Sylvia led Beth down a pedestrian-only stretch of Via della Spigga in the fashion district of Milan, watching her friend stare in awe at all the designer clothes displayed in the windows as they passed. Her friend's expression was priceless, like that of one of the kids on Christmas morning.
When they arrived at a little haut couture boutique called "Esperenza Design", Sylvia grinned proudly and opened the door for Beth, then laughed when she heard her friend gasp and followed her inside.
At first glance, it appeared as if the shop had very little stock. Most of the dresses in the boutique were on mannequins, only a few hung on hangers along the wall. But it only took an observer with a discerning eye to realize each dress was a one-of-a-kind original. No two were alike, and none were like anything found in any other shop anywhere in the world, like the works of a master painter hanging in an exclusive art gallery.
Syl approached a sales girl dressing a new mannequin for a window display and exchanged a few words, before the girl nodded and waved them towards a door at the back of the shop. Smiling, Syl thanked her and led Beth to her mother's work room.
Esperenza sputtered some Spanish, dropping some of the pins she held in her mouth at the sight of her daughter coming through the door. Turning away from her current project, a white wedding dress loosely draped over a dress-form mannequin, she welcomed them with a smile so bright it was almost blinding.
"Sylvia! Where have you been? You don't visit enough, niña!" Quickly taking the remaining pins out of her mouth and stabbing them into a pin cushion on a nearby work bench, she came over and hugged her girl long and hard, before turning to Beth. "And you must be la niña who's stolen Neil's heart that I've heard so much about. Ah, muy guapa!" She hugged Beth as warmly as she had hugged her own daughter. "But then I wouldn't expect anything less from that heartbreaker."
"Moooom," Sylvia hissed under her breath, "You're being embarrassing."
Esperenza waved her hand with a hearty laugh, "Nonsense, chica! I don't embarrass you enough! If you visited more often, then the embarrassment would be stretched out much thinner and it wouldn't be so painful. Now, ven, ven!" She grinned, as she ushered them back into the front of the store. "I bet there are many dresses you want to see before you have to go!"
Wild Horses (Aniela)
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Sighing, Aniela leaned into Goliath, resting her chin on her folded arms as
she lay them against the crest of his neck. His ears twitched as he
detected he...
14 years ago
Beth nudged Sylvia in the ribs with a giggle as she readjusted the sunglasses on her head. ‘Your mom… is AWESOME!’ she whispered, as her fell on a beautiful red dress made of exquisite material. Running her fingers along it, she smiled as she thought of all the places she could wear something like this.
ReplyDelete‘Sylvia… this stuff is amazing! Why didn’t you tell me this is what your Mom does?’ Beth said in awe as she looked at Sylvia who was looking at another dress. Beth really wasn’t looking for a response to her question as they were interrupted by Esperenza murmuring stuff in Spanish, with a measuring tape in her hand and pins her mouth again. Beth looked at Sylvia bewildered as Beth was instructed to raise her arms and her waist was measured.
Esperenza pointed to the red dress that Beth had been eyeing off earlier and with pins her mouth attempted to gesture an explanation that she was measuring Beth in respect to that dress. Beth nodded in understanding and gave a bemused look at Sylvia. ‘So... this place is beautiful, how long have you been here?’ Beth asked Esperenza as Sylvia’s mom continued to do the measurements.
"This place?" Esperenza chuckled as she pulled the pins out of her mouth to reply. "Only a few years, chica. Es muy difícil to get a store front in this part of Milan. My main boutique is actually in Toronto. Una bonita tienda on Queen St. not far from Chinatown. Now that place I had a mucho long time, ever since I retired from modelling and moved back to Canada. You like the red dress, si?" She motioned to the sales girl, who nodded and began to undress the mannequin that wore it. "You go try it on, niña. See how it fits, then I will make adjustments."
ReplyDeleteWhile Beth put on the dress in the change room, Syl and her mother did some catching up (most of which resulted in Sylvia rolling her eyes and shaking her head).
When her friend emerged from the change room, Syl whistled, impressed at the apparent fit. Esperenza, with her trained designer's eye, however was not, and clicked her tongue in disappointment as she raced up to Beth, armed again with pins and a measuring tape. "No, no, no. Madre de dios! It is too tight around the chest. Your bust es muy saludable. If only you could give some to my Sylvia."
This last statement elicited a mortified "Moooom!" from her daughter, but Esperenza continued on without missing a beat, as she pulled out a piece of chalk from her pocket and began to mark on the dress where she needed to make changes. "I will need to let out the top," she nodded to herself. "A good dress needs to caress and support your bust, especially one as abundante as yours, chica, not confine and restrict it. It is much like a good lover in that regard, si?" She winked at Beth, while Sylvia squirmed in embarrassment behind her.
Pausing a moment, Syl's mother stepped back and waved her hand in a spinning motion to indicate Beth should turn around. As Beth spun, Esperenza observed the dress carefully to see how it hung and flowed around her body.
"Hmmm, I think I should raise the hemline, too," she said as she approached to make another measurement. "We need to give Neil incentive to keep his eyes from wandering, no?"
As Beth tried on the dress, she grinned at how gorgeous felt against her skin and how beautiful it made her feel. She cracked up at the subtle jab; Esperenza made toward Sylvia’s bust and held her bust up as she was measured. ‘I paid enough for these babies...’ Beth said nodding down to her large bust with a laugh.
ReplyDeleteAs Esperenza measured the hem and made a comment about Neil’s eye from wandering, Beth laughed. ‘Oh don’t need to worry about that Mrs Mendoza. I got Mr Johnson on a very tight leash...’ she said with a wink. The statement was completely false as anyone that had Neil on any sort of leash obviously had kinky plans in the bedroom. The bond that had been forged between Neil and Beth was something so intense, that it was like a force field that came into play whenever they were remotely close to each other.
‘It’s a gorgeous piece...’ Beth said fingering the material as it hugged at her slim waist, ‘I don’t even think I’ve ever seen anything as gorgeous as this...’ Beth looked up at Syl who was leaning in the door frame, her expression priceless from the number of burns her mother had laid out single-handedly without skipping a beat. ‘You should grab something for a nice time out with John.’ Beth said gesturing over at the pieces. ‘You guys haven’t gone out much since Cabot was born!’
Esperenza clapped her hands in glee at the mention of children and requested to see pictures of the babies. Beth chuckled as she flipped her iPopo and scrolled through to Jesse’s folder and stood next to Syl’s mom showing off photos from Jesse as a newborn to now, eleven months on. Some of the photos showed Neil doting on his youngest son, and the couple together sharing kisses with infant Jesse in Beth’s arms. The last photo, which was Beth’s screen saver, was Jesse and Cabot on the floor side by side playing. ‘That’s my favourite. They are adorable together...’ Beth grinned, her cheeks flushing at the mention of Jesse. Esperenza patted Beth’s cheek and turned to Sylvia to see photos of Faith and Cabot. With a tsk and a small murmur of Spanish, Beth figured that there were comments about how big Faith had gotten and how she was a young lady now. As the ladies gushed over the photos, Beth giggled. Typing a quick text message to Cowboy, ‘Miss you loads my love...’ her attention was taken by Syl’s mother taking more measurements, waving Syl to the garments on the show floor to take another look.
‘She definitely needs an outfit...’ Beth agreed, giving Esperenza a wink.