Suit of Armor
Diana, Hannah and Barbara sat on a bench in the town near Luna Nova, eating ice cream. Hannah and Barbara were talking excitedly about some of Andrew's classmates and how cute they were. Diana quietly ate spoonfuls of her icecream while Hannah and Barbara were swooning over a new student while their ice cream balanced precariously on two waffle cones.
This was pretty familiar to Diana, often her two best friends would take up whole lunch periods to debate over which boy at Ableton was the most handsome. They would periodically ask for her in put to settle their quarrels to which she would reply that she had more important matters to think of than boys. Diana was a patient person but today the squabbles of her teammates were particularly insufferable.
"Well, Andrew's so smart and handsome, but Ryan is so mysterious!" Hannah shot out clasping her hands together and swooning to one side of the bench.
"What? No way! Andrew's more mysterious and dreamy. He can play the piano after all." Barbara countered.
Diana rolled her eyes for the third time this afternoon and looked around the street. It was relatively busy, it being a Saturday afternoon with fair skies and a gentle breeze. Across the street from where the trio was sitting was a florist shop, a small bakery and men's formal clothing store. Diana wouldn't have given the last one a second thought, but something caught her eye. In the window of the store, looking out onto the street, a formal white suit was displayed.
Diana was captivated by it and instantly wanted to walk over for a closer look. She hastily finished the last of her ice cream and announced that she was going to take a look at some of the shops across the street. Both Hannah and Barbara jumped up and started toward the florist shop, squealing that they thought they saw Ryan over there. Diana took the opportunity to slip over to the display with a white suit.
When she made it up to the window, the rest of activities around Diana seemed to be muted, the chatter of people, the ringing of shop door bells and even the hum of traffic faded. The suit was an exquisite pure white lounge suit. The suit had a pale green dress shirt underneath the vest with silver cufflinks and a pure green tie to match. The look was completed with a pale green handkerchief in the front right breast pocket.
Diana stood there stunned. She had never but more captivated by an outfit. Sure she had seen outfits that were pleasing to the eye but never something like this. Diana marveled at the craftsmanship and she found herself wanting to try it on. She could imagine putting on the suit and feeling instantly powerful. It wasn't just a dress suit it was a suit of armor. Something that would make her feel free and completely herself at the same time. She also was struck by the other two suits in the window one a royal blue dinner suit and the other a charcoal black wedding suit.
She looked over to the door of the store noticed that it was busy with clients streaming in and out. Diana scanned the street, checking for her two nosy friends and relaxed when she saw that they were still distracted. She couldn't let then know what her intentions were, what would they think of her then? Diana slipped into the store and spotted the front desk. Since Diana was a woman on a mission, she skillfully weaved her way to her goal without catching the attention of some of the customers, whom she recognized as some of Andrew's friends from Ableton.
Once at the front desk, she noticed a female employee that was on the phone with a client. Her name tag read Emma.
"Yes one moment sir, let me check the books. We have a fitting appointments open for Monday at 1:20, 2:30 - of course 1:20 it is. Alright, have a nice day."
Diana knew that she had to get one of those appointments, she could just imagine how dashing and handsome she would look in one of these suits. Girls would swoon once they saw her- wait what? She shook that charged thought from her head and regained her focus. She looked to the stream of customers from behind a set of shelves and waited until Andrew's friends departed. Once she saw an opening she made her move decisively. She went up to the edge of the front desk where the female employee was and mentality planned her lines. Diana stood in front of the employee with true Diana fashion, confident with an air of superiority. The employee was unfazed by Diana and smiled politely at her.
"Hello, Miss how can I help you today?"
Diana straighten some more in hopes of projecting more confidence than she actually had. "Yes, I would like to make a fitting appointment for a client of mine, a D. Cavendish. What times do you have available this week?"
"Well, is there a particular day your client prefers?" Emma asked typing away at her computer.
"As soon as possible, Mr. Cavendish does not like to be kept waiting." Diana replied without skipping a beat. Growing more comfortable and confident since her ruse seemed to be working.
"We have a 2:30 and 4 o clock open on Monday." Emma said hopefully.
"2:30 will be perfect." Diana said with a genuine smile creeping across her face.
Emma added Diana's appointment for the Monday schedule with a smile.
"So Mr. Cavendish seems like a demanding client, is he a wealthy businessman or something?" The employee asked. Diana froze for a split second, she hadn't intended for the ruse to go on this long.
"Well, he's an important influencer in the world of -." Just then the phone rang.
"Oh, sorry Ms. I have to take this. Please tell Mr. Cavendish that we look forward to having him."
Diana stepped away from the desk with visible relief as other customers rushed into her same spot. Diana made her way out of the store, realizing that her heart was pounding and her palms were warm and sweaty. She exhaled with relief and her whole body seemed to relax.
At that moment she saw out of the corner of her eye Hannah and Barbara running toward her with a look of worry on their faces. Diana composed herself and waited for their approach.
"Diana! Diana, there you are!" "Oh, were so worried when couldn't find you!" "Yeah, you wouldn't believe what happened while you were gone."
"Calm down, one at a time." Diana said interrupting their clamoring over one other verbally.
Hannah spoke up. "We were just worried about you when we couldn't find you."
Yeah." Said Barbara. "And so much happened while you were gone and we really want to share it with you."
"Alright, alright." Diana replied. "How about the two of you tell me about on the way back to the school."
And with that Hannah and Barbara both jumped into a "wild" story about how both Ryan and Walter had asked Hannah and Barbara respectively to the upcoming ball this Friday. Diana had forgotten about the up coming ball and mused that she would make quite and entrance if she showed up in the white suit that she been entranced by. She sighed softly, doubting it would even happen even with the appointment she had just made. The suit would probably sit in the back of her closet, besides what would everyone say if she decided to wear a men's suit instead of the usual expensive and glamorous dresses she often wore?