Chapter 74: Three Choices

I took Sara’s clothes and went into the changing room.

Her choice had looked bold on the hanger, but once I put everything on, it worked better than I’d expected.

The emerald-green jacket stood out against the black trousers, while the deep-red shirt and dark patterned vest kept the green from taking over everything.

She had added a matching pocket square and a few small gold details, and although I probably wouldn’t have chosen the combination myself, it worked surprisingly well together.

When I walked out, Sara looked me over before a pleased smile appeared on her face.

“See? I knew that would work.” Gwen looked between my clothes and Sara’s emerald gown before noticing what she’d done.

“You matched the green to your dress and the red to your hair.” Sara glanced at her.

“Maybe.” Gwen shook her head.

“That’s not a maybe.” Sara ignored her and told me to turn around.

I did, and after checking the back of the jacket, she nodded.

“Yeah.

I’m keeping this one.” I reminded her, “You’re not the one wearing it.” Sara didn’t seem bothered.

“You said we could choose.”

Emily was already holding out her clothes by then.

“My turn.” I took them and went back inside to change.

Her choice couldn’t have looked more different from Sara’s.

The cream jacket and trousers made the black shirt stand out immediately, while the dark patterned vest broke up the lighter color.

She had kept everything else simple with a black pocket square and a small gold floral pin.

Sara’s choice was much bolder, while Emily’s looked cleaner.

When I came out, Emily looked over the outfit before nodding.

“I like it.” Sara looked between Emily’s cream gown and my suit before saying, “You matched him even more than I did.” Emily glanced down at herself and answered, “That was the idea.” Gwen smiled.

“At least you admit it.” Emily looked toward Sara.

“She was pretending hers was an accident.” Sara immediately defended herself.

“I never said it was an accident.” Gwen reminded her, “You said maybe.” Sara answered, “That’s not the same thing,” before looking at me again.

“Mine still looks better.”

Emily disagreed, and the two of them started comparing their choices until I looked toward Gwen.

She was already waiting with the midnight-blue suit in her hands.

“Now mine.” I took it and asked, “You’re very confident.” Gwen nodded.

“Because I already know it’ll look good.” Sara pointed out that both she and Emily had said almost the same thing, but Gwen simply pointed toward the changing room.

“Go.”

I changed for the third time.

Gwen’s choice was simpler than the other two, but the double-breasted cut made it different from anything I normally wore.

The midnight-blue suit fit close without being tight, while the champagne-colored shirt gave it enough contrast without making it too bright.

There was no vest or tie, and she’d only added a matching pocket square and a simple watch.

The moment I came out, Gwen smiled.

“Yeah.

This one.” Sara immediately disagreed, while Emily told Gwen, “You didn’t even look at him properly.” Gwen stepped closer and looked over the suit again.

“I don’t need to.

This one looks best.” Sara compared it to the emerald outfit I’d worn earlier and told her, “Mine had more personality.” Emily looked at me beside her own cream gown before adding, “I still prefer mine.”

Gwen told Emily she only liked hers because it matched her dress, which made Emily point out that Gwen had done exactly the same thing.

Sara joined in by pointing toward Gwen’s navy gown and my suit.

“They’re both navy.” Gwen pointed toward the champagne shirt.

“The shirt isn’t.” Sara looked at Gwen’s blonde hair and then at the shirt before smiling.

“You matched that part to yourself too.” Gwen paused before answering, “Maybe.” Sara immediately repeated Gwen’s earlier words back to her.

“That’s not a maybe.”

I smiled as Gwen gave Sara a look.

Apparently all three of them had done almost the same thing without planning it.

Sara had chosen colors that matched her gown and red hair, Emily had matched the cream and black to herself, and Gwen had done the same with the navy and champagne.

I looked between them and said, “Very useful.

All three of you chose yourselves.” Sara answered, “We chose what looked good.” Gwen added, “And mine looks best.” Emily shook her head.

“We’re back to this again.”

I looked at the three outfits and decided on the easiest solution.

“I’ll buy all three.” That immediately got rejected because, according to them, buying all three didn’t answer which one I would actually wear to lunch.

Gwen wanted me to stay in the navy suit I was already wearing, Sara wanted the emerald and red, and Emily still preferred the cream and black.

I reminded them that I was capable of choosing my own clothes, but Sara pointed out, “You chose ours. We get to choose yours.” Apparently that part of the agreement had become much more important than I’d expected.

I went back inside and changed into my normal clothes while they continued discussing it.

By the time I returned, the three suits had been placed beside each other again, but they were no closer to deciding.

I asked, “Nothing?” Emily shook her head.

“Nothing.” Sara pointed toward Gwen and said she refused to listen, while Gwen immediately answered that Sara hadn’t changed her choice once either.

Emily looked between them before telling both of them, “Neither of you has changed your choice.”

I picked up the three suits.

“Then I’ll buy them and decide later.” Sara stopped me before I could take them toward the counter.

“No, we need something fair.” Gwen asked what she had in mind, and Sara suggested voting.

Emily looked at her.

“There are three of us, and we’re each voting for our own.” Sara thought about it before admitting, “Okay, voting doesn’t work.”

Gwen suggested asking one of the employees, but Sara rejected that almost immediately because the employee hadn’t chosen any of the outfits.

Emily suggested that I wear each one again and they could score them out of ten.

I stared at her.

“I’m not changing three more times.” Emily smiled slightly.

“It would be fair.” I told her, “Find another game.” Sara laughed while Gwen admitted she wouldn’t mind seeing all three again, which made me even more certain I wasn’t agreeing.

Sara suggested drawing names from something, but Gwen pointed out that would just make the winner random.

Sara looked at her.

“That’s the point.” Gwen shook her head.

“Then we might as well flip a coin.” Emily reminded her, “There are three choices.” Gwen thought about it before suggesting they flip twice somehow.

Sara immediately asked how that was supposed to be fair to whoever didn’t get the first flip, and within seconds they were arguing about a game they hadn’t even started.

I stood beside them and listened for a while before asking, “Do you actually want to go to lunch?” Gwen answered, “Yes.” Sara said the same, and Emily reminded them that they’d already spent much longer shopping than planned.

I told them, “Then choose something that takes less than a minute.” That at least made them stop discussing coins.

Emily suggested picking a number from one to ten and whoever got closest to mine would win.

Sara liked the idea until Gwen pointed out that I could deliberately choose a number that made one of them win.

Sara looked at me suspiciously.

“Would you?” I answered, “Now that you’ve mentioned it, maybe.” Sara immediately rejected the number game too.

Emily sighed.

“You shouldn’t have told him.”

Gwen then suggested a quick card draw, but none of us had cards.

Sara looked around the store as if something nearby might solve their problem before suddenly holding out her hand.

“Rock-paper-scissors.” Emily looked at her for a moment.

“We went through all of that just to end up at rock-paper-scissors?” Sara shrugged.

“It works.” Gwen considered it before asking, “Winner chooses what he wears?” Sara nodded.

“Winner chooses.”

Emily looked between the two of them before agreeing.

“Fine. But one round. I’m hungry.” Gwen wanted best of three, but Sara immediately told her that would take longer and give someone a chance to recover after losing.

Gwen asked how that was a bad thing, and Emily interrupted before they could start arguing again.

“One round. All three of us at the same time. Whoever wins chooses.” Sara agreed, and after a moment Gwen did too.

I looked at them.

“You know there’s still another option.” Gwen turned toward me and asked, “What?” I pointed toward myself.

“I choose my own clothes.” All three of them looked at me for a moment before Gwen answered, “No.” Sara immediately agreed with her, and even Emily smiled and said, “You gave us the choice.” Apparently I had lost control of my own clothes somewhere during the last half hour.

Sara moved closer to the other two and held out her hand.

Gwen stepped opposite her, while Emily joined them from the side.

They were still wearing the dresses I’d chosen for them, and now they were standing between three suits they’d chosen for me, preparing to settle the entire thing with rock-paper-scissors.

Sara looked at Gwen and Emily.

“Ready?” Gwen nodded while Emily raised her hand.

I leaned against the nearby counter and watched them.

At least one way or another, this would finally decide what I was wearing.

Sara started the count, and the other two joined her.

“Rock, paper, scissors—”