Unraveling (Second Chances) - By Micalea Smeltzer Page 0,44
the rate we were going, it would be nighttime before we made it there. So, I text Piper the section we were in and hoped she’d be able to find us.
“Look at this, Katy!” Karlie held a loose black and white striped tank top with a red heart on it, in the air.
“Nice!” I said.
She ran from rack to rack, grabbing up different items.
“This is heaven!” she cried at one point.
A store clerk kept shooting us dirty looks but I didn’t want to ruin Karlie’s time. She deserved to be excited.
While Karlie scanned through the racks of clothing, I stood out in the aisle, searching for Piper.
Finally, I spotted her and waved her over.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey, Piper,” I smiled. “Thanks so much for doing this.”
“Not a problem,” she grinned. “Someone has to help you,” she waved her hand up and down at my attire.
“What’s wrong with this?” I asked, plucking at my shirt.
“Katy, you’re wearing jeans and a t-shirt, like always. You need some dresses and diversity in your style.”
“Thank you for your complete and utter honesty,” I laughed.
She put her hands up in defense. “I’m not the kind of person to lie to you, Katy. I’m not a sugar coater, either. I’m a no nonsense type of person.”
“And that’s what I like about you,” I laughed. “We better go find, Karlie. I would hate to lose Jared’s sister.”
Piper laughed. “That would be a pretty awkward conversation.”
~***~
We found Karlie, who had decided against buying anything in Macy’s, before she looked anywhere else.
Piper ended up playing personal shopper for the day.
She dragged us from store to store, putting us in the dressing rooms and bringing us mountains of clothes to put on.
This store was no different. I’d barely stepped inside, looking at a rack of sweaters, when she grabbed me by the shirt and dragged me to a dressing room.
She swished the curtain closed and said, “Take off your clothes, I’ll be back in a second. Same to you, Karlie.”
As promised, within minutes, she was shoving clothes under the curtain. “Try all of them on,” she warned.
I grabbed up a dress and slipped it on. It was black on top with thin spaghetti straps. The bottom was a yellowish-green color and a little longer in the back so that it flowed.
It looked amazing.
I said to Piper, “Are you sure you shouldn’t have a career in fashion?”
I heard Piper giggle through the thin dressing room curtain. “My parent’s would kill me if I dropped out and went to school for fashion. Seriously, they’d hunt me down.”
I laughed. “Piper, I’m sure that’s not true.”
She sighed. “Oh, but it is. They wouldn’t hunt me down, but they would disown me. They won’t speak to my brother because he refused to go to medical school. Now, he works at a bar.”
“Jeez,” I said. Her parents made my mom sound like a saint.
I tried on the other things, and there wasn’t one that I didn’t like. I could hear Karlie oohing and ahhing over something, through the thin walls.
I redressed in my own clothes and gathered up the others in my arms.
“So, what’s the verdict?” Piper looked at the stack of clothes in my arms.
“I want them all,” I smiled.
Piper clapped, “I am good! I told you, you could trust me.”
“Karlie, how’s it going in there?” I asked through the curtain.
“I love everything!” she squealed. “From now on, I’m only going shopping if Piper is with me. Not that I went shopping before, but seriously Piper, you’re amazing. This stuff is so me!”
“Thank ya, thank ya very much,” Piper bowed.
I giggled, “Stay with Karlie, I’m going to go check out.”
“Sure,” Piper smiled.
I ended up with five heavy bags, plus the three I already had from other stores. When today was over, my bank account would be completely depleted.
I chuckled to myself. I guess my mother would be pleased that I was buying something other than groceries. My lack of ‘care’ for myself, as she liked to call it, was always a topic of discussion in the last two years.
Karlie bought what Piper had picked out for her and then we were on the move again.
~***~
Exhausted from all the shopping, we headed into one of the many restaurants in the mall. I honestly, had no idea that shopping could be so tiring. But my legs were killing me and my arms hurt from carrying all the bags.
There was a short wait, but soon they were leading us back to a booth.