The Red Dress

He had been going on about mermaids when she spotted the dress in the window. In retrospect, she probably used the dress to take their conversation in another direction and wouldn't have pointed it out if they had been talking about anything else. It was a form-fitted, sexy red dress covered in lace that he might have pegged for someone like Miriam but not for Rikki.

"Don't start thinking you know everything about me," She had warned him. Oh, how little he knew indeed. "I like dressing up sometimes, when I'm in the mood."

"Then go try it on." He suggested. He had been with Miriam previously and he had spent a majority of their mall dates sitting outside a dressing room. This wouldn't be new to him. Besides, Rikki likely only wanted to try on one thing so that would be quick and easy and, if he was being honest with himself, he really wanted to see her in that dress.

"No way," she had protested to his dismay. Her phone also started ringing which usually signaled their date was over. "By the time I could afford that dress I'd be too big to fit into it."

He loved her humor. Miriam and all the other girls he dated were so obsessed with their appearance, it was refreshing to date someone more down to earth like Rikki. Not that she didn't care at all but she'd be more concerned about getting her personality in line than spending hours in front of a mirror.

"Hey, that was Em." She said after she got off her phone. "She wanted to meet up to talk about something so I'll catch you later?"

"Sure," Zane replied, wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her in for a kiss. "I'll see you around."

Zane watched as Rikki walked off, sit standing by the store window. He hoped she wouldn't turn around to still see him there but she seemed pretty determined to get where she needed to go. Once she was out of view, he slipped into the shop to ask about the red dress in the window. The price didn't really matter; he was going to walk out of the store with it no matter what. He located it on a hanger and hoped he got the right size; it wouldn't do him any good if he didn't. He asked the lady at the counter if she could wrap it in a box for him so he could present it to Rikki as a gift. He just didn't know when she would wear it. She'd be a little too overdressed in it for their mall dates or their walks on the beach. He figured he'd find a time soon but not as soon as his dad made it when he asked him to bring Miriam to a business lunch. Zane made the swap for Rikki.

"Happy Birthday." He said as he presented her with the box. She was sitting alone on the beach which wasn't a rarity for her. Anyone else he knew, he'd think something was wrong.

"It's not my birthday." She had protested. He figured as much.

"Don't argue, it's a present." He said as he settled down in the sand next to her.

He watched with great satisfaction as her jaw dropped and she realized what the gift was.

"You bought the dress!" She exclaimed, with a large smile on her face. She pulled it out of the package and held it up to her body. Thankfully it looked like he got the right size. "Thank you." She said as she reached up to hug him.

"So, do you think you're in the mood to wear it now?" He asked. He doubted she'd be over-the-moon excited to go to his dad's business lunch but he hoped she wouldn't protest too much.

"What did you have in mind?" She asked.

"Well, I-" Zane started. "I know it's not the most desirable thing but my dad's having a business lunch today and he asked me to bring a date so I thought I'd bring you."

"Wow, what fun." She replied back, sarcastically. "Although I suppose you have to go either way."

"Yeah," Zane stated, gesturing to his fancier than normal clothes. "Who knows, you might get a chance to tell him off again?"

"Well that's an opportunity I wouldn't dare pass up." She said.

They walked back up the beach and she told him she would meet him at his house. She needed to run home and grab some shoes that would match the dress better than the converses she was wearing. Zane decided to wait at the beach. He knew he was late and if he was at home and his dad caught him in the house, he'd make Zane come outside with the rest of the guests leaving Rikki to make an entrance by herself which he was sure she didn't want.

It didn't take her long to come back with the dress and a pair of red, heeled sandals he never would have guessed she owned in her hands. They walked to his house where he lead her to the nearest bathroom to change. At least this way he could tell his dad she was just getting ready for the lunch, not unlike the women his dad brought to events. He didn't suspect Rikki would take half as long as those women did to ready.

She was only in the bathroom for a few minutes before she exited in her dazzling red dress. She wore red often and he loved the color on her; it matched her personality perfectly. She also picked out the perfect dress for her body. It seemed to grab her at all the right places. The shoes she picked out and the necklace she had been wearing matched perfectly and she let her hair down of it's bun it had been in earlier that day. She was absolutely beautiful and it was his turn for his jaw to drop.

"Well?" She asked, Zane noticed for the first time she looked a bit uncomfortable. "How do I look?"

"Stunning." He replied, instantly and honestly. She'd be the hottest one at the lunch and she was his. How lucky was he?

She let a smile slip on her face. It seemed his response was all she needed to get her usual confidence back.

"Let's go ruin a lunch then." She said as she grabbed his hands and lead him out to the patio.