Sicilian Dreams by J. P. Kennedy

on the screen as he walked away.
    ‘Not bad’ said Kat, ‘that’s a keeper.’
    ‘Let’s keep going, time is passing and I feel the need to spend money,’ said Liz.
    The were about to walk past a tiny shop front but were arrested by the sight of two mannequins who were dressed in slinky black and white cocktail dresses and sky high heels.
    ‘Trust the Italians,’ said Kat, ‘they are about the only race on earth who know how dress women. Look at the way those dresses hang. They are sexy and feminine without looking cheap.’ Liz was already walking in the door and the other two followed her in.
    ‘Buona sera’ said the shop assistant pleasantly. ‘Please let me know if I can help you,’ she said in accented English.
    ‘We must look like foreigners,’ hissed Cassie ‘everybody is automatically speaking in English to us.’
    ‘Yes we do,’ laughed Liz. ‘You can always reply in Italian if you want’ she added mischievously.
    ‘Point taken,’ said Cassie ‘I can manage a few words, but if someone replies to me in Italian, I’m sunk.’
    While Cassie admired the small selection of shoes, Liz and Kat starting flicking through the racks of clothes, each finding several dresses to try on. There were two small changing rooms at the back of the long narrow shop and they each took one.
    ‘You have to come out and model for me,’ said Cassie. It just felt too hot to be trying on clothes, thought Cassie, but shoes were a different matter. She was up front about her shoe obsession and had even had her walk in wardrobe enlarged at home to accommodate her ever-expanding collection of footwear. She loved Italian shoes and now gazing at several pair of new season must haves, she was glad she had packed another soft bag inside her suitcase because she knew she would be going home with a lot more luggage than she arrived with. The shop assistant hurried away into the back of the shop to find her size, coming back quickly with an armload of shoes for her to try on. This is the life, thought Cassie, trying on a strappy pair of silver sandals with high, spiky heels. She got up to admire them in the mirror, oblivious to everything else going on around her.
    ‘Hello, earth to Cassie,’ said Kat ‘what do you think?’ She pirouetted out of the changing room in a pair of Gucci silk jersey palazzo pants and a turquoise strapless top in the same fabric.
    ‘Oh, divine,’ said Cassie ‘they are so different. You look fantastic. I wish I was as tall as you and could wear them,’ she added.
    ‘What about me,’ said Liz, stepping out of the cubicle in a very flattering, deep red colored cocktail dress that just skimmed her knees. The front of the dress was draped and her ample cleavage filled out the neckline to perfection.
    ‘Okay, if Doug doesn’t sit up and beg like a dog when he sees you in this, I will eat my hat.’ said Kat, admiring the way the fabric of the dress fell in a swing cut from the waist.
    ‘Buy it now,’ said Cassie ‘it looks like it was made for you.’
    They left the shop twenty minutes later each carrying several shopping bags. The success in the first shop had only spurred them on and they spent another hour combing the back streets of Cefalu before conceding that it was time for an apperitivo. Laden down with their hats and shopping bags, they wandered slowly back to the main piazza under the Cathedral. Kat had spotted a tiny bar with tables set outside and she led them over to it.
    ‘That was a blast’ said Liz, sitting down gratefully, her bags piled around the base of the table. ‘Talk about power shopping.’
    ‘Yes, sometimes it’s like that,’ agreed Cassie. ‘Did you see that lingerie shop we passed on the way back here? They were just closing, but they looked like they had some amazing stuff in there.’
    ‘Oh, we’ve got to go back there then,’ said Kat. ‘I could do with some sexy new underwear, and if those granny pants I spied you wearing in the changing rooms are