and rushed out of the room and along the corridor to the lift. Once
outside the hotel, she took stock of the situation.
Hang on, she said to herself,
I thought you had decided to give this whole adventure a miss? The chances were
high that it would go terribly wrong (although she had no idea now, after all
that had happened, what the criteria were for the events to go “right”) and she
could even lose her job and her self respect over it. In fact, her head told
her coldly, it was pretty much a lose/lose proposition. She should call him and
say she had a headache or something.....and she should do it now to prevent
anymore agonising or a potential hit to her credit card.
But, her heart reasoned with
Josie's words ringing in her ear, she was hugely attracted to Peter Jarvis (she
didn't even try to deny that) and the opportunity to spend the evening with him
excited her greatly. She even allowed herself (purely in the interests of a
balanced argument of course) the luxury of thinking what could happen. Before
she could stop herself she found herself muttering “Mrs. Peter Jarvis” to
herself, but then quickly realised the stupidity of what she was saying.
It was in this state of huge
indecision that she entered her favourite shop on the Rue d'Antibes. She
wandered over to the dresses and, in a slight dream, found herself selecting
several to try on, even though her mind was still churning with doubt. She
attracted the attention of a sales assistant who took her over to one of the
changing rooms, gently removing the clothes from her slightly sweaty hands and
hanging them up on the row of hooks on the wall.
Katie ensured that the door
to the cubicle was closed before slipping off her skirt and blouse. She tried
on the blue dress to begin with and, after straightening it, looked up to the
mirror to see the effect.
A disconcerted and slightly
red faced image stared back at her. God, what a mess, she thought as her hands
went up to her head to straighten her hair. She tightened the belt around the
dress and tried to be critical about her appearance. Not bad, but could be
bettered.
The second dress was far too
tent-like for her but the third garment was, in her view, pretty perfect. The
colour matched her eyes and the gentle V revealed a hint of cleavage, dropping
to simply follow the contours of her hips and thighs. This was perfect.....and
it would go fine with one of the pairs of shoes she had with her. With a final
look in the mirror, she slipped the dress off and put her own clothes back on,
before making her way out into the shop to pay. Such was her dreamlike state,
it was only after she had inserted her credit card into the machine that she
saw the price. She paused as she was about to enter her PIN, not even sure that
her credit limit would stand such a charge. Nonetheless she pushed the buttons
and waited for what seemed like an age for the approved sign to come up.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she handed the console back to the assistant who
smiled sympathetically before folding the dress up and putting it in a bag that
she had pulled from beneath the counter.
Walking back to her hotel,
her brain was still mulling over the options but her actions seemed to
demonstrate that the matter was now out of the hands of the head and most
definitely into those of the heart. Anyway, after spending so much money, it
would be positively gut wrenching not to go out and enjoy the
evening…..whatever the outcome.
With this thought in mind,
she turned into the hotel and, feeling the warm breeze of the Mediterranean on
her neck and legs, she returned to her room.
At 7.15, Katie had already
had a long shower and had then moisturised her body all over. Her stomach was
full of butterflies and she felt as nervous as she had been on her first date
way back when she was sixteen. His name had been Jamie Fisher and she had an
almighty crush on him, not that it had developed into anything serious.
outside the hotel, she took stock of the situation.
Hang on, she said to herself,
I thought you had decided to give this whole adventure a miss? The chances were
high that it would go terribly wrong (although she had no idea now, after all
that had happened, what the criteria were for the events to go “right”) and she
could even lose her job and her self respect over it. In fact, her head told
her coldly, it was pretty much a lose/lose proposition. She should call him and
say she had a headache or something.....and she should do it now to prevent
anymore agonising or a potential hit to her credit card.
But, her heart reasoned with
Josie's words ringing in her ear, she was hugely attracted to Peter Jarvis (she
didn't even try to deny that) and the opportunity to spend the evening with him
excited her greatly. She even allowed herself (purely in the interests of a
balanced argument of course) the luxury of thinking what could happen. Before
she could stop herself she found herself muttering “Mrs. Peter Jarvis” to
herself, but then quickly realised the stupidity of what she was saying.
It was in this state of huge
indecision that she entered her favourite shop on the Rue d'Antibes. She
wandered over to the dresses and, in a slight dream, found herself selecting
several to try on, even though her mind was still churning with doubt. She
attracted the attention of a sales assistant who took her over to one of the
changing rooms, gently removing the clothes from her slightly sweaty hands and
hanging them up on the row of hooks on the wall.
Katie ensured that the door
to the cubicle was closed before slipping off her skirt and blouse. She tried
on the blue dress to begin with and, after straightening it, looked up to the
mirror to see the effect.
A disconcerted and slightly
red faced image stared back at her. God, what a mess, she thought as her hands
went up to her head to straighten her hair. She tightened the belt around the
dress and tried to be critical about her appearance. Not bad, but could be
bettered.
The second dress was far too
tent-like for her but the third garment was, in her view, pretty perfect. The
colour matched her eyes and the gentle V revealed a hint of cleavage, dropping
to simply follow the contours of her hips and thighs. This was perfect.....and
it would go fine with one of the pairs of shoes she had with her. With a final
look in the mirror, she slipped the dress off and put her own clothes back on,
before making her way out into the shop to pay. Such was her dreamlike state,
it was only after she had inserted her credit card into the machine that she
saw the price. She paused as she was about to enter her PIN, not even sure that
her credit limit would stand such a charge. Nonetheless she pushed the buttons
and waited for what seemed like an age for the approved sign to come up.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she handed the console back to the assistant who
smiled sympathetically before folding the dress up and putting it in a bag that
she had pulled from beneath the counter.
Walking back to her hotel,
her brain was still mulling over the options but her actions seemed to
demonstrate that the matter was now out of the hands of the head and most
definitely into those of the heart. Anyway, after spending so much money, it
would be positively gut wrenching not to go out and enjoy the
evening…..whatever the outcome.
With this thought in mind,
she turned into the hotel and, feeling the warm breeze of the Mediterranean on
her neck and legs, she returned to her room.
At 7.15, Katie had already
had a long shower and had then moisturised her body all over. Her stomach was
full of butterflies and she felt as nervous as she had been on her first date
way back when she was sixteen. His name had been Jamie Fisher and she had an
almighty crush on him, not that it had developed into anything serious.
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