Penny threw another shirt onto the pile on the bed. She was pacing back and forth between the bathroom and closet mirrors like a squirrel collecting nuts. She curled out her bottom lip and exhaled quickly, sending her bangs into the air for a moment. She looked into her full walk-in closet, “There is nothing to wear!”
Penny grabbed a navy blue dress with medium white polka dots all over and pulled it off of the rack, laying it flat against the rest of the hanging clothes. “Too flirty.” She tossed it toward the bed and pulled out another dress for scrutiny. “Too shiny.” She selected and then disregarded another 5 dresses before returning to her pacing. The decision was tricky; she didn’t want to seem to anxious, but also wanted to still draw some of his attention. If it was just a normal date, she would have chosen the polka dot dress and known that she would have had his full attention. The trouble was, this wasn’t a normal date, it was an invitation to a group outing. She wasn’t sure how many people would be attending, but she still wanted to get his attention. After all, she was sure that she wanted him.
“There you are,” said Penny as she dug through the back corner of the closet, pulling out a gray cotton dress and wide leather belt, holding it up against her body as she strolled out to the nearest mirror. “Needs a splash of color. I know,” she reached up onto the top shelf and pulled out a thin yet vibrant red scarf. She held the whole outfit up, dangling the scarf between her chin and neck. “I can work with this.”
She undid the belt and tossed it and the scarf onto the bed before stripping the dress of its hanger and pulling it over her head. The dress easily slipped over her matching black bra and underwear. She grabbed the belt and strapped it around her waist, fitting it loose so it rested on her hips to accentuate her figure. She gave the dress a few quick tugs on the hem to straighten out the fabric and then reached for the scarf. She walked over to the bathroom mirror before double-wrapping the scarf around her neck. She created a loop with one end and slipped the other end through it, pulling it through with little effort so it would bunch loosely.
Her makeup was subtle, but an extra touch of blush highlighted her cheekbones over the scarf’s color. She puckered her lips with an audible pop, and smiled wide. She would have to be subtle, but if she played her cards right, by the end of the night he would be hers.
This is part of a 30 day series of 2-3 minute short stories written for the 30 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, 2011. You can view all the stories in the Short Story A Day category.