The summer was going to be long.
Liz didn’t need the forecast to tell her that the sun would soon be beating down on her with brutal heat. She could already feel the thin film of sweat coating her chest as she fanned herself absentmindedly with one hand. Liz hated the heat—but there were more reasons this summer would be unbearable. She stared anxiously at the dress section of the store, which housed articles of clothing she normally wouldn’t be caught dead in. But knowing how terrible the next few days were going to be, the sundresses were, unfortunately, the only clothes she would be able to breathe in.
“Liz?”
The voice barely registered. She wandered over to the racks of clothing, trying not to cringe when she beheld the many ultra-girly, floral prints they boasted. What was it with sundresses and floral prints? Was there a rule that they had to go together? And why was there so much pink? She was a grown-ass woman.
“Liz, are you hearing me? What do you think?”
She ran her hands over the dresses, not seeing any she would be able to stomach having on her body. It’s decided then, she thought to herself. No sundresses for me. It was just as well. She could easily camp away in her home with the air conditioning blasting, and spend as little time as possible out in the real world during her time off. Time off. The concept was foreign to her, and confusing. What did normal people do with their time off?
“Elizabeth Harley, if you make me call you one more time, I’m going to throw the biggest tantrum you’ve ever seen.”
Liz looked over her shoulder at the red-faced, blond-haired woman glaring at her. “You’re an adult, Maddy. Throw your tantrum. See if I care when they drag you out of here for disrupting the peace.”
“Gosh, you can be so mean sometimes. I was just asking if you liked this dress.”
Not sparing her another glance, Liz sighed. “It’s alright. Not as good as the first five you tried on.”
“Is that a hint of annoyance I detect in your voice?”
“Only a hint? I must be getting soft.” Liz meandered past the ugly sundresses, listening to Madison scoff behind her. Resisting the urge to groan, she faced her friend and made of a show of giving her a real look over. “Alright, I looked, okay? I still don’t like it.”
“What don’t you like about it? Does it make my waist look big?”
Liz turned away from Maddy and sighed while the other woman hurried over to the mirror to take another look at herself. She had lost her interest in today’s task almost an hour ago when Maddy pulled her into the eighth store to try on even more clothes, clearly not okay with the countless ones she had tried on before. Shopping had never been Liz’s thing. She did it out of pure necessity, which was what drove her to begin searching for proper summer clothes now that the afternoon was settling in. She didn’t live for the hunt like Madison did, and she certainly didn’t have the same level of patience that her sister had when shopping with Madison.
“Why didn’t you ask Cathy to come?” Liz asked, pausing her fruitless search to glare at her friend.
“She’s still getting back into the swing of things after coming back from her honeymoon,” Maddy explained, running her hands along her sides as she checked out her figure in the mirror. “And she’s a married woman now. I wanted to give her a little space to enjoy herself with him.”
Liz rolled her eyes, knowing that Maddy was still over at her sister’s house almost every day to enjoy her cooking. But Cathy was an excellent chef, and Liz was also guilty of visiting her sister more than she probably should.
“This one would look great on you, Liz,” Maddy said, fingering a yellow and black number gently as she glided past the racks.
Liz was on her way to examine the garment when a song began playing in the shop that made her pause. She felt like she had heard it once before, long ago, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. The melody was familiar, yet intoxicating, and it sent chills up her arm. She looked up at the speakers in confusion.
“Seriously,” Maddy said, “you should try on that dress.”
“I don’t have time,” Liz said quietly, as she removed the dress from the rack to stare at it. The pattern was interesting, and not too feminine. It looked like something an adult woman would actually wear. Maybe it was the beautiful song filling the store all around her, but she felt herself drawn to the dress, and tracing her fingertips along the fabric.
“That’s perfect for you,” Maddy said with conviction, snapping her fingers. “I just wish I could find something decent to wear to dinner with Christian’s family.”
“Planning to somehow make them realize what a catch you are for their beloved, perfect son?”
“Oh, I couldn’t care less what they think. What Christian cares is what matters, and he doesn’t like his family any more than I do.” She twirled again, modelling the dress. “So, this one sucks, right?”
Liz nodded, to which Maddy pouted and flounced back into the changing room.
Enjoying the moment alone, Liz glanced up at the speakers again, before closing her eyes and letting the song wash over her. It was hauntingly beautiful, and it almost instantly took the edge off her stress and bad mood.
“Maddy,” she called out through the door of the changing room. “Who is this song by?”
“I dunno,” Maddy responded. “Isn’t it that composer Cathy used to play for us? Davidson or something?”
“That’s right,” Liz mused to herself, rubbing the goosebumps out of her arm. She wondered what kind of man it would take to create music this beautiful. “Davidson,” she murmured to herself.
Ripping the curtains open to step out of the changing room, Maddy fixed Liz with a suspicious look. “What’s going on with you? It’s a weekday. I’m surprised you haven’t ditched me to go back to work, like you usually do.”
“I don’t have any work to do.”
“Bullshit. You always have work to do. Even when you’re all done, you somehow find something else to be doing with your time in the interim. You can’t be away from your job for two seconds.”
Casually, Liz checked her watch. “Have only two seconds passed all this time?”
“You know what I mean. What’s going on? Harold told you to take some time off, huh?”
“Harold’s been telling me to take time off since I landed my third painting. I just wanted to go shopping with you. Is that so unbelievable?”
“Yes,” Madison said without hesitation. “You have had this look on your face all day like your dog just died. What’s going on?”
“Alright, fine,” Liz conceded. “He threatened to fire me if I came back in. Said I was working too much.”
“That’s good for Harold. Finally putting his foot down when it comes on to you. I knew he could do it.”
Liz frowned. “It was completely unnecessary, if you ask me.”
“Hey, I’m surprised he didn’t have to call the cops to drag you out of that place.” Madison chuckled at her own joke. Liz only rolled her eyes.
It wasn’t the first time her workaholic attitude had come under criticism. Usually, Liz didn’t care what anyone said, and dutifully ignored all their attempts to get her to take a break and put her feet up sometimes. They didn’t understand. Art was her passion, it was her life essence. It was one of the reasons she even cared to get up in the morning. Not even Cathy understood how vital it was to her existence—even though she was as in love with cooking as Liz was with art.
So, she ignored them. An easy feat. But when her boss told her that the job she loved so much would no longer be hers to keep if she didn’t take a minimum of two weeks’ break, she didn’t think she’d be able to ignore him quite as easily.
He could be bluffing. But Liz didn’t want to risk it.
“I’ll buy this dress,” Liz said glumly, changing the subject and heading to the cash register.
“It will look great on you,” Maddy agreed as Liz paid for the dress. “You have a date with Hunter tonight, don’t you?”
“It’s not a date.”
“Whatever you two like to call it. You’re seeing him after this.”
“We planned to meet, yes.”
“You should give him a chance,” Maddy said. “Especially now that you’ve got some time off. Hunter is perfect for you! You should try to get to know him better.”
“I don’t have time for that,” Liz said with frustration as she collected the dress.
“You’ll have a lot of free time now that you won’t be working yourself to the bone 24/7. What do you plan to do with all that free time?”
She didn’t know. She hadn’t even thought about it. Thinking about long, empty days annoyed the hell out of her and Liz didn’t like trivial emotions like annoyance.
“See if Hunter wants to go on a weekend trip or something,” Madison suggested, poking her friend in the ribs. “Maybe you guys can talk about getting serious, having a future together.”
Liz knew it was coming. She shouldn’t have responded, should have nipped the conversation in the bud, but this was Madison she was talking to. And there was nothing Madison liked more than trying to convince Liz to settle down.
“Hunter isn’t going to be around forever, you know,” Madison said in a singsong voice. “He’s going to be get fed up one day.”
“And when he does, I wish him all the best.”
“But he’s amazing, Liz! And that body, those shoulders? That sexy beard!”
Liz met her with cool eyes. “Listen, Maddy. I don’t ever plan on settling down. Hunter definitely won’t change that.”
Hope shone in the blonde woman’s eyes. “But someone will?”
“Such faith,” Liz said dryly, shaking her head. “Misplaced, but sweet all the same.”
Maddy huffed, returning to scouring the racks for clothing.
Liz didn’t have to ask why she was so hell bent on finding the perfect dress. Maddy was nothing if not a beauty queen. She generally spent hours on her hair and makeup and even twice that time trying to find the perfect thing to wear. She believed in looking great, no matter where she was going, and Liz had to admit that she pulled it off flawlessly.
It was something they had in common. Perfection was Liz’s middle name—not Elena as her mother had been so eager to pass down. She strove for it in everything in her life, including her appearance. Even now, her hair was cut into a stylish bob that brushed her shoulders, not a strand out of place. The severe cut was complemented by subtle makeup and fitting dresses that hugged every curve she spent hours in the gym to maintain.
Control. That was her life essence, as vital to her as water was. She strove for perfection because it kept her in charge. Pink floral prints didn’t scream control. They sang of airiness, freedom, and a carefree nature she did not possess. They made her feel like she was unbound to any law, any rule. She didn’t need that sort of uncertainty in her life.
“Alright,” Madison declared, her shoulders sinking in defeat. “Don’t get mad.”
Liz narrowed her eyes slightly. “What?”
“We have to go back to one of the other stores.”
“Which one?”
“That’s just it. I can’t remember the name, or where it was. But I remember the dress!” Madison said quickly before Liz could growl a response. “It’s the blue one. The one with no sleeves. You remember it, don’t you?”
Liz took a moment to answer her, piercing her with one of her more lenient glares before she said, “I remember it. Two stores ago. I remember where it is.”
“That’s why I love shopping with you, Liz!” Madison squealed. “Although you do make it seem like being around me is a constant pain in your ass.”
“You aren’t wrong about that.”
“Gosh, you’re mean,” Madison said as they exited the store.
They were out amongst the noise and hustle again and Liz could already spot the store in question in the distance. She pointed it out to Maddy, and the two women headed in that direction. Once there, Liz was surprised to hear the same song playing as in the other boutique. While Madison searched for her treasure, Liz felt a strange urge to pull out her phone and send a text to Hunter.
“Who’re you talking to?” Madison asked. “Lover boy?”
“No,” Liz responded, trying to hide the phone, but it was too late.
“Come on, girl,” Madison urged. “Stop keeping the boy on a leash. Throw him a bone, for once.”
“I don’t keep him on a leash,” Liz muttered, but she didn’t say it very strongly.
“Sure, you do,” Madison accused. “That guy is probably standing in front of his mirror right now desperately trying to find something nice to wear for his date tonight so he can impress you. I wish you could see how much he adores you, Liz.”
“He knew what he was getting himself into when he decided to get involved with me. I don’t have time for a real relationship.”
“Yeah, but you can’t blame him for falling for you a little. Look at you, you’re smoking hot. What guy wouldn’t?”
Liz could name a few but she didn’t think that would help her argument very much. “You’re reading too much into this. He doesn’t have any deep romantic feelings for me. It’s all physical and casual. Trust me. I’m the one who knows him, not you.”
“I’ve seen you two together, Liz. There’s more there. Definitely.”
Liz didn’t think that was the case but she didn’t want to argue the point any further. Closing her phone, she sighed. “I’ll ask him tonight, okay? Maybe I’ll… invite him over to my place.”
Madison’s eyes widened, knowing what a huge step that was for Liz. “Seriously? Letting a man into your perfect fortress of solitude? That’s great!”
Liz’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment, but that beautiful song was still pouring out of the speakers, and making her feel a little unlike herself. Maybe she should consider opening up to someone, and being a little softer.
“I bet he proposes within the month,” Maddy was saying. “You have to let me plan your wedding. It’s going to be magical—”
“Stop getting carried away,” Liz snapped. She pointed to the rack against the wall. “There’s your dress. Buy it so we can hurry up and get out of here. I have things to do.”
“Yes, sir!” Maddy said, standing at attention and saluting mockingly.
Liz sighed and looked up at the sky in exasperation.