Page 27 of Game Plan
The door closed behind Jade with a click, and they were welcomed by two women in black trousers, silk blouses, and impressive heels. The older of the two wore a wide belt around her waist, and a rattle of bangles covered the first inch on her left wrist. Her hair was almost silver and quaffed perfectly as if she had just stepped out of the salon. The younger of the two women had platinum blonde hair tied in a severe high ponytail. She wore more subtle accessories and resembled the older so strongly that April had no doubt they had to be related.
“Welcome to our store, and congratulations on your recent win Miss Walker.” The older woman spoke with the importance of a CEO, but the warmth of a mother. Not a combination she expected from the visual the woman was projecting to her customers. “I’m Olive, this is my daughter, Holly, she will be helping me take care of all your needs today.”
“It’s lovely to meet you both and thank you for your kind words. I’m here to choose a dress for my best friend’s wedding next month. I know it’s very last minute, but as you can imagine my schedule is pretty hectic at the moment. I hope you don’t mind that I brought along some support with me,” April turned toward Jade briefly, not quite knowing how to introduce her partner to people who couldn’t know as much. Not yet.
Jade took a confident step forward and introduced herself to the women, shaking their hands, and somehow managing to make them both blush. “Hi, I’m Jade, it’s lovely to meet you both, your store is incredible. I’m looking forward to helping April in choosing a beautiful outfit from what I have no doubt is an impressive collection.”Damn, she’s good.
“Oh, of course,” Holly said, not able to take her eyes off Jade. April couldn’t do anything but fight the smirk on her face.Sorry Holly, she’s mine.
“I’ve done a bit of research online and looked at the styles you have previously worn, looked at the colors and patterns you’ve chosen, and have selected a few options to begin with. If you’d like to follow me through the back, we can begin the process to find the dress you’re looking for.” Olive said, as she took a step to the side and invited April and Jade through a velvet curtain behind her.
The far side of the curtain was a room with a luxurious light grey sofa facing a floor-to-ceiling mirror. A small platform stood before it, and two slimmer freestanding mirrors were placed at angles on either side of the platform. A changing room was behind another velvet curtain to the left of the room, and a door to the right must have been where the dresses were stored.
“If you’d like to follow me, April, we’ll show you what we think would be the best to choose from,” Olive said, beckoning her toward the changing room.
April removed her bag and gave it to Jade, “Thanks for coming,” she said softly, “I’ll be out in the first one soon.” Jade took her bag, sat on the couch, and April could swear she could feel Jade’s eyes running up and down the back of her body as she disappeared into the changing room.
Chapter 23
Jade
Jade sat on the couch and listened to the women discuss dress colors, styles, lengths, cuts, and she could feel herself slowly zone out with each passing word. She had never been anything close to what might be described asgirly. She hated when her mom would buy her skirts or dresses growing up. Worse if Cleo had one to match. Sure, her style had evolved over the years, but she’d always been drawn to slightly more masculine clothing. Then later, she fully settled into her androgynous style.
It worked for her. It suited her personality. No, it wasn’t because she was atomboygrowing up either. She just never feltcomfortable in overly feminine clothes. She was fine with colors and patterns, just not the clothes.
When she was 13, she finally got her mom to agree to set aside a small amount of money every other month that she would have spent on clothes for Jade, to let her buy them herself. In her style. To feel truly,her.
Olive came out of the changing room first and headed through the back. Most likely to pull a few other dress options once April had run her eye over those that had been waiting for her. Holly must have been helping April get into the first dress of the day.
A few minutes later, Holly came out first, holding the velvet curtain back to let April come out and stand on the platform. Jade’s eyes nearly left her head for a split second before she regained control of her features enough to not make April panic at being outed.
April stood before her in a floor length, Greek Goddess style strapless dress in a deep burgundy color. She had pulled her hair up; it had been down when they arrived. She looked stunning.
“I don’t know, I think it’s too long,” April said, turning this way and that in front of the mirror. The long material rippled and spun around April’s body, mesmerizing Jade with its fluid movement. “Maybe too dark a color? I’m not sure. Jade?”
Jade met April’s eyes.She must know she’s incredible in anything she tries on, right?
“It looks great on you, but I think you’re right. I don’t know if it’s what you’re looking for, for this particular wedding.” Jade relaxed, relieved at having successfully managed not to drool at the sight of her partner looking like the literal image of Aphrodite!
“That’s no problem at all,” Holly said, looking at Jade instead of April...her customer. “I'm sure we'll find the right one soon.”
Jade smirked at April in the mirror as she saw her roll her eyes. Could April tell that Holly was making eyes at Jade? Shemust; the girl hadn’t exactly been subtle since their arrival.
Olive returned from the back of the boutique and brought a small rail of dresses into the changing room. After a couple of minutes, Olive exited again, taking other dresses out. Including the burgundy dress April must have barely had time to remove.
Over the course of the next half hour, April tried on numerous dresses. Each one was as lovely as the last, but none quite fitted the bill. The length was off, the neckline wasn’t suitable, the color didn’t quite work with her skin, or her hair, the lack of straps made her self-conscious of her muscular shoulders. April was getting increasingly deflated by the minute. Jade couldn’t take that look in her eyes any longer.
As April stood in a calf length fitted dusky pink dress, Jade finally spoke up.
“Ladies,” Jade addressed Olive and Holly with a warm smile, “could we possibly have a quick minute?”
“Of course,” Olive said, motioning for Holly to follow her through the back to give Jade and April the time they’d requested. April walked over to the couch and carefully sat down while being mindful of the dress she was trying on.
After ensuring the door had clicked shut, but still talking softly enough so as not to be heard through it, Jade turned on the couch to face April and reached for her hands. She took a breath and began, “talk to me.”
“I don’t know, I just don’t feel like any of these are right. It’s Dani’s wedding, you know? It has to be perfect.” April worried at her bottom lip.
“What else?” Jade asked, getting the impression that the dress wasn’t really the problem here.
