Love or Lust (LOL): Part 3

“Here,” I say, handing her the note Lennon left me this morning. “I thought you might want to see this.”

Bella slowly opens the note, reads it, and then shoves it in her purse for safekeeping. “That was sweet.”

“I thought so.”

“I guess we know who I’m really shopping for today,” she says, chuckling at her own joke.

It’s beenfour hours and I’ve only managed to find two dresses that I might buy and a pair of shoes that sort of match one of them. We started at the lingerie store, Bella picking out a few pieces while I browsed the racks. Nothing caught my eye, and I walked away empty-handed, unlike Bella.

It’s been hell getting through the stores with all the cameras following us. The cameras made the other shoppers curious, and then someone recognized us, and a crowd suddenly surrounded us.

They wanted autographs.

From me! And Bella.

For real? Why? It’s not like I’m a famous person or anything. I’m on a stupid reality TV show. Still, I appeased the masses and signed random scraps of paper and receipts until the last person in the crowd walked away.

It set us behind. I expected us to be done and back on the ranch an hour ago at the latest. Yet here we are. Each in a dressing room trying to find something to wear.

“I have ten dresses I can choose from. I don’t care that I’ve worn them before. I’m sick of trying on clothes,” I say as I slip another dress over my head, the last I picked out. This one is navy blue, silk, and drapes perfectly on my figure. It’s simple yet elegant. Paired with the right necklace and shoes, it’ll look even better.

“I think I’ve found the one I want to get,” Bella says, ignoring my outburst. Turning in the mirror to get a better look at the dress, I hear the door to her stall open, and then she knocks on mine. “Come out here so I can show you.”

Her voice is filled with excitement. It amazes me that after being here for so long she can still be in a great mood.

That’s the difference between us, though. She always views the glass as half full whereas I see it as half empty. She will find the positive in any situation, whereas I focus on the negative.

And like Lennon, she’s the silent type, but when she does speak, it’s with purpose.

When I finally step out of the stall, I find Bella standing in front of a series of mirrors, admiring herself from every angle. There’s a smile on her face that shows how much she loves the dress but, more importantly, how amazing she feels in it.

She looks stunning.

“It’s perfect,” I state, leaning against the wall.

Bella makes eye contact with me in the mirror, and her smile grows.

“You look beautiful. That color really brings out your eyes,” she says, turning to face me.

I hadn’t noticed, but as I look over her shoulder at my reflection, my attention is drawn to my eyes. The light golden honey of my hair already brought out my ocean-blue eyes but adding the dark navy as a contrast makes them even brighter. Once I add dark eyeliner and mascara, they’ll be highlighted even more.

“Thanks,” I reply. “You’re getting that one, right? I think it’s exactly the kind of dress Lennon had in mind for you.”

The sweetheart neckline accentuates her cleavage along with thin straps that crisscross in the back. The bust of the dress is pleated to a high waistline and features a band of beautiful beads and jewels that wrap around her body. The hem of the dress rests on top of her feet in the front but is slightly longer in the back. If her dress were white instead of a soft blush-colored pink, it could be mistaken for a wedding dress.

“I hope so. I’m in love with it.”

We both step back into our respective dressing rooms to change as we discuss where we want to go next. I need jewelry to accent my new dress along with shoes. Bella needs the same, and she wants to find something to put in her hair since she plans to pull it back and tie it low at the base of her neck.

With our dresses slung over our arms, we’re browsing the jewelry department when my phone starts ringing in my purse.

“What are you doing right now?” Naomi asks as I’m saying hello.

“Shopping with Bella. Why?”

Bella looks over at the mention of her name for a brief second before asking the lady behind the counter to show her a different hair comb.

“You’re trending everywhere. You and Bella. People are posting pictures of you two shopping.”