Lauren:kk sweet dreams.
I put my phone aside and close my eyes.
When I wake up, it’s to pounding on the door.
“Hope?” Felix is calling. “Can you let me in? I don’t have a key.”
When I open the door, he is once again carrying shopping bags.
“That ten k’s really burning a hole in your pocket, huh?” I say.
He steps inside and hands me one of the bags.
“So, I got us a table at this place called the Sopadilla Estate. Supposed to be one of the best restaurants in the country and they had a last-minute cancellation.”
He hesitates like there’s a catch.
“But?” I prompt.
“It’s quite smart. So I got us something to wear.”
“Are you Pretty Womaning me?” I ask.
“You might want to reserve judgment until you look in the bag.”
I reach in and pull out a swishy floor-length caftan printed with bright orange coral designs embroidered in elaborate gold and silver beading. It has cape sleeves and a plunging neckline and a thigh slit. It’s like something Laurenwould own if Lauren pulled her wardrobe from the costume archives ofDallasinstead of Bergdorf Goodman.
“So not Julia Roberts, actually,” I say. “You think of me more as Blanche fromThe Golden Girls.”
He cocks his head to one side. “Who?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Look, I know it’s not exactly your style, but I didn’t know what size you were and this said ‘one size fits all.’ But”—he reaches into his own bag and pulls out a tie with the same bedazzled coral print—“I figured if you had to wear that at least we could match.”
I take the bag out of his hands and dig around in it for the rest of the outfit. It’s a suit. And it is in a shade I can only describe as “vivid cerulean.”
“What possessed you to buy this?” I ask.
“The saleswoman told me the blue is complementary with the orange.”
“It is that.”
“You don’t think I can pull it off?”
“I think you won’t need to sleep here tonight after all, the way you’ll be beating off women in that outfit.”
“A cab is coming in fifteen minutes. I’m going to shower.”
While he’s in the bathroom I pull on the caftan.
If the foggy mirror behind the door is not deceiving me, I actually look kind of amazing in it. It swirls appealingly around my curves, glitters in the light, and I like the thigh slit. My hair looks insane but in this equally insane outfit my swarm of curls nearly passes for deliberate eighties glam. I pull the tube of Dior Cruise out of my purse, put it on, and actually giggle at the final effect.
I’m stylish as hell.
I gloat, knowing that Felix is going to look absurd beside me, until he comes out of the bathroom.
Somehow, healsolooks amazing. His suit is slim cut and much tighter than anything he would wear in real life. The electric blue brings out his tan.
