The Tree

Radiance in a Dress

            She deserved to be treated like a princess, and he knew that.  So, he decided to take her out for a nice night out.  It was no special occasion, he just wanted to make her feel appreciated.  He had left the dress and jewelry on the bed with a note telling her to put it on.  At first she wasn't sure what to make of it.  She tracked him down and asked what this thing was all about.  He assured her it was nothing disreputable, and she returned to her room to change only after some convincing of his noble intentions.  She looked radiant in it.  Course, she always did, to him.  In reality, she looked like she felt a little awkward in the dress.  Or, rather, being seen in it, because we all know she was blushing in front of the mirror while alone in her room.  One of the other ladies of the household had helped her with her makeup, and had done a nice job.  When she came down the stairs, everyone male in the room dropped their jaws and let their eyes pop out of their sockets.  They knew she was beautiful, but none of them ever dreamed she could look as radiant as she did in that dress.  Well, everyone except for him, of course.  To him, the dress only embellished the beauty that was already there.

            Everything had gone perfect.  The dinner was marvelous, and even though they were in a crowed restaurant, it was as if they were back in "their closet," as they called it, and they were the only ones in the world.  And he had managed to sabotage their perfect night.  He hadn't meant for it to end the way it did.  He thought.

"You jus' can' keep yo' big mouth shut, can you?  You fool, you stupid fool!"

He had just gotten so carried away, he couldn't help himself, couldn't hold himself back any longer.  It seemed like a reasonable thing to do at the time.

"And what if she decided to forget her own self-control?  At least one of us has got some left.  It shouldn't just be on her, though.  It should be my responsibility, too, not just hers.  And now she's mad at me for it.  And hurt.  You know she's sensitive about that.  And now you've gone and hurt the one person you never want to see in pain.  You fool, you stupid fool!"

He knew her well enough by now to know that all those times she bit her lip and turned away from him, she was trying told back more than just herself.  She was holding back tears.  But tonight, that effort, at least, was in vain.  Tonight, before she pushed him away – and she had been hard when she pushed him away, too - and ran out those doors, he saw.  He knew she was weeping.