Jess was torn between two — one a long, strapless, basic black number, the other a knee-length electric blue with spaghetti straps. I encouraged her to go with the blue; why not play up the eyes? Angela chose a pale pink dress that draped around her tallframe nicely and brought out honey tints in her light brown hair. I complimented them both generously and helped by returning the rejects to their racks. The whole process was much shorter and easier than similar trips I'd taken with Renée at home. I guess there was something to be said for limited choices.

杰西在两条裙子中挣扎着——一件是长款无肩带的经典黑色礼服，另一件是及膝细肩带的铁蓝色礼服。我推荐她选蓝色那件，为什么不抓住人们的眼球呢?安吉拉选了一条淡粉色裙子，它恰到好处地裹住她纤长的身形，给她浅棕色的头发增添了几分甜美。我毫不吝啬地赞美她们，帮忙把她们不要的衣服挂回衣架上。整个过程比我在家陪蕾妮购物时要短暂和容易得多。我猜想，如果真要说是为什么的话，是因为这里的选择很有限。

We headed over to shoes and accessories. While they tried things on I merely watched and critiqued, not in the mood to shop for myself, though I did need new shoes. The girls'-night high was wearing off in the wake of my annoyance at Tyler, leaving room for the gloom to move back in.

我们又冲去买鞋子和饰品。当她们试穿的时候我只是在一旁看着提供意见，没有心情给自己买东西，尽管我确实需要买新鞋了。女孩之夜带来的亢奋在我回想起对泰勒的厌恶以后已经快要消失殆尽了，给忧郁留下了卷土重来的空间。

"Angela?" I began, hesitant, while she was trying on a pair of pink strappy heels — she was overjoyed to have a date tall enough that she could wear high heels at all.

“安吉拉?”在她试穿一双粉色的装饰着皮革的高跟鞋时，我迟疑着开了口。她正为有一个足够高的舞伴而欣喜若狂，这样他就能穿高跟鞋了。

Jessica had drifted to the jewelry counter and we were alone.

杰西卡已经逛到了珠宝柜台，留下我们两个在一起。

"Yes?" She held her leg out, twisting her ankle to get a better view of the shoe.

“怎么了?”她伸出腿，转过脚踝，想要更好地看看这双鞋。

I chickened out. "I like those."

我的勇气又用完了，只好放弃。“我喜欢这双。”

"I think I'll get them — though they'll never match anything but the one dress," she mused.

“我想我可以把它们买下来——虽然除了一条裙子它们什么也不搭。”她若有所思地说着。

"Oh, go ahead — they're on sale," I encouraged. She smiled, putting the lid back on a box thatcontained more practical-looking off-white shoes.

“哦，别犹豫——他们正在打折呢。”我鼓励道。她微笑着，盖上那只装着一对看起来更实用的白色鞋子的盒子。