by K E Osborn
“I have to go; otherwise, I’m not going to be able to stop.”
I pout and bat my eyelashes.
“Hmm, you’re trouble, Jenifer Taylor.” He shakes his head and starts to walk off, leaving me breathless against my door. “Talk soon?”
“Yep,” I say, my pitch somewhat higher than normal. He walks to the car, and Mike quickly opens the rear passenger door for him to get in. He looks back at me and smiles. I blow him a kiss, and he winks at me. He gets into the car with ease, and Mike closes the door.
“Bye, Mike,” I call out as he gets into the Cadillac. He dips his hat before driving off down the road.
I rummage around in my clutch, trying to find my keys. Finally attaining them, I open the front door and walk down the hallway, putting my keys on the buffet. I continue walking straight to my room. I open the door and see my bed, my comfy bed. I kick off Sarah’s shoes and fall in a heap onto the mattress. I smile as I pull out my cell phone from the clutch and lie there, contemplating whether or not to text him. Chris pops into my mind. Play it cool. Okay, I say to myself as I put the cell phone down on the bed. I take off my headband. I close my eyes and remember his hands running through my hair. I sit up and take off my dress, leaving me in my underwear. I climb into bed for a couple of hours sleep. No sooner does my head hit the pillow than my cell phone tells me there is a message. Beep.
Thank you for an “amazing” night/morning. I look forward to seeing you again soon, Moronic Smart-ass Man.
I read the message with the biggest smile I can manage. I hit Reply.
Guess you’re not so “moronic” after all. Thank you for the most “amazing” night/morning. I look forward to seeing you soon also. Are you as tired as I am?
I hit Send. My breathing starts to slow as I feel my eyes straining to stay open. I scrunch them open and shut a few times, feeling complete exhaustion overwhelm me. Beep.
I’m so tired; I’m going to climb into bed as soon as I get home. Guess I’ll have a couple hours sleep and then get up for the day. Talk to you soon, Not So Moronic Smart-ass Man.
I laugh at the end of his text. I hit Reply.
I’m in bed with the same plan as you. Sleep for a bit and then get up for the day. Have a good rest, talk to you soon, xoxo.
I hit Send, and as soon as I do, I realize that I’ve put xoxo at the end. “Oh, man.” It’s too soon to put that at the end of a text. I put my head in my hands and contemplate sending another one apologizing for being overly affectionate in my text. I’m way too exhausted to even care. I put my cell phone on the bed and lay my head down on the feather pillow. My head sinks into the softness, the pillow holding my head like a fluffy cloud. My eyes close, and I’m asleep within seconds, dreaming of the night just gone—the waterfall, the Cadillac ride, and lying under the stars in his arms. A girl couldn’t ask for a more perfect night than that.
Chapter 10
I yawn and pick up my cell phone to check the time. Ten past one in the afternoon. My eyes widen in shock. I wanted to stay in bed for only a couple of hours, not nearly five. “Argh!” I sit up in bed and look at myself in the mirror. “Eek!” I throw on my robe and grab some fresh underwear. I head to the bathroom for a shower. On my way I don’t see Sarah; I assume she’s in her room with Chris. When I enter the bathroom, I turn the shower on full so the water is pulsating heavily.
My mind wanders as I lather up my hair with shampoo and conditioner. I wonder what Aiden is doing right now. I imagine him lying on his bed, still sleeping. Pristine white sheets cover his lower body, and his leg is bent at the knee. His arm is up under his head and tucked under his other arm is me, lying there snuggling into his bare chest. I smile at the thought as I get out of the shower.
I look in the mirror and wipe away the excess moisture on its surface. I see myself looking back. I look happy, genuinely happy, which is something I haven’t seen for quite some time. I dry myself with a big fluffy towel and head back to my room to put on some clothes.
“Hey, Jeni,” Chris says as I walk from the bathroom to my room. Embarrassed, I wave at him and walk a bit faster.
I decide on a summer dress, bright yellow with a brown, knotted belt. I take my hair down and scrunch it in the towel to remove the excess water. I look at myself in the mirror.
“That will do,” I say as I walk out of my room.
Chris is sitting at the table, playing with his cell phone, feet up on another chair.
“Hey, Chris, how are you?”
“Not bad. How was your hot date?”
I blush as usual. “It was amazing,” I say with a slight laugh at my use of that word again.
“What time did you get home?”
I bite my bottom lip. “Um, just after eight.”
He looks at me strangely. “Eight? But we were here at eight. I didn’t see you come in.”
I laugh. “I mean eight this morning.”
He sits back in his chair with a big smirk on his face. “You pulled an all-nighter, huh? Must’ve been good then,” he says, winking at me.
“No, we didn’t sleep together. We fell asleep under the stars, and when we woke up this morning, he took me out for breakfast. That’s it.”
He winks. “Yeah, sure.”
I look down at the table and see an apple in the fruit basket. I pick it up and toss it at him.
“Shut up, you,” I say as he catches it and laughs at me.
“Just stirring,” he says.
“I know. Where’s Sarah?”
“She’s gone to the shop to get some burgers and fries.”
“Oh? Is she getting me some as well?”
“Yup. She was going to surprise you and bring it to you in bed, but you got up just after she left.”
“Oh, that’s nice of her,” I say as I sit down at the table.
“Tell me about this guy,” he says in a brotherly way, pulling his feet down from the chair and sitting up intently to listen.
“What do you want to know?”
His eyes roll up toward the ceiling, and he looks deep in thought. “So, how old? Where does he work? Was he nice to you? Will you see him again? All that sort of stuff!”
“Everything then?” I laugh as he nods. “His name is Aiden O’Connell. He works with his father in finance. I’m assuming he’s in his late twenties, not entirely sure because I haven’t asked. He was very much the gentleman. I really hope I get to see him again because he’s such a good kisser and...”
Chris winces.
“Oops, sorry. Guessing that was too much information?” I laugh, as does he.
“When am I going to meet Mr. Good Kisser then?”
“Why? Do you want to check out his kissing skills too?” I ask him cheekily, and he throws the apple back at me.
“I think I’ll leave that to you,” he says, shaking his head as the front door opens. “Well, if he hurts you, let me know. I’ll take care of him,” he says jokingly.
“Thanks, I will.” I place the apple back into the fruit bowl.
“Burgers and fries for everyone,” Sarah announces as she struts down the hallway. “Oh, you’re up,” she says, sounding disappointed and frowns as she sees me.
“Yeah, sorry to spoil your big lunch surprise, but it was very thoughtful of you, thanks.”
“Oh well, it means you can tell me about your awesome date with Mr. Car-Crashing Flower-Giver.” I laugh at her nickname for him. I get up to help her dish out our lunch while Chris sits at the table playing with his cell phone.
“Tell me all about it! No, wait, what time did you get home? I got your message at like seven this morning. I think my cell phone is acting up again.”
“I, ah... sent it at seven this morning. I didn’t get home till about eight-ish.”
“Oh my god, Jeni! You stayed at his place?” She glares at me.
“No, we—”
“Oh my god. He took you to a hotel room? What a pig!”
I laugh. “Sez, no. He took me to this cliff overlooking the city, where t
here was a picnic blanket and a telescope. We stared at the stars until we both fell asleep. It was so romantic,” I say, beaming with excitement.
“Oh, that’s pretty romantic. Chris, why aren’t you romantic with me?” she yells out to him, agitation in her voice.
“I’m romantic, baby. I bought you those flowers,” he says, pointing to the dead ones in the vase on the buffet.
“Yeah, hmm, really romantic,” Sarah says sarcastically.
He looks up at me and laughs.
“Sorry,” I mouth to him.
“All good,” he mouths back to me.
We take our food over to the table and dig in. I seem to be starving, even after the huge breakfast I had earlier this morning. I fill them in on the rest of the date as we casually eat our lunch. Sarah starts by telling Chris about the pink Cadillac and how she thought Mike was Aiden. I follow, telling them step-by-step how I stumbled onto the deck and then hit my head on the table. I then told them about the waitress’s horrible timing and then finishing with meeting Nana at breakfast. Sarah is captivated by the whole story, her smile beaming from ear to ear and nodding at everything I say. Chris, however, is playing on his cell phone half listening, but laughing whenever I mention falling over or hurting myself.
“When are you going to see him again?” Sarah asks impatiently.
“I don’t know, hopefully soon,” I say excitedly.
“Oh, I’m so happy that you’re happy. We will have to go on double dates,” she says like it’s a flash of brilliance. Chris shakes his head, rolls his eyes, and continues to play with his cell phone. Suddenly we hear a cell phone ringing.
“It’s not mine,” Chris says as Sarah pulls hers out of her pocket.
“Must be yours, Jeni,” she says with a slight gleam of hope in her eyes, the same hope that’s in mine—that it’s Aiden.
“Go get it, doofus,” Sarah says, pushing me off my chair. I run to my room and answer just in time.
“Hello?” I see Sarah peering through my door.
“Hey, Jeni, it’s Aiden. Hope I didn’t wake you,” he says kindly as I sit on my bed.
“No, that’s fine; I’m up. How are you?”
Sarah tiptoes into my room and sits next to me. She leans in close to me, and I position the cell phone so that she can hear what he says.
“I’m great, had a nap so feeling good now. I had a great time last night and this morning. I’m hoping you did too,” he says.
“He sounds sexy,” Sarah whispers. I cover the cell phone so he can’t hear.
“Shhh,” I say to her as she giggles.
“I had a great time too. Thank you so much. It was definitely the best date I’ve ever been on,” I say sincerely.
“I was wondering if you’d like to come out with me tonight. I have a work function to attend, and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have on my arm than you.” I look at Sarah in shock as she jumps up and down on the bed next to me, mouthing, go, to me. I take in a deep breath.
“Okay, sure. What should I wear?” I hear him exhale with relief.
“Don’t worry about a dress; I’ll have Mike pick up something suitable for you.”
Sarah’s still jumping on the bed. She puts her thumbs up at me with excitement.
“But how will he know what size I am?” I ask.
“Don’t worry. He’ll get something that will fit perfectly.”
I sigh. “Where should I meet you? What time?”
“I’ll have Mike pick you up and bring you to my apartment. You can get ready here, if you like. The dinner starts at seven thirty. What time would you like to get here?”
Now, right now! But I don’t dare say it.
“What time do you think is best?” I ask instead.
“I’ll get Mike to pick you up from your house at, say, five thirty. Is that suitable?”
Sarah collapses onto the bed with a gigantic smile on her face. I look back at her with my eyes wide open.
“Yeah, sure. Five thirty sounds good to me. Thank you for inviting me.”
“No, thank you. I look forward to seeing you.” He sounds like he’s smiling again.
“See you soon,” I say shyly as I bite my bottom lip and inhale sharply.
“Bye, Jeni.”
As I hang up the cell phone, Sarah pulls me so I’m lying down on the bed with her.
“Oh my god, he sounds gorgeous!”
“He is gorgeous.”
“We better do something with this hair then.”
I laugh, and then it hits me. “Oh my god, Sarah. This is a work function. He works in the family business. I’m going to meet his family.” Sarah sits there in shock.
“Wow, he must really like you. You thought me meeting Chris’ parents next weekend was too soon. Don’t freak out. I see it in your eyes. You’re starting to freak, don’t! Take each day as it comes with no expectations, and you will be fine.” She stands and grabs my hands and pulls me off the bed. “Now let’s do your hair.”
“We have three hours. I don’t think we need to do that right now.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I wonder what type of dress they will pick for you.”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I hope that it’s nice and not something horrible. I don’t know why I can’t wear something of my own.” We both laugh and head to the dining area and sit down at the table with Chris.
“I gather that was him? All that giggling gave it away.”
Sarah can’t help herself. “Yeah, she’s going on another date tonight and meeting the family.”
He looks over to me as though he doesn’t believe her story.
“Yup, all true,” I say and shrug.
“Looks like you’ve made quite an impression on this guy,” Chris says.
“He’s made quite an impression on me as well,” I say coyly.
“Fair enough,” he says matter-of-factly and continues on with his cell phone. I laugh at his apparent lack of interest. Sarah starts to fiddle with my hair.
A couple of hours later, Sarah wanders to her room to get her makeup and hair supplies. While she’s gone, I pick up my cell phone from my bed and send Aiden a message.
Hi, Aiden, just wondering if I should bring my own shoes tonight, or do you have some for me as well as the dress? I’m looking forward to it :-)
I hit Send as I empty my clutch and put everything back into my normal handbag. I start to get changed and put on a skin-toned strapless bra and some matching underwear. Not the prettiest or sexiest but best when you don’t know what dress you’ll be wearing. I get dressed in my casual but nice clothes. Sarah comes in, and she looks at me in awe.
“Wow, you really have great boobs,” she says, making me laugh.
Beep.
Hey, yes, shoes are included. You don’t have to bring a thing. Just your beautiful self. See you soon xoxo
I smile; obviously putting the xoxo at the end of my message wasn’t such a big deal after all. Sarah, being as nosey as ever, grabs the cell phone from my hand and reads the message.
“Ooh, kiss hug kiss hug at the end, and he called you beautiful. He’s so sweet! When am I going to meet him?” she asks, putting her hand on her hip.
“Um, I don’t know, but I’ll let him know that you want to.”
“Good, now let’s get your hair and makeup done.” She starts by pulling my hair back into a ponytail to get it away from my face. I have complete trust in Sarah’s makeup ability; our mothers work together as beauticians in their own salon. Sarah’s mother taught her everything she knows. My mother never taught me anything, as I was never interested in hair and beauty.
Sarah talks to me the whole time she’s making me up. She talks about how she and Chris have been inseparable—Like I hadn’t noticed!
“Ta dah! Face done. What do you think?” she asks me, pointing to the mirror.
I stand up and walk over to see myself. I have smoky eyes, with perfectly applied black eyeliner, and long, thick eyelashes. My cheeks are lightly blushed pink, and she’s
put on a pale pink lip-gloss.
“Wow,” I say to her she as looks at me with satisfaction.
“Yeah, I know I’m brilliant.”
I laugh at her cockiness.
“Now for the hair,” she says, pushing me back to the bed to sit. “Do you want your hair up or down?”
“I don’t care. Whatever is easiest?”
“Down with curls.” She gets out the straightener and plugs it in, taking individual locks of hair and curling them. When she’s done, she runs her fingers through the curls to loosen them. Looking through her accessories container, she finds a little hair comb with some bling on the top in a pretty swirl pattern. She pulls a lock of hair from the front of my face back and fixes it to the side of my head with the comb.
“What a masterpiece,” she says as she points to the mirror again. I stand up and make my way over.
“Thanks, Sarah. You know how to make a girl feel good about herself,” I say to her sincerely.
“Jeni, you’re beautiful. Even without all this,” she says as she gestures to my makeup and hairdo. I roll my eyes at her and put on some strappy shoes.
We both walk out to the living room where Chris is watching football on TV. I put my handbag on the dining room table so I won’t forget it when I leave.
“What do you think of my masterpiece, Chris?” Sarah says, pointing at me. He looks up from the TV at me and then looks back to the TV. Suddenly his head whips back to me again.
“Wow! I wasn’t expecting that. You look great!” he says with enthusiasm.
I laugh as Sarah claps.
“I’m too good,” she says, doing a little dance.
“What time is he picking you up?” Chris asks casually, half paying attention, half watching the football game. Looking up at the clock, I see the time is now five twenty eight.
“He said at five thirty. Any time now I guess.” As Chris goes to answer, the doorbell rings.
“Have fun, be safe,” Chris says to me as I walk toward the kitchen.
“Thanks, Dad,” I say as I head down the hallway to answer the door.
