The Fated Bond

The Perfect Outfit Part 2

[Violet’s POV]

The world around me seems to almost disappear as mine and Lance’s faces and bodies in the mirror become all I can see, and before I realize it, my heart begins to beat for the man beside me.

Gasping, I pull away while the fear of him hearing it hits me, and when I turn to try to come up with some excuse as to why I pulled away from his touch, Lance just stares at me.

“Sorry,” he says, lifting a hand and examining it like he doesn’t quite understand what just happened. “I shouldn’t have crossed boundaries.”

“No!” I hiss, though I know I’ve already ruined the moment. “It wasn’t that… It was just…”

Just what, Violet? I demand inwardly. You were afraid he was going to feel your heartbeat, so you pulled away? Or for a moment you thought that maybe, just maybe, something could become of your relationship with him and got ahead of yourself? Don’t be ridiculous!

“It’s alright.” Lance says, giving me that cool, easygoingsmile. “Let’s just focus on finding the right dress.”

“Y-yeah,” I say, though I suddenly don’t feel in the mood. “I’ll go in and change.”

I don’t say anything more as I turn and head into the dressing room, where I collapse on the bench and bury my face in my hands while an inner battle begins to take place.

Should I go on the date when it was clear I could be developing feelings for Lance, or should I maybe try to use these matchmaking opportunities as a chance to get closer to him? I mean, he did say that I should have more confidence in myself and go for what I wanted, and right now… I think what I wanted was him.

As this thought hits, my heart skips a beat, and I realize somewhere deep down that even if I did think that I would have a chance, there was a good possibility that he would end up rejecting me. But how would I know if I didn’t at least give it a shot? But then what about my date?

Dammit. This was frustrating. I needed to get it together before Lance caught on to me.

“Right,” I announce, lifting my head and fixing my gaze on the remaining dresses in front of me. “Focus on the dresses, and then maybe invite him to dinner.”

Settling on this, I go through the motions of trying on the next dress, and to my surprise, it actually looks good on me. It’s a simple purple dress with a black belt that fits my body perfectly and, if I dare say, even makes my breasts look extra perky. I like it, and I know that this is the one, but I couldn’t help but wonder what Lance would think.

One way to find out. I tell myself, plastering a smile on my face, and then head out where the man in question is waiting.

“Oh,” he gasps, smiling. “I think we’ve found the one. What do you think?”

“I think it’s perfect.” I agree. Doing a little twirl while his icy blue gaze stays locked on me, drinking me in like I’m some delicious thing that he's never laid eyes on before, and when I see a flash of desire there that disappears almost immediately, I feel my courage growing. “I’ll buy this one.” I continue, smiling. “And afterwards would you…”

I don’t get the chance to finish my words before the sound of a phone ringing reaches me, and when Lance juts his hand into his pocket, I know that it is his. Instantly, my curiosity is piqued as I wonder who would be calling him while he’s with me, and when he answers and I hear another woman’s voice on the line, I feel my heart squeeze painfully.

“Sorry,” he says, giving me a look of apology. “I need to take this. Would you mind waiting for a moment?”

Opening my mouth, I prepare to tell him no. I don’t want to wait for him to talk to another woman when he is supposed to be spending time with me, but I stop because I don’t have a reason to do so.

What was he to me aside from my love coach and the person who was helping me find my better half because I took a ridiculous leap?

“No,” I say instead, nodding. “You go ahead while I change and ring this up.”

“Sure,” he says before turning and heading out of the shop; all the while his mouth is moving as he talks animatedly to the person on the other end.

When he is out of sight, I feel myself deflating while wondering who on earth was on the line to make him talk like that when he didn’t talk like that to me. Was it maybe someone he was interested in? Maybe a girlfriend? A fling? Or maybe even a fiancé.

If I thought about it carefully, he never really talked about his personal life with me, so I didn’t know a thing.

“Right.” I whisper, feeling like a fool. “I don’t know anything about Lance. For all I know, he is only being this nice to me because I’m paying him to be.”

I needed to remember that to him this was a job that needed to be completed, and I didn’t need to make things difficult for him by crossing boundaries. Maybe he did everything he did with me with his other clients, and I was just being overly cocky.

“Do you need some help, ma’am?” A sales lady asks, coming up to me and making me realize that I was standing lamely in the middle of the store. “Do you need help removing the dress or…”

“No,” I say quickly, shaking my head. “No, sorry, I was just thinking. Sorry for making you worry.”

“It’s no problem.” The woman responds smiling. “But if you do need anything, please don’t hesitate to tell me. You see,” she continues, moving closer to me and lowering her voice. “Lance is one of our best customers. He brings in all his women and helps them pick out things just like you, so I always do my best to keep them happy and keep him coming back.”

Finished speaking, she smiles and pats my shoulder before heading off, her hips sashaying, her lips fixed in a smirk that screams "poor thing," and before I can make any more of a fool of myself, I rush into the dressing room where I can lick my wounds in peace.