Page 21 of Unbidden

“Okay, bear with me. I know you love your Chucks, combat boots, and jeans. You can keep those, but what if we go dressier with the tops? Maybe find you some boots with chunky heels and maybe some sneaker-style wedges,” she pleads while rapidly fluttering her eyelashes.

“You know batting your eyelashes at me won't work, right?” I deadpan before sighing. “Okay, I’ll try it. I dig those boots,” I tell her while pointing behind her.

V turns around and gasps. “Yes!” she squeals before grabbing my hand and pulling me towards them.

She takes a pair off the shelf and starts inspecting them. “I could never pull these off, but you can. What size?”

“Eight,” I tell her absentmindedly while taking off my current shoes.

V hands me a box, and I take the boots out. I undo a zipper on the side and slip my foot in, zipping it back up before putting the other shoe on. I stand and make my way over to the three-way mirror.

“Yeah, those are definitely going home with us. I wonder if they have them in any other colors,” she says before turning to look.

I take myself in and love what I see. Skintight jeans, black thigh-high boots that lace up the front with a thicker heel, and a plain tee. I look like me but a little more grown up. Like one of those photos on Pinterest we all wish we could pull off but honestly can’t afford.

I guess I can now.

“Okay, so they also have them in brown and grey, I grabbed both. You have to get all three. Plus, I found two different styles of sneaker wedges,” V says while stacking boxes on the bench next to the mirror. “Honestly, you look awesome.”

“Thanks,” I tell her while still staring at myself.

“Come on. Take them off so we can buy them and move on. I have some clothing ideas based off all of these.”

I don’t reply, just move back to the bench and sit down, slipping them off one by one. I hand them to V, and she slides them back in the box.

“Anything else from here?”

“Yeah, I need a pair of classic black sneakers,” I tell her before grabbing a pair I had in the past and know are awesome for when I’m on my feet all day long.

I follow V up to the register and take in my six boxes plus several others. “Uh, these aren’t all for me, are they?” I ask hesitantly.

“Of course not, silly. These six are for you, and those six behind the cash register are for me,” V tells me with a wave of her hand.

Have I ever owned so many shoes at once?

The rest of the shopping trip flies by once I decide to just go with it. V picks out jeans, skirts, flowy tops, tight tops, dresses, and everything in between for me to try on. She treats me like her own personal Barbie doll, but the whole time, she respects my style and never expects me to be something I’m not or something I'm uncomfortable with. In return, she doesn’t make a peep when I buy a plain white button-up top and black pants or grab applications for jobs from different places; she just enjoys a basket of pretzels while I fill them out before returning them. All in all, it's a win.

Chapter Four

Friday morning, I round the corner into the kitchen while wiping sleep out of my eyes only to stop dead in my tracks when I notice a man sitting at the counter, drinking coffee and reading something on a tablet in front of him.

“Uh….”

He turns and looks at me, a smile overtaking his face as he pushes out the stool next to him.

“Morning, Sage,” he greets me warmly.

“Hi… Richard?” I guess.

“How did you sleep?” he asks while setting down his tablet and holding eye contact.

“Good, thanks. How was your trip?” I make my way to the coffeepot.

“It was a normal tech conference. Lots of chest beating and bragging.”

“Sounds riveting,” I deadpan, causing him to bust out laughing.

“It's good people-watching, that’s for sure. Are you settling in okay?” He seems genuinely interested.

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