Charlotte's Tangled Web: L.B. Pavlov

by L B Pavlov

  I was playing pool with Sean and Gomez, and we had just finished our second pizza. My phone rang, and it was Kathleen. She was having lunch with Charlotte and Steph but had slipped away to let me know what had happened at the dress shop. She knew that Charlotte was upset and gave me a heads up that she was not excited about going to prom without a dress.

  I asked her if the dress could be found somewhere else in a smaller size, and she explained that it was a vintage dress. She said that the lady had taken all of Charlotte’s measurements and was going to try to get some other dresses in next weekend that would be in her size.

  “But she loved this vintage dress?” I asked.

  “She loved it, Daniel. I have never seen her excited about a dress before, and she was really excited about it,” Kathleen said sadly.

  “The lady took her measurements?” I inquired.

  “Yes, to try to find something in her size,” she explained.

  “OK, what’s the name of the shop?” I asked. I was excited by an idea I had suddenly had.

  “It’s called Saxe Designs, and it’s on the corner of Fifth and Harbor,” she whispered.

  “Thanks, Kathleen,” I said, hanging up.

  I quickly dialed my mom and explained the dress dilemma. She told me to get down there right away and buy the dress, and to be sure to get the measurements that the lady had taken. She had a tailor, and she was certain that he could alter the dress to Charlotte’s size. Of course my mom had it all figured out, and she called her tailor right after we hung up.

  “Put down the pool cues, boys. We’re going to buy a prom dress!” I announced, then I slammed my Pepsi and grabbed my keys.

  “We’re doing what?” Gomez asked, annoyed.

  “I think he said we’re going prom dress shopping?” Sean said, laughing.

  When we got to Saxe Designs, there were a couple of girls there trying on dresses, and they looked surprised to see us. I found the sales lady: a woman in her mid fifties whose dress was very sophisticated. She glowered at the three of us; she seemed a little put out that there were boys in her store.

  “Excuse me, you just had a beautiful girl in here, and she tried on an off-white, vintage gown, but it didn’t fit her. Do you remember her?” I inquired as Sean and Gomez gawked at the girls modeling their gowns.

  “Charlotte,” she said proudly.

  “Yes, Charlotte is my girlfriend, and I heard that she really loved this particular dress, and I’m going to need to get that dress for her, please,” I said, smiling at her.

  “Yes, she really liked it, and sadly, it was just too big for her,” she said, sounding very confused by my request.

  “Yes, that’s what I heard. But I would like to buy the dress and have it tailored for her. I heard that you were wonderful enough to get her measurements, isn’t that right?” I continued.

  She was putty in my hands now, blushing and so excited to help me find the dress.

  “Well, I don’t know why we didn’t think of that. I hope you can make it work, she is an awfully sweet girl, and she sure had her heart set on that dress,” she said, fumbling around for her paper with the measurements.

  “Oh, we’ll make it work, don’t you worry about that. And if her heart is set on this dress, then I have to get it for her,” I said, smiling at her.

  She gasped. “Well, that is the most romantic gesture I have seen from a gentlemen in a while, young man. She is a lucky girl,” she said, blushing again and fanning herself with the paper that held Charlotte’s measurements.

  “Oh, trust me, I’m the lucky one,” I said with a wink in her direction.

  She beamed and handed me the paper.

  “Let me go get that dress, sweetie,” she said, rushing off.

  “Dude! This place is the best!” Gomez said excitedly. Sean and I laughed as Gomez continued gawking.

  The sales lady came walking toward me again. “Um, I need to let you know that this dress is a vintage gown. It’s much more pricey than our usual dresses, honey. This gown is seven hundred and fifty dollars. Is that going to be a problem?” she asked awkwardly. She was holding up the gown, and it was absolutely made for Charlotte—aside from being a little too big.

  “That is not a problem at all,” I said, and I handed her my credit card.

  “Dude, you’re so whipped,” Sean said, laughing loudly.

  “I sure am,” I said contentedly.

  The sales lady looked up at me with a smile and winked, and then she turned and glared at Sean. Sean, Gomez, and I started laughing as she placed the gown in a hanging bag. I asked her to let Charlotte know that the dresses would take a few extra days to come in, just in case she happened to call to inquire about them. I wanted to surprise her. The clerk was very excited to assist.

  I took the dress to my mom, and she immediately ran it down to her tailor with all the measurements. The tailor surprised us both by telling my mom that he could have it done in three days. My mom thought it would be a good idea to take the pressure off of Charlotte and get her the shoes to go with the dress, so she sent me to Neiman Marcus.

  “I don’t know what shoes to get,” I said, surprised that my mom would send me. She told me to ask for Natalie, and she would call ahead and give her an idea of what I was looking for. My mom was a big shopper, and apparently she was friendly with the lady at Neiman Marcus.

  Gomez and Sean were not thrilled, but I dragged them along. When we got there, Natalie was expecting us. “Now, Daniel, Grace tells me that Charlotte likes flats and that she likes sparkly things? Her dress is off-white. Is that right?” she inquired.

  “Yes, that sounds right to me,” I said, laughing.

  “OK, well, we just got these magnificent ballet flats in, and they are covered in swarovski crystals. I told Grace about them, and she said to show them to you.”

  She took out a box and lifted the lid. She pulled out these dainty, light-pink slippers that were covered in the tiniest pink stones. They were perfect.

  “Grace thought the splash of pale pink would go well with the dress,” she enthused.

  “I think she will love them, and if she doesn’t, she can come back and choose a different pair, right?” I asked.

  “Of course, Daniel. Your mom is my favorite customer,” she said happily.

  “I’m sure she is,” I laughed.

  “I didn’t know they made shoes with diamonds all over them,” Gomez blurted out as he walked up. “I’ve never seen anything like that,” he said, surprising Natalie with his comment.

  “Well, they aren’t diamonds, honey, they are exquisite rhinestones, and you don’t see them often because they cost a small fortune,” she said and laughed loudly.

  Wow, prom was much more expensive for girls. All I had to do was get a tuxedo.

  “I also wanted to mention that we have a purse that matches the shoes too. Grace said you might want to throw that in as well?” She just happened to have that under the counter. Natalie was definitely a professional when it came to sales. She held up the purse, and it looked just like the shoes,

  “Um, OK, sure,” I said, and I pulled out my credit card.

  Natalie waved it away. “Grace said to put it on her account.”

  “She has an account?” I said, laughing again. “OK, thanks, Natalie,” I said as she wrapped up the shoes and the purse. This would be a great surprise. When we were done, I had to buy Sean and Gomez a pretzel with cheese and a Slurpee for making them go dress, shoes, and purse shopping.

  I spoke to Charlotte later that afternoon, and she was pretty disappointed about her dress shopping experience. “I just don’t know if I’m going to find something to wear, Daniel, and with practice every day after school, I can’t go again until next weekend,” she said, sounding very discouraged.

  “Don’t worry about it. I know you’ll find something. Let’s just see what happens next week,” I said confidently.

  I felt bad because I could tell she was stressed. Hopefully this dress would be finished soon, and I
could give it to her.

  The week was off to a busy start. I had study guides in almost every class, and it was already time to start getting ready for finals. Thursday I got a text while I was at school from my mom, letting me know that the dress was finished. I was excited. After school I would place the ensemble in her bedroom to surprise her when she got home from practice.

  Lenora was giddy over the surprise. We went up to Charlotte’s room, and I pulled the gown out of the garment bag. Lenora gasped. “Oh, Daniel, that is perfect. It’s absolutely perfect. It looks like it was made for her,” she said, her eyes welling with tears.

  Oh my gosh, these women and the tears, all over a dress. I had just watched my mom gush about the dress before I went over to Charlotte’s. We laid the dress across her bed. I opened the shoebox to show Lenora the shoes, and I pulled the purse out of the bag. Now she was a blubbering mess, jumping up and down and clapping. Obviously she and Charlotte shared this form of excitement. She loved it, so hopefully Charlotte would like it as much as Lenora and my mom did. We placed the shoes and purse next to the dress on the bed, and I wrote a note on an index card:

  Charlotte,

  I hope that prom is everything that you dreamed it would be.

  I love you,

  Daniel

  I left to go pick up Charlotte from practice. She was sitting on the curb with her phone to her ear, and she looked upset. I got out of the truck and walked over to her. “Did you finish early?” I asked as she hung up from her call.

  “Just a minute ago,” she said quietly.

  “What’s wrong? Did something happen?” I inquired.

  “Well, I just called Judy. She’s the lady from that dress shop. They aren’t going to have any dresses there for me to try on this weekend. She said it might be another week before they come in,” she said, and she was totally sulking now. “Daniel, if I can’t find a dress, you’ll understand that I can’t go to prom, right?”

  “If you can’t find a dress, then of course we don’t have to go,” I said, reassuring her.

  She was quiet all the way home.

  When she got out of the truck, she said, “I’m going to go take a quick shower, and Lenora made lasagna for dinner. Do you want to come over in about thirty minutes?” she asked.

  “Sure,” I said, and I gave her a peck on the top of her head, and we said good-bye.

  I sulked all the way upstairs. What was I going to do? Of course I wouldn’t skip going with Daniel to prom. I would wear a paper bag as a dress before I would miss it. I turned the corner into my room, and I froze. It was the beautiful dress from the store, but it somehow looked tinier. And it was lying across my bed. And next to it were magical, dreamy, sparkly, pink shoes with a matching purse. I let out a loud, joyful scream, and Lenora came running up the stairs. She was elated—obviously this was not her first time seeing this fairy-tale gown with matching accessories.

  “Where did this come from? How did this happen?” I exclaimed, tears streaming down my face.

  “Someone must really love you, Charlotte,” she said, as enraptured with the gesture as I was.

  “Daniel? But how? How could he do this?” I asked, stunned.

  She shrugged her shoulders. “You know Daniel. He heard that you loved it, so how could he not do it? It’s Daniel,” she glowed.

  “Do you think it will fit?” I asked nervously, staring at the enchanting dress.

  “Let’s try it on and see. He had all of your measurements, so it should be close,” she said confidently.

  “He has my measurements?” I asked, confused.

  “He got them from the lady at the dress shop,” she said.

  Of course he did. It’s Daniel. He was amazing. I dropped my clothes to the floor and slipped on the gown, and Lenora zipped me up the back.

  “It fits like a glove,” she beamed, standing back to look at me.

  She had watery eyes and an enormous smile. “Oh, Charlotte Rose, you are a vision,” she swooned, clasping her hands over her mouth.

  I looked in the mirror. “It must be made for a petite bosom,” I commented, and we both burst out laughing.

  I tried on the dreamy, sparkly shoes and held the purse next to the dress. It was more perfect than I could ever have imagined. I couldn’t believe that Daniel had done this for me. I suddenly was frantic to get this gown off. I needed to go thank him, and I needed to go this instant. I had sulked on the ride home like a big baby. I needed to go thank him now. Lenora helped me hang up the dress, and I pulled on some sweats and grabbed some flip-flops.

  “Go,” she said, laughing at my urgency, “and be back soon for dinner.”

  I ran across the street and into his house. I charged into the kitchen where Grace, Tom, and Daniel all turned around, surprised to see me. They hadn’t heard me come in the front door. I jumped into Daniel’s arms and burst into tears. They were definitely tears of joy.

  He pulled me away to look at me to make sure that I was OK. “These are happy tears, right?” he said, laughing.

  “Yes! Yes! Yes!” I shouted.

  I raced over to Grace and jumped into her arms. She was crying now too.

  “What in the world is going on?” Tom demanded, laughing.

  “It’s a girl thing,” Grace said.

  “Thank you so much!” I said, hugging them both again.

  I ran over to hug Tom so that he didn’t feel left out. Then Daniel and I walked across the street to go eat dinner.

  “I need to pay you for the dress, the shoes, and the purse, Daniel,” I said firmly.

  He stopped me and said, “Don’t ruin this for me, Charlotte. Seeing you this excited over a dress was worth every penny. I would be very offended if you paid for it. I was happy to do it and so was my mom,” he said sweetly.

  After bantering back and forth, I realized that it was a battle I wasn’t going to win. I was too happy and not going to worry about it right then. I was actually excited to go to my first dance. I took a picture and sent it to Kathleen and Steph, and they were thrilled for me. We all three had beautiful dresses, and we were excited to go together to our senior prom. I had a dreamy dress to wear, but most importantly, I had the dreamiest date in the world.

  The next two weeks were so busy. We were tapering our workouts for track because we were getting ready for regionals. Coach Little had come to watch me race the week before because he would be at a college meet for Stanford the day of my track state meet. He was such a nice man. It made me wonder what would happen if I got accepted to Notre Dame. I hoped that he wouldn’t be mad at me.

  I had sent in all of my paperwork for my late application to Notre Dame a few weeks back, and I still hadn’t heard anything. I made sure to check the mail every day. I didn’t want my dad to find anything from Notre Dame that was addressed to me. I assumed I most likely was not going to get in, but since I hadn’t heard anything yet, there was still hope. I had already done some planning just in case by some fluke I did get in. I knew my dad would not be excited about it, and he would probably refuse to pay for school. I knew that I could walk on to the track team at Notre Dame and was pretty sure that by my sophomore year, I could receive a scholarship for track. I figured it was probably too late at this point because most recruiting was done earlier in the year. But I would have to show my dad that I could cover the cost my first year in order to show him I had this well-thought-out. I had a trust fund that had been set up for me by my grandparents. I was eighteen years old now, and I was currently able to access it if needed. My brothers had full access to their trusts, and I thought that if I had to use some of the money for school, no one would be upset about that. My grandfather would not be pleased that I wasn’t at Stanford, but I doubted he would freeze my trust fund. Grandma wouldn’t allow that. So I had everything lined up just in case.

  Coach Miroballi and I had decided that I would run all four events at regionals. I was excited and ready for the challenge. He believed in me, and I wanted to make him proud. The best part of all
was the four times eight-hundred-meter relay because Kathleen, Steph, and I were all on it together, and Maddie Owens was the fourth girl, and we liked her a lot too.

  I was also getting excited about prom. Regionals was Saturday morning, and prom would be later that night. I was so excited to wear my dress. The shoes and purse were also beautiful, and I would probably be the only girl who didn’t have sore feet at the end of the night because most of the others would be wearing four-inch heels.

  The following week was the state meet, and then track season would be over. Graduation was the week after that, and then high school would also be over. Time was going by so quickly. I was looking forward to summer break, though. Daniel and I had both decided to spend our last summer at home, and I would not pack up and leave until the middle of August. Coach Little had agreed to let me do my summer training in Indiana, but I would follow his schedule. I wanted every last minute I could have at home with Daniel.

  I walked out of practice, and Daniel was standing in front of his truck smiling. I stared at him, thinking about how much I would miss him standing at his truck waiting for me next year. He gave me a huge hug and spun me around. “Easy day today?” he asked.

  “Yes, we’re really winding down, so it was a fun, easy practice,” I said, smiling as I climbed into the truck.

  “My mom invited everyone over for dinner. Lenora is coming. I guess your dad is working late, so he won’t be able to make it,” he said. “She is barbequing ribs and chicken, and the house already smells so good,” he added, laughing.

  “Oh good, that sounds great. I wish my dad wasn’t working so much. Aside from track meets, I hardly see him,” I said, suddenly deep in thought. Why was he working so much? He worked late every night and really only took a break for track meets. What would happen when I was away at school? Would he work himself to death?

  “Why are you biting your lip?” Daniel asked flirtatiously, smiling at me. “What are you thinking about?”

  “I just hope my dad’s OK. He sure is working a lot lately,” I said as we pulled into his driveway. “I’m going to take a quick shower, and then Lenora and I will be over soon,” I said and gave him a hug.