It had been a long time since Felicity had to dress up. What’s more, she had never had to do so when she wasn’t expecting trouble. She’d always had a reason to dress up and so she wasn’t sure what was appropriate when she didn’t.
She forced herself to go unarmed, partially out of respect for Howle, and partially because there was no reason to. She was a plus one for an intern. Her only job was to make Sally look good. Not gather intel on her behalf. Not take out her competition. Just make her look good.
Her barista job didn’t exactly pay for high end outfits, but she had options. Buy and return was out. She couldn’t trust that Howle or his people wouldn’t remove the tag when if she got frisked. She could go to a thrift store and cross her fingers that there was something high end that wasn’t too thrashed. She could steal something, but she really shouldn’t.
…or she could go to see Sally unprepared. She’d said to come early if she didn’t have anything nice. She’d implied she had something Felicity could wear. Felicity could trust her. It was a novel concept to willingly go in blind. She would never have considered it… before… It meant relying on Sally just because.
Felicity made her decision.
She arrived at Sally’s house in jeans and a t-shirt a few hours before the event. Sally beamed at her when she opened the door.
“Come in, I’ve got just the dress.” She seized her wrist and dragged her inside.
Sally presented her with a long, sleek, satin pink dress that she would never have picked for herself but suited her perfectly. It clung in all the right placed and flattered her figure. Sally added a clip with a pink cloth rose to pull back the hair at her temple that almost matched but was just a shade off.
She looked pretty. Not the calculated beauty that she had in the past. It wasn’t an outfit designed to be seductive, subtle, or overt. It was just her.
She’d been right to trust Sally.