5 Chapter Five

CHAPTER 5

I sat on a rusty metal bench stationed directly at the front of Gregory's in the middle of the day. The fulgent sun shone brightly in the sapphire blue sky dotted with white fluffy clouds.

The scorching sun was the kind that made people scurry for cover to avoid the tender burn that it brought. 

My eyes dipped to my phone screen. She should be here any minute now.

As if reading my thoughts, I caught a glimpse of a silver Mercedes that belonged to my best friend approaching me. In a second the car came to a halt in front of me. 

"Get in loser, we are going shopping." she squealed in a high-pitched tone.

I crossed my arms across my chest. "You are late."

"Sorry. It took a while to find an outfit. I hardly find anything to wear these days. Now you know why I need to shop." Her lips formed a pout. I got up and slid into the car.

She threw a pointed look in my direction.

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"What are you wearing?"

My eyes skimmed through my vintage shirt and my brown cargo skirts." What do you mean, what am I wearing? I'm wearing clothes."

"heavens! You look ridiculous. Your sense of style hurts my soul."

" Well, compared to your breezy linen shirt and shorts, it isn't so bad." I shrugged.

"It's bad. Extremely."

Abigail has always disapproved of my style since she met me. She has made several attempts to get me into one of her styles for months. Whenever we planned to go out to run her errands or to one of our coffee sessions, she would casually throw a dress, a shirt, or any outfit at me and tell me to try it on. I did as she said and took it as playing dress up but never stepped out of the house wearing any. The only time she managed to persuade me to wear a dress of hers was on her father's birthday and that was because there was nothing in my wardrobe that would be fit enough for the occasion. A small part of me is convinced that this was one of her schemings to change my style.

"Let's just go." I voiced with an accompanied exasperated sigh.

Abigail stepped on the pedal hard and we thrust onwards. We jerked forward, My neck snapped in the process as we came to an abrupt halt at the red traffic light.

I rubbed the nape of my neck. "Someone is a little bit giddy today. Why are you driving so fast?"

Abigail turned to me, and her face broke into a grin after seeing the weary look I gave her. "Yes! I'm just so excited." She sang.

I squinted my eyes at her. She was now looking ahead of the road.

" I can feel your eyes burning holes through me."

"Can you now?" I asked in a sarcastic tone.

"So I was thinking. Would you like, maybe, I don't know, tryonsomeclotheswithme?" The words came out in a rush.

" huh?"

"Try on some clothes with me. Please don't say no."

"No." I blurted out mindlessly.

"Ugh"

***

Two hours! Two freaking hours! I've been going in and out of the fitting room. I hate this store.

How I got myself in this position made my brain itch. One minute I was saying no then the next minute I said yes. 

Did she charm me? 

No, she didn't dummy. You said yes to her the twentieth time she asked.

 I was so drained from Abigail's nagging that I eventually succumbed to her request. I stepped out of the room and faced her. 

"You have got to be kidding me." I wrinkled my nose in distaste at the most uncomfortable outfit ever. The dress was too short for my liking and the material itched. "What made you think this," I gesticulated furiously. " would look good on me."

"It does."

"It's unbearable."

"Fashion is a pain in the butt Marah and what you are wearing looks perfect on you. Go try the rest on. She motioned with a dismissive hand wave.

"This is the hundredth outfit I've tried on. I can not do this anymore."

"Now you are exaggerating. It's just thirty-four."

"Just! Thirty-four outfits! Don't you think that's enough? And wait a minute," I tilted my head. "I'm the only one trying clothes on. Why am I the only one trying clothes on?"

"Oh! About that, I preordered."

I blinked slowly. "You preordered."

She nodded fanatically. "Yes."

"Why are we here? Scratch that. Why am I here? Abigail! Did you trick me?" 

She averted her gaze and giggled nervously. "Umm, the truth is, I just want you to try on new things."

"We've talked about this. I'm okay with what I have right now and I don't want to feel like your charity case."

Her eyes widened. " no no no. It wasn't my intention to make you feel that way."

"That's what it does."

"I'm sorry. I just want you to look better."

"It's alright. Can we stop doing this now?"

"Of course. Our coffee session awaits us," she said as she nudged me gently to the fitting room.

I quickly changed into the outfit I wore to the store and took a glance at the mirror.

That's more like it.

We left the store after Abigail bought some of the outfits that she liked on me. She insisted that they were too cute to let go.

"I'm thinking we should try somewhere different today." she chirped.

"Why the sudden change?"

"No reason."

She looped her arm in mine and led me right into the flow of traffic in the middle of the street.

" Why aren't you driving us to the place?"

"The place is just a few blocks away from here so I figured we should walk it out."

We were lucky enough not to get run over by fleeting cars that New York held. I exhaled a purified breath of relief once we were on the sidewalk, mixing into the jumble of people crowding around.

We walked nearly three blocks over before Abigail stopped precipitously outside a small, declined yet snug coffee shop that was decorated in an unusual oriental style.

"This place looks nice, doesn't it?" Abigail asked cheerily. 

" it seems-"

She yanked the door open and ushered me not too gently inside before I could get all the words out of my mouth. The coolness of the air conditioner hit my sweat-prickled skin. A little lady with small-rimmed glasses settled in her nose led us to a small circled table, off to the corner that happened to be beneath a row of brightly lit colored bulbs.

I dropped into my seat, crossed my arms slightly over my chest, and watched Abigail settle in. Her white shirt stuck to her skin revealing the pink bra top worn underneath. The little lady shot furtive glances in our direction as she handed us the menu.

My eyes scanned through the menu, hoping to get the perfect iced coffee that would complement the hot weather.

"Iced Americano, please," Abigail said as she slammed the menu shut and handed it back to the little lady.

"Frappuccino." I smiled tightly, returning the menu to the lady.

The little lady nodded vigorously before disappearing from sight.

"Anything new?" Abigail asked charmingly, folding her bracelet-laced hands on the table.

My heart started pounding erratically against my chest, sweat trickled down my back. I had almost forgotten about the awkward conversation I had with Richard. I feel guilty about the fact that I had such a meeting with her dad and I couldn't bring myself to tell her because of my selfish reasons. 

What if she already knows? OMG! What if the question is a test? 

The questions dangled in my mind for a moment. I've known Abigail for a while and I have an idea of how she would react in most cases. She would have confronted me the minute she heard about it.

"Not really," I paused.

I should tell her about Edward.

"Edward came to see me at work yesterday."

"Edward? Why?" Her curiosity oozed through the dimly lit shop

"At the party, he said he wanted me to grace him with my presence." I lowered my head, wanting to hide the smile that had crept on my face. 

"I guess he isn't busy enough."

A scowl made its way to my face. What did she mean by that? Is it because she doesn't like him? Still.

What she said made me feel slightly uneasy. " he did say_" I was cut short when the lady from before returned to our table with two cups of iced coffee. Her hands shook slightly as she set the cups down.

"Thank you," I said, smiling as warmly as I could.

She gave a slight nod before leaving our table again.

"Did something happen between you two?" I demanded as I brought the straw to my lips.

She gasped for breath. "What do you mean?"

"You don't seem to like him. Why?"

"No reason. I just don't." she took a sip of her coffee. "Me not liking him isn't important. So tell me, what happened." she clasped her palms together and placed them under her chin.

"He jokingly asked me to go on a date with him."

" jokingly?" she rolled her eyes. "Edward doesn't know when to be serious. I'm sure of one thing though. He likes you." her tone was laced with empathy.

"Abigail, he is just trying to be nice." But even as I said the words I knew they were not true.

My scalp bristled at the idea that perhaps he might like me. I hugged myself with quiet glee and entertained the idea that he might like me.

"Nice my ass! Edward is anything but nice." she hissed.

"You guys are sworn enemies. That's why you are prejudiced against him."

We burst into bubbles of laughter. 

"So, what do you think of him?" She inquired.

"He is funny and cute. I feel comfortable around him. I'm quite fascinated by him." I added truthfully.

"You, fascinated by Edward? That's a first." she snorted. "To think all the Tom, Dick, and Harry I've tried to pair you up with were nothing to write home about for you." 

I looked away, my cheeks turning into a bright shade of red. "Don't bring that up."

I was busy slurping on the little coffee left in my cup when I noticed a masculine figure standing beside me.

I craned my neck to look at the face of the man invading my space. He had long blond hair tied back in a ponytail making his cheekbones prominent. 

My eyes glanced through his entire frame. He was dressed in ripped jeans and a faded leather jacket that looked worn out with combat boots.

I narrowed my eyes. "Errr, who are you?"

"I'm Walter." he flashes a grin with his even-white teeth.

"I saw you while I was over there," he motioned to where he was earlier. " and couldn't help but notice what a beauty you are. You are beautiful." His voice was entwined with a distinct accent that I couldn't figure out immediately because I was too busy trying to figure out how he had seen my face since he was sitting behind me all through the time.

My eyes darted to Abigail. Her eyes connected with mine then she shrugged. I peered back at Walter again. "Thanks?" it came out as a question.

"Bye," he said and rushed out before I could even mutter a word.

"Well, aren't you a damsel?" Abigail said in a teasing tone. " They all want you but you don't want them. When will it be my turn?" she breathed out a dramatic sigh.

"You are being absurd like men don't fight tooth and nail to get your attention and you end up not giving. Yet you don't see me trying to match you with every Tom, Dick, and Harry." I retorted. 

I mean for someone hell-bent on finding me a lover, she should be able to lead by example. I have never heard Abigail talk about a man she found interesting. Not once. Not even by mistake. The only man she adored was her dad, no one else came close.

"No one tickles my fancy," she argued. "It's almost time for dinner and lest I forget, my dad invited you to join us for dinner."

"Your dad?"