Author Anon

“Ma’am, do you have this dress in a different color?” asks a lady, shopping.

“Not at the moment, but you can order one,” says Leslie.

“How long will it take?” asks the lady.

“Only a couple days,” says Leslie. “We’ll need to take your measurements.”

“I need a dress for tonight,” another lady says.

“Oh, I might be able to have one ready for tonight,” says Leslie.

“Why do I have to wait two days?” asks the first lady.

“Uh, that’s the normal time,” explains Leslie. “Rush orders are extra.”

“How much extra?” asks the second lady.

“$50?” says Leslie, doubtfully.

“That’s too much,” says the second lady, turning away.

“How about $25?” calls Leslie.

The lady hesitates, then comes back. “All right.” Leslie takes her to the back for measurements.

“Don’t you have one my size?” asks a fat lady.

“We only made a few sizes, but we can either adjust or make a new one in your size,” says Carrie.

“Can it be custom-made?” asks the lady.

“Of course,” says Carrie. “If you come out back, we’ll take your measurements.” She calls to the back, “Charlotte!”

Carl comes around the corner, “Yes, m’dear,” in a falsetto voice.

“Leslie’s helping another customer. Would you like to take this lady’s measurements or would you rather help the customers out front?” asks Carrie.

“Oh, uh,” stammers Carl. “I’ll go out front.”

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“Did you hear?” asks Claire.

“What?” asks Belle.

“The Black girls, remember them?” asks Claire. “They’ve opened up a little boutique.”

“William’s step-daughters?” asks Belle. “I would never have thought they had any talent in that direction. Their clothes were always a little too flashy and gaudy.”

“Well, I heard it from Gavin himself,” says Claire.

“What would he have to do with it?” asks Belle.

“Apparently, he’s working with Nicholas Cole on some story,” explains Claire. “Trying to get material for his new book.”

“What did he tell you about the boutique?” asks Belle.

“Just that it’s a lady’s boutique and it just opened.”

“Hmmm. They stole a march on us. Maybe we should check it out.”

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Tom gives Lucy a big hug. “I’m so glad you’re finally here. I can’t believe we’re together again after all these years.”

“Oh, Tom. We’ve lost so many years. I don’t know how time has changed either of us.”

“Time has not changed my love for you.”

“But it is different. It’s going to take some adjusting. We can’t really pick up where we left off.”

“No, but now we have the time to get to know each other again.”

“Yes,” says Lucy. “I also want to warn you that there may be a lot of other changes as well.”

“What do you mean?” asks Tom.

“Mama just received some interesting news regarding the Golde fortune.”

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“Welcome to our home, Lucas,” says Marie. “I’m your Aunt Marie. You can call me that for now. This is your Uncle Dan. And these are your cousins. Jacob, Tristan and Rebecca.”

Lucas looks around him, feeling lost.

“You’ll be staying with us for a while,” says Dan. “I think you’ll like it here. You’ll have your cousins to play with. Jacob, why don’t you take Lucas to his room and show him around?”

“Okay, Dad,” says Jacob, a boy of seven. He takes Lucas by the hand and leads him away.

“What do you think?” asks Marie.

“It’s too early to tell,” says Dan. “The first step would be to get him to talk.”

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“Congratulations, Amanda,” says Kimberly Weiss. “When’s the wedding?”

“We haven’t discussed any of the details yet,” says Amanda.

“I’m so jealous. Michael is really cute,” says Kimberly. “I heard you turned down David Golde, though.”

“Considering David and I were never an item, I couldn’t possibly accept any proposal from him.”

“Why not?” asks Kimberly. “If I was dating some guy and David came along and proposed, I wouldn’t hesitate.”

“Then you’d be crazy,” says Amanda.

“Maybe. But think of all that money. I wouldn’t have to work again.”

“That should be the last reason for marrying anyone.”

“Amanda, you’re too old-fashioned. You belong to a totally different generation.”

“Which one?” Amanda jokes.

“Oh, I don’t know. Sometime in the past.”

“That’s funny. Women in the past always seemed to marry for money.”

They both laugh.

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Filed under: All That Glitters