“That was made for Nicole Redding for a scene in Washington Square. But it ended up on the cutting room floor.”
Trudy wrinkled her nose and very carefully stuck it back on the rack. “Oh! Look at this,” she said, and withdrew a knee-length, turquoise blue sheath from the rack, held it up to her body, and twirled around to the mirror. “This is gorgeous. And this would look absolutely fabulous on me.”
“Actually, it would look fabulous on her,” Beverly said, and gingerly took the gown from Trudy and handed it to Leah. Leah had no compunction about stepping directly in front of a gaping Trudy at the mirror and ignoring Trudy’s protest that she found the gown first. She held it up to her. It was beautiful. She could just imagine Michael’s face when he saw her in this, the little smile lines around his eyes, his eyes going dark—
“Try it on,” Beverly urged her, and pointed to a curtained area.
“I don’t think I could fit into that in my wildest dreams.”
“You are a little big through the hip,” Beverly said, eyeing her critically, but then she smiled. “I can alter it. Just try it.”
For the chance to try it on, Leah could ignore the hip comment, and stepped behind the curtain Beverly indicated and started peeling off her clothes. But as she was struggling to pull the gown up over her hips (she did seem a little big through there), she heard Beverly ask Trudy how long Michael and Leah had been an item.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Trudy said. “They used to be in love, and they broke up, but then they found each other again, completely by accident, and it’s love again. Isn’t that wild?”
“It’s really wild. The last time I spoke to Mike, he was seeing Nicole.”
Great, that one again, Leah thought. Trudy must have given Beverly a look, because she quickly said, “Oh, I don’t mean anything. It’s just interesting, because Michael . . . well, he’s a good friend of mine, but let’s just say he gets around. And they always think he’s the one. I think even Nicole thought he was the one.”
“Huh, that’s interesting,” Trudy said, and Leah could tell by the pitch of her voice that she was uncomfortable, “because Leah is the one. He told her so.”
Oh nononono, Trudy, don’t do that! Leah silently begged her. In some respects, L.A. was a tiny little town, and remarks like that got around.
“I’m not saying she isn’t,” Beverly graciously agreed. “It’s just that he’s such a great guy, and he’s so charming and handsome, and I was just making a point that a lot of his dates think that it’s a bigger deal than it is.”
“Well, this is the real deal,” Trudy said emphatically.
“That’s great!” Beverly responded, and it seemed to Leah that she was getting a little irritated with Trudy.
Leah managed to get the dress on and zipped it up as far as she could before flinging the curtain open. “Ta-da!” she sang.
Trudy squealed with excitement. “It’s gorgeous! You’re gorgeous!” she cried.
“Can you zip it?” Leah asked, hobbling around in the skin-tight sheath.
Beverly tried with a lot of huffing and puffing and finally said, “I can’t zip it all the way. I’ll have to alter it.”
Leah took a deep breath and, holding her arms wide to keep herself from teetering over, turned around.
Both Trudy and Beverly stood back and nodded. “Perfect,” Trudy said.
“The dress was made for Renée Zellweger, but you’re a lot bigger than her. You might want to think of losing a few pounds,” Beverly added.
“Thanks,” Leah said.
Beverly grinned. “So what do you think? Do you like it?”
What Leah thought couldn’t be put into words. She felt transformed. The dress was absolutely beautiful. It had a plunging neckline, open to the waist, and a bare back. It was belted at the waist, and a slim sheath hugged her to the knees. It was definitely movie-star fantastic, and Leah felt like a million bucks in it.
“Let me make some quick measurements, and we’ll get you some breathing room,” Beverly said, and walked away, leaving Trudy and Leah alone.
Trudy smiled broadly, nodding her approval. “Girl, you are going to knock his socks off.”
Leah smiled.
“Don’t worry about Beverly,” Trudy whispered. “She’s jealous.”
Beverly reappeared with a yellow tape measure and a bit of chalk. She made several marks on the dress then promised to have it ready by Friday afternoon, just in time for the premiere.
“Thank you so much,” Leah said, shaking Beverly’s hand.
“It’s my pleasure,” Beverly said. “Michael is such a good friend.”
As they walked outside, and Trudy paused to light up a smoke, she said, “I have the distinct impression that Beverly wants to be really good friends with Michael.”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
“I am not.”
“You are.”