautifully toned arms.” She said.
“Thanks. I do a lot of heavy lifting.” I replied, absentmindedly. I was so distracted by trying not to rip this gorgeous dress. I was certain it wouldn’t fit. By some miracle, the dress zipped.
“Is it tight? It feels tight.” I said, worried.
“Oh my goodness no, it’s a textbook perfect fit, actually. It will feel tighter than loungewear, but that is to be expected since it’s more formal attire.” She said.
I think that was the nicest possible way to say ‘it’s not tight dummy, you were just wearing pajamas so try not to compare the two’.
I turned around to look in the mirror and my posture improved. I loved it. I pushed my stomach out a few times to be sure that if I ate too much, I wouldn’t tear it. As I surveyed myself in the dress, Marcy answered a knock at the door. I looked at the reflection in the mirror and saw that my shoe selection had arrived. The lady delivering the shoes whispered that the gentleman in the chair outside the room had narrowed down the selection for me. I laughed a little. Marcy nodded big in understanding.
“How much is this dress?” I whispered, noticing that the price tag was covered with what seemed to be a tiny black heat-sealed bag.
Marcy flashed a mischievous smile. “The gentleman asked that I not tell you any prices.” She said as she set out the shoe choices.
“Right.” I said, appreciative but a little uncomfortable with the answer. I looked down at my toes as she unpacked the four shoe choices. Three of the four were open toed heels and my toes had chipped polish and looked rough.
“I can’t wear open toed. My toes look terrible.”
“I can help there. If you choose an open toed shoe, I have some polish remover and a pretty pink p
olish in my purse, it won’t be a pedicure, but I’ll fix you right up.
I was becoming a big fan of Marcy.
“The black ones with the closed toe, those are really pretty. Probably the most practical my mother would say, since I don’t have many dress shoes and can’t guarantee that you’ll be around with emergency nail polish if I ever wore the open-toed shoes again. ” I said with a half-smile.
Marcy laughed musically. I suggested to her that they rename her department the Fairy Godmother department. She laughed again and brought the shoes over to me, holding the front of the shoes steady for me to step into them. They were a classic black pair with some additional scalloped detail on the inside opening, about a 3 inch heel with a closed toe. They were as comfortable as a three inch heel could possibly be.
I stood up and walked. “My goodness, you’re just lovely. Truly.” Marcy remarked.
I thanked her.
“Can I see?” Kevin called from the other side of the door, impatience in his voice.
Marcy looked at me, waiting for my approval. I nodded and she opened the door for him.
I wasn’t planning to look at Kevin’s reaction because I thought that would be awkward and too dramatic for my taste. Especially if he was like ‘Um, Next.’ As a trusted friend, I would want him to say that if I looked like crap. But I did catch his expression even though I didn’t mean to. His eyebrows went up.
“No waaaay! Mel, you are stunning. It’s so perfect. Do you like it?” His hand was just below his mouth, rubbing his chin which, this week was sporting a very short full beard.
“Yes.” I said. I felt a burning of excitement in my belly. It made me feel silly for a split second. I giggled.
“You only tried one on, didn’t you?” He laughed.
I nodded in reply, still beaming.
Marcy looked at Kevin and he nodded to her. She cut the concealed tags off my dress and handed them to her assistant. Then, she folded my regular clothes and put them in the fanciest bag those clothes had ever seen. She gave my workboots their own bag as well. A few minutes later, I walked out with my old and new clothes with me. I looked around for Kevin, but didn’t see him.
Marcy’s assistant saw me and said “He’ll be out in just a moment.”
I sat on the husband chair waiting for him. For the first time, I wondered how much damage I’d done to him financially with this get-up. Then, a new sense of dread washed over me as I realized that he must still be wondering exactly how crazy I was. I bet he’s thinking that I probably have an invisible friend or that I talk to my dead mother in the shower because she appears out of the steam. I couldn’t think where I would start. He might not ask, but then again, he’s the type who likes to work through things by talking. So, it would be just about shocking if he never mentioned it.
I thought again about telling him the wedding date lie. I wondered if I could say something to make it believable. I couldn’t come up with anything. I kept getting distracted as I reminded myself to pretend there was a book on my head so I would sit up straight.
I heard a door open and Kevin appeared in front of me, his sneakers, T-Shirt and jeans under his arm. “Ready?” he said, with that same indulgent smile. I looked him over and realized he was wearing a black suit with a gray and black tie.
“Did you just buy that?” I asked, as he put his clothes in the bag with mine.
“Oh, no. I actually had it in the car since I wouldn’t have been able to leave work before heading to the theater with Lanie. The fact that it matches your dress is just a coincidence. Kinda funny.” He seemed to feel slightly self-conscious as he dusted himself off.
I felt relieved. He tucked a receipt in his inside jacket pocket and we waved at Marcy and walked back toward the parking structure. We passed through the Intimates section of the store and Kevin stopped me.
“Just a sec.” He said. “You’ll need these.”
He grabbed a pair of fluffy black slippers and walked away, smiling as I tried to stop him.
“Kevin, it’s too much.” I started.
“Nah, no way. I don’t want to have to carry you around halfway through the night!” he joked. “Plus, you’re not used to those kind of shoes so you’ll feel them later on. It’s my mom’s rule: always bring a pair of packable slippers whenever you have to wear fancy shoes.”
He came back with yet another small bag.
“One more stop and we’re done: Accessories.” He announced.
We walked over to the accessories and jewelry department. Kevin informed the ladies, since more than one moved into his direction when he walked over to the counter, that I needed a finishing touch. The three ladies inspected me. I managed to stand tall and appear unaffected by their stares although for a second I wanted to put my plumbing shirt back on overtop of the dress.
The oldest lady spoke up. “The neckline of that dress is exquisite. What if we used a wrap for your hair and pulled it back to show it off?” She had narrow framed black half glasses hanging from a skinny silver chain on her neck.
“A wrap?” Kevin asked.
“Let me show you. It’s a very romantic look.” I blushed and Kevin laughed. I hardly ever blush. The lady held her un-opened half glasses up to her eyes and rifled through some accessory racks.
“Hear that Mel? It’s romantic.” He said. I rolled my eyes with a disapproving look.
The ladies sat me in a chair by the counter, while they took the opportunity to toss a few smiles in Kevin’s direction and ‘accidentally’ bump into him. The older lady brushed my hair with a side part, and pulled it back into a low knot with the help of the lady from the jewelry counter who informed me that her mother was a hairstylist. Then, they placed a double stranded sparkly black rhinestone headband in my hair. It went in the center of my head and tied with a black satin ribbon that she tucked under the knot.
“I think that’s perfect. I think earrings would be a tad too much. What do you think, honey?” She said to me.
“Oh my gosh, it’s just beautiful.” The wrap was made up of twin strands of tiny black rhinestones in a detailed pattern with a bumpy and ornate outer edge.
“When you said head wrap I actually pictured a bandana.” She gasped, which Kevin found amusing. “But, Kevin, it’s too much. Really, I’m-“
“KNOCK IT OFF.” He interrupted. “I love it. You look great. Let’s go out.”
He handed the lady his credit card and she snipped the tag off.
“You two have a wonderful evening. You really are a striking pair.” She said. We thanked her, flattered by the comment.
That was the perfect thing to say. We are a pair, not a couple. We thanked her again and walked out. My feet were already starting to long for those slippers. Kevin was removing them from their packaging and putting them in his jacket pocket where they bulged his suit coat and he didn’t care. I smiled to myself.
We walked outside, it was a beautiful evening. The restaurant nearby made the air smell like grilled steak and something buttery. I couldn’t imagine more perfect weather- or smells. It was about 72 degrees and the sun was low on the horizon making long shadows. As we made our way to the truck, people looked in our direction, smiling. I smiled back feeling slightly embarrassed but also happy, and excited.
We arrived at the restaurant called Medley. I’d never been there before, but I’d heard of it. The outside was floor to ceiling windows beginning on the second floor with many gemstone colors on the exterior. Kevin pulled up to the valet stand and instantly we had a valet at each of our doors. The guy that came to my door held out his hand for me. I felt like such an imposter. I took his hand and scooted off the truck’s seat, careful not to rip my dress.
Kevin appeared on my right, valet ticket in hand. I looked him over, again noticing the slipper bulge in his low front pocket. “You look really nice.” I said.
He leaned in and whispered, “I look like a doorman next to you.” making me giggle.
I found a seat in the bar area while he went to see ab
out a table. We figured there might be a super long wait since we didn’t have a reservation.
The bar was backlit in violet and royal blue and had the restaurant name Medley in about six foot mosaic letters made with chunks of iridescent glass. The letters were mounted on some type of silver mesh and moved freely as if a fan were blowing on them making the word sparkle and seem alive. There was a randomly moving white spotlight from across the room to add to the energy. The colors reminded me of peacock feathers.
I ordered a couple of cocktails: Vernors and Vanilla Stoli for both of us. Kevin walked over with what looked like a chunky cell phone. He set it down on the black bar top in front of me.
“They’ll call us on this when our table is ready.” He said.
“Seriously?” I said.
Kevin nodded, taking a sip of his drink.
We sat with our drinks and looked around. The bar was easily forty feet in length. The front was covered in mosaic tiles and seemed to be lit from a light mounted under the bar top. The stools were dark gray and had a brushed finish to them and a very modern design. The bar top had small oval tables that extended from the bar. It seemed to be inspired by a 1920s look I had seen before. The mix of modern and old was super cool. There were six bartenders dressed in white shirts with shimmering vests over top. Kevin always made conversation with bartenders. He started chatting up a guy about football and the Lions and their recent loss when the restaurant phone vibrated and lit up.
Kevin smiled and looked at me. “You can get it.”
I opened the phone. “Hello?”
“Good evening, miss. I will meet you at table ninety two whenever you’re ready. An indicator will be placed on the wall to direct you.” a velvety voice said.
“OK, do I bring this phone?” I asked, looking around.
“Yes, please do.” The voice replied.
Kevin grabbed our drinks and we walked over to the dining area. The tables were all covered in jewel toned tablecloths and mesh hung from the ceilings with additional roaming lights above. The ceiling must have been about thirty feet tall.
