Together

A Girl In A Brand New Dress

Hello hello hello! Do we all get that title reference? ;) Here's a cheeky little update, and it's going to have to last you all a few days, I think. I'm in an evening musical theatre workshop for the next few evenings, and I typically struggle to write during the days, oddly enough. I hope you all like this one, though. Comment/vote if you wish xxxx
-ab

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April 19, 2026

Harper

On my day off, I meet up with Nessa. We haven't seen each other in so long, and she wants to take me dress shopping for her event.

"Hey girl," she smiles when I show up at her flat, pulling me into a hug. "How are you?"

"Good," I reply. "How about you? You look great."

"I'm doing so well," she smiles. "I'm all set to graduate in a few months, and already have a job lined up for me."

"Will you be travelling lots for the job?" I ask her. "I know that we are heading to New York..."

"Probably quite a bit, but I'm still going to be London based. Like, heading off somewhere once every few months, for only a week or two. And I get the good destinations since Gabe's family owns the magazine company."

I smile. "That's a perk."

"For sure," she laughs. "He's the best." I notice her reach up and fiddle with the pendant hanging around her neck.

"Did he give you that?"

"Yeah," she replies. "Isn't it pretty?"

It's a simple little oval-shaped opal, and I can tell that she loves it.

"Yeah," I reply. "It's lovely. I'm so glad that you're happy with him. You deserve."

"Thanks," Nessa replies. At that, she turns around and grabs her purse, then we head out of the flat. Catching the tube, we soon find ourselves at the dress salon.

"You've already got your dress, right?" I ask Nessa.

"Yeah," she nods, "but I want to help you pick yours out, don't worry."

"So, is it like a floor-length event, or a short dress event?"

"Floor-length, but you probably could get away with a short dress."

"Gotcha," I reply. "I'll go with a long one, then. I don't want to stick out."

"Good plan," Nessa replies.

She leads me back into the room that's friendly to my price range- cheap. I'm instantly overwhelmed by all of the dresses that surround me.

"Well," Nessa laughs, noticing my face, "we had better get going."

"Yeah..."

"Do you have any idea what size you are?"

"Nope," I laugh. "Just pick one that looks like it'll fit and we will go from there."

"Got it," Nessa replies.

After spending about half an hour going through the dresses, we have five picked out that I really like. The first one that I try on has a sparkly bodice with a sea foam green skirt. It's pretty, but I don't love it, so I move on to the next dress.

The second dress that I try on is a simple, dark purple dress with cap sleeves and a flowy skirt.

"This one's pretty," I tell Nessa, looking it up and down in the mirror, "but I think that I'll try on a few others."

"Sounds good," Nessa nods.

The next one that I try on is a simple, baby pink-couloured, strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline. I don't usually love strapless dresses, as I typically spend the entire night worrying about the dress falling down, but this one seems to fit me so nicely that I don't even worry about that when I put it on. It's rare that I find a dress that fits me this well, due to my small chest size, combined with my height, but this dress seems to do just that.

Looking in the mirror, I can immediately picture myself, with my makeup done nicely and my hair straightened, a pretty necklace, and Patrick on my arm.

"Nessa," I say, opening the curtain from the fitting room, "I think that this is the dress."

"Oh my God, Harper," Nessa gasps, "you look gorgeous. Does that even need to be altered?"

"It fits perfectly," I tell her.

"Patrick will love that," Nessa remarks.

"That man tells me that I look pretty in joggers and a messy bun."

"Exactly," Nessa chuckles. "Imagine what he's going to do when he sees you in this."

I laugh. "Thanks, Ness."

"Take that off and we can get checked out, then we can go grab some tea. There's a little tea room that's only about a five minute walk from here."

"Perfect," I reply. I change back into my jeans and Anastasia tee, then Nessa and I purchase the dress.

"Pretty," the lady working remarks. "And it doesn't need to be altered at all?"

"Nope, it's good," I smile.

"Wonderful. Thank you for shopping with us today, and have fun at your event."

"Thank you," I tell her, taking the garment bag and gathering it up in my arms.

I look at Nessa. "This is going to be fun to bring home on the tube."

Nessa laughs. "Would it be better to take the bus?"

"Perhaps..." I laugh. "God, I hate the bus."

"Well, look on the bright side. The longer we are stuck in traffic on the bus, the longer we will have to catch up."

"That's true," I admit.

Once the two of us are at the tea room, I drape my dress over the back of a spare chair before going to place my order at the counter.

The tea is good, but far from the best that I've ever had.

"I want to go back to the Charles Dickens Museum sometime," I tell Nessa. "They had some good tea."

"They did," she agrees. "And that little place near Hyde Park."

"That was a good one too," I agree. "It's been forever since we have checked out a new tea room, though, so I'm glad we came here today."

"Same," Nessa smiles. Her phone dings and she looks at the notification, then looks back at me. "Can Gabe and I come to the show sometime? Like, can you get us tickets?"

"Not for free," I laugh, "unless you want to play that little game of waiting outside of the Piccadilly until the last minute. That's Patrick's favourite game."

"No, they don't have to be for free," Nessa laughs. "He just wants you to hook us up with tickets."

"That, I can probably make happen," I reply. "I'd love for you two to come see me, and I'm sure that Katherine would too. We can even give you a cheeky little backstage tour."

"That would be so fun," Nessa smiles. "I'll ask him about dates, and then let you know so that we can arrange it."