She had stood in the dressing room for a long time. The dress was silk and it moved with her and it had no embellishment, no beadwork, no overlay, nothing that said: look at this dress. It just said: look at her.

She had paid for it with her own card.

This was the thing she had thought about on the way to the register and periodically since. The upfront payment had been in her account for three months. She had spent almost none of it. Not because she couldn't, the money was unconditional, it was hers, David had been clear about that and Julian had been clearer still. She...