The worst thing a person can do when going dress shopping is to go alone. There was no way that I am going to go alone so when my mom declines, claiming to be busy (I have no idea what she could be doing, aside from being my mother.) and suggests I take my dear boyfriend instead, I have no choice to ask him so I have a good enough excuse to tell my mom when I go crying back to her so she makes a plan.

Henry does not decline. He doesn't even give me his reason for accepting. His company is better than no one. The last thing I want to do is pick a dress for my best friend's wedding that makes me look weird from behind or a pattern that doesn't flatter my figure. We did not even enter the first shop, Next, when Henry starts to ask about our lunch plans.

"I haven't even tried on one dress and you want to know what's for lunch?" I push the hangers are I go through the racks, looking for something cute to wear or anything that will catch my eye.

"Are we going to pretend that lunch is not the highlight of the day?" Henry hovers behind me while I go through the clothes. I spot a cute top for work and decide against it when I check the price tag. I am on a budget, even if I want to go all out, so I need to say my pennies for the dress. I make a mental note to return for the top if I have leftover money.

"The highlight of your day should be my company." I find a green dress and drape it over my arm and resume my search.

"We passed that highlight, I am looking for the next one." He gives me a cheeky smile. I shake my head, ignoring him. He is not wrong though. The faster we find the dress, the faster we can leave. We came as early as possible to avoid the weekend rush but as the hours pass, the shops will get busier and busier which means queues for the dressing room.

When I have a few dresses, I go to the dressing room and try them on. Some of them look so bad, that I don't bother showing Henry how they look. The green dress I picked first looks better than the others so I show Henry. The dress is long and has a halter neckline and a slit that ends midthigh. It is comfortable, affordable for my budget and cute. Not bad for the first shop.

"It's cute but not like wow. I think we can do better." Henry comments after I do a twirl for him. In hindsight, I should've bought a pair of heels to see if the length of the dress will for me. However, I can find higher heels if that is the case.

"Yeah, it's the first shop," I agree, leaving Next empty-handed. We go to TK Maxx, Debenhams, and John Lewis and still cannot find something that looks good enough for Ava's wedding. The green dress from Next was looking more and more like my only choice. There was just always something lacking.

"Let's go into that shop," Henry guides me towards Monsoon. I am a little reluctant, knowing this place is way out of my budget. However, there is no harm in looking. I browse through the hangers with ease, choosing a few dresses to try on for fun. Henry is not hovering over me, over the past few shops, he's also been looking around. I think he realises the fast we find a dress, the faster we get to eat.

"I'm going to try on these dresses," I tell Henry who is now staring at the belt rack. He glances at me nodding, going back to looking at the belts. I think he has finally given up. I think after this, we should go back to Next so I can buy the green dress. I don't have time to come hunting again since I only gave myself this weekend. I should not have ignored Ava's engagement announcement and I should've started looking from then. At this stage, beggars can't be losers.

The first dress reminds me of cinderella since it is blue and full of ruffles. It is for the cinderella feel that I decide to try the dress on. I do feel like a princess in this dress but as soon as I check the dress, I think I missed my chance with the dress when I was way younger. Cinderella was after all a teenager.

"Doesn't this remind you of Cinderella?" I say after stepping out of the dressing room to give Henry a twirl. This dress is definitely too much for a wedding.

"Are you going to start talking to mice now? I might have to report you," he jokes. The shop assistant watches us with piqued interest. I roll my eyes and go back inside to try on another dress. The next one is bright yellow. It takes forever to put on and the second I put it on, I question why did I even choose it. Wait, I know why, it was the colour. The dress cut is terrible though and makes me look frumpy.

I can hear Henry having a conversation with the shop assistant while I am trying my best to get out of this yellow dress. I am out of the dress when I hear Henry, "Evelyn? Can I give you something to try on?"

With nothing to lose at this point, I agree. I take the dress from him. It's a dark purple colour and I instantly love the colour. I can't believe I didn't spot this while browsing earlier. I am eager to now try this on. The dress slips on with ease, unlike the yellow dress. I zip it up under my arm and step back to see how it looks. The front has a round neck but the back has a v-shape, exposing a little of my back. The dress flows down to my feet, I like this dress.

When I step out of the dressing room, Henry lets out a low whistle, "This is the one. We need to buy it."

"Yes, you need to buy it now. It's the last one in stock. There weren't many made in the first place because of the colour and material," the shop assistant explains.

I am afraid to check the price tag. My face falls when I do. It is out of my budget. I can't afford this dress even if I use the emergency dress funds. My heart yearns for it while my purse screams nope. I don't respond and return to the dressing room. I take a look at myself in the dress one more time in the mirror before taking it off. The green dress from Next looks pale in comparison and now I don't even feel like buying it anymore.

I take all the dresses and hand them to the shop assistant. She asks if I am going to buy any of them and I shake my head. I walk back into the store and go to check the jewellery stand, maybe I can buy something as a consolation prize so that today is not a total waste of time. Then I can finally get food with Henry. He is right, food is about to be the highlight of the day.

"Let's go," Henry says appearing next to me, he throws his arm around my shoulder and guides me out of Monsoon, towards the food court upstairs, "I have the dress, by the way."

"What do you mean?" I stop in the middle of walking, causing the people behind us to grumble. There is enough space to walk around us so I don't even know why they're complaining.

Henry holds up a monsoon bag in his other hand that I missed since I was too busy moping about the dress. My moping turns into shock and then realisation.

"It's too expensive, we need to return it." I reach for the bag, ready to turn around and take it back. I love the dress, except I saw that price tag. I don't think I've ever spent that much money in one go-to on another person who isn't my parents.

"It's a thank you for a free to South Africa gift." Henry holds the bag up, out of my reach.

"If I recall correctly, you were coerced into joining me." At this point, it should be I who is thanking him for keeping me company and saving me from a bunch of awkwardness and pity looks. I am the one who's gaining the most.

"Actually, I was just messing with you. If you lost, I would've gone with you anyway."

"That doesn't change that the dress is too expensive," I argue, but I am getting a little weaker in my conviction. It is not every day someone offers their friends a trip to a foreign country for basically free. It is also not every day that a friend buys extravagant dresses. Henry and I crossed the line of normal friends as soon as he convinced my parents that we are dating.

"So is a week's trip overseas, Evelyn. Just accept my gift," he reasons. Ava is paying for this and there are so many reasons that he is wrong and that we should return the dress. I love the dress and I am weak so I accept it in the end. He doesn't give me the bag though.

"Henry..." He throws his arm around my shoulder again and nudges us towards the food court. It is like he doesn't trust me to not run back to Monsoon and demand they take it back now.

"Come on, I'm hungry and you owe me lunch." At this point, he could order the whole menu and I might be willing to pay. What is lunch in comparison to the gift he just gave me?

~*~  

A relationship is 50-50, the fictionational man buys you your heart desire and you buy him lunch.

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