Gourmet Steele(unedited)
by Suejue
(Slim pickings in the trash at PAX, but I did find this)
Wearing a terry robe, Laura emerged as if on stage in front of Mildred and Miss Dix. In her hands she held up a red dress in one hand and a black, skimpy, spaghetti strap number in her other. "Which one do you think?" Laura asked, holding the black one in front of her body followed by the red.
"First date?" Miss Dix asked. Laura nodded. "Then I'd go with the black one. That will make quite an impression. You might get lucky with that one." Miss Dix winked.
Laura was taken back by the brazen implication in the older woman's statement, "I hardly know him, I don't know if that's the impression I want to give yet," Laura responded.
"Oh ho, that black one will get Mr. Steele's attention too," Mildred added with a wink.
<What is with all this winking?> Laura thought to herself. <Am I wearing a sign that I havent had sex in a very long time?>
"Mildred!" Laura scolded, "That is not my concern. Bill is my date this evening." She closed the curtain emphatically.
Once closed, Mildred turned to Miss Dix to explain, "She and Mr. Steele are very close. They need to forget all this business about dating other people. I just hope they'll get back together soon."
Laura looked in vain through her closet one more time. The trick was to find the balance; to look nice for Bill, but not too nice; to look successful for Eliose, but not competitive and to look...hell, she didn't know how she wanted to look for Mr. Steele. Mildred was right though. She was dressing primarily for him. She wanted to take his breath away and knock his socks off at the same time. The added bonus would be that he would think she wore that dress for Bill not him . <God, when did I become a manipulative character from Dynasty?> Laura hated herself for even thinking of playing that game. She put the black dress back for that reason. "Red it is," she muttered to herself.
(FADE TO BLACK)