While a fat cloud of fear hung over Maeve, fat, cheery cherubs in silken robes must have been floating over Melanie's head. Maeve could have sworn she had seen the plump wolf's eyes turn into hearts every time she turned to look at Ryan from the passenger seat. Her apprehension over the schemes of the witches and vampires was already doused before the day was over, but for Maeve, they only grew more stalwart.
As the three disembarked from the stalker mobile, Maeve anxiously noted every character that passed them. Her mind had somehow conjured the idea that her enemies would be lying in wait at the front of every clothing store since clearly, only vampires, wolves, and maybe even the witches would have any demand for new clothes with the Vales Gathering approaching.
And indeed, the purpose of the trio's drive downtown was to look for nice getups. Ryan, of course, accompanied the two ladies. His mood was somewhere in between Maeve's sombreness and Melanie's excitement.
The throngs of open stores with displays of pretty dresses that might have been stolen from the Middle Ages and fashion statements for the next several decades were a little intimidating for Ryan. He sighed as Melanie pulled him into the store right in front of them, aptly named Modern Loom and Gleam; its displays had quite some interesting clothing designs, some bordering on glorified nudity.
"What do you recommend for us to wear?" Maeve asked Ryan after Melanie excitedly ran off to harass one of the store workers.
"You're asking me?" Ryan looked annoyed.
"You can't even give a reference? You should know a lot more about this Vales Gathering stuff than me, shouldn't you?"
"What gave you that impression? You should be asking Aaron about all that not me."
Maeve scoffed.
"Spoken like someone who's never had a girlfriend before. Actually, I can see it in your eyes now. You've never been the judge of any girl's outfits, have you?"
Ryan glared at her.
"Nice try. Are all girls equipped with the ability to convert fear into blabber?"
Maeve tensed. Ryan had her.
"I'm not here to be your punching bag. If you're nervous about something just admit it and we can work from there," he said, and he drew closer to her. "Now that we're on the subject, I do wonder. There's more to the Vales Gathering than just fancy clothes and makeup, you know? What have you decided when it comes to Stephen? You'll be meeting him for the first time, all dolled up. You won't be able to hiss and scratch at him like you do to me with all the witches and vampires around."
Maeve felt a cold sweat slide down her back. Suddenly, the mirror a few meters behind Ryan seemed much easier to look at than his face.
She hadn't considered it.
Maeve was of course affronted at the idea of being supported by Aaron's brother, Stephen, but she had not considered that on top of looking pretty and pansy, she had to act like it. Even if she rejected him, she couldn't be rough and crude; the problem was, she didn't know any other way to reject people she judged to be douchebags.
'Fuck me…' She felt a headache coming on. It grew worse when Melanie approached them with a petite woman dressed in a blouse branded with the store's logo.
"Hey!" said Melanie excitedly as she grasped Maeve's stiff, sweaty hand. "This is Mallory." She pointed at the petite woman. "She knows her stuff. I vetted her. She literally knows everything about dressing for occasions. She's even been recommended by that movie studio, BC. Since we won't be able to get anything custom-made in time for the Vales Gathering, let's see what she chooses for us."
The woman, Mallory, gave a polite smile and shook Maeve's hand. She wiped the sweat with her jean afterwards and expressed her perfunctory joy at them choosing Modern Loom and Gleam.
She looked at Ryan, who had been planning to sneak off to the chairs in the waiting section of the store.
"I assume he is with you," she said to Melanie and Maeve.
Maeve's nostrils flared.
"Oh yes, he's with us." She might have been the devil's bride with the smile she wore. "He's paying for everything so he better stick around to see the price tags."
"Excellent!" Mallory said and clapped before Ryan could protest. His frown was god-like. "Come and see some of the more popular dresses we have. If you are willing to crush your torso, we have some breathable corsets. I believe they suit the description of the event you told me about."
It was an arduous three and a half hours for both Maeve and Ryan. Melanie was having the time of her life, changing outfits, changing accessories, complaining about how fat she was. She revealed at the hour-and-a-half mark into the outfit trials that she had actually intended to have them scout all the stores in the street, but Mallory and Modern Loom's collection of fashion had gone above and beyond her expectations.
A deep interrogation later, though, told Maeve that Melanie had been lying. She had deliberately chosen the most expensive-looking store, and she knew Modern Loom and Gleam in and out. Maeve found that Melanie might have even known Mallory before today.
In the end, Ryan coughed up a lot of money to pay for the outfits Maeve and Melanie bought. To be sure, Aaron had told him to do so, but Ryan must have been hoping to get away with not helping either of the two – perhaps Maeve especially – in a monetary fashion. It was his own money he was using, after all.
"I hope the adjustments are just as I imagined. Oh, I can't wait to see how I look in the full diamond set necklace. I will literally cry if I look anything less than Lady DarDar in her Just Prance music video," Melanie said as they were driving home.
The outfits Maeve and Melanie bought would be adjusted finely according to Melanie's vision. She had decided to add all sorts of things that she said would make the clothing pop. Maeve had to agree – something was going to pop alright.
"That was exhausting," she said as she rested her head against the car window. Ryan scoffed.
"Come on. It wasn't that bad," Melanie said with a giggle. "This isn't just to look pretty, you know? First impressions mean everything, and they don't just portray outer beauty. A dress can convey a woman's preferences and personality. It's the first gateway into who she is."
Maeve turned to look at Melanie.
"I never thought of it that way," she said, genuinely stumped that she never considered fashion as anything other than a show of false beauty. "And here I had you design mine to the last detail. Oh, for fuck's sake."
Melanie wore a sheepish smile.
"That…might not be a bad thing," she said.
Ryan seconded that opinion.
"Damn right."
Maeve frowned. Those two words said a lot and they prompted quite a lot in her mind.
She thought once again about Stephen. She had brushed him off to the side at some point, but he really was a big shot. She couldn't dismiss him rashly at the Vales Gathering.
What would she do?
What was he even like?
Maeve thought to ask Ryan, but she held her tongue. This was the sort of thing she'd rather ask Aaron, but as things stood, she was likely to see him next at the Vales Gathering.