Baltimore, Thursday Afternoon

[soniaroadsqueen]

With no classes on Thursdays, Ringo had decided to take her morning AT run in the city, so she'd left early. And it had been a great run, even if she'd had to be careful not to do anything too visible. No need to draw any official attention, after all. In fact, she'd gotten so caught up in the joy of riding in an actual city that she'd lost track of time and almost forgotten about her deal with Kathy.

Ringo and Kathy had been talking about a shopping trip for quite a while, but just this week they'd handwavily made plans to actually do one. A flurry of text messages had them agreeing to meet up at one of the stores Kathy knew in Baltimore.

She probably still could have made it on time if she hadn't gotten turned around once or twice trying to find the right address. American addresses didn't really make any sense, and she didn't know Baltimore that well, and thank goodness for GPS in phones.

So she arrived a couple of minutes late, face flushed from the rush, with a ripped pair of jeans and a tshirt that were a lot better suited for an AT ride than convincing anyone that she had a real fashion sense.

"Sorry, sorry," she said, already apologizing for making Kathy wait.

[NFB for distance]

Comments

[soniaroadsqueen]

"I know you've been talking about how great she is, but Letty is really impressive." Ringo grinned, shaking her head. "I'm super excited to see what she comes up with!"

She looked over at Kathy with a soft smile. "Seriously," she said softly, "thanks so much for bringing me here. And, you know, for being an awesome friend in general."

[spin_kick_snap]

"It's her passion," Kathy said, giving Ringo a happy smile. "Most of her customers come in here and don't care about what she has to say, even though she knows a whole lot. I'm really glad you came along and you're letting her work her magic."

"Look what I found!" Letty said, holding three dresses. "We're still forming your style, so they might not be as close to what you'd like as normal."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Ooooh," Ringo cooed. "These are pretty." She looked them over. "I like the beads around the waist on this one," she said, holding up the second one in front of herself and doing a little twist back and forth. She pursed her lips as she put that one down and picked up the third one and held it up the same way. "And this one seems, um, I don't know? Classy? Something like that?"

Not often a word people applied to Ringo. Or one that she was particularly concerned with, for that matter.

[spin_kick_snap]

"What do you mean by classy?" Kathy asked. She thought it was nice, sure, but she wasn't seeing it as, like, Jackie O or whatever.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Everyone had different reference points. When Ringo thought 'classy', she thought of her sister Rika. And no one was going to confuse Rika's style with Jackie O's.

"I don't know," Ringo admitted. "It just seems dress-y?" Probably because it was a dress.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy still wasn't entirely sure where Ringo was going with this. "Well, yeah, it's a dress," she said. "A semi-formal one. Do you not like it?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Oh, formal. Maybe that's the word I was looking for?" In Ringo's circles, people didn't really do formal of any level very often. "And it's nice! I've just never worn anything like it before."

[spin_kick_snap]

"It could be," Letty said, encouragingly. "But let's see if we can't get a little more clear here. What about it seems more dressy or formal than, say, the second one?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Hmm." Ringo frowned, thinking through that. "I think it's something about the sleeves, maybe? And the way the neckline moves into them?"

Ringo, dresses weren't formal just because they had sleeves.

[spin_kick_snap]

"The cut of the neckline, maybe?" Letty asked, desperate to try to make sense of this.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Sorry, Letty, that might be hard to do.

"Could be?" Ringo allowed thoughtfully. She looked at the dress again, then sighed. "Sorry I can't really explain it very well."

[spin_kick_snap]

"That's okay," Letty said. "Opinions are subjective. But while you've been trying to explain why you think it's classy, you haven't told us whether or not you like it. Is it too formal? Or would it be something you'd be comfortable in? How do you feel about wearing something like this?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Oh!" That part, at least, Ringo could answer. "It's pretty! I, um, as long as it doesn't look terrible on me, I'd totally wear something like that."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Try it on," Kathy urged. "You need a Homecoming dress anyway."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Okay," Ringo nodded, grinning at the prospect. "But you have to tell me the truth if it doesn't look good on me." No fibbing!

[spin_kick_snap]

"I promise," Kathy assured her.

"Oh honey," Letty said at the same time. "You don't have to worry about that. I won't let you out of my store in anything I don't approve of."

Again, she could just ask Kathy!

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo took a deep breath, then blew it out. "Okay, I'll be right back."

She took the dress back to change. When she came back, it was with a big grin as she twisted side to side to send her skirt swishing. "Well?" she asked, eyes wide and hopeful.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh my gosh, Ringo, you look so good!" Kathy said, clapping. "That is a great color on you! And the cut fits so well!"

"Of course it does," Letty said coolly. "That's why I snagged it. Now, you still have to try on two other dresses, but..." A small smile tugged at her lips. "You may have found your dress, Ringo."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Yay!" Ringo practically preened in pleasure at the compliments. "It feels really nice," she admitted, running her hands down her hips. "And like I look good in it, too!"

Way to go, Letty!

[spin_kick_snap]

Letty was good at her job, dammit.

"Two more dresses," she reminded. "And then you can be sure that's the one."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Yes, ma'am," Ringo said, still grinning. "One of the ones I picked out earlier, maybe? And then one more?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"That will work," Letty said, then looked to Kathy and made little shooing motions with her hands. "You too! Neither of you are leaving until you have suitable candidates for Homecoming dresses!"

"Yes ma'am!" Kathy said, snapping a quick salute and bouncing out of her chair.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo giggled. This was even more fun than she'd thought it would be!