Thanks again guys! Your reviews are greatly appreciated! Look! A long chapter! Yay! You guys got my addicted to exclamation points, hehehe xo Frozenfireheart
"End of message. End of new messages. Press 0 to return to main menu or hang up now."
I slowly lowered my phone from my ear and closed it. It has been a long time since I had last heard that voice.
I slowly stood up, but my knees were weak so I grabbed for the sink counter. Everything seemed shaky and surreal. I slowly regained focus and unlocked the bathroom door.
"So what did he say??" Sadie asked anxiously.
"Uhh… I couldn't make it out. It sounded like his phone was in his pocket. I guess he must have had his phone in his back pocket or something and sat on the wrong buttons and accidentally called my number." I fibbed. This was my business. And now was not the time to tell her.
She stared at me, disbelieving for a moment, but shook the thought from her head.
"Oh, well that's disappointing….you got me all excited for a minute. Well, at least we know he's alive enough to sit on his phone." Sadie replied. I knew she'd buy it.
"Heh, yeah, I guess so…so what club were you talking about?"
Sadie's eyes lit up at the mention of a club.
"Blue Lightning! It's supposed to have all different shades of blue lighting on the floor and huge black lights! I hear everyone is going to be there tonight, maybe even some big movie stars! We HAVE to go!"
"Sounds good to me. When does it open?" I asked, trying to seem as interested as possible.
"10, so we only have 4 hours! We gotta get you a new outfit for this place. I know just the place." Sadie said with a flicker of fire in her eyes.
"Oh great. Are you sure this place will have clothes with enough fabric so that stripper scouts won't get too interested?" I asked as a smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
"Very funny, Jude. All I'll say is you'll be dressed appropriately for Blue Lightning…and you'll like it." Sadie responded knowingly.
"Okay, lets see what you've got in mind, big sister." I said as I nonchalantly grabbed my purse and walked out the door.
Sadie picked up her purse and quickly followed me out.
When we got in her '98 escort, I realized I had no idea where we were going.
"Okay Sades, which store has my perfect outfit?" I asked, a little nervous to hear her answer, hoping it won't empty my bank account.
"It's that store that just opened up on Parkston. Radical Rich. They have some amazing stuff there. I saw this adorable halter top in the window this morning. Just perfect for you! And don't worry, I know the owner. Richy is my friend Sarah's older brother from high school. Whenever I went over to her house all three of us would hang out. I talked to him this morning and he said he'd give us a 50 percent discount on everything in the store!" She said at about 100 miles an hour.
"Woah, well that's good. I'll have to make sure I like this halter though." I said. I must admit, I was getting excited. I'm not usually a club person. My normal outfits have recently been consisting of jeans and a tee shirt, usually with something witty written on it. Sometimes I doodle on my jeans when I get bored, but hey, if you want me for me, you want my doodle pants too. I like writing spur of the moment lyrics on my pants if I have no where else to write them. That's how some of my personal favorites came about. Somehow, a verse comes into my head that really makes sense to me, and I build around that. I guess it puts the whole meaning behind the song. At that point, to me, it's not just music. It's learning what makes me tick, and what ticks me off. It's realizing I like the red liquorice better than the black. It's finding that my music is alive, and it has heart. It's what makes me love writing and singing.
We pulled into the parking lot. For being a new store, finding a parking spot wasn't too bad. This could mean two things.
1- The clothes are bad.
2- The clothes are overpriced.
As we made our way through the parking lot, I glanced towards the store and fell in love. A beautiful striped halter hung perfectly on a sophisticated mannequin in the window. Stripes of baby blue, navy blue and silver lead to a beautiful silver sequin star on the top right of the halter. It was truly amazing to see. I couldn't take my eyes off it.
I stared at the soft baby blue and I couldn't help but remember when eyes of the same color stared deeply into mine. I shook my head of the memories and followed Sadie into the store.
Okay, So the half empty parking lot was definitely because of choice two. You could smell the richness when you walked into the store. Everything was white with red trim. A few ladies in fur strolled the aisles as a sharp-dressed man in a white suit with a red tie ran up to Sadie with an excited shriek. The way he grabbed Sadie's hands and giggled when he reached her made me quite suspicious of the obvious.
" SADIE BABYYYYY how are youu??" The man practically yelled in his thick…accent?
I've never really thought about how gay men have an accent. Is it an accent? A gay accent? But gay guys are supposed to sound like girls right? Oh I don't know. I'm more familiar with gay guys like Mason, I.e.- guys without the "accent". Still, this guy is definitely interesting.
He looked to be about 25, with pale skin and short strawberry blond hair he spiked all over his head. Light green eyes laughed above gaunt cheek bones. Was that blush? Oh I wouldn't doubt it.
After exchanged smiles and giggles, Sadie introduced us.
"Jude, this is Richard O'Hurley. You can just call him Richy. And Richy, this is my sister Jude. You might have heard of her."
"Of coarse!! Jude Harrison, the one and only, great to finally meet you. Love your music. Very catchy. I always have Not Standing Alone on in the shower. Love that song. I spin around and everything in there. Starts my day off right!"
Wow. The first thing he says to me leaves me with a wet naked gay man frolicking through my brain.
"You probably didn't need the mental images though!" He concluded with a sheep-like laugh.
I smiled and nodded in agreement. Despite the naked frolicking, I couldn't help but be amused by Richy. He was definitely a very fun person. A little open about sharing his personal habits, but flattering none the less. It does my heart good to know that guys like Richy have so much fun listening to my music. Makes it all worth while.
"So Richy, me and baby sister here are going to Blue Lightning tonight, and baby sister here is in desperate need of an outfit." Sadie said, while Richy gave me the once over.
Seeing that I could tell from his pursed lips that he didn't fully approve of my ripped jeans, I started the ball rolling.
"So I saw that stripe star halter in the window, do you think that can work?"
"Honey, that's my StarShot design. it's the hottest halter in France, and is selling out like mad in 4 countries. You could wear it to the Oscars. I was arranging something with Jennifer Aniston today over the phone about that halter. Oh it'll work at Blue Lightning alright. Question is, can you handle it?"
Intimidating much?
"Uhh. I think so. How much?"
"$450." Richy stated nonchalantly.
"Woah, I don't think I could pay for that even with the 50 discount."
Richy gave a smirk.
"HA. That's with more than a 50 discount included. That halter is going for over $1000 babe. I'm offering you way more than a steal."
Sadie grabbed my arm and gave me a death glare.
"You know that's the halter I was talking about, and I saw the way you were staring at it when we got here. You're a rock star. You can afford at least one shirt over $50. Now buy, that, halter." She whispered fiercely in my ear.
"Sadie, it' 450 bucks!! You know I'm not a big spender. And I-"
"No! Don't give me you're excuses. Either you buy it now, or I buy it for you." She threatened, pulling out her credit card.
Sadie knew I wouldn't let her buy it. She's been saving up for a long time to buy a good car. I wasn't about to let her put a 450 dollar dent in her savings. That, and I really did like the shirt.
"NO! Sadie, you can't-…fine. Okay? Just put your credit card away." I sighed in defeat.
Sadie flashed a satisfied smile and slipped her credit card back in her purse.
"Let me try it on…size 2 please." I asked Richy.
"Coming right up! I know you're going to L-O-V-E it!"
He strolled to the back of the store and was back in about 2 minutes.
"Your halter m'lady." Richy said as he bowed slightly, presenting the beautiful shirt in front of him.
"Fitting rooms in the back left."
"Thanks! I'll go right in." I said as I took off towards the fitting room sign.
The shirt felt soft and sexy on my fingers. Shiny silk lined each stripe. The star shown silver under the bright white lights. Richy was a genius.
I locked myself in the first fitting room and gently slid on the shirt. I never had a shirt that fit more perfectly. The star laid perfectly, centered on my left breast. I looked in the mirror and gazed at the reflections of light on the fabric as I tied the halter behind my neck. The neck line wasn't too high or too low, the fabric came down to a point at the front and back. You could see some skin on my hips but it wasn't much. The thin silk lining shimmered softly.
I turned around, trying to find one thing I would change, but found nothing. It's the closest thing to perfect I've ever seen. This shirt was remarkable. I knew as I slipped it off that there was no way I wasn't going to buy it.
I slipped it back onto the hanger and left the fitting room. Sadie was waiting outside for me.
"So how did you like it?" She asked expectantly.
"Let's just find pants to go with it and keep moving." I said with a little smile.
"Pants? Who said you're going to wear pants? This is Blue Lightning we're talking about. You're wearing that halter. You're wearing a skirt. A short one." Sadie ordered matter-of-factly.
I grimaced. "How short are we talking? Keep in mind what I said about stripper scouts."
Sadie just rolled her eyes at me. "Let's just see what Richy has."
We made our way towards the bottoms section.
I looked through a couple racks and pulled out a pair of black, blue pinstriped, pants.
"Can't I just wear something like this?" I asked Sadie hopefully.
"You'd sweat those off in 10 minutes. Find something breezy." Sadie said knowingly.
"Sadie, breezy is most likely going to be sleazy. I'm not wearing anything you can see my panties through."
Sadie rose one eyebrow at me. "Okay, we'll look for a black skirt. Don't you dare pick out something that goes down near your knees. Mid thigh is best."
I felt a tap on my shoulder. As I turned around, I saw Richy grinning at me, with his hands behind his back. When I was facing him, he revealed the little black skirt he was hiding. I took the skirt from him to examine it closely.
A small cluster of tiny silver star buttons were on the bottom right corner of the soft silk skirt, and a fine baby blue stripe lined the bottom.
"I designed this specifically to go with my StarShot. Completes it quite well I think. And good news! The skirt is on sale and with your discount it only comes to $200!" Richy told me, still smiling.
Well, I can't imagine anything else that could go better. I'm already spending almost 500 dollars, what's another 200? I'll just eat PB&J for the next year.
"I'll take it." I said as Sadie turned and saw the skirt I'd just agreed to buy.
"I love it!! Jeez Jude, you're going to look hotter than me if you keep this up." Sadie said with a corner of her lips slightly rising into a smirk.
At this point I could agree with her, which would make me sound conceited like her, I could deny it, and feed her ego, or I could just ignore it. I chose choice 3.
"I'm actually getting really excited to go Sades, what time is it?"
"Quarter to 8. All we need now is to get the perfect shoes. I've got some jewelry at home you can borrow when we're done here, so let's get to searching."
We headed toward the shoes. I dreaded dishing out more money, but I took comfort in knowing it was the last expensive thing to buy. I started to casually walk up and down the shoe aisles until I found my shoes size-7 ½. I looked at each of the 10 levels of shoes, looking for the pair that would complete my outfit. Too shiny. Too dangerous. Too casual. Too many laces. Too furry. I sighed loudly. This was going to take a while.
"You're 7 ½ right?" I heard Sadie yell over a few aisles of shoes.
I confirmed, and continue to gaze over the wall of shoes. Who comes up with these? Fuzzy heels? Richy can be a bit extravagant…but still a genius, despite minor slip ups.
"I think I found them!" Sadie shouted after a few moments.
Sadie appeared around the corner of the aisle holding an interesting pair of shoes. They were black, and kind of looked like ballet slippers with heels. Too long silk laces fell over Sadie's arm.
"See? Aren't these cute? You put the shoe on, then weave the laces around your leg. Try them on!" Sadie told me, pushing the shoes into my hands.
I sat down on the chair at the end of the aisle and took off my shoes. I rolled up the jeans I had on, and slipped each shoe on. It took me a second, but I figured out how to lace the laces up my leg. I stood up on the2-inch heels, and walked down the aisle towards Sadie.
"Wow, those heels really make your legs look longer. I think these are the ones!!"
"Yeah, they're not that uncomfortable either, I think I can make it through the night in these." I said, feeling better that I had an awesome outfit to wear.
I looked at the price tag. $350. So I guess that means I can get them for $175. More than the normal Payless prices, but I think I can handle it.
Okay. So I'm buying a hot halter, a sexy skirt, and lace-up heels. Do you think I'm headed for Skankville? Probably, but tonight, I won't make a big deal about it. I'm going out to have fun… and get my mind off of things.
We headed to the checkout with my new clothes and shoes. A pleasantly round lady was waiting at the desk. I laid my stuff down on the counter and smiled at the lady.
"Oh! Jude Harrison!" The lady said brightly. "Richy told me you were going to be shopping with a discount." She whispered.
"Yeah, my sister and him are good friends." I whispered back as I gestured to Sadie who was looking though the magazine rack. I don't really know why we were whispering. No one was around.
"Well that's lovely. Looks like you've picked out a winning outfit! Going somewhere special?" The lady asked as she slid the price tags across the scanner and removed security tags.
"Yeah, that new club Blue Lightning. It's opening night. I needed a new outfit."
"Well that sounds wonderful, dear. You go have fun. I remember when I was your age. I could really bust a move, you know, back when I was a size 4!" She informed me as she bagged my new outfit. I stifled a laugh. Bust a move? I bet she could.
"The total comes to $920.46...wow that sure wiped that smile off your face fast." She had a good laugh after that. Teaches me to mentally make fun of the middle-aged.
"But actually, that's a steal to get a whole outfit here for under $1000. You should be thankful." She said as I reluctantly handed her my credit card. Yeah, maybe if I shopped at stores like Radical Rich more often.
I grabbed my bag and dragged Sadie away from the newest Cosmo. I left Radical Rich feeling a lot poorer, but I was glad I bought what I bought. It's about time I dressed like a rock star.