set your body free {tom!}

[coralie annette diamond]

outfit!

While Coralie loved shopping with friends as much as the next girl, shopping alone had a certain allure that she just couldn't deny. Sure, there was no one to give their opinion, but there was also no one to wonder why she simply had to have another hat or what the difference between teal and seafoam was and why it was so important to her. When she was alone, she never felt guilty about buying things to make herself feel good because feeling good about herself was something she knew was important and no one was there to tell her otherwise.

Today saw Coralie at the mall, having set herself a one hundred fifty dollar budget that she had only exceeded by twenty so far, a new personal best. She'd had a good week both in internet sales and actual sales at her actual job and she was treating herself to some new things before the summer ended and she had to change the color scheme of her wardrobe. She'd hit up Macy's and come out with six new scarves that were on sale for a steal, as well as two new tops, a dress, and some shoes. On her arm were also bags from Nordstrom, Victoria's Secret, and Steve Madden--because a girl could never have enough shoes.

Being that Coralie was used to shopping, the burden of carrying all of these bags was nothing at all. It would have been nice to have a man around to carry them for her, but despite appearances, Coralie was not a weakling and it wasn't much of a workout to carry her purchases. She liked to think she looked a bit like Audrey Hepburn a la Holly Golightly, or maybe just Isla Fischer in Shopaholic and as she walked, she smiled. Her first stumble didn't bother her--everyone stumbled once in awhile--but the second time it happened, her smile faltered a bit. She was a lady and, as such, graceful enough to keep her stumbles to once a week. This was twice--three times--in one sitting.

She didn't hear the crack, but she did feel it. She stumbled again and her left ankle turned as the heel cracked and split, sliding out from underneath her as easily as if it had been greased. She clutched her purchases to her and none of them flew out as she surged left, trying to regain her balance as her foot crashed down the four inches that were no longer taken up by shoe. Letting out a small wail of surprise and pain, she squeezed her eyes shut until she was balanced again. Once she was, she opened them and looked down. Not only was she now lopsided, the heel of her beautiful new shoes was dangling from the ankle like a broken bone.

Coralie felt dizzy. She tried to breathe in and out, but her vision was swimming in front of her. There was a median between the stores just a few feet off where there were chairs and tables. She limped over as though it was her leg broken and not her shoe, all the while trying to hold back her heartbroken sobs. As soon as a chair was in front of her, she swooned into it, hand flopped over her forehead and eyes closed. This was, by far, the worst day of her life.

[thomas peter fitzgerald]

Tom let out a content sigh as he strolled along through life. Today was a beautiful Saturday, the sun was shinning high in the sky and there was little to nothing that could have upset him at this particular moment. He was so pleased with life right now because everything was falling perfectly into line. He’d finally caught up on all his summer grading, he’d sent a thorough letter to Aria which had taken a good long while to write, and he’d finally called his family to let them know he was, indeed alive. From there, they had begun to pester him about when he was going to come visit and Tom had promised sometime before the new term started he’d head out, but vacation dates where still only vaguely floating along the horizon of his mind. Right now, he was more focused on taking a stroll along the beautiful shops of Orange Island, casually peering about and possibly even popping in to visit Coralie, whom he very much found to be an exciting… breath of fresh air? No, that wasn’t it but she was certainly pleasant enough.

Coralie and Tom had really hit it off the first time the young professor had swung by the boutique at which she worked and since then, she’d been one of the few people Tom had found a sense of tranquillity around, considering she often tended to have something more important than his petty issues going on which served as a nice distraction. On this lovely day, as his stroll brought him along the shopping route, Tom hummed to himself the chorus of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” before spotting an alluring looking tie out of the corner of his eye; his thoughts only shifted in the slightest from very cheerful things to other very cheerful things as he peered at it carefully in the display.

It was a beautiful tie, nicely gold striped -- very dapper and particularly elegant for a day out on the town. Drawn to it, Tom couldn’t help taking himself and his good mood and stepping into the shop to buy it. He came out a good fifteen minutes later with a bag and the tie tucked neatly inside, matching hankie and all, very pleased with his purchase. Now all he needed was an excuse to wear it. Maybe Coralie would give him one, someday soon.

Just as he was coming out of the shop though, Tom heard a small cry that was enough to catch the usually helpful one’s attention, and startle him at best. He turned to see, just in time, a very flustered looking-- speak of the devil: Coralie who seemed to limp in slow motion over to a small gathering of tables and chairs nearby. Almost immediately Tom’s chipper attitude faded a bit and he sobered, taking quick strides over towards her to help. “Coralie, are you alright, what happened?” the words were soft, soothing almost--- but quick out of his mouth as Tom reached her and almost immediately extended his arms to help her with her things. Kneeling, he did his best to gather her bags for her and set them neatly aside.

[outift here]

[coralie annette diamond]

Tom showing up was one of the best things that could happen. The only better person would be Chai--even her friends who would have understood would have just distressed her further. At his arrival, she let out another tiny sob--tearless, of course, because she was a lady and also wearing mascara--and whipped her head around to the other side, squeezing her eyes shut. She was careful to keep her hair from rubbing against the arm or back of the chair by waving it around in the air, but she did rest on the cushion when she was settled into her swoon.

Even amidst her pain-ridden fit and heartwrenching, back-breaking agony, Coralie took a moment to notice Tom's outfit, because that was just the sort of kind and considerate person that she was. He looked dapper in his suit vest and Coralie sniffled in appreciation, though she was far too upset to smile and she wouldn't be able to say anything until her shoe had been miraculously repaired--which meant that Coralie was never going to speak again unless it was to wail about her shoe, something she was preparing to do after she finished her dry sniffles.

"Oh, Tom," she said, voice throbbing with emotion as if she were crying. Her eyes were still as dry as ever--and, thus, still as well made up as ever. "The worst thing in the entire world has happened." She opened her eyes and looked up at him through her lashes, every inch the damsel in distress. She was surprised that Tom was the only male who had come running to her aid, considering the fact that she was presenting what was obviously every good man's save-the-girl fantasy, but she didn't have time to worry about that right now because she had an actual problem.

She thrust her foot out toward Tom, broken heel hanging back at an awkward angle from the rest of the shoe. It was still connected by a small thread, but none of the basic heel infrastructure still remained. She sniffled again and pointed to it with the hand that wasn't draped over her forehead. "My shoe, my beautiful, beautiful shoe, is broken!" She heaved another dry sob and let her hand drop to her side to hang limp and lifeless there. "Of all the bad things that could happen, this is the worst possible thing!"

[thomas peter fitzgerald]

Setting aside each of the bags neatly, one by one, Tom sat back on his heel and smiled encouragingly at Coralie. He made a face of sincere concern when she popped her leg out towards him, the root of the problem glaring obnoxiously at both of them in the face. A broken heel; expensive and a very sore loss by the looks of it. “I’m so sorry, dear,” he said soothingly after a moment. With a tender touch, Tom held her beautiful foot and slid the poor, wretched thing off as he stood, careful to lower Coralie’s leg as gently as possible. Then, lifting the shoe to examine it a bit, he held back the urge to laugh knowing it was the last thing the damsel in distress would ever want. He wasn’t quite sure what she would want at that moment though and offering the shoe back to her after a brief examination, he laid a soothing hand on her shoulder. “It does look like a bit of a fix,” he said softly. “Is there anything I can do to make it better?”

Anything Coralie asked of him at that moment Tom would probably have obliged. Seeing anyone in such anguish, particularly someone he considered a friend was simply something Tom could not tolerate and he always did his best to lend a hand when need be. Coralie tended to be someone he was particularly indulgent of, why, not even Tom could say-- but he was and she meant a lot to him, like Mary-Jane but… a little less. Perhaps that was actually why he liked Coralie so much. She really was quite a bit like MJ although severely more dramatic but not necessarily in an irksome way. They were both ‘fashionistas’ and knew what was what, that was for sure.

[coralie annette diamond]

Coralie couldn't decide if she felt like Cinderella or someone whose foot was being inappropriately fondled. One thing she did know without a doubt, however, was that being barefoot in public was not something that a lady did and so, as soon as the Cinderella moment was over--she had decided to give Tom the benefit of the doubt--she pulled her foot under her other leg to hide it from view of the public. It was alright that Tom had seen it, like it was alright for a doctor to see things that other people could not, but she wasn't taking any more chances with the strangers walking by.

"In one of these bags is a pair of shoes," she said, though it killed her. She couldn't do it herself, but since Tom had already touched her feet, there was no harm in asking him to do it now. After all, he was the one who responded to her damsel in distress call, despite the fact that hundreds, thousands of men had walked by before him and seen her fall over in horror. He was the one who deserved the honor of saving the day and the damsel.

"Don't look in the pink bag," she said, because that was the Victoria's Secret bag and even her savior didn't get to see inside there. "The shoes are purple and they won't match--" She swallowed and sniffled, horrified by the thought but determined to carry on. "--but at least I can walk in them." She closed her eyes, unable to bear the thought of watching someone put a shoe that didn't match her dress on her foot in public, but knowing that it had to happen.

[thomas peter fitzgerald]

Tom offered Coralie a gentle smile in her moment of distress. The poor girl, despite her heel in fact being broken, looked as if someone had run over her pet cat, she was so distraught! He couldn’t understand really the dilemma, being a male and never too attached to anything so much in his life-- but he had a sister and he knew the implications of losing or breaking something so dear as, well… er, a shoe. Her request did so catch him off guard though and Tom hesitated, a small, anxious little frown coming to his face. The request was odd, though none too out of place for Coralie he assumed, and it made him slightly uncomfortable but resigned, Tom let out a soft sigh. It wasn’t like he hadn’t already lent himself to the occasion. He’d flocked to her side like a chambermaid would her mistress at the first call of distress. Not that he regretted such an action but really, sometimes his own whims troubled even the young gentleman. “Er, alright,” Tom replied somewhat hesitantly after a moment.

Peering at the bags, he ran over each name in his mind thinking in which of each Coralie would be most likely to buy a pair of shoes. Making a selection, he was lucky in his choice and soon spotted the shoe box. Lifting it up, he opened it and held a shoe out to her. “Alright, here we go,” he muttered gently. Sometimes, and he really couldn’t help it, Tom felt like Coralie could have been his baby sister and this lent itself as being one of those times. There was just something about the way she acted and his almost instinctual need to protect MJ that seemed to cause Tom’s gravitation towards the obviously younger girl. It had puzzled him a bit at first, why Coralie seemed to simply stick in his mind and throughout all of his acquaintances-- she held a fire to any single one of them. Now it all made sense and, pleased with coming to the conclusion-- Tom made a mental note to introduce her to MJ the next time his sister came for a visit.

“There,” he said after a few moments. Straightening, Tom stood his full length and tugged gently at the bottom of his waistcoat before smiling down at Coralie. “I am truly sorry about your shoes,” he said again with a sympathetic look. “But those suit you quite elegantly, given the circumstances.”