His scorn for brand names and unreasonable expense were working against him. His distaste for the general press of humanity had further agitated him. And finally, as Elias stepped foot into the woman's clothing department at Macy's, his overwhelming lack of ideas had him grabbing at straws.
Or at blouses, to be specific. He stopped in front of a rack of pink and purple paisley silk and plucked one hanger gingerly off its metal branch. Holding it at arm's length, he squinted and tried to imagine Charlie wearing something like this. For a second, it made sense -- until he shuddered and veritably shoved the hideous blouse back into place. An older woman who had paused, eyes catching at the same rack of blouses, gave him a disapproving look down her nose and turned sharply away from him. Elias frowned at her retreating back before dropping his hands at his sides and glancing around him.
"This is hopeless," he grumbled, turning toward the entrance.
"Can I be of assistance?" a chirruping voice asked him, as he turned. He stepped backward immediately to avoid running over the blonde in her early twenties, who was smiling so hard it looked like her makeup would crack. Unfortunately, the hideous paisleys were still behind him. He grunted as the metal bar sank squarely into his side.
"OOps!" the girl giggled, immediately dropping to her knees in front of him to gather the few blouses that fell. Elias immediately colored, then looked around to make certain no one thought this girl was ... doing something she... shouldn't.
"Apologies," he said, stepping away. He'd have bent to help her, except that she'd already gotten her arms around the blouses. When she stood, she busied herself straightening them on their hangers. "I'm just looking, but... thank you."
Elias beat it down the aisle, only realizing belatedly that he was headed into the store, not out of it.