Chapter 17 - Deal with the devil

"Oh, that's really excellent, really excellent!"

Lily was sure that was just a sales pitch. She tugged a bit on the dress. Actually, she was't in a mood. She swung unhappily in front of the mirror. It was already the fourth dress she had to wear.

She looked exhaustedly at the seven other dresses Alexandre had chosen for her. And in every dress she would look good.

Lily was sure that the sales assistant would not just sing the same slogan for every customer. No, she would repeat it for every single dress, like a broken recorder. Lily was tired of the compliments.

The situation wouldn't get easier. Damn it! Why would everyone start to stare when she came out of the fitting room? That just made her more nervous.

She did not want to step out of the dressing room. She already knew how they would look at her. She didn't like it. She would have loved to hide here. She never wanted to leave the dressing room.

Once again she looked in the mirror. Spotted her pale reflection in a long lavender A-line dress. It had a tattoo lace high collar and long airy sleeves that were separated by a slit in the middle and held together at her wrist by a lilac ribbon. The same lilac-colored ribbon emphasized her narrow waist and tied to a butterfly bow at the back.

Actually, the dress looked okay. She did not have to worry about anything. The author really did not spare her beauty, even though she was just a side character. The dress nestled like a glove over her breasts and gently followed her curve of her waist and hips in a perfect line and fell silky to the ground. The fabric was some kind of silk blend, Lily guessed. That's why it fitted so perfectly in the right places and at the same time flowed down her silhouette.

"You must buy it!" The sales assistant fluted and looked down over her shoulder at her reflection. Lily nodded. She could also put on a sack and still would look good, she thought morosely. Lily looked at her reflection. The dress was pretty. She looked good in it. What was holding her back? Even if she would try on other dresses she would not find satisfaction today. It was her mood. The clothes wasn't at fault.

It was like pulling off a plaster. Fast and painless. She stepped out of the fitting room.

"Could you buy my this dress?" She looks at him with puppy eyes. She had perfected it when she was little. She had stood in front of the mirror and had practiced for hours. Until she mastered her puppy eyes perfectly. No one could refuse her if she looked so cute. She was so damn cute. This cuteness was irresistible. Only a few were immune. Even her granny had difficulty resisting her puppy eyes.

She had chosen only this one dress. She did not want to try any more. She used her cuteness as a weapon to enforce her will.

"Is that all?" Asked Alexandre. Lily nodded. Her eyes wide open. Pouted. Head slightly inclined to the side. Fingers played lost with the cloth.

She gazed softly at Alexandre. Lily was so confident of her victory. Nobody could resist her puppy eyes. But Alexandre's look remains hard. Examining, he let his eyes wander over Lily.

"If you do me a favor, we leave it at that." His lips twist into a beaming smile. Lily almost suffocated.

"A favor?" Lily looked at him hesitantly. "What kind of favour?"

"In three days, you must accompany me and do what I say." Lily groaned. She got a stomachache at the mere thought of it. Nevertheless, she nodded. She wanted to get out of here. She knew she danced Tango with the devil. He would get her to accompany him anyway. So she gave up before the fight could even begin. Alexandre was a cunning businessman. She never had a chance against him.

Alexandre took his black credit card from his wallet and handed it to manager. „We take everything we have tried." Lily keeps her mouth open before hurrying back into the fitting room to change.