Charthur: Part II

Arthur followed Chardonnay. She didn’t ask him for any advice or anything, not that he blamed her. He wasn’t a fashion expert or anything. He looked at the racks and tried to make an occasional comment to Chardonnay, but he always harshly blew him off. The silence was getting on his nerves. If she just wanted him to follow her around like a puppy, couldn’t they have gone somewhere else? If she didn’t want him here, why did she have him come? She clearly was making her decisions in his mind.

Eventually another employee came over – she was very pretty, and her earrings glistened in the fluorescents. This one also didn’t seem to back down at Chardonnay’s hostility. Instead she recommended a few outfits, pants and dresses and things with weird fabric around the middle, and gave Chardonnay a key to a changing room. Huh.

Arthur didn’t say anything as the woman walked away, focusing on Chardonnay as she touched some dresses. She didn’t really look into it, and it concerned Arthur a bit. Again, he felt a wave of guilt. She never wanted this. Any of this. He stepped closer to her and glanced at the dresses. Trying to ignore the price tag (boy, it was fucking hard not to look), he examined the materials of the dress. ”This one’s cute.” He said. He hoped Chardonnay insulted his choice or did something in character, finally. He glanced over at her, noticing her downcast eyes. He reached over and touched her shoulder. ”Are you – er – I mean, do you – uh, do you see anything you want to try on?”

Arthur could see the sadness in her eyes and wanted to comment on it, but the moment was gone before he could. He watched her as she gathered some clothing to try on, slowly slipping his hands into the pockets of his pants as he watched her head towards the racks. Now she was piling clothing item after item into her arms. He wondered if she was even looking at it properly. Well, what was properly? He didn’t know, honestly. He followed her with his eyes as she walked to the dressing room, taking a seat when she pointed towards a chair.

”Chardonnay –“ Before he could say anything, she entered the dressing room and locked the door. Arthur frowned.

He stayed where he was, fairly bored. The employees from before looked at him, sizing him up, and Arthur felt uncomfortable. He bit his lower lip as he shifted in his seat. Chardonnay had still yet to come out of the room. Eventually, the blonde woman from before approached.

”Is everything okay, sir?” She asked. Her niceties fooled no one – Arthur could sense the judgement from her. He glanced up at her.

”Yeah. I’m just waiting for my girlfriend,” He gestured towards Chardonnay’s changing room. ”She’s testing them out, I guess.”

Something about the words he chose must have not sat well with the woman. She hummed, glancing towards the door. ”Well, if she wanted any recommendations, our latest clothing lines are the one closest to a window. We don’t have anything for sale, unfortunately.” Arthur narrowed his eyes at that. She definitely thought he was cheap. Though he knew Chardonnay was anything but.

”Right. Thanks.” He said, gruffly. She had no right to look down on him because he didn’t like to spend a thousand dollars on an outfit. This whole fucking store was a joke.

Arthur ignored her until she went away, waiting now for Chardonnay. She’d taken a bit of a long time, and he began to feel concerned. ”...is everything okay in there?” He asked, giving the locked door a gentle knock.

Arthur was startled when she spoke. Was he imagining it, or did she could like she was uncomfortable? Well, he knew she wasn’t happy, but... he exhaled and stepped back. ”Okay.” He said, though he really wanted to see if she was okay. He didn’t buy her words.

Arthur sat back down and, a few minutes later, the door opened. She was in a dress that framed her well, and looked more comfortable than the other dress she’d been in. He thought it was something Susan would like to wear. His eyes focused on her face first, looking for any sign of emotional deterioration before his gaze moved down her body. He looked at her and gave her a small smile. ”It looks good.” He said, remembering how she’d pretty much ordered him to tell him she looked good. Unlike when he was younger, he actually could admit to himself that he thought she looked pretty. It wasn’t as much of a taboo now that he was dating her, after all.

”You look,” But he glanced at her face and suddenly felt embarrassed about saying she looked pretty or beautiful, so he scratched the back of his throat. ”...comfortable in that. Really good.”

Arthur didn’t expect for her to get angry at him, but she did. His jaw dropped slightly at her tone before he backed up against the chair. ”N—no, I, He couldn’t get a word in as Chardonnay snapped at him and said she was fat. He was completely shocked at that, when had he ever called her fat? She wasn’t. She was pregnant, not fat, and he wasn’t unattracted to her! He tried to speak again but she just raised her voice again. Then he noticed the people staring, the women, all giving him the stink eye. Oh no. Oh no. ”Chardonnay, wait – “ she turned around and slammed the door behind her. He held his hand out, as though he could stop her.

Immediately he felt like he was on trial. The eyes were on him like hawks. The employees looked like they were debating throwing him out, and the customers looked like they were going to do the throwing. Arthur knew from Susan’s pregnancy not to challenge a pregnant woman, and almost all of these women were pregnant. ”It’s not like that, that’s not what I said,” he said, but they didn’t seem appeased. He groaned and got up, approaching the door. He knocked on it, a frown on his face.

”Chardonnay. I didn’t say you were fat because you’re not.” He didn’t know she was just doing this on purpose, he did think she was seriously upset. He could feel the stares as the onlookers grew closer. Sweat gathered at the base of his neck. ”You are attractive. You’ve always been attractive to me,” his ears tinted red at the admission. ”...and even more now. I’m excited about this. You look – amazing.”

Even though it was slightly easier to talk with the door between them, he still felt extremely nervous. He felt eyes again and whirled around to spot the employee who had been helping Chardonnay before giving him an odd look. Arthur bit his lower lip and turned back to the door.

He was hoping she’d open the door and talk to him, and they could get back on the same page. But no, she was still choosing to be a spoiled brat and not listen to the compliments. He grimaced when she said he was just trying to appease her and that he’d rather go and play video games. He gave the door a ‘really?’ sort of look, but what got his attention more was the attention the women were giving the scene. He looked away and stared at the girls. They all looked horror struck at the prospect of him playing games. What, did they all think he was some bum who didn’t have a job? Arthur had been looked at like that before. It scared him, made him uncomfortable. He had worked so hard to make something of himself and now he was being looked at like he was some scumbag. All because of Chardonnay’s wrong, damning words.

”That’s – “ He was interrupted by the woman from before. His nostrils flared when she said he’d done enough and called men atrocious. Seriously? He had done nothing wrong! He glared at her, and when she suggested he go find a better man, his temper flared. Chad popped into her mind. Maybe she should go and screw Chad. Marry him and have him father the baby. Was that what she wanted? Some douchebag who shat out compliments for women every time his lips moved? ”Good luck ever finding someone else who wants to date your spoiled ass,” he snapped at the door, but it was the wrong thing to say with the woman standing beside him. After beckoning for one of the sales reps to go and find more dresses, she rounded on Arthur.

”Sir, don’t speak to our customers like that, or I’m going to have to ask you to leave the store.” To her credit despite the rage seething in her expression, she sounded calm. Arthur stared, dumbfounded.

”Excuse me, I’m as much a customer as – “ He didn’t even have time to finish his sentence before she scoffed. What? She didn’t think he had money? That, maybe, it was him going to buy Chardonnay these clothes (though that wasn’t the case). He grit his teeth at her and backed away. He felt the eyes on him again, staring him down, judging him, labeling as nothing and a douchebag all at once. He bit his lip so hard he drew blood, his heart beginning to race as his anxiety flared. Not now. Not now... He felt like he was going to vomit. ”Will you stop staring at me?!” he snapped at the women around him, feeling like a teenage raging. He couldn’t control his anger. His hands were clenched into fists. He glared at the door. ”Fine. Have them tell you how pretty you look because you sure as hell don’t want to hear it from me!”

He turned around and stormed away from the changing area, the eyes still watching him. He noticed a few girls flinch away from him and that just brought a stinging to his eyes. Fuck. He headed towards the nearest bathroom – a unisex, one-lock bathroom – and got inside, locking himself in. He sank to the floor and tried to calm down. He closed his eyes and leaned his head on the door. Now the girls probably hated him more; now they were probably going to call the cops on him after this whole thing was over. And all this because Chardonnay couldn’t take a compliment? He swore under his breath.

Arthur stayed on the floor, his hands trembling as he laced his fingers through his hair. He took deep breaths, the air clean from the timed freshener on the wall. The urge to vomit had subsided and left in its wake a feeling of discomfort in his stomach. It was like he wa hungry, his stomach was empty, but he also felt like if he tried to eat he’d be sick. Being alone was a nice change of pace. His heart was still shaking and his hands were still trembling as he stared at them. A monster. That was what the women were all looking at him like. A monster. He slammed his head against the door.

He heard a sound and was startled when there was a knock on the door. He glanced around and looked up. Chardonnay was on the other side, and he was frankly surprised she’d come here. He expected security to be throwing him out. Her words made him stare down at the floor. An abuser. Was that really what they were saying about him back there? He slowly slid his leg up and wrapped it around himself. He wasn’t like that. He could never be like that, and he’d kill any man who was like that.

”You seem to be doing a fine job of painting that impression of me.” He deadpanned. He slowly stood up, glanced at the mirror, and washed his face off. It didn’t change too much, but helped calm his flush. Slowly he approached the door, and opened it. Now he was face to face with Chardonnay, giving her a blank look. She was still in the outfit she was in earlier. It looked pretty on her. ”I have anxiety problems.” He admitted, not anticipating her to really understand them or care. But at least he was being honest. ”So I’m sorry I left.”

Arthur felt better when he looked around and saw the women were farther away. A few glanced over, sure, but no one was lingering like before. He focused on Chardonnay, shaking his head. ”Right. You enjoy making me suffer, I know, I should be a good boyfriend and just suffer for you.” He said. She really was too much... basically all the time. He sighed when she commented this was his fault in a roundabout way. She did look cute, the way she folded her arms over her chest and huffed.

”Well – look – all that shit you said when you slammed the door, I don’t think that. You’re not fat. I’m still attracted to you... a lot. I meant comfortable as like, you looked comfortable, which is good,” He cleared his throat looking away from her briefly. ”Yeah, I’m stubborn, but so are you! You got a whole store to turn against me because you made me look like a jerk. You already had me bending to your will and had to make everyone think I’m a shitty boyfriend?” Well, maybe he helped that negative image with his temper, but he didn’t want to admit that.

He leaned over and put one hand on her waist, leaning over to kiss her. At the last second he panicked (for some stupid, unfathomable reason) and kissed her cheek instead. ”And you do look pretty in that.”