Grace smiled proudly as she followed Belle inside, closing the door behind her and locking it too.
"Thank you, Marco. I present to you my eldest daughter, Belle", she said, and again her tone was full of genuine pride. She may have caused Belle some humiliation already, but clearly that was not her motivation. The man in the purple shirt, Marco, kisses both of Belle's red cheeks. Amongst the displays, another, taller, younger man was standing amongst a whole host of camera equipment. He was tall, thin, with waxed brown hair and glasses, and wore a black turtle-neck sweater and jeans.
Grace came over, soothingly rubbing Belle's lower back through her dress. "This is Marco, dear. He'll be in charge of deciding what clothes we'll be using, and over there by all those cameras is Fabien", explained the older woman, and Fabien nodded in greeting.
"We don't have much time!", said Marco dramatically, as he gently, yet firmly led Belle over to the changing rooms, and pulled her inside. Not pushed, but pulled. He was coming with her!
"I'll be right out here, Belle dear!", called Grace's excited voice just before the door closed. The changing room had a beige carpet, and the wall behind them, the one with the door, was white, but the other three were entirely covered by mirrors! In the corner to her right, Belle couldn't miss the display dummy clad in the gorgeous, white silk gown. It had a strapless bodice, while the skirt was a mass of ruffled layers, one appearing from beneath the other, all the way down to the ground and even then they didn't
stop!====
Candace had never given much thought to what games she liked to play, yet she found herself wearing a constant smile as she gazed up at the teenager. A tiny voice in the back of her head was telling her to retain her dignity, to say she didn't want to play any games, but the truth was, she really did want to play. After glancing about the store, with all the clothing displays reaching way up over her head, she peered hopefully up at Heather.
"Could we play hide and go seek?".