Sarah is feeling better after her problem at Disneyland Paris.

Before she goes back to work, she arranges to meet a friend – Natalie - for lunch.

They meet in town on Friday and go shopping before having lunch.

Sarah decides she needs some new clothes for work: a suit, a smart shirt, a dress, and definitely some new shoes.

They go first into a large department store and start looking for suitable clothes in the ladies’ clothes departments.

Sarah walks around slowly but sees nothing she likes. Natalie makes some suggestions but still Sarah is not interested. Suddenly, she sees a blue dress that she likes, and tries it on. She says it is too big and she asks for a smaller size. She also asks if it is available in green. Green is her favourite colour. It is not available in green, only in blue.

She tries the smaller size and it feels too small so she keeps looking.

She sees another dress in navy blue and tries it on. This time it is too small, so she asks for a larger size, which is available, then tries that on. It fits perfectly and Natalie says it looks great, so Sarah decides to buy it. Natalie decides to try on the blue dress from earlier and it fits her perfectly, so she decides to buy that for herself.

Sarah and Natalie go to a number of different departments to look for a suitable suit. Sarah can’t decide what colour she wants. She wants to feel smart but wants to wear the suit with a number of different tops or shirts. Natalie suggests she look for a grey suit, saying grey is very versatile and goes with any colour.

Sarah immediately spots a grey skirt she likes and looks for a jacket in her size to go with it. The shop assistant says they do not have a jacket that goes with that skirt, and suggests a different skirt which Sarah likes, but not as much.

Sarah is disappointed and asks Natalie, “Are you ready for lunch yet? I’m starving!”

Natalie is happy to go for lunch and they start to talk about where to go.

Sarah and Natalie agree to go for lunch and start to talk about where to go.

“I’m rather hungry,” says Sarah. “Would you like some Italian food? A pizza or some pasta perhaps?”

Natalie is not sure. “I’m not sure I want Italian food. How about a Chinese meal somewhere? Would that be OK?“

Sarah is disappointed and suggests a burger and chips as a compromise. “Would you like to have a burger instead?” she asks.

“Mmmm. I’m not sure I do,” answers Natalie. “I like the idea of chips but not the burger.”

They both think silently for a while.

“What about fish and chips then?” asks Sarah.

“Yes!” says Natalie. “Perfect!”

They go to the fish and chip bar and order their lunch. They both ask for extra salt and vinegar, and mayonnaise, as well as bread and butter to go with it. What a perfect lunch!

They drink tea with their fish and chips and chat about their shopping.

Sarah says she’s disappointed not to have found the right suit. Natalie suggests she go back to the department store to try on the suit the shop assistant suggested but Sarah says she wants to look somewhere else.

They agree to go to a different shop after lunch.

They walk in together and, immediately, Sarah sees a grey suit that she likes. She asks to try it on.

The shop assistant finds the suit in Sarah’s size and Sarah tries it on. She walks out of the changing room and Natalie says, “Wow!”, followed by, “That fits you perfectly and looks fantastic!”.

Sarah is so relieved and smiles. She decides to buy it and takes her credit card from her purse to pay. She asks the assistant, “How much is that?”. She is surprised and pleased to learn the suit is in the sale and only costs €150.

What a bargain!

Sarah is feeling good about her shopping trip now and starts to think about her shirt and the shoes she wants.

Sarah and Natalie go back to the department store to look for ladies’ shirts and find there is a huge choice in a number of departments.

Sarah is amazed how many there are to choose from and decides she will buy two shirts to go with her grey suit.

First, she looks for a white shirt. Simple and classic. She finds three and tries them on. One is too big, one is too small, and one fits well except the sleeves are too long. She continues looking.

She finds two more but can’t find her size in one of them. She asks the shop assistant if they have her size and she goes away to find it. She comes back happy, and Sarah tries on the two shirts.

This time, they are both perfect and she has a difficult decision to make. Oh dear! Sarah shows both shirts to Natalie and, straightaway, Natalie tells her which one to buy.

Sarah agrees and then looks for another shirt in a different colour. She finds the same shirt in pink and she is delighted. So, Sarah buys 2 shirts the same style, one in white and one in pink.

Natalie reminds her that they are also looking for shoes, and they head for the shoe department.

Sarah decides to look for some smart black shoes, and Natalie adds that she wants some navy blue shoes for work.

They both immediately see some smart leather shoes which seem to be available in both navy blue and black. They ask the assistant for their size – Sarah is a 39 and Natalie is a 37 – and to their surprise, the shop has both sizes in both colours.

They try them on, walk around the department for a short while, then decide to buy them.

Sarah goes home having had a very successful shopping day and having spent a great deal of money. Oh well…