by Hotcheri
I smiled at him, just as the elevator door opened. “Thanks.”
We walked to the enclosed observation point, the entire city bathed in lights. I was speechless. The view was absolutely breathtaking.
“Wow, it’s so beautiful,” I breathed, walking to the railing and staring down. I looked at Luke and caught him staring at me. Why? Did I really have something on my face? Deciding to ignore that, I motioned to him. “Come over here. Is that the George Washington Bridge?”
“Oh, yeah! That’s pretty cool, huh? Awesome view.”
Luke came up behind me, not quite touching me.
“Yeah, the view’s amazing. It didn’t look like this when I was in the fourth grade.”
Luke chuckled softly near my ear. “I’m sure. I would pretty much love to come here every day. Well, every night, at least. It’s just so peaceful up here.” He slipped his arms around my waist and put his chin on my shoulder. My heart racing, I steeled myself so that I wouldn’t twitch or jerk or hurt him.
“I know what you mean,” I said, willing my voice not to shake. Being so close to Luke, feeling his body against mine- it wasn’t conducive to my sanity.
“This is the kind of place you’d want to come to with your better half, isn’t it?” he mused, glancing at a making out couple near us.
He sounded wistful and I wondered if he missed dating Joanna (really dating her, not creeping around with her in supply closets and deserted bathrooms). Probably. Especially since she was the one who dumped him.
“Yeah,” I sighed, feeling wistful myself. What did I know about that? I was single!
As if he read my mind and wanted to toy with me, Luke asked, “Do you have a better half?” He let go of me and leaned against the railing, giving me an intrigued look.
I laughed. “Do I look like I have a batter half?”
Smirking, Luke said, “More than one.”
“In a good way?”
“As in you can’t keep them off you,” Luke replied.
I smiled uncertainly. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You should, I meant it as one. So. Do you have a boyfriend?”
I shook my head. “Nope, I’m single.”
“Why?”
“Why am I single?” I giggled, shrugging. Luke didn’t laugh; he just stared intently at me. “I don’t know, I just am.”
“It can’t be due to the lack of offers,” Luke said slowly, taking a sip of his coffee.
“It kinda is, actually,” I admitted. I was no femme fatal. Guys weren’t falling over themselves to get to me.
“I refuse to believe it,” Luke said. “I mean- dude. You’re cute.” My mouth dropped open and I was powerless to stop it. I stared at him as he continued. “Like- seriously beautiful.”
I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t move. I just stared at Luke, who had the most sincere look on his face and I wanted to cry. Nobody had ever called me beautiful, especially not a cute guy with his hair falling into his eyes.
“Oh. Thank- thank you,” I managed to croak.
Giving me that adorable crooked smile, Luke said, “I mean it.” ZOMG. I am going to faint on top of the Empire State Building and it will be Luke Astor’s fault. “So, what you doing on Saturday night?”
Still befuddled from all the compliments I had received in such a short amount of time (or maybe the height had just gone to my head) I replied, “I’m either going to see Shazia in the fashion show or just stay home and read.”
Probably the latter. I was sure that if I went to the fashion show, Aisha would find a spot for me as a model. No thanks.
“Read what?” Luke grinned cheekily at me. “Instant Connection?”
I’m never going to live that one down.
“Well...no,” I said lamely.
“Ha, you’re a sucky liar.”
“I shall probably be reading a magazine,” I told him loftily.
“Okay.” Luke grinned at me like he didn’t believe a word I was saying but had just decided to humor me. Suddenly, a hesitant look in his eyes, he asked, “CiCi, do you want to be my date for the gala on Saturday?”
Just when I thought the night couldn’t get any stranger...
I laughed out loud. “Well, I have to make sure that my fairy godmother is available to conjure a dress up and turn a pumpkin into a carriage for me,” I snickered, wiping tears of laughter from my eyes.
Luke had jokes, didn’t he? So why wasn’t he smiling?
“I’m actually being serious!” he exclaimed, placing his coffee on the wall.
I grinned at him. “So am I!” I joked. Two can play at this game. I was so on to him. First the ‘I love you’ thing, now this.
“You think I’m playing? When I have this serious look on my face?”
“Improv. You’re pretty good, I must say.”
“CiCi, I really am asking you to be my date to the gala,” Luke said patiently. I stared at him. Maybe he isn’t joking.
“Why?”
“Well, because-,” he started, but I interrupted almost immediately, Robyn style.
“If you expect me to believe that you want to take me to a fancy gala just a couple of weeks after we’ve started talking to each other, you must think I’m stupid.” Luke opened his mouth to answer and I talked over him. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“No.”
“Good. So why do you want to take me to the gala?”
He smiled at me, sticking his hands into his pockets as he slouched against the wall. “Because I think every pretty girl deserves to go to a gala.”
I stared at him. “You stole that line from Jim Carrey in Yes Man,” I said accusingly.
Blushing, he said, “You see how bad I am at this?”
“You could be better,” I agreed, even though I wasn’t too sure what ‘this’ was. He wasn’t serious about asking me, was he?
“I haven’t done something like this in a long time,” he said defensively. “I’m rusty, okay?”
“Something like what?” I asked. Why is he talking in riddles?
“Ask someone out,” Luke replied, looking at his feet.
“You’re asking me out?” My heart thudded.
“Well, yeah. I think so,” Luke said, biting his lip and giving me an endearing look.
I scratched my nose, unable to believe what was going on. “You think so or you are?” I asked.
Luke laughed. “I am, CiCi. You know. A friendly date. Platonically, like you suggested I should do with Joanna.”
I waved my hand in the air to stop Luke right there. Maybe I was denser than I thought, but this wasn’t making sense to me. “Let me make sure I’m hearing this right. You’re asking me to the gala.” Luke nodded, his eyes not leaving my face. “You want me to be your platonic date.” Another nod. “Why?”
“Because- you’re doing something nice for me, CiCi. You’re helping me with my list.”
“But- Luke. What I’m doing for you- it’s not a big deal!” I said. Was it?
“It is to me,” Luke said softly.
“You don’t need to invite me just because you feel obligated to me,” I told him, suddenly seeing where he was coming from. He thought he owed me this.
“Trust me, I don’t. And I’m not.” Whatever that’s supposed to mean. “I’m inviting you because- I think you’re sweet, nice and you deserve a night out on the town.”
“Really?” My eyes widened till I felt like Bambi.
“Yes. And someone told me that if I can stand to be around you while you’re helping me with my list, spending five hours with you at the gala should be easy.”
“And who was this someone?” I asked. Who else knew about me helping him with his list?
“My doctor,” Luke replied.
“You confide in your doctor?”
And you refuse therapy? Odd.
“I told him I didn’t have a date for the gala.”
“And he decided to tell you to take me?”
You’re the man, mystery doctor.
> Luke nodded. “Something like that. But- he’s right. Right now, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather go to the gala with more than you. Seriously. I know it’s weird, but you’re the only person I think I would have fun hanging with. Maybe the aneurysm’s screwing with my head, I heard they do that.” Another crooked smile. Be still my heart.
“Luke?”
“Yeah?” Luke said. I stretched out my arm.
“Can you pinch me?”
Luke gave me a quizzical look. “Um...”
“Please.”
“Okay.” Giving me a look that said ‘you are strange’, Luke pinched my arm softly.
“Thanks.” I blinked up at him. “So you really did ask me to the gala.”
“Yeah. And I’m hoping you’ll say yes.”
“Your friends are going to be there,” I said. Wendy and Joanna and God knows who else. If they saw me walk in with Luke- dead Celsiana Sawyer would be. “What’ll they say when they see you with me?”
Luke narrowed his eyes. “You sound like you’re making excuses.”
I shook my head quickly. “I’m not! But people are going to talk. You know that.”
“I know. So we’ll give them something to talk about.”
“Wendy and Joanna are going-,” I started. Luke held up a hand.
“Look. It’s not about Wendy and Joanna. They have nothing to do with this. I’m asking you to the gala.” Luke’s voice was firm, even and oh so sexy. “That’s it. You can say yes or no. If you say yes, I’ll deal with my friend’s questions.”
“And buy me a coffin after your fan girls kill me.”
“A bright pink one,” Luke agreed, grinning at me. “But- yeah. All I’m asking of you is to come with me to the gala. No jokes.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the hurt look on his face. He’s so cute when he’s offended.
“I’ll be your date,” I said, just to be rewarded by that insufferably adorable grin which lit up his sexy green eyes. “Thanks for asking me.”
He gave me a one armed hug. “Thanks for saying yes,” he breathed, his lips on my forehead. “We’ll have fun. Don’t worry.”
Obviously, I had no idea what was in store for me.
***
“OMG!”
I held my cell phone away from my ear before I could be deafened by Shazia's uncharacteristic scream, giggling uncontrollably as I plopped myself onto my rickety bed. Obviously, Shazia was just about as excited as I was about the news I had just finished telling her and Robyn about via three-way calling. Probably even more. “OMG, Luke asked you to the gala! I can’t believe it!”
I continued to giggle at Shazia’s enthusiastic reaction to my good news. Although Luke had dropped me off about an hour ago, the lone fact that he, of all people, had asked me, of all people to be his date for the gala still hadn’t sunk in. I smiled ruefully at the spot where Luke had pinched me while we were still on top of the Empire State Building. Even though it had faded, it was still a reminder that I hadn’t been dreaming and Luke had indeed asked me out. Asked you to the gala, you mean. As a friend. Don’t forget that.
“I totally knew he’d ask you,” the ‘unflappable’ Robyn said calmly.
I rolled my eyes as a riled Shazia exclaimed, “No you didn’t! You were the one who was fixing him up with Mary or whatever her name is!”
“It’s Meg,” Robyn said, sounding as though Shazia ought to have remembered the girls name at least. I glowed. Luke chose me over flirty Meg! “And I did that because I knew that would push him to ask Celsi.”
I pulled off my socks, trying to think how Robyn telling Luke to take Meg to the gala made him take me instead. “How?” I had to ask. That doesn’t make any sense at all to me.
“Never mind how. The important thing is that it worked, didn’t it?” Robyn said airily and I grinned wryly. Whatever Robyn’s plan was to get Luke to ask me (if she even had a plan, which I seriously doubt) to the gala, it didn’t matter because I was officially going with him.
Shazia groaned and I could imagine her punching her pillow. “I can’t believe she’s trying to take the credit for this! Rob, you’re so shameless!”
“I gave him a shove in the right direction,” Robyn continued, sounding as smug as ever as Shazia gave a mock growl.
I shook my head, a grin on my face as I said, “So I guess I should thank you then,” as Shazia spluttered wordlessly.
It was supposed to be sarcastic, but sometimes Robyn just doesn’t get sarcasm. This was one of the times. “Yeah, you’re welcome,” she said gaily.
“Rob, you are so lucky you’re nowhere near me right now,” Shazia said threateningly.
In an attempt to keep things from escalating into a phone brawl (hey, it’s happened before! Once, Robyn and I fought over our favorite pizza topping), I said, “But guys, do you think he’s for real?”
Okay, so avoiding an argument between Shazia and Robyn wasn’t the real reason I changed the subject. Since Luke dropped me off home (come to think of it, since he asked me to the gala), I’d been plagued by doubts. Although Luke had (ever so blithely) said that his friends wouldn’t do anything if he showed up with me, memories of that day in the penthouse still stuck with me. If Ahmed and Wendy had torn into me unprovoked, I could only imagine what they would do if I showed up at the gala, as Luke’s date. Something told me I didn’t want to find out.
“What do you mean, is he for real?” Shazia asked.
I shrugged, feeling stupid just for bringing it up. “Maybe he’s planning something.”
Robyn yawned loudly. “Planning what?”
Do I need to spell it out? “A prank.”
“We’re not in a Stephen King novel, Celsi,” Shazia giggled.
“And it’s not like he’s taking you to the prom,” Robyn was quick to add. “It’s just a gala.”
Twisting a strand of hair around my finger, I huddled under my comforter. It may be ‘just a gala’ to Robyn, but to me, it was something special. My very first prestigious New York City party with Luke Astor as my date. If he was planning something, hopefully it would happen at the end of the gala so I’d have a chance to have fun first.
“I wish I could be there to see the look on Joanna’s face when you walk in with Luke,” crowed Shazia.
I cringed. That was not something I was looking forward to. Because if Joanna still hooked up with Luke even after she had dumped him, she probably still wanted him. Which meant that she might just claw my eyes out before stringing me over a blazing fire with an apple in my mouth. Curse my overactive imagination.
“Thanks for giving me something new to worry about, Shaz,” I sighed. “Just thinking about that kinda makes me not wanna go.”
“What?” Shazia sounded surprised. “Why?”
“Coz I keep thinking that something will happen.”
“Like what? The attack of the fangirls?” Shazia snickered. Great. Another set of problems to deal with.
“Like- maybe Joanna will do something to me,” I said softly, deciding to focus on the scariest thing for now. Fangirls were bad but a jealous ex was much worse. “She’s not called the biggest bitch on campus for nothing.”
“She’s a skinny skank, I could take her,” Robyn said scathingly.
“I’ll go hide in the bathroom if she gives me the evil eye,” I decided.
“I’m sorry I’m not going, I would have been your bodyguard,” Shazia offered, sounding wistful. “With karate chops- take that, Joanna! In your face, Wendy!”
I burst out laughing, my head hitting the headboard.
“Well, I’ll be there for you, Celsi. If either Joanna or Wendy starts something, I’ll finish it,” Robyn said defensively.
Smiling, I said, “Thanks, Rob.”
Even though she was probably going to be so wrapped up in Todd that she wouldn’t notice I was in the same room as her, it was the thought that counted, right?
“Enough of that, though,” Robyn said dismissively. “What are you going to wear?”
&n
bsp; My face froze in the midst of a jaw stretching yawn. It wasn’t a pretty sight.
“Um-,” I started, drawing a complete blank. In the excitement of being asked to the gala, I hadn’t had time to think about one of the most important aspects of a date- the outfit. What was I going to wear to an event attended by New York’s elite? Unless my fairy godmother did decide to show, I’d be going dressed in a burlap sack. “Well, I was thinking I could borrow something from you guys,” I finished lamely.
The only formal dress I had was the one from my 16th birthday and even then it had been second hand from my favorite thrift store. I could just picture myself walking into the Waldorf-Astoria in that dress. Security would run me out of town. Robyn and Shazia had some nice dresses and since we were pretty much the same sizes (although I was the taller one amongst us), I was sure I could get something to wear from them.
“Celsi- you’re going on a date. With Luke Astor. Wearing one of my old dresses is not the way to impress the guy,” Robyn said immediately, sounding disgusted that I have even broached the subject.
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want to impress him,” I lied, crossing my fingers. “And I was thinking of your blue dress, Shaz. The one you wore at your 17th birthday party.”
“But I wore it at my 17th birthday party!” Shazia exclaimed. “As in people saw me in it.”
“I don’t mind.” Shaz’s 17th birthday dress was absolutely gorgeous and I knew it would be perfect for the gala. Rob and Shaz- they didn’t appear to think so.
“Of course you don’t,” Robyn screeched. “You’ve never been to one of these things. The ladies have eyes like hawks and they’re always checking out what you’re wearing.”
I laughed. Sounds scary. “So? It’s not like they’ll ever see me again.”
“That doesn’t matter!” Robyn sounded ready to pull out her hair. “They’ll talk about it if you show up in a dress from last season! They always do!”
I sighed. There was nothing I could do about that. It was either a hand me down or the burlap sack. I couldn’t afford a brand new, this season dress. I couldn’t even buy myself a new MetroCard!
