“Try ‘em on!”
Luke wouldn’t shut up about them, and he was driving Sally nuts. She’d put the damn things on when she felt like it.
Giving her a sleazy look, Luke held them out to her. “I wanna see you wearing these sexy things.” The next second he was an excitable boy again. “Wait! Let me put them on you, Sal. Like Cinderella. I can be your Prince Charming.” Camo started barking.
Sally had enough and with her hands over her ears to muffle the barking and stupid talk, she headed for a hot bath. It had been a long, shitty day at work. That’s why she’d finally bought the red stilettos at Maxim’s today instead of simply drooling over them in the window. Her day sucked and she would have those shoes, damn it!
Stilettos! Where the hell did she think she’d wear them? Luke wasn’t a tux or even a suit guy, so unless she wanted to wear them on movie night or tennis Saturdays…What was I thinking? All that money….
As she slipped down under lavender scented bubbles, she tried to let stress drift away, but her mind wouldn’t cooperate. She wished Luke was more perceptive about her mood, but he always wanted to laugh things off and find distractions to cheer her up. She loved him, but sometimes he infuriated her.
Angry that she was wasting the bath and bubbles nitpicking about Luke’s inability to read her mind, she sighed and let herself submerge completely. The music in the living room was only bass rumbles now, and she was surrounded by darkness and warmth. Her body felt weightless and her mind began to follow. She smiled. Who was she kidding? Luke was perfect. They were perfect.
“Sally! Look!”
With a gasp, she inhaled lavender water and coughed violently. Luke’s nervous voice reached her. “Oh, god, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking stupid.”
Finally Sally could breathe again and she tried to slow her heartbeat. She wanted to scream at him, but instead she squeezed her eyes shut and took a big breath. That WAS stupid, Luke. Can’t you see I need…?”
When she opened her eyes, though, she was glad she hadn’t said that aloud. Camo was wearing her new shoes—or rather, her shoes were dangling off of Camo’s rear paws as Luke held him. Suddenly Camo kicked and sent one red stiletto into the sudsy water.
At first dollar signs rolled in front of her like a slot machine window, but then laughter rolled inside her. The look on Luke’s face! He put a squirming Camo down and picked up the other shoe. “I’m such a… I thought I’d make you laugh. You seemed so stressed. And…I’m a fucking idiot.”
But Sally raised a dripping foot displaying one ruined red stiletto. “Give me that other shoe, Prince Charming, get naked, and join me. I want you to make sure they really fit. I’m sure they do, even though they’re not perfect.”
