Kindred Spirits
Chapter Thirteen: Amigas
~ o ~
The Following Morning- The Beaugranelle Paris, Downtown Paris
"What's on the agenda today?" asked Sombra.
"Clothes for everyone I suppose." replied the sniper.
Sombra then put a hand to her chin before leaning close to her friend.
"What color were you thinking of dyeing your hair?" she whispered.
"...Dark chocolate brown." replied Widowmaker.
The hacker smiled deviously and turned away from her two companions. Widowmaker glanced over at Aiden, who gave her a heart warming smile. She took a moment to admire the assassin as he was for once, dressed in casual wear.
He sported a dark grey muscle shirt that was just a little too large for him, enough to not completely hug his skin. He cut some of his hair just before they left the hotel, neatening the sides and giving it almost a spiky look at the top though he left enough length for it to flare over his eyes. He also wore a pair of black jeans along with white low-top shoes. He had a pair of brown driving gloves attached to his belt as well, as he always tended to drive his car using them.
After turning away from his watchful eyes, she felt a heavy blush come to her face as she realized just how attractive he looked without even trying. Once she turned back to Sombra, she saw the hacker snickering softly to herself. She cast her a scolding glance, but it didn't have any effect.
"We're gonna go get Spider here some clothes. How about we meet up a bit later?" asked Sombra
Aiden nodded in agreement.
"Call me when you're done or if you need anything." he said.
Sombra waved at him as he walked off to another part of the mall. She then approached her friend, putting an arm around her and poking her cheek.
"You're staring. You never stare." she teased.
"I...I-I don't know what you're-"
"Come now amiga. Do you think I'm blind? What did he say to you last night?"
The two women began to make their way towards their first stop: the salon.
"None of your business." replied the sniper.
"Orale...he clearly feels a lot better because I don't see anymore pain in his eyes. He told you everything last night?" she asked.
The sniper nodded.
"...I had no idea he went through so much. It makes me feel like a child compared to his career."
"Now you can understand why he tries so hard to do the right thing."
Widowmaker nodded in agreement.
"That...was the first time I've ever seen or heard him cry."
"You've gone further than anyone else alive right now amiga; he's never broken down in front of me before."
The sniper nodded slowly, but Sombra poked her in the cheek.
"But that's not all he said." she teased.
Widowmaker bit her lower lip and looked away from her friend.
"I saw how happy you looked when I got to the room this morning as well as on the ride here...so let's see, he said something to you that made you happy..." pondered the hacker.
The sniper sighed softly.
"He...asked me out to dinner on Friday." she mumbled.
Upon hearing those words, Sombra immediately squealed before excitedly hugging her friend.
"I'm so happy for you amiga!" she cheered.
The sniper turned away, her face now turning beet red from admitting what was supposed to be private.
"So do you know where you're going? Which restaurant is it?" she asked.
"...A place called the Nine Dragons."
The hacker whistled loudly.
"That fancy Chinese restaurant? Ay dios mio that's such a nice place. Do you have a dress to wear?" she asked.
Widowmaker shook her head and sighed.
"...I honestly didn't expect him to ask me anything...let alone to one of the most famous restaurants in all of France." she replied.
"Then you've got the right girl with you to take care of it all. I've got your back amiga." said Sombra with a wink.
Sombra picked up a basket at her feet before gesturing Widowmaker to follow her.
"I've seen your wardrobe mija. Let me handle everything; I'll make sure Aiden can't take his eyes off of you." she teased.
"Sombra!" growled Widowmaker as her cheeks turned to Christmas lights.
...
One Hour Later- The Kooples Sport
Sombra smiled at her before eyeing the clothes in Widowmaker's hands. Almost immediately, the hacker's face contorted into comical disgust.
"What the hell are you picking up to wear? Do you have a thing for wearing solely black and purple?" she exclaimed in disbelief.
The sniper froze and tried to find the words to answer, but couldn't. Sombra shook her head and wagged her index finger.
"Please mija. As good as you look in just about everything you wear, if you keep the same color scheme all the time...people are going to pick up on your identity. You need to mix it up some more." she explained.
She grabbed some of the clothes from her and placed them back on the shelf. After picking up a basket from behind her, she grabbed the rest of the clothes from Widowmaker's arms and dropped them in. She then smiled deviously before shoving the basket into her hand.
"I'm gonna make sure you get some nice clothes this time." she snickered.
Widowmaker's face reddened as she was pulled towards the rest of the store by her free hand. After leading her friend to a seat, Sombra set to work, throwing numerous articles of casual wear into the basket behind her. After letting out a quiet sigh, Widowmaker turned to the entrance of the store and much to her surprise, she saw Aiden. He was a distance away, eyeing the entrance of a store himself. After leaning forward slightly, she saw that it was a store that sold accessories, like sunglasses and watches. He stood there for a few seconds before making his way inside. She then suddenly realized that she needed something to cover her soon to be dyed hair. Once Sombra returned, the sniper looked up to her.
"Could you pick up one of those large hats we saw at the entrance?" she asked.
"Why? The sun's not very bright right now." replied Sombra.
"...It's to hide my hair...I don't want him to see it until Friday."
Sombra took a brief moment to register what she just said and once she did, she laughed softly.
"Alright. Now start trying those on. The changing room is over there." she said.
~ o ~
After letting out another sigh, I picked up the basket full of clothes and carried them into the room. After locking the door behind me, I removed my coat before glancing down at my arm tattoo.
"I'm going to have to find a way to hide this..."
Maybe it was a good idea for me to get it removed when I had the chance at the hospital. After letting out a regretful sigh, I glanced down at the clothes that Sombra selected, beginning with the shirts. I picked up one of them and felt immense heat come to my cheeks.
"Does she seriously expect me to wear something like this?! It's s-s-so low cut!"
Before my eyes, was a long sleeved shirt made out of what felt like cotton. It was thick enough to be feasible to wear in the cold weather, but it was cut low enough to reveal a modest amount of my cleavage. I placed the shirt down and examined more of them and the common theme between them all...was the low cut. Some of them were also short sleeved...with random designs on the front ranging from animals to simple abstract ones. A few of them were also plain, which were probably the only ones I liked.
I placed all of the shirts into a pile before picking up one of the jeans and placing it against my lower body.
"...What is she trying to do? Make me peel this off when I need to remove it?!"
I looked at each of the jeans and at the very least...the colors were nice. But they were so form fitting...it made me feel as if I was too large for them. I then placed those in a pile before examining the jackets she selected. I smiled slightly.
"At least these are acceptable...very nice quality denim actually."
"Are you going to show me any of those amiga?"
I almost flinched from the sound of Sombra's voice as I rolled my eyes.
"Better get this over with...or she'll never shut up."
I spent the next twenty minutes trying on different combinations of the clothes she brought me and even though I felt...exposed, it felt a lot better once she assured me that Aiden would like what he sees. After buying all of the clothes, she beckoned me to follow her. I immediately pinned my hair into a neat bun before placing the brown hat over it. It was a tight fit due to the sheer volume...and I was sure I would regret how it feels later considering how haphazardly I hid it.
"Especially after dying it..."
I made a mental note to ask Sombra if I could stay in her hotel room until tomorrow.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Simone Pérèle's" she replied.
I felt my heart sink to the bottom of my stomach upon hearing the familiar name.
"What's the matter Spider?" she asked.
"...Why do we have to go there?"
She rolled her eyes before grabbing me by the hand and dragging me towards the store.
"You have some of the most boring sets of underwear I've ever seen and you've only got a few sets on top of that. We're going to make sure you have enough for just about every situation mija...and besides, don't you think you should get something very comfortable to tease him with?"
The heat in my cheeks soon extended to the entirety of my head as we approached the shop, which sold exclusively underwear. I was very thankful that Sombra sent Aiden away earlier else this would've been an even more embarrassing stop. She lead me to the lingerie section and into the two piece aisle, where I still couldn't stop blushing as I began to imagine some of these sets on me. Sombra quickly grabbed a few sets and placed them in a basket while placing others in a second one. I couldn't pay attention to what she was doing because I immediately became extremely self-conscious, looking around constantly to see if anyone was watching us. It took roughly two minutes for Sombra to finish all of her grabbing as she then gave me one of the baskets to hold. Once I had it, she dragged me to the changing room with her before shutting the door. She then sat me down on one of the benches before looking at my face.
"You're going to try on some of these. I made sure to pick colors I think look good on you and I even got a few that are your speed so hop to it amiga." she ordered.
I had no idea why I was humoring her, but I looked down into the basket.
"Mon dieu...why did I even come with her into this place...this is so embarrassing..."
She picked up twelve different sets of underwear. The only common factor with them all was that they were all lace...but it really seemed like she gave all of them thought before she threw them inside. She already knew that I liked the colors purple and black and of course, most of them were indeed that color. However...it felt so scary to show that much skin to anyone; I hadn't done so since Gerard was still alive. Sure...there was the time that I took off my top for Aiden to do the ultrasound on me, but he didn't even allow the scan to continue for long because he knew how self-conscious I was.
"And he was such a gentleman..."
I reluctantly stepped into one of the small stalls in the room, taking one of the sets with me as I stripped naked. After securing the underwear to my body, I came out of the stall, unconsciously trying to cover as much of my skin as my arms would allow me to. However, I noticed that Sombra had also stripped down and was trying on underwear for herself. Upon noticing that I had come out of the stall, she smiled.
"Come here amiga. Take a look at yourself." she urged.
I slowly made my way over to her and looked in the large mirror. The first set I tried on was an indigo set and even though I felt extremely exposed...the fabric felt good on my skin. Sombra then let out a loud whistle before wrapping an arm around me.
"You look gorgeous amiga." she said.
I took a moment to examine my supposed friend.
For as long as I've known her, I've known Sombra to always completely cover her skin unless she was being casual, where she normally chose to wear shorts and a shirt. This was the first time I had ever seen her in less than that. I always knew that she was well built beneath her clothing because her body was something she took pride in. She was very well toned, having a build similar to that of a track runner though not quite as muscular. Her bust was not as big as mine, but it was still modest enough to be noticeable if she didn't wear her usual outfit of a large jacket or coat. She had chosen a two piece set of underwear as well, with a crimson base with black straps throughout. This set really highlighted how well sculpted her core was, as well as her surprisingly well built legs.
Overall, she looked adorable...and I may even go so far as to say sexy in her own way.
I gave her a slight smile, managing to push aside my self consciousness for a moment.
"You look magnifique as well chérie." I said.
Sombra blushed lightly at my compliment, smiling at me as she stood next to me with her hand on her waist.
"You should be more confident in yourself mija; you're a gorgeous woman and you can make any of those sets of underwear look hot enough to melt the eyes of the unworthy." she teased.
I rolled my eyes as I returned to the room and searched for the next set to try on.
For the next fifteen minutes, Sombra and I tried on nearly a dozen different sets of lingerie and underwear, some a little more...revealing than others. We were approaching the last two for each of our baskets until I noticed one particular one...that really caught my eye.
It had a burgundy base with all of the laces being onyx except for the trim, which was an almost dirty gold. Upon running my fingers across the fabric, it felt quite soft. I slowly slipped the bra onto my body and I had to admit that it felt extremely comfortable, more so than any other set I've tried on thus far. Once I secured it, I slipped the panties on and found myself equally impressed with its comfortable feel. I stepped out of the changing room and waited for Sombra to come out of hers. She didn't keep me waiting for long, coming out in a full black lace set. What made this one unique however was that the trim was crimson. Once her eyes caught onto me however, she smiled and squealed.
"That's the one. This is what you're gonna wear under your dress. That is easily the sexiest thing I've ever seen." she squealed.
Again, my cheeks turned red but after having shown her my body nearly a dozen times in other sets of underwear, I didn't shy away. She placed a hand on my waist and placed the other one on hers.
"Yeah...there's no way he's going to be able to take his eyes off of you Spider."
"...I haven't done this before."
She looked at me in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"Gone shopping with a friend...normally it's only me, even before all of this happened. I normally went to the mall whenever Gerard was at work so I didn't really get opinions on anything...so thank you for being here Sombra."
She gave me a heart-warming smile, losing all traces of her teasing nature and nodded.
"Anytime amiga. Now that we've gotten you enough underwear for just about any situation, it's time for your dresses. You have one back at the room, but I think you need at least another two, maybe three." she said.
We quickly clothed ourselves and bought all of the underwear as she led me out of the store.
"Where are we going now?" I asked.
"Herve L. Leroux. You're going to get a dress to custom fit that gorgeous body of yours. You're not stepping foot into that restaurant unless you look good enough to blow every single cabron in there away." she replied.
The name sounded very familiar and after thinking about it for a little while, I realized just what brand she was speaking of. It was one of the most famous brands here in Paris and it was famous for its ability to always custom fit the body of any woman who decided to buy from them. They were not by any means cheap, which made me feel even worse because it was Aiden's money that we were using for all this. I honestly would've done this all myself...if Talon didn't take back everything they paid me. I guess I should've tried to keep a separate account...but then again, I didn't think I'd ever end up leaving Talon with all of my ties cut like that.
What surprised me more however was that Sombra knew all of this...despite not living in France.
I stayed close to her as she led me to the tailoring shop. We entered and surprisingly, we were the only two customers here. A rather youthful looking attendant approached us, looking delighted to see us.
"Bonjour madame. Comment puis-je être utile?" asked the attendant.
"Please tell me you speak English." sighed Sombra.
The woman turned to her and smile.
"Of course I do. How may I be of service?" she asked.
Sombra sighed in relief before pointing at me.
"I'm looking for a few dresses for my beautiful friend here. She's going on a date on Friday and I really want her to put her date in awe." she said.
I for some reason still continued to blush whenever she called me beautiful. The woman looked at me before raising an eyebrow.
"Is there a particular color you had in mind?" she asked.
"Not particularly...any suggestions?" replied Sombra.
She looked to my hat before smiling at me.
"Could you please remove your hat madame?" she asked.
I obeyed her, placing the hat on top of the bags I just placed on the ground. She then gasped softly.
"Could I perhaps see the length of your hair in its entirety?" she asked.
I sighed softly as I removed the pin from my hair and let it out completely, allowing it to reach nearly down to my posterior. The woman then walked two laps around me, examining whatever it was that dress makers did. She then removed a notepad, making sounds similar to what a scientist would make whenever they made a discovery or did something interesting. After a few minutes, she placed her pen back into her pocket before pulling out a pencil.
"Could you follow me to the fitting room for a moment madame?" she asked.
I looked to Sombra, who took a seat and nodded for me to go on. I gave my handbag to her before following the woman into a small room. The room was for the most part empty, with the exception of some framed photos and paintings on the walls. There was also a lone brown stool as well as a few standing lights. The woman beckoned me to come into the light. I listened to her as she took another look at me.
"I'm terribly sorry for asking madame, but would it be an issue if you undressed down to your underwear for a few minutes while I make a few sketches?" she asked.
I felt a little embarrassed at first, but almost as if she sensed my discomfort, she smiled at me.
"I know it's not the easiest of requests, but in order to give you the best dress possible, it would be best to see your body type without any thick clothing covering it. I understand if you don't want to do this and I can simply do the standard tape measure method." she explained.
I let out a heavy breath.
"Alright. Will it take long?" I asked.
"I will need no more than five minutes. If even that long." she replied.
She then led me to a small changing room and opened the door politely for me. I entered the room and removed my clothes, placing my coat, pants and shirt on the small bench. I then looked at myself in the mirror, seeing the black two piece set of underwear I chose to wear today. After taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the room, ensuring that my hair was let out completely to cover my back tattoo as I stood in front of the woman. She smiled at me as she began to draw with the pencil on a sketch pad she must've picked up while I was inside the room. I stood there for roughly a minute before she looked back up from the sketch pad.
"Could you turn to your right just slightly?" she asked.
I adjusted the angle as she asked and once she was satisfied, she once again set to sketching after turning the page. Another minute passed before she looked up again.
"Now to your left please."
I turned to the other direction and she once again, turned the page and sketched.
"If you don't mind me asking madame. Is this person you're going on a date with...is he someone you hold dear to your heart?" she asked.
I began to think about Aiden...and everything that's happened until now. After last night's conversation, especially because now I knew he would always be there for me, I blushed and smiled.
"Yes...very dear." I replied.
"It's such a beautiful thing to behold: true love. I've been making dresses since I was a teenager; my father taught me everything I know." she explained.
She stopped sketching before looking up at me.
"Three more poses and we'll be finished, could you turn your back to me? You don't have to hold up your hair." she said.
I nodded and turned my back to her. The sound of the pencil scratching against the paper told me that she already started her next sketch.
"You're a very rare specimen madame. I don't get to make dresses for bodies as gorgeous as yours very often. That is why I'm taking so many sketches...because I want to be sure I make you the perfect dress." she explained.
The pencil stopped after another minute.
"Alright. Turn back and face me but place your right hand on your waist." she asked.
I did as she asked, placing my hand on my waist as she glanced at me and sketched once more.
"Alright. Now for the other side and we'll be finished." she said.
I swapped my hands and after one more minute of sketching, the woman placed her pencil down before unwinding the tape measure around her neck.
"Would you mind heavily if I take some more precise measurements?" she asked.
I nodded, though now I was curious what the purpose of the sketching was. She approached me and after I raised my arms, she wrapped the measure around my waist.
"I'm terribly sorry for taking so long." she said.
"Not a problem." I replied with a smile.
She seemed greatly reassured with my words as she quickly took the rest of the measurements. After about a minute of waiting, she finally finished.
"Alright. You can get dressed and wait outside with your friend. Give me just a few minutes to finalize the ideas." she said.
I re-entered the changing room and after clothing myself, I exited the room and rejoined Sombra, who looked very curious.
"You were in there a little while. Did something happen?" she asked.
"She did a few sketches and took some measurements." I replied.
Sombra nodded slowly and smiled.
"So...the colors I thought you could try were black, maybe a really deep wine red...or even a dark indigo." she said.
I was used to wearing purple and black...but to wear something red? I wasn't entirely sure and now that I thought of it...I didn't even know what kind of dress I would be getting. Would it have slits? Was it a dress that dragged on the ground?
A lot of questions began to fly into my head but then the most important one of all:
"What will Aiden think..."
As if she could sense my discomfort, Sombra put an arm around me.
"He will love whatever you decide to wear mija. Which is why we're going to make sure to shock and awe him." she said.
I felt strangely reassured by her words and I shook my senses back into focus. I didn't have to wait long for the woman to return to us with her sketch pad in hand.
"Terribly sorry for the wait. I drafted two ideas from my sketches and I needed a little time to sketch both types of dresses on each page at each angle as well as coloring them." she explained.
She opened the pad and handed it to Sombra and I. Much to my astonishment, she drew not only four very detailed renditions of my body along with a different dress on each page, she even drew a different hairstyle for each page.
"In the interest of saving time, I decided to dedicate two pages to each dress along with two hairstyles I think would suit them. So now it falls to you madame. Which one do you like best?"
"Could you give us a moment to look them over?" I asked.
She smiled at me and bowed respectfully.
"Of course. Let me know which you would like most."
The woman then returned to her initial seat and began doing what appeared to be paperwork. I turned my eyes back to the sketch pad as I began to examine the first dress.
She laid out four sketches of my body in four different colors of the same dress.
It looked unbelievably elegant...though it was a bit embarrassing because it was once again, a little too low cut for my tastes. The dress stretched all the way to the floor, though it didn't have enough slack to be considered excessive. The best part however was that the woman drew two of the sketches with arm warmers of the same material, letting me know that I had the option of getting a pair of them. I guess it worked out well; I needed to hide my arm tattoo one way or another. This dress also came in four colors: a deep wine red, onyx, violet or an almost dirty gold. Apart from how low cut the top portion was, as well as the collarbone being just a little too exposed for my tastes, I had to admit that I quite liked this one. My hair was also let out for the most part, except the right side of it was pinned up with a small clip.
"What do you think?" I asked.
Sombra was staring at the sketches as if her eyes were dinner plates.
"That would look muy bonita on you Spider. Let's see the rest of them."
The second dress was less elegant and went for a more sexy approach. This dress had a subtle slit on the right side. Two of the dresses showed the right slit and the other two showed the opposite side. The colors were the same and each sketch was again drawn with the previous two hairstyles. This dress looked like it was meant to seduce, because the slits allowed anyone looking to see a great portion of my legs. It wasn't as low cut as the previous one, but it really highlighted the collarbone as anyone looking could see it in its entirety though it seemed like it was covered at the back, allowing it to hide my back tattoo. There was again the option of wearing arm warmers.
"This looks sexy amiga...and you've got some incredible legs so this could show those off very well." squealed Sombra.
I rolled my eyes, knowing full well that my face was probably the color of the red scarf she had around her neck as I turned the page. As I thought, the other two pages were simply different angles of the two respective dress ideas and thankfully, both dresses didn't expose my back.
"...I can't believe she drew all of this within minutes...it's incredibly detailed." I said with a gasp.
"I have my father to thank for that."
The woman had gotten up from the counter and approached us without me even realizing.
"Personally, I think the slit dress would look stunning on you madame. You have a dancer's stature and body so I believe your legs should be the star of the show." she said.
Sombra smiled at her before turning to me.
"So what's it gonna be?" she asked.
I thought hard for a few moments before sighing and shaking my head.
"I'm not sure...I don't even know if there's anything special that Aiden likes above others." I replied.
"He'll love whatever you wear to that date mija. It's just a matter of what you want to do to him: leave him breathless or make sure his eyes never leave you for any reason." explained Sombra.
I felt a strange sense of self-consciousness as I glanced at the dresses once more.
"I also think that onyx or violet will suit you best madame. I offered the wine red dress because it is our most popular choice and one of our signatures." she said.
"Which one do you think I should choose?" I asked.
The woman smiled at me.
"This is a dinner date correct?" she asked.
"Yes. It's going to be at the Nine Dragons." replied Sombra.
The woman gasped audibly and smiled brightly. Despite this however, I could see a little disappointment in her eyes.
"I have a better idea in mind then. My older sister specializes in oriental dresses. I can pass on all of the sketches and measurements to her and then see what she could come up with. Would that be alright?" she asked.
"There's a dressmaker in France that's actually good at making Asian themed dresses? Who'd have thought!" said Sombra.
The woman nodded as she picked up her cellphone.
"I will return momentarily." she said.
I held up a hand, stopping the woman where she stood.
"I'd still like you to make these two dresses for me. I lack a wardrobe of them so it would be nice to have them all." I said.
The slight disappointment in her eyes vanished without a trace as she nodded excitedly.
"I'll get to work! I'll call my sister downstairs!" she said.
"Could I ask your name?" I asked.
She nodded.
"Geneveive Laurent." she replied.
I smiled at her.
"Amelie." I said.
"That's a beautiful name...let me get my sister."
She quickly zipped off as I let out a nervous breath.
"That was nice of you." said Sombra.
"I figured since she spent so much time doing all of this, the least I could do was give her some work to do." I replied.
"Guess we should be thankful that Aiden gave us so much money to spend on all this; I'd feel terrible if he didn't hand it to us." she chuckled.
"Agreed."
It didn't take long for Geneveive to return, this time with a young woman following her. She looked clearly of Chinese descent and from what I could tell, she was probably a little older.
"This is my older sister Mili." she said.
The elder sister bowed respectfully.
"Bonjour madame. My younger sister tells me you're looking for an oriental dress?" she asked.
"Indeed." I replied.
She looked at me for a few moments as I handed her the sketch pad. She then skimmed it for about a minute, examining everything that her sister drew before smiling at me.
"I have a great idea for you. Give me just a moment to sketch it." she said.
I nodded as both women sat at the counter. Mili picked up three pencils: a plain one, a black one and a gold one. She immediately started sketching her work, doing so even faster than her sister was. Clearly, she was the more experienced dressmaker. She looked up at me a few times between her pencil movements and upon reaching a certain point, she stopped.
"Excuse me madame. Could you stand up for a moment?" she asked.
I obeyed her and got to my feet as she nodded eagerly.
"Thank you. Just stay like that for a moment. I want a better angle to draw this sketch." she said.
I nodded in comprehension as she continued her work. After roughly two minutes, she stopped sketching once again.
"Alright. You can sit down. I just need to color in everything now." she said.
I took my seat once more and she spent about three minutes, swapping pencils every now and again as she finished her sketching. Finally, she took a deep breath and looked up at me.
"Finished. What do you think of these?" she asked.
Sombra and I approached the counter as she turned the sketch pad towards us. My jaw nearly dropped open.
I had no idea how these women were able to draw so much detail in such a short amount of time, but she replicated my body type just about perfectly. She again drew two dresses, though the difference between the two was minor compared to the drastic difference Geniveve did just a few minutes ago.
It truly was an oriental dress, with a beautiful black base throughout but the real eye catcher was the sheer detail of the designs on it, which were dragons in gold as well as two Chinese symbols on the left side of the dress that sat just next to the left breast and underneath it. She even went so far as to color the trim of the entire dress in the same gold she used for the designs. Upon turning the page, she had filled in most of the back with black, keeping the trims around the collar of the dress. Thankfully, she didn't open the back too much and my hair would be able to hide my tattoo with ease. I returned to the initial page and noted the difference between the two ideas: one had higher slits on the legs than the other. Though it would expose a great deal of my legs, I didn't find myself too embarrassed by it.
In fact...I quite liked the idea.
"So what do you think?" she asked.
"I love it!" squealed Sombra.
I smiled at the woman nodded in agreement.
"Magnifique." I replied.
I pointed to the dress with less of a slit.
"That's the one I prefer." I said.
"I will get started on it right away. My sister also tells me that you're going to buy two more dresses from her?" she asked.
I nodded, causing the dressmaker to smile.
"We'll give you a discount for buying three. When do you need these ready by?" she asked.
"Friday." interjected Sombra.
Both women smiled, evidently liking the challenge of the order.
"We'll have all three ready by then. May I ask which one you're planning to wear on your outing?" asked the Chinese woman.
"The one you drafted." I replied.
She nodded as she looked under the counter. She crouched down and reached for something before getting back up.
"Could I perhaps offer these hairpins? I think they would look beautiful with your long hair in tandem with the dress." she said with a bright smile.
"Oh. She will be dyeing her hair right after she leaves here." interjected Sombra.
The woman nodded.
"I still think these would look wonderful in your hair. Have a look." she offered.
I looked in her hand to see two pairs of hairpins. The first pair had shiny black orbs on one end while the second pair seemed to combine into a lotus if they were placed side by side. I nodded in agreement, causing the woman to smile yet again.
"Alright. You can come this way for payment..."
Three Hours Later- The Food Court
"Where's Aiden? He said he was going to meet us here." said Sombra.
Widowmaker was barely paying attention to her friend as she nervously tried to ensure that her hair was completely hidden beneath her hat. She had already gotten it dyed, but wanted to hide it from her soon to be date out of embarrassment. After several more minutes of fiddling with her hat and hair, she began to drink the iced coffee in her.
"Sorry I took so long. I was sorting a few things out."
Both women turned to see Aiden had somehow gotten to the other side of the food court without them noticing and was now standing next to the table. He was holding several bags as well as a black suit casing with a hanger. Evidently, he went shopping as well. He looked at all of the bags his two companions were carrying and raised an eyebrow.
"You two did a lot of shopping I see." he said with a smile.
"So did you. What did you get?" asked Sombra.
He looked to his bags and shrugged.
"Clothes mostly, though I do have some good news." he said.
He placed all of the clothes on the seat next to Widowmaker before smiling.
"I came across a real estate agency in the mall and I noticed they were selling high rise apartments. I for one am tired of hotel hopping so I decided to buy one, just next to the Eiffel Tower." he said.
Both women's eyes widened.
"You...bought a high rise apartment within view of the Eiffel Tower?!" cried Sombra.
He smiled and nodded.
"Yes I did." he replied.
"...How bottomless is your bank account?" she said with a gasp.
"I didn't spend a cent on myself when I completed all of my contracts and I made sure to have a bank account in Switzerland where the funds can't be touched. Though this apartment was expensive, I thought it was worth it because we don't exactly have a place to call our own. In addition, a place near such a public place means that Talon won't be able to do anything crazy else they risk exposing themselves to the whole population of Paris." he explained.
Sombra whistled loudly.
"Guess I can visit more often then huh?" she teased.
"It comfortably accommodates four people, so feel free to whenever you'd like." he replied.
Widowmaker was still quiet since the assassin arrived and he immediately took notice of that.
"Is everything okay? You look nervous." he asked.
He attempted to sit beside her but she flinched.
"I guess she doesn't want you to see her hair yet." interjected Sombra.
He looked at her, an innocently curious look on his usually blank face.
"Is that the case? I'll keep my distance if that's what you'd like." he said.
The sniper's face turned even more pink as she recalled the conversation she had with Sombra while she got her hair dyed.
"...Je suis désolé..." she murmured.
Aiden shook his head before placing a small paper bag in front of her.
"I got this for you. They were just baked so I hope they taste good."
The sniper opened the bag to see an Éclair. She looked at him appreciatively before taking a bite of the pastry. She smiled warmly.
"Merci Aiden." she said.
"De rien." he replied.
"Oh get a room you two..." teased Sombra.
Widowmaker shot her a scolding look with a crimson face, while Aiden remained silent, blushing just as much as she was when he turned away. Though she was irritated with her friend's joke, the day had really shown the sniper just how much her chirpy friend meant to her. She then called Sombra over to her. The hacker sat next to her and much to her surprise, Widowmaker gave her a warm hug.
"Thank you...for everything today." she whispered.
For once, the hacker had no witty reply as she returned the embrace.
"Of course! We're amigas after all!"