Chapter 13
The green one, Sarah – wear the green one!
It had been nearly an hour, and Sarah still couldn't pick a dress to wear for tonight's dance. Not that it was any occasion, but her usual black slacks and white blouse ensemble just didn't seem dressy enough tonight. For some odd reason, she had a calling to dress up. And when Sarah had these callings, which happened very rarely when she was going out into society, she tried to give them as much room to play as possible.
Now a pile of dresses, most of them never worn, lay in a heap on the bed, as she indulged her vanity.
----
Jareth was sorry he had started this whole dress thing. He did want her to look fancy tonight, but now he wasn't sure it was worth the headache of having to endure her inadequate decision-making skills. He vowed here and then that when she's queen, she'll have a personal wardrobe manager. Overseen by him, of course. And this would not reoccur.
Now, if she could only decide on one and stick with it for more than 5 minutes…
She needed to be distracted.
----
Unfortunately for him, Sarah wasn't anywhere near a decision.
The black one seemed too mournful, the red – to dramatic, the green was alright, but she thought it made her look pale… the white…hmmm…
NO you don't - thought Jareth. She was not dancing with anyone but him in a white dress! Nor anywhere but the Underground!
Suddenly Sarah, who had picked up the white dress again, preparing to try it on once more, and already rummaging around for a matching scarf, heard something fall in the bathroom. Clutching the dress, she hurried over to investigate. She thought she heard some noises, too…kind of like baby noises, in fact.
----
Sending in drunken goblins as a distraction wasn't the best plan in the world, of course, but it was all he could do right now. Hopefully they wouldn't make too much mischief.
----
A groan from Sarah confirmed that something was, indeed, amiss.
Washing the remains of her roommate's powder off of her hands, Sarah returned to her room, still carrying the dress.
Trying it on, she noticed the newly appearing water stains.
"Damn. Must've accidentally got some water on there…" Sarah sighed, taking candidate #1 off and throwing it one the bed with the others.
She'd straighten the whole thing up later.
Uh-huh. ACCIDENTALLY, of course.
Jareth was pretty pleased with himself. Now there was nothing to try but the…
"Green it is."
Success!
"Now, should I wear my hair up or leave it down…
I really don't know…
Should probably try both and see what works better.
Maybe half-up…"
Picking up her hairbrush and several clips, Sarah donned the green and headed happily for the bathroom.
An hour later, she was still undecided.
----
With a groan that was trying to avoid morphing into a scream, the Goblin King threw his current crystal at the floor.