Page 28 of Awestruck at Dusk
The envelope was black with the Enzio de Luca logo in a hot-stamped silver foil. I opened it and read the note:
Miss Guillermina Murphy,
We are excited to announce that the Enzio Privé Spring 2010 Couture collection look you wore to the premiere a few weeks ago sold out after being requested by many of our regular and new clients.We want to show our appreciation and congratulate you on your birthday by gifting you these four exclusive pieces from the Fall 2010 Ready-to-Wear Collection.
We hope you can celebrate in style.
The Team at Enzio de Luca
Oh. My. God. I was in shock. How did this happen? I put the note inside the envelope it came in and left it on the foyer table. The four dresses they sent me weregorgeous. Each had a tag: 49, 50, 51, and 52. I assumed they were the looks’ numbers as they rolled out on the runway.
Two of the dresses came in a lighter watermelon color with various beaded prints. One had an orange beaded tiger with blue, white, and black touches of color with floral accents all around. The other one had a beaded floral pattern in shades of pale blue and orange.
These dresses’ silhouette was similar: short, fitted bodice, straight neckline with inch and a half wide straps, with a slightly asymmetrical hem, and subtle triangular cut-outs mid ribcage.
The other two dresses were short too and of a bright watermelon color. They both had an asymmetrical one-shoulder design, but the prints and textures of them were slightly different. They were all beautiful.
Too bad I didn’t have any plans to celebrate my birthday.
Mimi’s food was delicious, as always. I sat to eat as she drank a cup of coffee with me. The caffeine was doing wonders for my hangover. She asked me a lot of difficult questions about everything that happened. She mostly wanted to know how I was fairing after Caleb’s death. She knew how close we were. But talking to her was always easy.
I was glad to see she was okay.
We cleared the table, and the doorbell rang once again. Since it was almost noon, I thought it might be Nathan.
“Hey!” Lily shouted. “I’m back!” She hugged me tightly, and I hugged her back. It was great to see her. “What isthis!”
Lily gaped as she walked toward the rack with the dresses. She browsed slowly through them with wide eyes.
“Who sent these?” she asked. “Was it …?” Lily jerked her head to the left toward William’s apartment.
“Oh! No, no, he didn’t send these.” I grabbed the envelope and showed it to Lily. “Go ahead,” I said with a nod. She opened it and read the note.
“This isinsane!” She placed the note back inside the envelope and gave it back to me.
“I know, right? It’s—weird. I wasn’t expecting this at all,” I said. Lily went back to looking at the dresses. “Do you want one?”
“What? No! Of course not. They’re all yours.”
“I know, but you’ve given me a few bags and—”
“Billie, these are yours, okay? Now we have to figure out when to use them.”
“But these two are so similar. Please, take one. Besides, it was thanks to you that Enzio de Luca agreed to dress me up for the premiere in the first place.”
“Well … it wasn’tallbecause of me,” she confessed.
“What do you mean?”
“Billy, he”—Lily snorted and continued—“he’s the one who requested it, and you know how it is. They never say no to him. Are you mad? I’m sorry.”
“No, of course not,” I replied. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before. It had William written all over it. And him casually being there for the fitting … not an accident either.
I walked over to the rack and grabbed the two bright watermelon-colored dresses. “Choose one right now, or we can’t be friends anymore.” I laughed.
“I’m not going to put our friendship at risk.” Lily laughed too. “Ah—this one.” She grabbed one of the dresses and hugged me. “It’s beautiful, thank you. You really didn’t have to.” She hung it back on the rack. “Now, which one areyougoing to wear for your birthday celebration? Tomorrow’s the big day! We need to decide where we’re going and make a reservation.”
“Um—I don’t want to go out. I think it’s best if I just stayed home for this one.”
