Kate stopped at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive and stood still for a moment, taking in the scene. The sidewalks were surprisingly full of pedestrians - a stark contrast to the notable absence of foot traffic she'd observed everywhere else she'd been in LA since arriving here last week.

She let out a small sigh of satisfaction, watching the people in the crowd jostle for position as they peered through the glass at the glamorous window displays. Finally, Kate thought to herself, something in LA that didn't make her feel like she was from another planet.

In fact, if she took away the palm trees, the scene here didn't look so different from the ritzy section of Fifth Avenue back home. Every major city in the world had a shopping district like this one. It was the one part of town where the fashionable elite mingled shoulder-to-shoulder with camera-wielding tourists dressed in sneakers and jean shorts.  

She scanned her eyes along the street, taking in the names of designers she recognized. Prada. Valentino. Oscar de la Renta. Gucci... Where to begin?

Kate hadn't anticipated counting herself among the few actual shoppers on Rodeo Drive, but she couldn't say she didn't find the prospect alluring now that she was here. It had been Aidan's idea this morning. They'd been chatting companionably over coffee and danishes when he'd been interrupted by a phone call.

"Sorry," he'd muttered to her, picking up the phone on the first ring. "Bat phone. Gotta take this."

He'd left her alone at the dining table to speak privately, and he'd made a gagging face when he returned a few minutes later. "I have to do an interview with Access Hollywood," he'd said. "Will you be OK here on your own this morning?"

He'd looked at her apologetically as he tossed on a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt that had been balled up on the living room floor. That was when the bright idea hit him to let her take his Amex Black Card for a little shopping spree on Rodeo Drive.

"No way," she'd protested. "I'll go check out Rodeo Drive, but no way am I taking your credit card."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not that kind of girl!"

He'd laughed. "Oh, come on. I want to get you a present." He'd come toward her and put his arms around her, kissing her lightly on the lips. "What's wrong with buying a little something for the woman I love?" he'd asked, cupping her face in his hands.

Now Kate had his credit card burning a hole in her pocket, but that didn't mean she had to use it. She probably wouldn't even buy anything - just have a look around. Where to begin? Gucci, Kate thought to herself, setting out again down the street. Wasn't that where Paul's girlfriend, Halley, had said her outfit was from the other night? 

Kate found herself inside the elegant boutique a moment later, and she paused at the threshold, hesitantly looking around the store. A saleswoman approached her almost immediately. "May I help you?"

"Yes," Kate replied. "I'm looking for..." What was she looking for, exactly? She hadn't really thought it through to be honest. Something that would make her feel less like an imposter next time Aidan took her out with him on a double date. "I'm looking for something interesting," she began, "but... simple."

"Interesting but simple?"

"Well, you know," Kate said, struggling to find the right words to communicate what she was picturing in her mind. "Like I'm not trying too hard?"

The saleswoman squinted back at her, saying nothing, and Kate felt compelled to keep talking to fill in the silence. "And youthful," she continued, "but still sophisticated."

"I'm not quite sure I understand."

Kate felt her cheeks flushing, shamefully aware of the fact that she was babbling. How to explain?

"Well," Kate began again. "I guess I'm looking for the kind of dress you would have in your closet if you were a rockstar's girlfriend and you needed something you could just throw on at a moment's notice. You know, like, say for a double date with the lead guitarist and his supermodel girlfriend."

"Ahhh." The saleswoman nodded slowly, carefully maintaining the look of studied professionalism on her face. "I see," she said. "Let me pull a few options for you to try."

Kate felt herself start to relax again as the woman walked away and ducked out of sight through an open doorway at the back of the store. The walls of the shop were lined with clothing racks, and Kate browsed through a few of the items as she waited for the saleswoman to return. Minutes ticked by, and Kate strolled toward the back of the store to pass the time. As she approached the room where the saleswoman had disappeared, she couldn't help but overhear a snatch of whispered conversation.

"...the mousey one... nah, don't bother...just a tourist..."

Were they talking about her? Kate drew up her shoulders indignantly. Just a tourist? She wondered if the woman was even going to come back out. Maybe that was how they got rid of the undesirables - just go into the back and never come out again. At least it was a step up from being actively asked to leave, like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

Well, she wasn't about to get pushed around by some pretentious shopgirl. She was perfectly capable of picking out some dresses to try on by herself. She started flipping through the clothes on the racks more purposefully, gathering up a few of the less elaborate looking cocktail dresses and then heading toward the end of the store where the dressing rooms were curtained off.

The saleswoman emerged from the back empty-handed, and Kate didn't fail to notice the brief look of annoyance on her face before she composed her features again into a condescending smile. "Ah, I see you've found a few items to your taste," she said, holding out a hand to take the hangers from Kate.

"Yes, I'd like to try these on please," Kate replied.

"Of course."

The saleswoman looked down at the dresses that Kate had gathered and began to hang them up one by one in the dressing room. She emerged a moment later, carrying one dress back out with her - a simply cut sequined tank dress in iridescent fuschia.

Kate looked at her questioningly. "Is there a problem?" she asked.

"This is from our current runway collection," the woman replied. "I believe you may find the ready-to-wear items you selected to be closer to your price range."

"Oh, I see." Kate said, raising her eyebrows. "That's very helpful of you. Especially since I don't recall mentioning my price range."

"Of course, you're more than welcome to try it on." The dress was duly returned to the dressing room. "Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance."

"Out of my price range," Kate muttered to herself as soon as the woman was out of earshot. Would it be ridiculous to buy that dress just to teach that girl a lesson? Kate slipped it on over her head and emerged from the dressing room to examine herself in the three-way mirror, turning this way and that as the light reflected off the shimmery fabric.

The dress had looked simple to the point of shapelessness on the hanger, but it transformed when she put it on. The smooth fabric flowed over her figure like liquid silk, skimming past her flaws and accentuating her curves. A perfect fit. Simple, yet interesting. Effortless. Youthful. Sophisticated.

Nailed it, Kate thought with a smile. Let the paps take her picture now. This outfit wouldn't look out of place next to Aidan, whether he was dressed up in a tux or his usual t-shirt and jeans. In fact, she could just picture herself now with Aidan's arm around her waist and one of his black leather jackets thrown over her shoulders to ward off the evening chill. Let anyone try to say she and Aidan were 'just friends' after that picture got printed in Us Weekly.

The saleswoman was approaching her again now, holding a hanger with a different dress - also a deep pink, but decidedly more dowdy. "That's a lovely color on you," she said, pleasantly enough. "Perhaps you'd like to try this one?"

"Actually, no," Kate replied. "This one is perfect. I'll take it."

"I'm sorry?"

"I would like to purchase this dress," Kate said, enunciating carefully. "It is for sale, isn't it?"

"Yes, of course." The saleswoman cast an anxious look over her shoulder toward the cash register. "Perhaps I should just look up the price for you in the book before you make your final decision," she said.

"Don't be silly," Kate replied, watching with satisfaction as the saleswoman's lips formed themselves into an 'O' of surprise. "Just be a good girl and wrap it up, please."

Kate was standing at the register a few moments later, watching as the woman carefully folded her new dress and wrapped it in tissue paper.

"Your total comes to $14,348 dollars," the woman stated matter-of-factly. "And how will you be paying for this today?"

Kate felt her stomach lurch as she struggled to take in the words. Had she heard that right? Fourteen thousand? For a tank dress? It was obscene. Beyond obscene. She couldn't go through with it. What would Aidan think? Then again, he probably wouldn't blink an eye. Welcome to life in the VIP section, right? And anyway, far preferable to raise Aidan's eyebrows a little than to face the embarrassment of slinking out of this store empty-handed.

"Credit," Kate said with a smile, pulling out Aidan's card and handing it over.

On a whim, Kate slipped her phone out of her purse, selecting Marcy's name from her contact list. She began typing out a text while the shopgirl turned her back to ring up the purchase.

"Just bought a $14K dress. Charged to Aidan :)"

She broke out in a laugh when she saw her friend's response a moment later:

"Nice. Hope it fits you better than the bath towel..."

She was still chuckling at her phone when she became aware of a man in a well-tailored black suit who had come up to stand behind her.

"Excuse me," he said, tapping Kate on the shoulder. She turned toward him, lifting her eyebrows in question.

"Could you please come with me, ma'am?"

"I'm sorry?"

She almost would have taken him for the store manager, if not for the badge he wore, inconspicuously pinned to his lapel: "SECURITY."

"Is there a problem?" she asked, looking up at him. He reached out and gripped her firmly by the upper arm, and Kate had to walk briskly to keep up as he began marching her toward an unmarked door at the back of the store.

She turned her head to look back over her shoulder at the shopgirl, still standing behind the register with Aidan's credit card in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. She shot Kate one last patronizing smile as she lifted the scissors and carefully snipped the credit card in half.