Chapter 23
MERRY
It really was like Christmas!
There were no other customers on the VIP floor of the store, but three beautifully dressed sales clerks stood by and welcomed Merry off the elevator with smiles.
“We’re all yours!” said one of the women, who was wearing a name badge that said Patricia. “Devlin says anything goes, anything you want.”
“This is . . . I don’t know what to say,” Merry said, and it was true, she was speechless. “This is amazing.”
“Our formal dresses are over here,” said Patricia. “The winter range has been very popular this year.”
She led Merry across the room to a display of elegant, mesmerisingly beautiful dresses of all shapes and colours.
Two she recognised from red carpet interviews from TV, and one, she was sure, had been modelled by the First Lady during the last State of the Union address.
None of them had a price tag, which wasn’t surprising, but she knew from the limited range of Devlin Storm dresses they had at Carroll’s that they retailed at thousands apiece. Sometimes tens of thousands.
“I really shouldn’t.” She bit her lip. “They’re not really meant for somebody like me.”
The soft chime of the elevator interrupted her and she turned to see Christian step out, his hands in his coat pockets, looking way more comfortable surrounded by thousands of dollars’ worth of clothes than she felt.
“Merry.” He grinned mischievously, his dark eyes shining. “Devlin owed me a favour and told me to pick whatever I wanted. But, let’s be honest, none of these dresses are going to suit me, are they?”
He swept a hand towards the glittering rail and Merry giggled at the thought of Christian wrapped in a sequin number.
“And I’m still on my mission to give you the Christmas you deserve, so give yourself some credit and try on as many of these dresses as you like. Tell yourself you’re doing it for me if it helps?”
He winked at her, a chorus of quiet “awwws!” rising up from the three sales clerks.
“What shall we try first?” Patricia asked.
Merry scanned the racks and hesitantly reached for a bright pink dress that shimmered under the lights. It was bold — louder than anything she’d ever worn — but something about it called to her.
She took it to the changing area, pulled the curtain closed and slipped into it.
It fit like it had been stitched for her alone.
The fabric hugged her in all the right places, the colour making her skin glow.
And yet, as she turned in the mirror, her confidence wavered.
Could she really pull this off? She felt like a walking highlighter pen.
With a nervous breath, she stepped out of the fitting room.
Christian looked up and a smile popped on to his face. “Wow,” he said, standing. “You’re . . . wow.”
“It’s a bit much, isn’t it?” she said, twisting a little. “I think I might be blinding the mannequins.”
“You’re lighting up the whole store,” he said, eyes gleaming.
She laughed, but tugged at the neckline. “It’s beautiful, but I don’t think it’s me.”
“You sure?” he said. “Because you kind of look like the main character right now.”
Merry bit her lip. “Could you help me out of it? The zipper’s at the back and my arms aren’t that bendy.”
“Of course,” he said, and followed her back into the fitting area without hesitation.
Inside the softly lit space, Merry turned her back to him. His hands were warm as they brushed her shoulder blades, carefully finding the zipper and sliding it down in one slow, smooth motion.
The dress slipped free, pooling around her feet in a puddle of pink silk.
Before she could reach for the hanger, she felt Christian’s lips press gently to the curve of her neck. A shiver ran through her as he kissed her again, slower this time, his hands settling lightly at her waist.
She closed her eyes, letting herself melt into the moment. But then her eyes drifted down to the dress, crumpled on the floor like it was nothing. Thousands of pounds, just lying there like a discarded wrapper.
“Shoo,” she whispered, picking up the dress and smoothing it out on the hanger. “Get outta here before someone sees you.”
“Your wish is my command.” Christian chuckled against her skin and disappeared back to his seat.
Merry lifted the hanger to a hook on the wall and caught sight of herself in the mirrors. Dressed just in her knickers, with work-weary hair, she had another jolt of guilt at taking up the store clerks’ time when they could be tending to women who were meant to shop somewhere like this.
Patricia popped her head around the curtain with a genuine smile on her face and an armful of gorgeous dresses.
“Here you go,” she said, hanging them up for Merry. “I thought these would work well with your colouring.”
Merry’s jaw actually dropped when she saw the dress that was still draped over Patricia's arm.
It was perfect. There was literally no other word to describe it.
She had never in her life seen a more perfect piece of clothing.
It was black silk with hundreds of elegant, diamond-flecked snowflakes stitched into the shimmering fabric.
It seemed almost like a living, breathing thing as Patricia held it up, the cloth unfurling to the floor.
“Oh!” said Merry.
“Nobody else in the world owns one of these,” Patricia said, hanging that dress last. “Few people have even seen it. It’s an exclusive — Devlin designed it for a leading lady whose name I can’t tell you.
She never wore it, because they fell out, and now here it is.
She was about your size. Do you want to try it on? ”
Merry nodded. Oh, please be my size, please please please!
Patricia helped her into it and by some magical fluke the dress flowed on to her like a second skin, cool and soft and impossibly comfortable.
She hardly dared turn to face the mirror again, and when she did she barely recognised herself.
The woman she saw stood tall and proud, her eyes bright and full of happiness, her smile beaming back from the glass.
“I . . .” Merry said. “I . . .”
It was too much. A tear escaped her eye, winding down her cheek.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“It’s quite something,” said Patricia.
Merry wiped the tears away, then turned to the curtain. Patricia pulled it to one side, and Christian’s eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He stood up slowly and walked to her.
“It looks like it was made for you,” he said.
“It’s amazing,” Merry said.
He touched her arms gently, meeting her eyes. “You’re amazing. This is all you. The dress is just the ribbon on the most perfect present I have ever seen.”
“I can’t take it,” said Merry. “Can I? I mean, it must cost so much money. Shouldn’t we check? I’m talking too much, I can’t stop. It’s just all so incredible. But I can’t keep it. Can I?”
Christian laughed, opening his arms so that she could step into them. She rested her head against his chest, hearing that wonderful, reassuring thump of his heart, and he wrapped his arms around her.
“ If she doesn’t keep it, it’ll be a tragedy, ” said a smooth voice from behind her.
Merry jumped slightly as Devlin Storm stepped out of the elevator, looking every inch the hot fashion-world aristocrat.
He strolled towards them with the easy confidence of a man who owned the room — which, technically, he did.
Merry felt like melting into the floor in a puddle of embarrassment at him seeing her in this incredible dress.
Then she slowly realised what he had just said.
“Mr Storm, sir.” She wasn’t sure whether to curtsy or not, so she just bobbed a little on the spot.
“Devlin, please,” he said with a grin, gesturing towards the dress. “And I’ve seen a lot of people in Storm gowns, but you here are a moment. If you don’t take this one I will be personally offended. Don’t forget to get the shoes and bag to match.”
Then he turned to Christian and extended a hand. “Nice to see you again, sir.”
Christian shook it, smiling and Devlin winked.
“Thanks for dragging me off that mountainside and, more importantly, for finding my dress its perfect owner. She wears it better than I ever imagined.” He turned his attention back to Merry.
“Man’s a hero. Just don’t let it go to his head.
Must be off, places to be, people to piss off.
” And he vanished out of a side door in a waft of Chanel.
Merry stood frozen for a second. Then she squealed.
“ Holy shit, I just met Devlin Storm! ” she whisper-shouted, grabbing Christian’s arms as if she might actually float away without something to hold on to. “He spoke to me! He called me the perfect owner ! And he said I was a moment . Christian, I’m a moment!”
Christian chuckled. “You’re more than a moment. You’re an entire era.”
Merry clutched her chest. “Okay, I need to take this off right now before I sweat through it and get banned from ever stepping foot in a Storm store again. This is not a dress you hyperventilate in. This is a dress you glide in gracefully. Without pit stains.”
“I’ll box it up for you,” said Patricia, steering Merry back into the dressing room.
Her head was buzzing as she undressed, and when she put her Carroll’s dress back on it felt horribly tight and course.
She wondered if this was what her life would feel like when Christian had gone, if it would turn back from something wonderful to something mundane and unbearable.
Just enjoy it , she told herself, and with a decisive nod she resolved to do exactly that. Slipping her shoes back on, she walked out of the booth for the final time to find Christian waiting there for her.
“You still look amazing,” he said, and she laughed.
“Yeah, the Carroll’s uniform really brings out the colour of my eyes.
” She ran a hand through her hair, watching Patricia box up the dress with a matching bag and a pair of shoes.
“Are you really sure this is okay? I mean, I know you’re not paying, but it was your favour.
You could have used it for something important. ”
“I did,” he said. “I used it for maybe the most important thing in my life. This was an emergency, remember? I want to go to that darn ball.”
Patricia walked over with a bag, handing it to Merry.
Merry hesitated for a moment, then took it. “I can’t thank you enough,” she said. “I know you didn’t have to show me this dress. I’m so happy you did.”
“It’s a perfect match,” said Patricia. She looked at Christian, then at Merry, smiling.
Merry glanced at Christian, blown away again by how handsome he was even when he’d been standing next to a real-life rich person.
Never in a million years did she think she’d ever find herself on a date with a man like him, but then she never expected to be in a Devlin Storm shop holding a dress that had been designed for a movie star.
“Thank you, Christian,” she said as the door closed behind them. She hugged the bag to her chest to shield it from the rain. “That was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. Again. You’re good at making a girl feel special.”
“It wasn’t me,” he said. “Thank Devlin. I’m just glad I could help. I can’t wait to see you in it tomorrow.”
“I hardly dare wear it,” she said, and Christian laughed.
“Er, that was the whole point of this trip,” he said. “Now you have to come to the ball with me. A taxi tonight, I insist. I’ve got to head back to work and you can’t take the subway alone with a dress like that. You’d be asking for trouble.”
“Can you afford it?” she asked, and he nodded.
“I did a few extra hours last night. It’s fine.”
“You’re too good to me, Christian,” she said. “I don’t think I deserve it.”
Christian stepped to the edge of the pavement and hailed a taxi.
One pulled right over, and he opened the door, speaking to the driver.
Merry saw him hand over some cash, and felt terrible that he had to part with even more money after such a generous gift.
She’d pay him back for the taxi rides at least, she promised herself.
“Are you at work tomorrow?” he asked.
Merry nodded. “An early again, but it’s not too bad because we close at three for the ball.” She sighed. “I’m not sure I can face another day like today, though.”
“Yeah, it was busy,” Christian said. “So many people are leaving.”
“Yeah, it’s weird isn’t it?” Merry said. “I saw Diane today, she’s a girl I work with. She had an envelope, and I could have sworn it was full of cash.”
Christian frowned, his eyes growing dark. “Cash?”
“Yeah, I don’t know how much was there, but it was a lot. She told me she’d been given it in return for walking away, for literally walking out the door and never coming back.”
“Did she say who gave it to her?” Christian asked.
Merry shook her head. “She wouldn’t. But she told me it was somebody up high. It was somebody from head office.”
Christian seemed to take the information in, nodding to himself.
“Get home safe, Merry,” he said, holding the door for her. “I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
She paused for a moment, stepping up to kiss him goodbye. But there was something about Christian that had turned suddenly cold, his expression distant.
“Thanks again,” she said as she climbed into the cab. “I really do mean it.”
Christian nodded to her, then closed the door and walked away.