Someone Special

Chapter 4

Diane could never find a parking space at the mall. She circled around for the third time watching for taillights or a car reversing. She had to park at the entrance to Sears or she would never find her car again. She had no sense of direction and was easily confused if she entered at any other location. She was supposed to meet Shannon in the food court in three minutes. She wasn’t going to make it. Shannon would wait, she always did. Diane spotted a car pulling out in the next aisle and sped over before anyone else could take the spot.

After pulling in, she hurried through Sears toward the food court. Spotting Shannon sitting under the fountain she slowed to a trot. Shannon was reading a novel and didn’t notice Diane until she plopped down next to her.

“How’s the book?” she asked.

Shannon grimaced, “Not good. I started it and now feel compelled to finish but I figured out who killed her in the second chapter.”

Diane shook her head, “I don’t know how you read those books. They’re filled with gore.”

Shaking her head vehemently, Shannon launched into an explanation, “The good authors don’t use gory details. They don’t have to. They give you a hint and your imagination fills in the blanks. The plot is more important than the details.”

Diane interrupted while she took a breath, “I get the picture. No gore. I still can’t read them. I don’t know how you sleep at night.”

Shannon smirked and placed her bookmark between the pages before closing the book and shoved it into her already brimming purse. “I have a big strong man in my bed to scare away the bad guys.”

“Al?” Diane laughed, “He’s such a heavy sleeper, he wouldn’t even wake up!”

Shannon stood, her hand on her hip, “He’s pretty easy to wake up if you know the right moves.” She winked at Diane and walked away, not waiting for a response.

Diane rolled her eyes and chortled, “Oh yeah baby, you’ve got the moves!” She followed Shannon past the food court vendors and into the main section of the mall. “So where are you going? Do I have any input on this shopping trip or do I just follow you through the mall like a good girl?”

Shannon stopped and turned to Diane, “Your choices to this point haven’t been the best but if you're good I’ll let you have final say. How’s that?”

“Gee thanks.” Diane drawled, sarcasm dripping from every syllable.

“No problem. We’re going to start at The Limited.” Shannon took a left and headed toward the store.

Diane stopped in her tracks, “Shannon, I can’t shop there. Tabitha shops there. Their clothing line is geared toward teenagers.”

“C’mon silly.” Shannon grabbed Diane’s hand and dragged her to the store. “Just because Tabitha shops there doesn’t mean you can’t too.”

“Shan, it’s a trendy store. I’m not trendy.” Diane snatched her hand away and crossed her arms across her chest, following slowly. At the entrance to the store she stopped and tried to reason with Shannon one final time. "Shannon. Shannon, come back here. They don't sell work clothes. Let's go to Sears."

Shannon ignored Diane. She moved past the sweaters at the entrance to the store and headed to the sales rack. Diane sighed. Shoulders slumped she followed Shannon into the store. She stopped at the sweater display. The cable knit sweaters were too casual for work but they might work for weekend wear. She picked up an oatmeal-colored turtleneck sweater. She held it against her body to gauge the length. It fell to the middle of her hips. Perfect. She draped it over her arm and moved further into the store. Maybe she would find some good additions to her wardrobe in here.

Diane moved from rack to rack touching a blue shirt on one and a pair of gray pants on the next. She shopped by touch. The fabric had to be pleasant to the touch or she couldn't wear it the entire day. There was nothing worse than an itchy shirt or a stiff pair of pants. She added a pair of khakis to her sweater. The dark brown color coordinated with the darker threads in the oatmeal sweater. Humming to herself she moved further into the store.

"What do you think you're doing?" Shannon frowned at Diane.

"Shopping?"

"You already own a dozen pairs of brown pants and I'm sure I've seen you wearing a sweater very similar to this bland thing you're holding." Shannon grabbed the sweater and shook it at Diane for emphasis.

"You need to spice up your wardrobe. I'm tired of you blending into the background." Shannon took the sweater back to the display at the front of the store. On her way back she removed a pair of black pants from a rack and tossed them to Diane.

Diane caught them and looked at the tag. "This is the wrong size. I need one higher." She headed back to the rack to exchange the pants.

Shannon held out her arm, stopping Diane. "That's the right size. Trust me. These aren't for the office. They're for a fun night out."
Diane paused before responding. It would be easier to just take them into the dressing room and say they didn't fit than to argue with Shannon. She took the pants and went into the dressing room. She sat on the chair in the stall staring at the pants. She hadn't noticed they were flares. How could Shannon believe she would ever wear them? She checked her watch. Ten minutes was long enough to try on pants. She reached for the door handle but stopped when Shannon said, "Are you ever coming out of there? I want to see how hot you look."

Thinking fast, Diane responded, "I already took them off. They didn't fit very well. They were too tight and you didn't tell me the bottoms flared."

"Don't come out of there without those pants on." Shannon leaned against the door blocking Diane's exit.

Diane pushed against the door. "I thought I had final say on these purchases. Let me out."

Shannon pushed back. "You invited me on this shopping trip for a reason. If you're not going to even try anything new why bother to buy anything? You have plenty of boring clothes at home. I've seen your closet. It's filled with clothes. Nothing trendy. Nothing formfitting and very few flattering colors." Having said her piece she turned on her heel and stomped out of the dressing room.

Diane sat back down. Shannon was right. If she wanted to shed her dull image she needed to take some risks. She felt bad for complaining the entire time. She vowed to do better and took the pants off the hanger.

"Shannon?" Diane walked out of the dressing room and peeked around the corner.

Not seeing anyone she started to head back to change when Shannon's said, "Hold on. I'll be out in a sec. I found a great top and had to try it on." She stepped out of the dressing room next to Diane. "What do you think?"

"That color is great on you. I can't wear yellow, it highlights the green hue in my skin."

"You just have to find the right shade of yellow. I'm sure some of the golden colors would look wonderful on you. Just stay away from the pales colors." Shannon walked back into the dressing room to change. She stopped just inside the door and looked at Diane. "By the way, the pants look hot on you." She smiled and closed the door.

Diane walked back into the dressing room and looked in the mirror. She turned and looked at her butt in the mirror. She did look kind of hot. Smiling, she closed the door.

She ended up choosing several tops in addition to the black pants Shannon selected for her. She liked them all but her favorite was the deep purple gauze shirt. It flowed over her figure, outlining her breasts and diminishing her stomach. She couldn't wait to wear it. Hugging her selections to her chest, Diane made her way to the cash register. Shannon waited on a bench in the hall outside the store.

"Oh, I have this top," said the cashier. "It's a great for dancing. You don't get too hot and it moves with you as you dance."

Diane took the shopping bag from the cashier and thanked her for her help. Shannon stood as Diane left the store.

"Ready for the next shop?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. Are we going to go somewhere to purchase work clothes?"