Chapter 3 - Behind the Curtain I Saved the File
I didn't lower the phone until my arm started to shake. My thumb found the red square and pressed it, and the screen jumped back to my camera roll and showed the thumbnail, me in white with the brown curtain half across the frame. Sixty-three seconds. I stared at the numbers while my breathing stayed too loud in my ears.
Through the gap in the curtain I could see them. Daniel's mother hadn't moved her hand off his arm. Her beige handbag hung from her other wrist and her necklace caught the bright retail light. Daniel stood with his hands clasped in front of his dark navy suit, looking at the floor.
I tapped play with the volume all the way down and watched the captions move. I saw my own mouth form the words I'd said. Keep talking, I'm recording everything. I watched her lean in again after that. No sound came out, but I didn't need it. The file was there. It was saved.
"You need to turn that off," his mother said. Her voice was thinner now, trying to sound normal for the rest of the sales floor. "This is a private family fitting."
"It's off," I said. My voice didn't sound like mine. It sounded flat and careful. "I stopped it."
I pulled the curtain closed the rest of the way. The metal hooks scraped. The little cubicle got smaller, just me and the bench and the gold-framed mirror and three other white gowns hanging in plastic. My white heels were side by side on the carpet where I'd kicked them. The lace of the strapless dress scratched at my ribs every time I breathed.
I set the phone face-down on the bench and started on the back zipper. My fingers wouldn't work right. I had to reach behind me twice before I got a grip. I remember thinking very clearly that I needed my hands free if she tried to come in. I got the zipper down to my lower back and stepped out of the dress and stood there in my strapless bra and underwear, cold under the bright lights.
My street clothes were folded on the hook. Dark jeans, a gray T-shirt, my sneakers. I pulled them on fast. I left the white heels out. I wasn't going to walk out barefoot and I wasn't going to cram my feet back into sneakers with shaking hands and then carry the heels. I slipped my feet into the heels and felt steadier, stupid as that sounds. The price tag from the dress hung off the hanger now, and I folded it over so it wouldn't tear.
I picked up the phone again. Light-colored case, a little smudged from my palms. I opened the files app and checked that the video had actually written, not just the thumbnail. It was there, with today's date and the time. I moved it into a second folder and watched the little check mark appear. Then I slipped it into my front jeans pocket and zipped the pocket shut. I could feel the rectangle press against my hip.
I pushed the curtain back.
She was right there. Closer than I'd expected. Daniel was a step behind her near the gold mirrors, still in his suit and tie, still silent.
"Give me that phone," she said. She held out her hand, palm up, like this was settled. "Recording people without asking is rude, honey. Delete it and we can start this appointment over."
I stepped back before I even thought about it. My shoulder hit the cubicle frame.
"No," I said.
Her eyes flicked down to my jeans pocket. She reached, quick, fingers toward my hip where the shape showed through the denim. I turned my side away and caught her wrist without grabbing hard, just enough to stop her. Her beige handbag swung and bumped my arm.
"Don't," I said.
Daniel finally looked up. "Mom," he said. That was all. Just her title, low. He didn't move toward either of us.
I picked up the dress carefully off the bench, holding it by the hanger so the lace wouldn't drag. My sneakers dangled by their laces from my other hand. I walked past both of them toward the hallway where the associate kept the hold rack. The carpet changed to tile under my heels and the sound got sharper.
The associate met me halfway, smiling and then not smiling when she saw my face. "How did we do?" she asked.
I held out the dress. "Can you put this on hold? I'm not purchasing today," I said. "Keep the tag on it. Same size."
She took it, glanced past me at Daniel and his mother coming up the hallway, and nodded. "Of course. I'll mark it hold for seven days, no charge. Name for the hold?"
I gave her my name and my number. She wrote it on the tag and hung the dress on the rack by the back wall with two others. I watched her do it so I'd remember exactly where it was.
His mother came up beside me, breathing a little fast. "You're making a scene over nothing," she said under her breath. "You misheard."
May you like
I zipped my pocket again even though it was already zipped. I could feel the phone solid against my leg.
"I need air," I said. "I'm going outside."
