[OPEN] A little shopping is good for the soul

[Mona Greer]

Just because she lived in a mobile home with her parents, worked at a pet store and was scraping dimes and pennies together to save up for college (she was going to college, she was, one way or another), didn't mean that she couldn't take time to enjoy the finer things in life.

Like a little shopping trip on Lincoln Road.

It was an investment, really, Mona reasoned to herself while walking out of a small clothing boutique with a bag. If she looked good, people were more likely to treat her with the kind of respect that she wanted.

And every woman needed a smart little black dress, if you asked Mona.

She tucked her wallet away and stepped out into the sunshine. She tipped her sunglasses back down and re-adjusted her hat. A quick glance in the shopping window told her that her hair was still proper and in place. Perfect. She smiled and began to walk. Perhaps a little visit to that adorable little boutique down the road where they had all those lovely necklaces and bracelets and earrings. She still had a bit of today's shopping budget left, so why not spend it on making her outfit complete?

[Maureen Garrett-Schmitt]

Maureen made a point to surround herself with beauty.

It was beauty she found attractive, beauty that gave her a measure of her power, beauty which made the world a better place.

It was also beauty which inspired her current shopping trip.

She was between personal shoppers at the moment, which meant doing some of her shopping herself...

Never a task she objected to.

So, she'd taken a long lunch and set to work, looking for something wonderful, special...

And apparently she'd just found it. Unexpectedly, it wasn't an outfit or a piece of jewelry.

"Hello, don't I know you? You're the young lady who's always so helpful when I go to the pet store with Machiavelli aren't you?"

Her voice was warm, soft and deliberately welcoming. It wouldn't do to frighten her away after all.

Glad she'd taken the time to change from her business suit into a soft white dress with grey-blue polkadots, a matching sash and white heels, she offered her hand and smiled, rose red lips curving as she further assessed the other woman.

"I'm afraid I've never properly introduced myself. Maureen Garrett-Schmitt. I'm the strange woman with the black rat."

Passable fashion sense, could be improved upon. Not the best quality, but effort had clearly been spent in trying to give the appearance of a higher end purchase. Sunglasses weren't as flattering as they could be, the hat was the wrong style to fit with the current trends but it was an understandable purchase, with the fair skin. Beautiful hair that deserved much more attention and makeup that was applied as well as the inferior brands would allow. Oh, but so much potential... so, so much potential...

[Mona Greer]

Mona turned around, surprised at being approached and she froze for just a second, barely perceptible. She knew the lady. She always came with the loveliest little rat to the store. The lady was... she was class poured into skin and everything Mona wanted to be one day and now the lady was talking to her.

"I remember you, ma'am," she said. Now, more than ever, was she reminded of mobile homes and cramped rooms shared with sibling, bills piling up higher until the water's cut off and they have to shower at the neighbour's just to keep the classmates from picking on them for smelling. And Maureen reminded her of her commitment to better her situation.

She took the offered hand briefly, with a smile. "I'm Mona Greer. It's very nice to meet you. I always adore helping you and Machiavelli." She could learn so much by watching, but she'd only just started out observing and learning and things went frustratingly slow, considering that she only really met the more upper class people during work and that was a rather limited context.

"I would hardly call you strange, though. I always try to learn about your style when you come into the store. I hope that that doesn't sound rude." She wasn't very good at manipulating yet, but people liked being flattered and imitation was supposed to be a form of flattery.

Right?

[Maureen Garrett-Schmitt]

Oh, what a lovely voice. A few lessons with a vocal coach to put some polish on it...

'No, no, let's not get ahead of ourself.' she scolded herself mentally, feeling the hand held within hers.

Again, potential. It would take work to banish the evidence of a life not lived in the pampering she clearly deserved (beauty, for all it might not get it, always deserved pampering), but work well worth it.

"And it's certainly lovely to properly meet you dear. Mona, I hope you don't mind me calling you that, I did notice Machi had a fondness for you, and I do try to trust her in these matters."

what a sweet girl. Maureen had worked hard to get where she was, to get the pampering she deserved, and continued to work hard. There was very little that she wanted that she couldn't have.

And she wanted this lovely young lady.

"Oh, what a nice thing of you to say! And I never mind things like that."

A pause to work out for a moment the best course of action...

"Darling, if you have time, would you like to come walk with me for a bit? I've still got shopping to do and if you like, I can give you a few tips? I do so love having such pretty company on my little jaunts."

[Mona Greer]

Even if Mona hadn't had the time, she would have made the time. This was a once in a life time opportunity, as far as she could tell. People like Maureen weren't wont to take the time for a simple employee at a shop they frequented. Perhaps this was her lucky day.

"I would love to," she said, only barely keeping herself from making an embarrassment of herself. As mature and stylish as she wanted to be and become, she was still only 19 and always in danger of having her excitement get the best of her in circumstances like these.

But Maureen had offered and who was she to say no to that? "I'll welcome every tip you have. I... uhm... I do my best but there's only so much that I can do on my own. I barely have room in closet in my parents' trailer to keep nice clothes in and I have to share it on top of that." And, really, there was no way she would risk her younger sister 'borrowing' her nicer outfits or her brothers trying to use them for pranks. And utterly ruining the clothes in the process.