My betas - sorry girls, I'm uploading without your comments, I know you are busy, but I passed one difficult exam and because I'm feeling happy, I'm posting this short chapter right now :o)) Forgive me! And feel free to knock yourselves out with beta-ing anyway :o))

For all the amazing people out there - thank you for everything and take care cause the world is much nicer place with you being there! :o)

Sam was sitting in one café at a very beautiful place. It was a nice café outside a shopping center, with tables and parasols, with a water fountain; she was having a very tasteful lunch and absolutely delightful coffee. It was surprisingly warm that day so she opted for sitting outside. On the chair next to her was a big box with one perfect dress. Her dress.

It took her a long time to find them. She just wasn't used to shopping like that all on her own. In the past when she needed to find herself a dress there had always been Janet. Of course, then for the dress for the Presidential party, she had to go herself… but Cassie had seen those in a magazine before and so she… she just knew what she was shopping for. This time it was simply different.

She went to the same shop but couldn't find anything suitable. So she had to be creative. She knew Jack would be stuck in the meetings till at least 2 PM so she had a lot of time for shopping. At third boutique she was about to scream and give up. But well – she could almost hear Jack telling her that she was not a quitter – she was not the woman that would give up. So she bought herself one perfect fruit smoothie – yep, Cassie showed her the amazing world of smoothies – and with a new resolve she kept going and found another shop.

It was different from the other ones. It was nice and cozy with large mirrors and arm-chairs and all the dresses were hanging there, some of them shown nicely… and Sam also noticed shoes and purses and some other accessories. She fell in love with that place. It was obviously run by a very good looking lady. She greeted her and asked about the occasion. She didn't know what to say.

"So… it's important for you?" The lady asked. Sam still didn't know what to say but then it occurred to her that this woman had no idea about her life and relationship. So she decided to just… do it.

"Yes, yes it is…"

"Lauren, you can call me Lauren."

"Okay."

"So – what is the occasion?"

"Oh… I'm, well, I'm in a relationship and it hasn't been easy on us. We haven't had our first real date yet and we are having it tomorrow."

Sam confessed – and she could feel herself blush. She felt like 17year old again! It was so crazy. But Lauren just smiled at her and nodded. Sam didn't understand though – since when she was doing these things?

"I see… so what is the plan?"

"I don't know actually. He keeps it as a surprise. He just asked me to dress up for him." And again – wow! Was she really talking to this complete stranger about something so dear to her heart?

"And you haven't found the right dress yet."

"No, I haven't." Sam admitted and again, the woman just smiled.

"Okay then, let's go and find you your dress, shall we?"

"Sure."

And so she took Sam to one of the cabins and let her undress. She took all her measurements and took a good look at her.

"What are you thinking about?"

"With your eyes and hair I'd say that mostly you would go for something bright, right? Usually something blue or violet. Is that right?"

"Yes, it is," Sam chuckled. "I had bright red once as well but I …"

"You wanted to look really hot and you probably did but you didn't feel like yourself."

"Something like that, yes. I mean, the evening was nice but I really want, I need this one to be special and absolutely …"

"Yours." Lauren said. And Sam smiled at her.

"Exactly."

"So… you have anything special on your mind?"

"No, not really."

"Very well then, let's try something and we'll see."

Sam was nervous. Firstly, it felt kind of nice to tell those things to this woman, to Lauren, it made her feel good and normal somehow. She was just a woman in love to her shopping because of this major event happening in her life. She didn't have to blush or feel exposed. And secondly, she was really worried that she would never find the dress.

And truth to be told, the first three dresses didn't suit her. Well – she looked good, they were all unique and very nice and she looked beautiful but it just wasn't it. Then Lauren brought the fourth one. Strapless, several layers of material she couldn't identify, very light, long, it looked absolutely amazing on the hanger. And then she put them on.

She couldn't believe it!

She came out to stand in front of all those mirrors actually. That was surprising for her. Janet never made her went out there to stand in front of the mirrors! But wow – she looked kind of beautiful. The top of her dress was white, perfect white with little beads. There was that amazing thing under her breasts making her look – well better than usually. And right there the color was changing – in the next few inches the white color was gone and dark red appeared. And because it all was in several differently colored layers, the effect was breathtaking. And the little beads all over her dress in random pattern – they were sparkling with the light.

"Look mommy, she's a princess." Some voice suddenly said.

Sam looked around and noticed a woman with little girl standing by her side. She was shyly smiling, looking at her. Her mommy didn't know what to say to that. She was looking apologetic.

"You think I am a princess?"

"You look like one. But you should have shoes."

"You're right, I should. Red ones?" She asked and the girl nodded and smiled at her. So then while her mother was trying to find herself a dress, Sam and Lauren had an audience while trying to find the right shoes, purse and also little red roses for her hair.

When she was about to leave the shop, the little girl came to her and tugged on her hand. Sam looked down at her. She didn't know what to say. So she just took one of the purchased tiny little flower clips and put it into the girl's hair.

"Thank you, sweetie for helping me with the dress."

"You will look pretty…" The girl said shyly and Sam could just grin at her. God she missed kids in her life!

"Say hi to your prince, okay?" And again Sam could just smile.

"I will, I absolutely will." And with that she left the shop – with big box with her dress, another small one with shoes and then with small bag with the accessories. She had never been shopping like that. Never. But well, it was one special evening for her.

She also stopped by another shop and bought a tie for Jack. The guy in the shop managed to find the perfect tie for Jack. Now she was getting nervous. Really nervous. Sure, they'd been having a relationship for a quite some time now but this was different. So different. She was excited … and nervous!

When she looked up from her coffee she saw Jack walking to her in his dress-blues. Thankfully it was not that unusual in DC. But God he looked so handsome. She didn't know what would happen – it's not like they were all for public displays of affection. But he came to her, reached for her hand, made her stand up and kissed her. She got lost in the kiss and it took her a moment to reorganize her thoughts and realize that breathing was kind of necessary for survival.

"Jack…"

"Hello…" He said and kissed her once more.

"You seem very happy." She noted.

"I am now."

"Jack!" She exclaimed, not really understanding what was going on but definitely not complaining. He sat down next to her and stole some of her lunch.

They talked and had a nice walk back home. He insisted on carrying her things but she refused to give him the dress though. According to her, he'd know the color because of the tie but the rest was supposed to be hidden, kept as a secret and as a surprise. He growled in response. That gave her small satisfaction. She was really hoping that he would like the dress...

Jack surprised her by cooking dinner for her. He even picked her favorite movie collection so they could watch it together in the evening while cuddling on the couch. They kept on talking and joking and she kept on distracting him in the kitchen and he kept on making her laugh and giggle on the couch and it was all so damn perfect that they could hardly believe it was really happening. But it was.