I am Baaack! Part 3

A happy, confident, definitely Rose Rose had walked through the door of Vaingirls. She had shopped the Loop, and left her androgynous clothes in the dressing room of Marshall Fields as trash. Newly unbound breasts, and nether regions encased in the sexiest lingerie Victoria's Secret had to offer, wearing a zebra pattern short skirted suit over a lacy cami, sporting cream hose and white pumps with three-inch heels, accessorized with a sliver and black watch and black and white combination necklace, earrings and bracelet all bought at Fields, she had treated herself to a makeover at Fields' salon because something just HAD to be done about her hair. Somewhere along the way, the last fading ghost of Ross wished her well, and disappeared entirely. Exiting Fields with newly highlighted permed hair and flawless makeup, she looked, she thought, as she remembered an old Saturday Night Live, MAHVELOUS.

She felt absolutely feminine, and thought about treating the people sharing State Street with her to an enthusiastic rendition of "I Feel Pretty." She felt empowered, and cherished the anger she'd nurtured against Edwina, Louise, and Joan for so long. She remembered her Kipling, and remembered how Ross had ridiculed it when forced to read it in high school. How wrong he'd been; she knew it now, could feel it now, and soon The Three Bitches would know it too: "The female of the species IS more deadly than the male!"

When she entered Vaingirls, nobody was in the front of the store but Jessica behind the cash register, a relic of the 1930's that Joyce had been overjoyed to find at a rummage sale in Wilmette. Jessica did a double take, and then a big grin spread across her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but Rose put her finger to her lips for silence, and pointed to the back room, raising her eyebrows in question. Jessica nodded, gave her a thumbs up, and mouthed, "You go, girlfriend!" at her as she passed.

'What the hell?' Rose thought, and she twirled into the back room singing, "I Feel Pretty"!