Free Friends and Lovers by Tara Mills

appeal to Jackie.
    Lauren was hard at work when Jackie showed up twenty minutes later, right on time.
    Jackie frowned at her from the connecting doorway. “You’re here early. Is something wrong?”
    Lauren bit her lip and eased back from her keyboard. “I was hoping to talk to you about something this morning. Have you got a minute?”
    “You know I do. Ask away.”
    Lauren fiddled with the paperclip box on her desk, trying to get the words out. “Would you be willing to go shopping with me tonight?” she finally asked.
    Jackie beamed. “Are you serious?”
    “Dead serious.”
    “Well, it’s about time! Girl, I’ve been waiting for the chance to drag you around.”
    Lauren stared at her. “Really?”
    “Hell yes.”
    “How about after work?”
    “Lookin’ forward to it.”
    There was a look in Jackie’s eyes that actually frightened Lauren a little. She looked way too eager.
    “Mmm, mmm,” Jackie said. “I’m going to have fun with you!”
    Lauren might have lost a little color over that statement, but she couldn’t be sure. “Nothing extreme,” she pleaded, knowing it was probably too late to tack on that proviso.
    “Don’t be a fool. You need serious help from a sista and lucky for you, you’re talkin’ to the right one. Trust me.”
    Jackie sauntered out and Lauren drooped back in her chair with a groan. This did not bode well.
    * * * *
    The circular racks seemed to be closing in on Lauren from every direction. She couldn’t squeeze between them without some stray garment clinging to her. The way she frantically brushed at her clothes and leaped backward you would have thought there was a spider on her and not yet another harmless sleeve. Lauren was slowly coming unhinged. She turned her head, searching for her friend with a desperate look in her eyes. To her consternation Jackie didn’t even seem to notice they were drowning in shrieking colors and jarring music while poor Lauren had a severe case of the shakes from system overload.
    “Now this is what I’m talking about,” Jackie declared, turning a slinky dress toward Lauren and jiggling the hanger.
    Lauren staggered up to her and tugged on Jackie’s arm. “Let’s just go. Can we go?”
    Jackie frowned. “But what do you think about this dress?”
    Lauren tried to locate the exit over the endless field of racks. “I don’t think so. What’s the point of buying something like that if I never get to wear it?”
    Jackie rolled her eyes. “This is a date dress. You wear this for a man.”
    “One issue at a time.”
    Jackie harrumphed and put the dress back. “Just so we’re on the same page, tell me what you’re thinking about then, because I’m stumped. You’ve turned your nose up at everything I’ve suggested so far.”
    “It’s my casual wardrobe that needs help. I have plenty of professional clothes. Just remember my budget, because I have my rent payment coming up.”
    Jackie gave her a long suffering look, her hand on her hip.
    Lauren sighed. “I don’t know, think fun, maybe a little sassy—definitely feminine.” She shrank back from the clothing pressing in on her. “Nothing slutty, okay? I don’t like cheap crap.”
    Jackie fixed her with a serious eye. “You need more color.”
    “Agreed, but it better be tasteful.”
    “Come with me.” Jackie grabbed Lauren’s hand and towed her out of the store.
    “Wait a second,” Lauren said, fighting to keep up. “Where are we going?”
    “First things first.”
    “That’s not an answer.”
    Jackie pulled Lauren into her favorite salon and walked Lauren backward until her legs hit the edge of the chair behind her and she dropped onto it.
    “But I don’t need a haircut,” Lauren argued, starting to rise.
    Jackie’s warning finger came out. “Bullshit. And you’re getting highlights too.”
    Lauren slumped back peevishly. “I’ve never highlighted my hair.”
    Jackie snorted and rolled her eyes. “There’s a surprise.”
    “ Come on .”
    “Don’t