Somehow, the dress was alluring without being overly revealing. Yes, you could clearly see the shadow between her breasts, but every bit of the solid under gown covered her up.
“I’ll take it,” Phuong decided. “How much?”
Trang named a price that made Phuong wince. This job better be worth it.
Phuong shelled out the Insa coins, and Trang took out a dress.
“I can wrap it in tissue paper for you.”
“No, I want to wear it out of the store.”
“That’s fine. I’ll give you a bag for the clothes that you’re wearing right now.” Without being told, Trang must have understood how much Phuong felt like a fish out of water.
Phuong went back into the dressing room to get her clothes. Trang was waiting outside with the bag, where Phuong put all of her clothes.
“Thank you very much for your help,” Phuong told Trang. “I appreciate it.”
“Anytime,” Trang said warmly. “I hope this dress works for you.”
Phuong’s eyes glowed silver as Phuong nudged her into forgetting what had happened. At least she’d had the money to pay this time. Trang’s eyes echoed the silver in Phuong’s eyes before she turned away as if Phuong wasn’t even there.
The bells chimed as Phuong pushed open the door and stepped out into the sunshine.
This time, nobody gave her a second glance. There were plenty of beautiful Yore wives of Draka men, and dressed in her new clothes, she looked just like one.
Phuong walked back towards the aquarium, determined to do the best that she could.
When she got there, her brother opened the hatch of their den.
He let out a low whistle.
“Good job, Phuong. I think that this’ll knock them dead.”
“I hope so.” Phuong touched the soft fabric of the black skirt. “I mesmerized the store clerk into forgetting me.”
“Good. Soon, we’re going to have so many credits that this dress will look like it was purchased second hand. You look beautiful, by the way.”
Xuan didn’t compliment her very much, and Phuong tried not to cry. There weren’t very many moments of joy in their lives, not when they were poor and on the run. Xuan tried to fix it by spending money they couldn’t afford to, and for once, he’d done something for Phuong that made her feel happy.
“I know. I don’t feel like a cafard in this dress.” The upper classes called the lower classes, the common Yore, roaches. It was so ingrained in the culture that even the Yore used it to refer to themselves. “I don’t think that they’ll treat me like I’m the low-born Yore that I am.”
“We might be low-born, but we’re not roaches. It’s not our place.”
“We can’t be sure that we’re low-born, honestly. We have no idea where we came from.”
“Well, once we have the money for our surgeries, everything will be clear. Just one more job, and everything will be fine.”
7
Run
Olivier
“I’m going to go insane if I read another form or voting scroll.” Olivier rubbed his eyes. He was tired.
Gahariet leaned back in his chair and looked right at Olivier.
“We can finish up for the day.”