Richie frowned at the grey, darkening sky. Of all the days for the weather to go bad… All week the sun had been out and shining. And now, on prom night, the TV meteorologist announced that there was a 90 chance of rain. He sighed as the first drops of the storm splattered against the living room window. Barely moving, he fell over the back of the couch and stared at his socked feet sticking up in the air.
"Couldn't you have held out one more day?" he asked the ceiling. "One lousy day? Is that so much to ask?"
"Sorry, Richie," Tessa said coming out from the bedroom. "Maybe it will clear up by tonight." She looked down at him from between his feet. "At least you don't have to wash the car now."
Richie sighed. "I guess. But now there's gonna be puddles everywhere and it's gonna be cold…"
"Richie's it's April, of course it'll be cold."
"Yeah, my jacket's gonna look really great with that tux."
"You are a vain little thing, aren't you?" she teased him, shaking his feet.
"Hey, I'm thinking about Angie, here," he insisted. "How's she gonna look if her date's got a racing jacket over his tux? Kinda a mixed metaphor, isn't it?"
Tessa smiled. "I'm sure we can come up with something."
"Stupid rain."
"Well, there's nothing to be done of that."
"Hey, you two," Duncan came up from the store. "Uh-oh…" he saw Richie laying upside down on the couch. "Sorry, Rich, nothing we can do about it." He walked past them to the hall closet. "I need to run out for a minute. So I closed for lunch. I'll be back in less than an hour."
Tessa watched Duncan put on his coat. "Wait!" she went to him and pulled at his over coat.
"Tessa, what are you doing?"
"Richie, come here, try this on." She held the coat out.
"Why?"
"For tonight."
"What's going on?" Duncan asked.
"Richie needs a coat for tonight, this would be great."
"No, I've got something better than this." Duncan reopened the closet and reached toward the back. "Try this one." He held up a designer dress coat.
Richie rolled of the couch with a thump. He shuffled over and took the coat. "It's not gonna fit," he grumbled shrugging it on.
"It almost does," Tessa said pulling at it, trying to make the coat fit her statement. "No one will notice."
"Especially if we tailor it a bit," Duncan added, rolling the cuffs. "I can't remember the last time I wore this. We'll make it yours."
"There's not time, the dance is tonight," Richie grumbled. "We won't get it back in time."
"I can do it," Duncan said. "I can take in the shoulders, take in the seams a bit… it'll only take a couple hours."
"You sew?" Richie asked, dumbfounded. "But you're a…"
"Watch it," Tessa stopped him.
"No, I mean…just…I never pictured you behind a sewing machine."
"When I learned, there weren't sewing machines."
Richie laughed and shook his head. "No way."
"It wouldn't hurt you to learn," Tessa told him.
"Uh, I think I'm good."
"We can't start lessons today, Rich. I think you're safe for at least a week," Duncan teased. "What time do you need to leave for Angie's?"
"Uh, dance at eight, dinner at 6:15, pictures, Angie and Beth are gonna be late… I guess I gotta leave a bit before five."
Duncan glanced at his watch, it was just before eleven. "We can do that. I'll get this done and you can run my errands. I'll be done in plenty of time."
Tessa got out and set up the sewing machine while Duncan pinned and marked the overcoat before sending Richie on two deliveries and to pick up lunch.
"He's going to look so suave tonight," Tessa mused watching Duncan rip the seams of the coat. "It's really sweet of you to give him that."
"It'll look good on him."
Tessa smiled.
"What?"
"I just think it's cute, what you're doing for him."
"Well, I'm glad you approve."
"Maybe we shouldn't take it in too much…" Tessa fingered the material. "That way he'll have some room to grow."
"I think Richie's pretty well full grown," Duncan commented.
"He may have an inch or so left."
"I'll leave him some room," he promised.
By the time Richie came back with chili and rolls for lunch and two corsages (and over twenty dollars of tips in his pocket), the coat was in pieces and ready to be fit to the teen. After they put the chili on the stove and the rolls in the oven to keep warm, Richie was put on display in the living room and the coat was pieced back together at a smaller size.
"Maybe I should'a just worn my coat," Richie said and Duncan pinned the back seam.
"Too late, now, Rich."
"I felll kinda bad, though. I mean all this work so I can have a coat for one night? Kinda pointless."
"You'll use it more as you start going to more events."
"I bet I could'a rented one."
"Not tonight."
"Still weird, though. Only here would someone think it was logical to rip apart a perfectly good coat and put it back together a little smaller in one day for a prom."
Duncan chuckled. "I suppose it's odd when you put it like that. But with such short notice…"
"I guess, not like I got the money to buy one."
"Okay," Duncan stepped back to inspect his work. "We'll do this much for now. We'll do the sleeves after I get the body sewn."
True to his word, Duncan had the coat ready for Richie before he even started to get ready for the dance.
"What do you think?" he asked, holding the coat up.
"Wow," Richie looked up from the TV. "Looks like you just bought it."
"That's the idea. Come here and try it on."
"Mac, I've tried it on a thousand times, it always fits," Richie grumbled, even as he got up to put it on.
"Perfect." Duncan dusted the shoulders and pulled at the cuffs. He told Richie to hold his arms out, move like this, move like that and everything fit just as it should. "Well, there you go. All done."
Richie smiled shyly and he shyly looked away. "Thanks, Mac."
Duncan clapped his shoulder and smiled at him. "You're welcome, partner."
Richie glanced at his watch, it was almost four. "Guess I gotta start to get ready." He shrugged the coat off. He gave Duncan a small, tight grin then retreated into his room to get ready.
He took a shower despite his day of inactivity and started attacking his hair with gel and moose before it was even dry. Duncan and Tessa had long ago learned that Richie had a very specific way of getting ready for formal events. And each endeavor had to be perfect before he would go on to the next. He spent twenty minutes getting his hair to achieve the perfect balance of groomed, yet natural.
"Don't touch it!" Richie screamed as Duncan threatened to give him a noogie as he made his way from the bathroom across the hall to his bedroom. "I just got it how I want it."
"Okay, okay, I was just teasing." Duncan put his hands up in the air. "Do you need any help getting dressed?"
"Not yet."
Richie went into his room and closed the door before rummaging through his drawers for his best under clothes. While he didn't think Angie would let him take their relationship further, he could always hope. Beth was right the night before at the pub. Richie had liked Angie since they were young. But she had always been out of reach, dating another guy or just flat out too good to date Richie. But now, he felt he was good enough for her. And they did tend to flirt a lot when they were together. It was at least worth a try.
Slowly he got dressed, careful not to muss his hair as he pulled his trousers on and buttoned his shirt. He tucked in his shirt, got his vest on, grabbed the cufflinks and his tie and went out in search of Duncan or Tessa to help him out. He found them in the living room.
"Well, look at you," Duncan chuckled. "You look great."
"Help," Richie said flatly, holding out the cufflinks and tie.
"Well, before I do that…" Duncan took the items and put them on the coffee table. "I thought you might want to look at these, too." He handed Richie a square white box that the teen recognized as one they used to package jewelry in the store.
Richie took the box with a suspicious eye. "What is it?"
"Just an option. If you don't like them, then we'll stick with what you got at the shop."
Richie opened the box. Inside was a set of simple gold and ruby cufflinks with a matching broach. "Whoa…"
"Now, those are just on loan if you want to use them; you have to give them back."
"Do you like them?" Tessa asked. "I just remembered we had them this afternoon."
"Yeah…" Richie said taken one of the cufflinks out of the box. "These are great. I love 'em."
"So it's decided. Just be careful." Duncan took the box from Richie's hands and fastened the links. Then clasped the broach at Richie's throat.
"Go get your coat and shoes," Tessa demanded as soon as Duncan let go of the broach. "I want to see how it all looks."
With a self-flattered grin, Richie went back into his room and came out fully dressed, looking like someone out of the pages of GQ magazine.
