Chapter 4, Part 8
After driving round the multi story twice she eventually managed to find a place on the open top floor just about as far from the lifts as it was possible to park. Looking at her watch she realised that she really only had about an hour of shopping time available. The weather had started to drizzle and she just prayed, ‘Oh Lord, please don’t let my tan run,’ and made her way onto the Promenade and into ‘Earth,’ a shop run mostly for sizes 8 to 14, although if you were an 8 or 14 you would be hard pressed to find anything that wasn’t either outrageously young (size 8), or depressingly staid (size 14). Fortunately she was a large 10 or small 12 and so had high hopes. Hopes that would of course be dashed. You can only ever find the perfect dress when you don’t actually need it. If you have nowhere to go, are reducing and are a 12 today, but will definitely be a 10 next week, in the first shop that you visit will be a stunning size 12 (small 12) dress sitting on the rails, reduced to half price with no flaws, probably even have a matching handbag available. Not today. She did not even manage to find a dress to try on; not that she would try anything on in case her new tan had not completely dried and stained the clothes; there was just nothing. Off to ‘Girl’ the boutique two doors further up the Promenade, just the other side of Monsoon and Habitat, where she stopped to look in the window remembering that she needed some new candles.
After driving round the multi story twice she eventually managed to find a place on the open top floor just about as far from the lifts as it was possible to park. Looking at her watch she realised that she really only had about an hour of shopping time available. The weather had started to drizzle and she just prayed, ‘Oh Lord, please don’t let my tan run,’ and made her way onto the Promenade and into ‘Earth,’ a shop run mostly for sizes 8 to 14, although if you were an 8 or 14 you would be hard pressed to find anything that wasn’t either outrageously young (size 8), or depressingly staid (size 14). Fortunately she was a large 10 or small 12 and so had high hopes. Hopes that would of course be dashed. You can only ever find the perfect dress when you don’t actually need it. If you have nowhere to go, are reducing and are a 12 today, but will definitely be a 10 next week, in the first shop that you visit will be a stunning size 12 (small 12) dress sitting on the rails, reduced to half price with no flaws, probably even have a matching handbag available. Not today. She did not even manage to find a dress to try on; not that she would try anything on in case her new tan had not completely dried and stained the clothes; there was just nothing. Off to ‘Girl’ the boutique two doors further up the Promenade, just the other side of Monsoon and Habitat, where she stopped to look in the window remembering that she needed some new candles.