Red and Black

Hot Summer Weekend

flash forward to present day

The summer heat was super intense. Record breaking day after record breaking day made for cranky difficult commutes to and from work. Electric grids often were overwhelmed and left citizens scrambling for emergency relief.

By now, happily settled into their romance, Ms. Kitz and Mr. Bowe were going about their activities trying to conserve energy and stay cool.

Dating was on hold. It was too hot to do anything outdoors. Even the water at the local beach was too hot for comfort. The city pools were nearly all evaporated, as the city was rationing water to handle the area fires.

If there was ever a time women got catty was now. With all these women walking about town with nothing but stickers over their privates, the voiced concerns often fell on deaf ears as men felt like they had won the visual jackpot.

These were the days where Kit-Kat appreciated the loyalty James held for her. He never got distracted and forgotten what they were talking about when a temptress passed by. He never asked her to wear so little. His only concern was that she accepted his offer to install solar panels so her A/C kept on running whenever the city ran out of power.

With her backup battery system in place, along with the panels, Alice was one of the few who didn’t have bad nights due to the heat. She had tried to get James to sleep over, but his commitments kept him from caving in to her temptation.

“Hey babe… I know it’s crazy hot… but I miss you a lot… can you spare a date?” pouted Alice over the phone as they talked about life and plans.

“My dear, you know I’m busy putting on these concerts to entertain those escaping the heat” James protested.

His cellist career was on fire at present. A lot of the older citizens preferred to go listen in on live music in an air-conditioned hall than sit in a constant spray of warm water at a hydration station filled with loud children.

The troubles of running from even to event was well worth the heat and pay. James was finally putting together the money he wanted to get a new place for his relationship. After securing a home, he would propose, and the two would finally get to wear out the contents of the box from their second date… a while back.

“But… you promised you’d make time for your kitten” Alice laid it on thick

“I only promised that I’d give you one weekend this month, and that’s a few days away” James countered coolly.

“Should I wear next to nothing that day?” teased Alice

“Only what is fitting of a queen like yourself, my lady” complimented James.

“I will see what string bikini I can come up with then” giggled Alice

“Doh!” blurted James

She loved messing with her boyfriend and causing him to blush often.

You can’t wear that… it’s hot out

While shopping for a special outfit, Alice got a crazy idea. It have been a long time since the date at Don’s black room. It was time to bring a bit of tease and sass to James. It would be a serious bit of sacrifice, but James had earned her trust. It was time to show him how much she appreciated him.

There was a little problem however. Alice was at the shop with her aunt and a few friends. They were not happy at all with the idea of pleasing a man at such a great personal sacrifice.

“I can’t believe you’re going to wear black in this heat!”

“How good is the dick that you will fry your sanity by wearing so much clothing?”

“No. Forget the dick. Has the heat fried your mind? He is a guy. He is not worth it!”

Worse, the other patrons of the store were shaking their heads as Alice tried to picture herself in various dresses that were on the clearance rack. All these beautiful pieces, some retro, on sale because the summer was too hot to wear so much fabric.

“What makes you think your man will even appreciate your ridiculous idea?” asked the aunt.

“Everyone. Listen. You’re not dating James. My gut says this will work” Alice put her foot down.

Everyone pulled back and kept their murmuring to a hushed low. To wear a business suit of any kind during record setting heat was not cute. Plus, all the men were too busy fawning over the latest skimpy bikini trends. Alice was not going to impress.

Her friend gasped. “You’re not doing this black suit. It’s too hot for black. Don’t be so silly!”

“Watch me” Alice replied defiantly as she moved over to the seamstress to give the specifications she wanted done to the dress.

“Don’t cry to us when James pays you no mind” another friend quipped while shaking her head.

Before the hot date

Alice stood in front of her mirror. She had to admit, the suit looked amazing. All in black. The nylon looked super soft, and felt every bit so. Her hair was pulled back nice and tight. James was going to like this suit. He had a good eye for retro and this suit had plenty of such lines.

The seamstress had made the required changes. The inside of the jacket was lined in red. This would go perfectly with her red gloves and headband. The red flower bouquet in her hair would be the perfect accent.

Just then, her friend rang on FaceTime. Not sure which message she was going to hear, Alice picked up and held the phone close enough to fill the screen with her face.