Girl in the yellow dress

Trying to get answers out of Tracy was like trying to get blood out of stone.  Sefi thought disheartenedly. The young maid looked like she was going to swallow cyanide any minute if Sefi tried to press her for any more information.

It made Sefi wonder if that was one of the conditions they had to agree to when signing up as a member of staff for the Tang family.

Tracy had been good to her and if she wasn't willing to say anything then it was best to not force it out of her.  Sefi wasn't one for making someone else's life difficult. 

She stood by the window and glanced out into the front garden.  Workers were coming in and out of the garden in droves.  Vans were parked outside the gates and there were a team of eight work men trying to erect a massive tent in the centre of the lawn. Whilst another group of men were putting up a stage towards the left of them. 

If Sefi hadn't known better, she might have mistaken this for an outdoor music festival instead of a birthday party. They even had those mega bright professional stage lights that were like a thousand watts. 

They have really pushed the boat out.  She thought to herself, feeling the same sense of vulgarity whenever she watched some celebrities showing off their pads on camera. 

Her mother's side of the family was wealthy but they insisted on being very low key probably so that none of the children ever got kidnapped.  The Tangs obviously didn't worry about that cos they seemed to want the world to know how much money they had, and they certainly didn't like to do things by halves. 

But they sure liked their porridge because last night's dinner and this morning's breakfast were porridge again.  Sefi recalled the famous quote, "I drink champagne when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it -- unless I'm thirsty."

The Tang's were like this with their porridge, you eat it when you're ill, you eat it once you're better, you eat it when you don't have teeth, you eat it even when you do.  You can eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner and then again, why not have it for all three.  

Sefi rolled her eyes.  Regardless of how they fancy they tried to dress it up with the use of sea cucumber, black truffles or shark fins, it was still congee with the addition of slugs, fungi and endangered wildlife! Once she was out of here, she was never going to touch the stuff again. 

Then her attention turned to the yellow dress that was laid on the bed. Tracy had brought it in earlier, it was to be her attire for the evening.  

Whoever that came up with the idea for a yellow dress should be shot. She was Asian, for God sake, her yellow undertone complexion could not handle this. Yellow should be strictly limited to girls with very white skin.  It usually made her look like she had jaundice whenever she wore yellow, hence the reason why she avoided it like the plague.

"Miss Sefi, you're still not dressed?" Tracy exclaimed, suddenly appearing in the doorway. "The make-up artist is here. Shall I ask her to come back later?" 

They hired a professional make-up artist? Sefi was momentarily stunned, then she shook her head. If they wanted to be completely over the top and go all out for their birthdays then that was up to them.  It was a free country after all. Saved her putting makeup on herself. 

"No it's fine, I'm ready, just give me a second." Sefi said, quickly walking over to the dress. 

"OK, Miss Sefi, I will wait for you outside." Tracy answered, stepping out of the room and closed the door to give her privacy. 

Sefi took off her clothes and pulled the yellow dress over her head with her arms stretched high in the air.  It effortlessly glided down. She must admit the fabric was of a high quality, it felt soft and silky against her skin. 

Feeling like a big yellow daffodil, she went over to the mirror.  Holy crap! She thought as she saw her reflection.  The top half of the dress was a silky strapless, fitted off the shoulder design. It tightly hugged itself around the top half of her body, accentuating her small chest to make her look like she had a bosom. And the bottom half of the dress was flared out like a ballerina's tutu. The most peculiar thing about this tutu was that the back of it was longer than the front. 

She looked like a freaking duck! And it wasn't Halloween yet! She thought with disbelief, looking at the way her bum stuck out at the side view mirror. The designer not only needed to be shot but needed to be put in front of a firing squad so that they could be shot repeatedly until their body became a freaking sieve! 

But it was too late for that now.  Beggars can't be choosers.  She thought through gritted teeth before running over to open the door. "Sorry I took so long, come on in, I'm ready." 

Tracy saw her and her almond eyes grew so wide they almost popped out of their sockets.  Even the makeup artist lady looked a little surprised, but she was a professional and had probably seen countless incidents of people dressed as freaks because she was the first to recover.  "Nice dress." She commented with a smile. 

Sefi gave her a strained smile, "isn't it just." Returning to the stool in front of the dressing table.

"What kind of look were you thinking of?" The makeup artist girl asked, coming up behind her. 

Sefi shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, something normal perhaps?"