Page 115 of The Last Second Chance
“Uh, you’re looking at my comfort zone,” Joey said raising her arms and looking down at her long sleeve t-shirt and jeans.
Brigid eyed her up and down. “Sequins are definitely out,” she said to Jax. “But I think I have the absolutely perfect thing. Come with me.”
She gave Joey no room to disagree and herded her toward the curtained corner. Joey nervously clutched her coffee and flopped down on a padded ottoman behind the gray drapes.
“I’ll be right back,” Brigid announced and disappeared.
She reappeared in seconds with a garment bag slung over her arm. “Okay, this is my number one pick and if you hate it you’re going to crush my artistic spirit and I’ll hate you forever.”
“Don’t hate the dress. Got it,” Joey nodded.
Brigid hung the bag from a hook and unzipped it revealing layers of dusky rose tulle.
“Uhh…”
“Don’t freak out yet. In fact, don’t even look until I get it on you. Strip,” Brigid ordered.
Not usually one to take off her clothes in front of a stranger, Joey decided when in L.A. she might as well do as the Angelinos do. She peeled her t-shirt and jeans off and tossed them on the ottoman.
“Okay, just step in,” Brigid said, pooling the dress on the rug.
Joey did as she was told and let Brigid stuff her into the dress. The top was an ivory tank in some kind of silky material with just the slightest shimmer to it. The skirt was a fantasy of rosy tulle layered that fell from a cinched waist.
“How’s that for comfortable?” Brigid asked, eyeing the fit.
Joey’s hands traveled down over the full skirt and discovered pockets sewn into soft jersey lining under the tulle.
“Pockets? Awesome,” Joey said.
“Yep. You can stash your phone in there and some lip gloss and be good to go. How does it feel?”
Joey swayed her hips from side to side, letting the tulle bell out. She moved to the ottoman and sat. Nothing embarrassing popped out and she didn’t feel like she was being strangled by anything.
“It feels pretty good,” Joey said suspiciously, waiting for something to poke her or the material to rip in two.
“Let’s see how it looks.” Brigid led the way out of the dressing area and pushed Joey in front of the three-way mirror.
She looked…good. Great, actually. Joey turned from one side to the other.
“Oh yeah,” Brigid nodded. “How tall are you?”
“Five-nine?”
“Perfect. I don’t even have to hem the length. I can take it in here and here,” she said gesturing to the waist. “And the straps need to be shortened just a hair, but other than that it’s perfect. What do you think, Jax?”
Joey looked at him in the reflection and was pleasantly surprised to see a dumbfounded expression on his face.
“You okay?” Joey asked him.
Jax snapped back and walked over. “You look…just wow.” He told her to spin with a circle of his finger.
Joey obliged with a sassy pirouette, enjoying the feel of the full skirt as the tulle billowed out.
Brigid was grinning. “I freaking rock.”
“You sure do,” Jax said, still not taking his eyes off of Joey.
“You’ll wear your hair down like it is now,” Brigid instructed. “Maybe add some loose curls. Keep it kind of fanciful. Really dewy makeup. Yeah, you’re going to be the hit of the red carpet.”
