Eve tilted her head back as she savoured the last drips of her coffee. Her
hand crumpled the styrofoam into a makeshift ball and she threw it behind
her, just missing a trashcan by the gas station door. To occupy her hands
she lit a cigarette and continued her walk down the street.
As the wind blew her black hair behing her she slowed to a halt in front of a quaint house painted light blue. After one last drag on her cigarette, she stomped in into the ground and walked up to the yellow door.
Eve didn't have to ring the doorbell (which played a cell-phone rendition of Bach's minuet), for the moment she stepped onto the 'Welcome' doormat, the door swung away from her and a tall, skinny boy stood in front of her.
"Eve! I thought you wouldn't show," said Adam. His long blue bangs hung in front of his warm green eyes, and his glasses were lost in the Cousin It effect. Shaking his head like a wet dog, Adam flung his bangs out of the way, muttering something about needing to re-dye his hair. Eve smiled for the first time that day as he led her up the stairs to a trapdoor in the Stucco ceiling.
In climbing the flimsy latter, Eve slipped more than once in her boots and her little black bag kept getting caught, so finally she sighed and gave in to Adam's offer of his strong hands pulling her up. She settled herself on the wooden floor of the attic room, leaving her feet hanging through the hole, and tried to ignore the wooden splinters poking her in places she'd rather not mention. From across the room Adam called her and she stood, brushing the wood bits out of her baggy black jeans as she walked to him.
Adam eyed Eve, looking her up and down. Then he took a measuring tape to her and took rapid-fire measurements of her body, writing them all down.
"So I was thinking this color," Adam said, pointing to a gorgeous blood red with a partnering black lace, "Then a specific kind of ruby for the jewelry. But you have to get that for yourself."
Eve nodded, deeply concentrating. "What if we had another sleeve under the billowing sleeve, and that came out like a glove with no fingers. Maybe bring it together between the middle and ring finger."
Adam nodded back and scribbled a note in a little blue book. "By the way.thank you. This will be an excellent project for my fashion design course at Penn."
"I should, in all truths, be thanking you. I wouldn't be going to this banquet without you," Eve said.
"Well anyway, I'm going to bring the collar in a low box-cut, with a bodice and corset of black lace, and I think I'll use black lace for the trim as well, instead of just a tuck-under seam.
Eve shrugged. "Whatever. But make the bottom a U-cut or an A-cut, because my hips are wider than most peoples and those styles accentuate my waist."
Adam turned and looked at her abdomin. A midrift black tank-top revealed her stomach, and her low-slung jeans revealed more of her stomach. A thong stuck out above the jeans and it too was black. Her belly button was pierced ('That'll have to be taken out'), and she wore a large load of jewelry.
"So you're going for the circa 1780's look, right? Age of England and the Declaration of Indepence and so on and so forth."
"Something like that. But I read about this dude, a pirate, Jack Sparrow. He was the captain of a ship called the Black Pearl. And there's a depiction of him and his wife, and I want the dress to look like hers. Here," Eve said, reaching into her bag, "I have the book."
When Adam saw how thick the book was he couldn't help but wonder how Eve fit it in that little bag, along with whatever else might've been in it. But his thoughts drifted back to reality when he heard Eve plop down on the floor and drop the book in front of her.
Paging through, Eve stopped suddenly and grinned a rather mischevious smile. When Adam looked at the picture he realized that Eve's smile was identical to the woman's. In fact, Eve was identical to the woman. Except her eyes. Eve's eyes were a light gray.
"They used to be greenish, you know. Before my dad left. Then they turned gray. A fortune-teller told me that they would be sea green again when I found the man I loved."
Eve's voice stuck out in Adam's head. He wondered why he remembered such pointless tidbits of information.
Then Adam looked back to Eve. She didn't seem to notice the resemblence. She was too busy pointing out things on the dress.
".and this is where I got that sleeve idea, see how it cups her hand, conforming to shape, and comes up in a diamond? Something like that. And you picked the perfect color. Even though it was more common to have white lace.she did. But black lace is fine. Then I have boots already."
Eve laughed as Adam glanced at her heavy Harley-Davidson boots, then said, "No, not these. Slightly different, with soft leather and a heel to it. It'll go well."
"And about jewelry," Adam said, "I'll go with you to get stuff that matches, but I have one thing for you." He stood and went over to the large table, pulling forward a box of sewing supplies. After fishing through various colored threads, a pile of needles, and a measuring tape, he pulled out a little velvet box.
Walking over to Eve, he carefully handed her the box, which was the same rose-red as the dress. Sensing Adam's gentle hand, Eve also handled the box with care. Slowly opening it, she revealed a gold pirate coin with beads accenting it on a short necklace. Her eyes widened.
Adam smiled, "It's been passed down with the women in my family, and since there are no women in the period of time we have to give it to another woman right away. Some curse or something. But, well, it's yours. Wear it proudly."
Eve, still shocked, slowly took off her necklaces, putting them back in her bag. Turning around, she allowed Adam to tie the silky strings around her neck. It hung a little loosely and when Eve saw it in the mirror she couldn't help but smile.
Two hours later, Eve and Adam wriggled down the ladder. Adam took the book with him into his father's office and photocopied the picture. Then he walked Eve half-way home and gave her a hug. As he looked back at Eve's receding figure, he couldn't help but continue thinking that she looked so much like the woman in the picture that he still held in his hand.
As the wind blew her black hair behing her she slowed to a halt in front of a quaint house painted light blue. After one last drag on her cigarette, she stomped in into the ground and walked up to the yellow door.
Eve didn't have to ring the doorbell (which played a cell-phone rendition of Bach's minuet), for the moment she stepped onto the 'Welcome' doormat, the door swung away from her and a tall, skinny boy stood in front of her.
"Eve! I thought you wouldn't show," said Adam. His long blue bangs hung in front of his warm green eyes, and his glasses were lost in the Cousin It effect. Shaking his head like a wet dog, Adam flung his bangs out of the way, muttering something about needing to re-dye his hair. Eve smiled for the first time that day as he led her up the stairs to a trapdoor in the Stucco ceiling.
In climbing the flimsy latter, Eve slipped more than once in her boots and her little black bag kept getting caught, so finally she sighed and gave in to Adam's offer of his strong hands pulling her up. She settled herself on the wooden floor of the attic room, leaving her feet hanging through the hole, and tried to ignore the wooden splinters poking her in places she'd rather not mention. From across the room Adam called her and she stood, brushing the wood bits out of her baggy black jeans as she walked to him.
Adam eyed Eve, looking her up and down. Then he took a measuring tape to her and took rapid-fire measurements of her body, writing them all down.
"So I was thinking this color," Adam said, pointing to a gorgeous blood red with a partnering black lace, "Then a specific kind of ruby for the jewelry. But you have to get that for yourself."
Eve nodded, deeply concentrating. "What if we had another sleeve under the billowing sleeve, and that came out like a glove with no fingers. Maybe bring it together between the middle and ring finger."
Adam nodded back and scribbled a note in a little blue book. "By the way.thank you. This will be an excellent project for my fashion design course at Penn."
"I should, in all truths, be thanking you. I wouldn't be going to this banquet without you," Eve said.
"Well anyway, I'm going to bring the collar in a low box-cut, with a bodice and corset of black lace, and I think I'll use black lace for the trim as well, instead of just a tuck-under seam.
Eve shrugged. "Whatever. But make the bottom a U-cut or an A-cut, because my hips are wider than most peoples and those styles accentuate my waist."
Adam turned and looked at her abdomin. A midrift black tank-top revealed her stomach, and her low-slung jeans revealed more of her stomach. A thong stuck out above the jeans and it too was black. Her belly button was pierced ('That'll have to be taken out'), and she wore a large load of jewelry.
"So you're going for the circa 1780's look, right? Age of England and the Declaration of Indepence and so on and so forth."
"Something like that. But I read about this dude, a pirate, Jack Sparrow. He was the captain of a ship called the Black Pearl. And there's a depiction of him and his wife, and I want the dress to look like hers. Here," Eve said, reaching into her bag, "I have the book."
When Adam saw how thick the book was he couldn't help but wonder how Eve fit it in that little bag, along with whatever else might've been in it. But his thoughts drifted back to reality when he heard Eve plop down on the floor and drop the book in front of her.
Paging through, Eve stopped suddenly and grinned a rather mischevious smile. When Adam looked at the picture he realized that Eve's smile was identical to the woman's. In fact, Eve was identical to the woman. Except her eyes. Eve's eyes were a light gray.
"They used to be greenish, you know. Before my dad left. Then they turned gray. A fortune-teller told me that they would be sea green again when I found the man I loved."
Eve's voice stuck out in Adam's head. He wondered why he remembered such pointless tidbits of information.
Then Adam looked back to Eve. She didn't seem to notice the resemblence. She was too busy pointing out things on the dress.
".and this is where I got that sleeve idea, see how it cups her hand, conforming to shape, and comes up in a diamond? Something like that. And you picked the perfect color. Even though it was more common to have white lace.she did. But black lace is fine. Then I have boots already."
Eve laughed as Adam glanced at her heavy Harley-Davidson boots, then said, "No, not these. Slightly different, with soft leather and a heel to it. It'll go well."
"And about jewelry," Adam said, "I'll go with you to get stuff that matches, but I have one thing for you." He stood and went over to the large table, pulling forward a box of sewing supplies. After fishing through various colored threads, a pile of needles, and a measuring tape, he pulled out a little velvet box.
Walking over to Eve, he carefully handed her the box, which was the same rose-red as the dress. Sensing Adam's gentle hand, Eve also handled the box with care. Slowly opening it, she revealed a gold pirate coin with beads accenting it on a short necklace. Her eyes widened.
Adam smiled, "It's been passed down with the women in my family, and since there are no women in the period of time we have to give it to another woman right away. Some curse or something. But, well, it's yours. Wear it proudly."
Eve, still shocked, slowly took off her necklaces, putting them back in her bag. Turning around, she allowed Adam to tie the silky strings around her neck. It hung a little loosely and when Eve saw it in the mirror she couldn't help but smile.
Two hours later, Eve and Adam wriggled down the ladder. Adam took the book with him into his father's office and photocopied the picture. Then he walked Eve half-way home and gave her a hug. As he looked back at Eve's receding figure, he couldn't help but continue thinking that she looked so much like the woman in the picture that he still held in his hand.