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Chapter Six: A Wardrobe ProblemI barely heard the phone of the loud whine of the hairdryer. I rushed to it and Ralph was on the other end of the line. “Ms Adair?” “Yes Ralph?” I found the urge to cover myself while on the phone very strong again. “Your car seems to be low on fuel.” “Just call me a cab, Ralph?” “Right away, Ms Adair/” “No, not right away.” I would have been ready already before my mother’s lovely little game. “Call it in about an hour and I should be ready by the time it arrives, okay?” “Very good, Ms Adiar.” We hung up simultaneously. I sighed and went back to trying to dry this unruly mane I had now. It took me nearly an hour to get it good and dried and set in some sort of style that was not horrid. I would have loved to have had something to tie it back with, but I didn’t. I moved to my closet and walked into it. I was struck with just how freaking drab it was. There here shades of gray and dark blues and blacks. I sighed and found a powder blue oxford that I loved. The tails of the shirt hung down to my knees. I pulled the shirt around me and before I buttoned it, I marveled at how it felt on me. I buttoned it and rummaged around through my slacks. I passed them and looked to the ‘business casual’ of my Khaki pants. The legs of the pants hung past my toes by a good six inches and the waist was a little big, but I got them on and rolled up the bottom hem of the trousers and used a belt to keep them on. I checked myself in the mirror. It was okay, except for the fabric of the shirt was doing little to hide the shape of my nipples. I pawed through for a jacket I might have held onto for too long and found one that was not like a creature trying to devour me. I looked again after pulling my hair out of the collar of the sports jacket. It was sad, but, It was all I had right now. I started for the door, snagging my purse along the way and almost closed the door before I remembered that I had not put my wallet back inside the leather bag. The phone rag as I was looking for the leather wallet. It was Ralph again. “You cab has been waiting, Ms Adair.” “Ralph, please tell him I am on my way down and I need him for the day, I have to get some shopping done.” “Very good, Ms Adair.” Good, I was free to return to my search. I found it in less than a minute and recalled that I had no shoes on. I frantically searched for a pair. The phone started ringing as I was pulling on and tossing off shoes. I knew it was Ralph, but he was going to have to wait. I found a pair of tennis shoes that did not look like some version of clown shoes and stayed on with two pairs of socks. I rushed for the door, my purse swinging out behind me as the phone started calling for me again. When I got down to the front lobby to rush out to my cab, stumbling in my too big shoes, Ralph hung up the phone. “Ms Adair! I have been trying to call you…” “I am sorry Ralph, I got stopped but I am here for the cab.” “Sorry, Miss.” Ralph took off his hat. “The cabbie said he could not hire out for the day.” Great. Now I had on shoes that did not fit, I had these glands on my chest that were threatening to pull me over or beat me to death if I ran too hard and no cab. I felt a rush of tears building. “What am I going to do?” “I have a nephew that is starting his own Limo service.” Ralph offered. A limo sounded nice. “Not too gaudy yet, but he just got his first brand new one and maybe I could have him take you on your shopping?” That sounded pricy to me. “Am I going to have to tell him all the good stores?” I acted as if I knew what they were. “Oh no!” Ralph beamed at me. “I can get him to knock down the fee for you and he used to drive one of the big CEO’s wives before he quit to start his own service. He says he knows some shops that are better than the big name stores because of her.” I pursed my lips as if deep in thought. “Mmmmmm’kay.” I smiled brightly at seeing the happy look on Ralph’s face He rushed through the revolving door and was all but jumping up and down. A big white car rolled up out side and Ralph opened a door to the back and looked back to me inside. It looked to me like Ralph had already made the arrangements. I chuckled a bit and made my way into the limo. It was a nice car. Not too big, which was good, but there was a privacy glass and I was going to need that. The glass was half-way down now. “Where to, Miss Adair?” “James.” I gave my name out of habbit. “Where to, Miss James?” “No, no.” I shook my head. “My name is James Adair.” “Maurice.” He smiled as three cars passed us blaring their horns. “I need a place to buy shoes Maurice.” I flipped my hair back over my right shoulder. “Lots of nice, good shoes.” “I know a fabulous boutique, Miss Adair.” “How about a discrete place to buy some … underwear?” “Several.” We pulled away from my building. “It all depends on if you are looking for something….: he stopped to search my face in the rearview as he drove, “I mean how.. uhm…” “I need regular underwear Maurice, but I prefer not to wave them around in front of the entire City.” “Excellent.” Maurice beamed. “The shoe place I am taking you is on the same block of a very nice shop for lingerie.” “After that, we need to get a lot of clothes.” I leaned back in my seat and watched the City pass by as if it were a movie world so far away from me. |