7. Max
7
MAX
“ Y ou have to come out no matter what it looks like, okay?”
Theo’s voice cut through the black velvet curtain of the dressing room as I tried on the first formal gown of the half dozen the sales clerk had selected for me.
“Okay,” I called back as I ran my hand along the edge of a pale pink tulle number hanging in front of me. It was so not me, but I was doing my best to be game for anything and everything. Theo had said he wanted me to be myself, but that didn’t really seem possible. He was basically paying me to make him look good. That meant I needed to be what he and his family expected. Who I really was didn’t enter the picture. If I’d learned anything from watching my mom and stepfather, it was that when the guy was picking up the tab, he wanted you to meet his expectations, not your own.
Thankfully, Theo’s expectations seemed pretty benign. Wear a fancy dress. Be “nice.” I could do that.
“How’s it going in there?” Susan, the saleswoman, asked in a crisp voice. “Can I help?”
I realized I was moving too slowly. Theo probably had a stack of deals to close back at work, yet here I was lollygagging around in my panties. “I’m good for now! Gimme one more second.”
I slipped the pink thing on and peeked at myself in the mirror. I looked … pretty? It had spaghetti straps and a few tiny fabric flowers dotted along the bodice, a very feminine princess vibe. It wasn’t even close to what I’d normally wear.
I took a deep breath and pulled the curtain back.
“Oh, how gorgeous ,” Susan sighed. “You’re a vision. You barely notice all of those tattoos.”
Theo was spread out on a low-slung couch, tapping away on his phone. He was slightly more dressed up than I’d seen him before in dress pants and a navy button-down shirt. Still sexy as hell, even though his sleeve was hidden. He dragged himself away from his phone and finally looked at me.
“Okay, wow.” He scanned me, squinting slightly. “You look phenomenal in everything, but I’m going to be honest.” He stared at me a beat longer. “It’s not you.”
I almost stumbled. You noticed? But more than that… You cared? “I’m…relieved you think so,” I said aloud. “It’s a pretty dress but I don’t feel comfortable in it, you know?” I plucked at the long, heavy skirt. “It’s … a lot.”
“Oh, there are more,” Susan said quickly, probably worried that she could miss out on her commission. “We’ll find something. Try the next one.”
Theo gave me and nod and went back to his phone. For someone who wanted to dress me up into his ideal pretend girlfriend, he sure didn’t seem very invested in the process of molding me.
Which was a lot better than I’d expected, honestly.
I slipped on the next gown, a heavily beaded nude sheath with illusion netting along my shoulders and down my arms. The color of the dress nearly matched my skin tone, so a quick glance made it seem like I was naked and covered in sparkles. It clung to my curves, especially my butt, and somehow made my modest breasts look bigger. But still … it wasn’t me . It was too flashy, like I was a pageant contestant. I pulled the curtain back.
“Oooh, look at that figure !” Susan crowed. “Stunning! Turn around.”
I felt Theo’s eyes on me as I did a quick twirl, or as quick as I could manage since the thing was so damn tight.
“Again, but slower so we can see,” Susan scolded.
I started again, pausing every quarter turn to examine myself in the three-way mirror. I could see Theo reflected back, taking me in.
He cleared his throat then crossed one leg over top of the other. “That … that looks incredible on you.”
It did, and if he wanted me to wear it I would. I tilted my head and stared at my reflection, fussing with netted sleeves that clung to my arms.
“Susan, could you give us a few minutes?” Theo asked.
She disappeared quickly, and he got off the couch and met me at the mirrors. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!” I lied. I adjusted the neckline. “I’m great.”
“I really like this on you,” he said in a quiet voice.
I met his gaze in the reflection of the mirror. I’d expected him to look heated—it was a sexy dress, after all—but his expression was questioning.
“Okay, if you think this is the one …”
He frowned. “What do you think?”
I twisted back and forth at my reflection. “It’s really nice. Very pretty. Different.”
“And?”
“And nothing.” I smoothed my hand down the front of the dress. “If you like it, I’ll wear it.”
“Hey,” he said, grabbing my wrist for a second to get my attention. He dropped it just as quickly. “You’re not my Barbie doll, okay? I want you to feel beautiful and comfortable in the dress. And I get the feeling that this one isn’t working for you. Am I right?”
Well, if he really wanted to know, then I would tell him. “Yes. I feel like I’m playing dress up, and not in a good way. And honestly, those other dresses Susan picked out? They don’t work for me, either.”
“Okay.” Theo glanced impatiently toward the remaining options then back at me. “I want you to have a dress that makes you feel beautiful in a way that’s completely you. So what would do that?”
While I didn’t have a lot of first-hand experience with high fashion, I’d done enough shoots to have very strong ideas of what I liked and what I definitely didn’t. “Nothing too sparkly. I like glittery stuff on other people, just not on me. I like simple. Elegant. No poufs or floofs. And no sickly-sweet pastel colors. Definitely not pink, or baby blue. Obviously, no white—it’s tacky to wear to a wedding event if you’re not the bride. No red, electric blue, or poison green, either, because super vivid colors don’t go well with my skin. But most of all, I want something that doesn’t seem like I’m hiding who I really am. I like my tattoos. I like funky jewelry. I like clothes I can move in that show some personality.”
He laughed. “You just got rid of most of the shop.”
“Exactly,” I said with a small sigh, glancing around to make sure Susan couldn’t overhear us.
“Give me a few minutes. I have an idea.”
I went back into the dressing room and slipped off the glittery number, accidentally loosening a few sequins in the process. I was considering getting dressed so we could try somewhere else, but Theo’s voice on the other side of the curtain interrupted me.
“Try this one. I think you’re going to like it. I’m handing it in, but I won’t look.”
The curtain rustled and Theo’s hand shot in holding a sleek black dress.
My fingers grazed his as I took it.
The dress didn’t look like much on the hanger, just a simple column of black crepe. When I slid it off, I realized I’d been looking at the back of it; the front of the dress had satin lapels and resembled a sleeveless tuxedo.
Different .
I opened two of the shiny black buttons on the front and slipped it on, fastening the inner hooks and then smoothing the buttons closed. When I turned to look at myself in the mirror all I could do was smile.
Theo had done the impossible. He’d found a dress that was elegant enough for the formal event but was also one hundred percent me. The double-breasted front dipped low enough to be sexy, but not so low that it could be considered scandalous. The skirt was cut close and skimmed my body, with a high slit up the side so I could move in it easily. Best of all, there were no sleeves to cover up the tattoos that defined me.
I twisted back and forth in the mirror to admire myself, grinning stupidly.
“You okay in there?” Theo asked.
“Yup!”
“Can I see?”
I gave myself one last glance, threw my shoulders back, and stepped out.
I’d expected him to at least smile at me, but Theo’s face was an unreadable mask as I walked to the three-way mirror. I looked around for Susan to get her approval, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“I’m guessing you don’t like it,” I said, staring at him in the reflection.
He shook his head. “I … I’m sort of speechless. It’s even better than I thought it would be. I mean, you’ve looked incredible in all of them, but this one … this one is you. ”
“Right?” I grinned at myself and turned back and forth. “I think so too!”
“This is the one.”
Susan finally buzzed back to where we were and stopped in her tracks when she saw me. “Oh my. Look at you in the Tadashi! We just got that one in, it’s exquisite. Maybe pile your hair up to show of that beautiful neck of yours? And it looks like it was made for you, you won’t need any tailoring.”
“But …” I glanced down at the hem. “It’s a little long.”
“My dear,” Susan chided with her head cocked at me. “Are you going to the event barefoot?”
I laughed. “Sorry, I’m more of a flats gal usually—but yeah, this is a dress that needs heels.”
“Right, we’ll need to pick those up as well,” Theo said.
“I’m going to get you a garment bag, I’ll meet you at the desk when you’re changed,” Susan said.
I realized that I hadn’t checked the price, so I reached back to where the tag was scratching in between my shoulder blades. I moved closer to the reflection and tried to make it out in the mirror.
“Hold on,” I scrunched my eyes at the number. “Does that say … holy shit !”
“What’s wrong?” Theo asked, frowning.
I pointed wordlessly at the tag, my mouth hanging open. I was glad Susan wasn’t close by because I was making an ass of myself about the cost of the dress.
“How much?”
“Um, about two months’ rent,” I replied, tucking the tag back inside the neckline. “It doesn’t matter how gorgeous it is, it’s not happening.”
“Stop.” He waved his hand at me dismissively. “It’s no big deal.”
“Um, yes it is. I know you said you’d pay for it, but I can’t ask you to spend that much on just one dress.” I was already unbuttoning it as I walked back toward the dressing room.
“Maxine.”
I jerked to a stop at my proper name and glared at him.
“I told you that this is on me. All of it is, from the dress, to the bag, to the shoes.”
I shook my head. “Nope. I can’t accept that. Not when the price is this high.” After years of watching the way Nick treated my mom—like he owned her, just because he was the breadwinner—I sometimes struggled with letting guys buy me dinner. The more a man spent on you, the more he expected in return. I’d given in on letting Theo buy me a dress, but I was not comfortable with him spending this much. Not at all.
“I knew we should’ve worked out a contract,” Theo muttered as he frowned at me.
“It doesn’t matter, I wouldn’t have agreed to anything this extravagant,” I said as I stomped back to the dressing room.
I closed the black curtain wishing it was a door I could slam and took the dress off quickly.
“Hon, can I get that Tadashi from you real quick?” Susan asked.
I smoothed it then placed it on the hanger and handed it to her through the crack in the curtain.
“I’ll be out in a minute,” I said as I put my shorts and tank top back on. I’d said he could pay for the dress, and I wasn’t going to go back on my word, but I would pick the place we went next to look at more options. I needed to get back some control of the situation.
I walked out and looked around the now empty shop.
“Where did he go?” I asked Susan.
She pointed to the wall of windows at the front, where Theo was standing outside on the sidewalk.
With a garment bag draped over his shoulder.
“No. He didn’t.”
Susan smiled at me. “He said you had to have it, and I happen to agree with him.”
I, for one, did not, and I was about to make that perfectly clear to him.