Pink Plume Purse

“What the devil is that?” Hugo exclaimed as he came into the apartment and saw my new purse sitting squarely on the table like an exotic centrepiece.
“It’s a new purse that I bought for the party we’re going to this weekend.” I replied.  Hugo said nothing, but sort of grunted instead.  I couldn’t help but smirk to myself a little, but on the inside, of course.  
Hugo was clearly still thinking about the pink, plumy mass that was sitting before us as he dropped his keys onto the table and took off his jacket.  While he got settled after his day at work, I studied the purse for the hundredth time.  This was a bossy little handbag.  It demanded your attention whether you had the inclination to give any or not.  The disarrayed pink feathers made me picture an indignant flamingo who couldn’t believe you were asking for its feathers in the first place, and so decided to run through brambles and a car wash before relinquishing its festive plumes for the purse.
I intentionally set the bag on the table so that I could continue to look at it, and possibly (okay, definitely) to gauge Hugo’s reaction when he was first introduced to it. Yes, an introduction was unquestionably needed for this accessory; “Hugo, this is Pink Plume Purse; Pink Plume Purse, it is my pleasure to introduce you to my other arm candy, Hugo”.
We both let the purse stay as a centrepiece as we performed our usual evening routine: making dinner, checking e-mail and messages, chatting about our day, etc... But every so often I would catch myself, and surprisingly, Hugo, glancing over at the handbag.  
Over dinner, the handbag moved to a side-table, but remained as the centrepiece of our attention, “What are you going to wear with this?” asked Hugo, nodding towards the subject in question; and a valid question, it was.  Normally a plain-Jane sort of dresser, this purse really came out of nowhere for me.  In fact, as he asked that question I was questioning the sensibility of my spontaneous purchase.  
The ambush of this accessory came to me today on my lunch break.  My usual Tuesday routine is to grab a giant Greek salad from a local Mediterranean restaurant, then race back to the office and continue working while munching all afternoon.  I merely glanced into one of the shop windows as I was headed back to the office when I saw it (Was Pink Plume Purse actually calling my name as I passed?!?); sitting proudly in the store-front window on a pedestal was this delightful little handbag looking girly, pretty, fun and regal all at the same time.   I had to investigate further.  Needless to say, it took me less than five minutes to drop an unseemly amount of money on this little delight; a fact that Hugo has yet to discover, thank you shopping gods.
“I think I will play it safe and just wear a plain little black dress.  I think this bag will do all the talking for me.”
“Sounds sensible“, Hugo replied, “just make sure you don’t have to buy shoes as well.”