#128: Opening Day of Zoe's Boutique

Zoe had worked very hard on the displays in her new clothing boutique.

"This looks wonderful!" Rafael exclaimed when he showed up.

"Are we ready to open the store?" he asked, excited.

Zoe hesitated.  She still felt that she had NO idea what she was doing (except for buying clothes--she was very good at that).

"Well, if YOU think we're ready," she said.

"Do not worry, mi amor," he assured her.  "With your style, and my ability to charm people, what could possibly go wrong?"

"Okay, if you say so," she said, sounding uncertain.

_______________

The first customer, Liberty Lee, showed up more than an hour after Rafael opened the store.

Zoe quickly greeted her, and offered to answer any questions the girl had.

 Lou Last came in shortly thereafter, and briefly tried something on.

Rafael rushed to embrace her.  "Miss Last!--How delightful to see you again !"

"Umm ... okay," Lou said, sounding uncomfortable.  (She had met Rafael several times by this point, but she still didn't know what to make of him.)

Zoe sold the cute athletic Versus dress to Liberty,
 

but Lou left without buying anything.

Zoe restocked the Versus dress.

Rafael, trying to complete Travis's purchase, obviously did something wrong,

because Travis, like Lou, left without buying anything.

Zoe sold a very adventurous dress to Ryleigh Cary,

and Rafael managed his first sale (out of 3 attempts) of a flattering outfit to Devin's science lab co-worker, Alfredo Smith.

Rafael then spied Regina, and made a beeline for her.

"Miss Follett!" he cried.  "We are so honored to have an author of your stature in our humble emporium!"

Zoe, talking to other customers, overheard Rafael's unsurprising gushing over a fellow celebrity, and wondered, 'She's got more money than God--why DOES she dress like that?'

Rafael's sale to Regina was successful.

Rafael sold another very flattering outfit, this time to Javier Sykes.  (Though Rafael's impetus in going to the store was certainly to meet women, it couldn't be objectively denied that--perhaps because of Rafael's own extreme vanity--he was very, very good at knowing what clothes made a man look good.)

"I assure you, my friend," Rafael insisted, "the ladies will be ALL OVER you in this outfit!"

Zoe sold an outfit to Summer Holiday,

and Zoe and Rafael decided to close the shop for the night.

They had sold 6 outfits, for a profit of $894.

"Let us go home, Corazon, and re-dress the mannequins in the morning," Rafael purred.

"No," Zoe said.  "Let's do it NOW--so that we don't have to worry about it tomorrow."