The Right Choice

Chapter 2

"He did what!"

Taylor screamed with her fork held mid-way to her mouth, eyes wide in shock.

Jessie gave her a sorry look. She had known that the reaction from her friend was not going to be pleasant and the fact was that it was about to get worse. She slowly kept the brown paper bag on the table and winced her eyes and pulled the dress out for Taylor to see.

Taylor dropped her fork onto the plate and ignored the pieces of scrambled eggs that flew out. And before Jessie could make a move, she snatched the dress out of her hand and gazed at it longingly. She stroked the material with love and soon her eyes started to well-up with tears.

"I'm sorry." Jessie pleaded.

"You're sorry?" Taylor squealed back. "I told you to be careful, didn't I?"

"Yes. But..."

"But what, Jessie?" She got cut-off by the visibly upset Taylor. "All you had to do was wear it and keep it safe, not use it as a dish rag."

Now it was Jessie's turn to get offended," Hey! That was mean!" Pointing to the stain she continued," Besides, it's just a little blot. I'm sure that once its dry cleaned, it will be as good as new."

"As good as new?" Taylor said with sarcasm dripping from her words.

Jessie simply shrugged. She had no idea why Taylor was overreacting. It was just a dress.

"It's Prada!" Taylor practically yelled.

"So? You can still get it washed right? It is made of cloth after all." Jessie tried to reason with her.

But she got no response as her friend shook her head and bent down sadly, still in tears. Taylor gripped the dress tightly and sniffed as she looked up, her face contorted in anger. Jessie began to worry. Was their friendship going to end over a dress?

"Taylor. Please. I'm sorry. I'll get you new one." Jessie pleaded. She was not sure how she would get her hands on the same one. It was a vintage piece after all and probably one of a kind.

Taylor just shook her head, the soft curls of her hair brushing her cheeks slightly, "That's not the point. Brandon is going to be so mad at me for this."

Jessie straightened up as the reason for Taylor's anxiety dawned on her. It had been one of Brandon's gifts to her for the anniversary of their engagement last year along with the week long holiday in Paris. And now the dress probably was ruined because of her. Great!

Brandon White, the dark blonde haired, six-footer was Taylor's husband. His father owned a large construction company where he was one of the board members. They had known each other since school and had a huge crush on each other which they never admitted. After that they had lost touch only to be reunited at college. It was funny how some things turn out.

Now, they had been married for a year and had just celebrated their first anniversary. They lived downtown which incidentally was the most expensive part of town, in a plush apartment building overlooking the ocean. And sweet little Taylor had soon become immersed in the social activities of city's rich, famous and successful. The list of parties she organized and attended was endless while her own career had been sidelined.

"I am so sorry, Taylor. I totally forgot." Jessie apologized.

"It's completely ruined." Taylor cried.

Jessie's face dropped as she saw a sorrowful look on her friend's face. Damn you, Daniel.

Suddenly, Taylor shook her head and composed herself. She took the bag from Jessie's hand, dumped the dress inside and started poking her fork through the plate in front of her. That caused Jessie to stare at her as though an extra pair of hands had suddenly sprouted out of her.