"This is embarrassing." Romy said, standing on the platform as everyone admired the dress on her. If there was anyone that was going to make the dress look this good, it was Romy but she was frowning, having none of it. Being a bridesmaid was the type of thing that Romy was much too cool for... it was the type of thing she was only willing to do for family so how was it she'd gotten roped into this?

"You look amazing." Karen said with a smile.

"I look ridiculous." Romy said. She turned towards the dressing room curtains where Vera was now making an appearance, the same dress but looking so very different on her.

"Oh wow, just lovely." Karen said as Vera stepped up to the platform, scrutinizing herself in the mirror.

"It's not bad." Vera said, trying to make the best of it but still a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation. They hardly knew this girl.

"Well I feel fabulous!" Maru said, bouncing out and stretching her arms. They all turned to her, realizing that it would actually be Lena and Maru who would look best in the dresses thanks to their energy and youth.

"You look adorable." Romy said, raising her brow and feeling like she would gag.

"So does Lena." Maru said, pulling back the curtain to reveal Lena who looked just as adorable.

"She does." Karen said. Lena walked over to one of the mirrors, looking at the dress. Whey did women always feel the need to embarrass their friends with these ridiculous dresses?

"It's nice." Lena said, trying to be polite.

"What about Echo?" Karen finally asked, "Where is she hiding?"

"It fits, I'm fine." Echo called from behind the dressing room curtains.

"Oh come on we want to see." Karen said. Romy looked at Vera who was biting her lip, aware that this situation had to be particularly embarrassing for Echo.

"Fine." Echo said, trudging out from behind the curtain.

There was silence.

"Oh my." Karen finally said and Echo turned red.

"Ugh, I knew it. I look ridiculous." Echo said, turning away but Vera moved quickly towards her, grabbing her hand.

"No, dear... just the opposite... look." Vera said, moving her towards a mirror. "You look just as adorable as Maru and Lena. Maru stood next to Echo with a big grin.

"You're so cute." Karen said with a smile, turning to face all of them. "This is going to be perfect."

"You... let's fix that hem." One of the attendants pointed to Echo and prompted her up onto the platform. "You two are fine, I need to shorten the dress a bit for these two... and let it out a bit for her."

The attendant pointed to Lena who was by no means a big girl but was the curviest of her sisters and the one who still had most of her baby fat.

"So I can take this thing off?" Romy asked with a raised brow.

"Yes, go ahead." The attendant said as she began to work Echo's hem.

"Great. I think I need a drink." Romy said, getting down from the platform and moving towards the dressing room. Vera followed, secretly feeling the exact same thing but much too polite to say it.

"Hello?"

There was a voice from the front of the store, followed by a ring of the bell.

"Yikes... be right back." the attendant said, slipping away while leaving Echo staring in the mirror.

"Do you like it?" Lena asked, noting Echo's reaction.

"It's sweet." Echo said, thinking this was not the type of dress she would choose.

"Too sweet." Lena muttered with a sigh. "I'm hungry... where did that lady go?"

"I'll go see." Maru said, lifting the dress and turning on her heel.

As Maru stalked off towards the front to investigate, Lena turned to Echo with a lame smile.

"The dress really does suit you." Lena said.

"It makes me look like a child." Echo said with a frown.

"It makes you look as young as you are." Karen replied, "What are you? 19, 20?"

Lena frowned- seriously? She knew that Maru and Lena were the young ones... couldn't she keep anything straight.

"I'm 22." Echo said coldly.

"That's still pretty young. I'm all of 30." Karen said with a sigh.

"That's funny, I would have guessed at least 35." Lena muttered to herself. It was obvious that the sisters were not quite getting along with Karen.

"Where in the world did Maru go?" Echo said, feeling uncomfortable. She carefully stepped off the platform and lifted her dress as she moved towards the front.

"Hey, Maru... what's... oh." Echo said, stopping as she reached the front. There she was, speaking in her usual animated manner, and laughing as she did. But what Echo hadn't expected was to find Marco and Luke listening to her every word. She backed up slowly, hoping no one had seen her yet...

"Oh, hey! Echo." Maru said, making Echo want to die.

"Hi." Echo said, looking down.

Marco and Luke glanced at each other, aware at how embarrassed Echo must be at that moment.

"What are you two doing here?" Echo asked, unsure of what to say.

"Why don't we go to the back and you can work on my hem?" Maru said to the attendant who seemed to understand the clue.

"I'll be back in a bit." Echo called out as they left, a frown quickly forming on her face as she looked a Luke.

"Well?" She asked when it was just the three of them.

"Your little sister is very energetic." Marco said and Echo glared at him. "I'll wait outside."

"Are you mad?" Luke asked, grinning widely.

"What do you think?" Echo asked, crossing her arms.

"I think you look adorable." He said, making her blush.

"You shouldn't be here." She said.

"I didn't follow you. We saw you from across the street. Complete coincidence." Luke said.

"And what made you think I would want you to come in here?" She asked.

"I guess I was thinking more of what I wanted." Luke replied.

"Of course you were." Echo said, prepared to turn and leave. "Please go, I don't want anyone else realizing you're here."

"Don't be mad, I was just curious." Luke said, reaching out to take her arm and she snatched it away.

"Don't do that. If anyone sees you they'll think..." She began and he raised his brow.

"That we're dating." He said and she frowned.

"We're not dating." She said. "Stop saying that."

He sighed.

"Whatever you say. I'll leave, I understand I'm not wanted." Luke said.

"Oh, now you understand what I've been trying to say for weeks?" She said regretting it when she saw him frown. Maybe that had been a bit too harsh...

"Alright, Echo. That's enough. All I wanted was to see you for a second but you've made yourself clear. I'll leave you alone if that's what you want." Luke said, turning to the door. "Bye."

Echo stared at the door for a few minutes, feeling confused, annoyed but mostly... like she'd been punched in the stomach.

---

Five days. Five days and nothing.

Absolute silence.

Echo checked her phone daily, wondering at what point she would finally receive some or signal or anything... but there was nothing. Luke hadn't reached out, hadn't tried to see her or make a date and by the look of things... he'd finally decided to leave her alone.

She should be happy, right? That was what she wanted.

Echo groaned as she rolled over and stared down at the puppy that was now a bit more active and trying to jump onto her bed. She smiled, watching it try and try again, knowing there was no way that little thing was going to get up. With a sigh, she reached out and pulled him onto the bed with her, where he immediately began an assault on her hair.

"Crazy baby." She muttered as the puppy continued to jump and play. She had to admit, she adored the little guy and now she regretted not being more grateful over it.

This was silly, she was being silly. After all, she'd known from the beginning it couldn't last and besides, Luke was not the type of man she should be involved with. She should be glad it was over. Now she could focus on her work and move on with her life the way she'd intended.

The only problem was that now she wasn't so sure she was satisfied with her life. Damn it Luke, what did you do?

She turned to her puppy and picked him up, moving him into a basket she'd fashioned like a play room for him. He jumped around, letting out pathetic little barks as he tried to get out but eventually just settling on one of the little toys inside. Then, she turned to her laptop, deciding she needed to work to start to feel normal again.

"It's over. That's that." She said, decisively, pulling up the most recent project she'd started. "Let's see..."

She began to type away, carefully going through her notes but she was finding it hard to focus, especially as she could hear her puppy playing in the box. She should have known the puppy would be a distraction, even if she did adore him. Still, she pushed the thought aside, reading through her notepad and trying to concentrate.

"Focus, Echo. It's not that hard." She said to herself as she read and re read the same lines again and again. What the hell did any of this mean? She glanced at her phone, which she had purposely left across the room so she wouldn't pick it up as much. There wasn't going to be any new messages on there so she should just ignore it. It was over, Luke was gone and she could kiss it all goodbye.

She turned to her closet, the door slightly ajar and frowned. It wasn't like Echo to leave the closet door open. She hated open doors like that and was constantly closing the doors behind her as she went through them. With her customary click of the nails on the desk, she got up and pushed the door, turning back to the desk... until she heard the creak.

The door slowly moved open again. Echo raised her brow and moved back to the door, closing it with her hand and firmly pressing against it. Then as she stood back, the door once again creaked open slowly. She frowned and stared at it for a second.

Either the house was haunted or something was stuck. Echo moved forward and pulled the closet door open, inspecting the ground to see what she found. There it was.

Echo stared at the bag for several seconds, unblinking. She'd found it in her trunk a few days ago, realizing that Luke must have had someone put it there. She hadn't opened it yet, recognizing the department store name and knowing he'd picked up another outfit for their next date. The next date that would never come.

She moved forward, pulling the bag from where it was stuck between the hinges and then setting it aside. That bag would just have to sit in the back of her closet, forgotten for all eternity.

"Hey!"

The sound of Maru's voice made Echo pop her head out from beyond her closet.

"Hey." Echo said as she watched Maru scoop up the puppy.

"Oh he's such a cutie... who's a good boy?" Maru asked the little pup as she cuddled him.

"You'll spoil him." Echo said with a smile.

"Like you're not?" Maru asked, "No name yet?"

Echo sighed.

"No, not yet." She replied. Maru nodded, glancing over to the phone on the counter.

"No news yet either?" Maru knew that Echo felt terrible, even if she wouldn't admit it. She had finally managed to get this guy to leave her alone and she was regretting it. Still, Maru was completely convinced it was over.

This man had been pretty ardent in his pursuit... even if he did get mad, this couldn't be the end of the line, right?

"I already told you no. That's over... finally." Echo said, trying to sound relieved but somehow sounding despondent.

"Are you sure? You know, if he's mad... maybe you should text him." Maru said.

"Right. So he can ignore my texts and then I can go crazy waiting for a response." Echo said.

"So then go talk to him in person... you know where he lives." Maru said, making Echo frown.

"I absolutely can't do that." Echo said, "That... no."

"Oh, come on." Maru said, "He was into you, it was obvious. Just go to him, tell him you're sorry and he might be more than willing to help with the rest."

"I am not doing that. There's no way." Echo said, "Besides, if he is into me then eventually he'll come around."

"I don't know, Echo. The guy screams sexuality." Maru said and Echo snapped her head at her.

"Maru!" Echo said but Maru just laughed.

"I'm not a child and he does. I wouldn't be surprised if he has half a dozen women to console him." Maru said.

"Then he's fine and I'm fine." Echo said, trying to pretend to be okay with that.

"Alright. I see you've made up your mind and there's no talking you out of it." Maru said, putting the pup back in the basket. "But just so you know, I'm not busy in case you need a baby sitter."

Maru patted the puppy's head and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Echo stared down at the bag she'd pried free, wondering what the dress looked like this time and carefully considering what Maru had said... maybe Luke had already forgotten her.