Snowed In

by Shawn, Melanie

  Maribel had made it crystal clear that she’d never liked Lizzie. Which should have been his first red flag. The two of them had just never hit it off. When Mike had asked Maribel what she thought of Lizzie when they first started dating all she’d said was, “Well, that girl is mighty impressed with herself, isn’t she?” Mike had just nodded his head in agreement because, well, she was.

  He had just finished signing the last of the stack and was putting the cap back on the Sharpie pen when his mother swept into the room in her classic grandiose style. She wore a black silk robe that flowed behind her dramatically and her high heeled slippers click-clacked on the marble flooring. There was not a single bleached blond hair out of place in her updo and she wore a full face of make-up.

  Laying down and resting my ass.

  “Michael dear, I hope you haven’t been waiting long,” she lifted up on her tip toes and reached up to kiss both sides of his cheek. Chanel No. 5 assaulted his senses. His mother loved Marilyn Monroe and soaked herself in Chanel No. 5 because of it.

  “How are you, Mother?” Mike didn’t bother addressing how long he’d been waiting because he was certain his mother knew exactly how long he’d been there.

  “I’m feeling a little tired,” she spoke quietly as she sank down into the antique chair next to the fireplace.

  “Well I won’t keep you then. We can reschedule for later in the week,” Mike knew his mother was fine and just wanted sympathy, he also knew that she wanted to speak to him so he called her bluff.

  “Oh no, that won’t do. The benefit is just a week away. I’ll just have to summon the strength to push through,” she sat up a little straighter in the chair and then melted down as if the effort of sitting up had exhausted her.

  Oh boy. She was in full martyr mode. It was odd as he watched his mother’s over the top antics. It suddenly struck Mike just how phony and manipulative they were. Meeting Nikki and spending time with her somehow made the ridiculousness of his mother’s contrived behavior as clear as blinking neon lights. It’s not that he hadn’t noticed it or been aware of it before but he hadn’t realized just how ludicrous it was.

  Mike couldn’t help but shake his head as he sat down across from her and leaned his elbows on his knees. He listened as she went through all of the seating arrangements and last minute details that she wanted his “opinion on.” After just under an hour of painstakingly boring details she finally got around to what he knew this entire ‘meeting’ was really about.

  “So sugar, I spoke to Elizabeth and unfortunately she’s already been fitted for her dress and the sweet dear was just so tickled pink to be reuniting with you again that she told her parents and friends that you would be escorting her to the benefit. She was just beside herself when I told her about the mix-up. Inconsolable really.” His mother reached out and patted his arm. “Don’t worry, darlin’, I calmed her down and assured her that you would never want to see her upset and I was certain that you would do the right thing and take her as your date.”

  Mike drew in an audible breath through his nose. His jaw was so tense he could practically hear his teeth grinding against each other. His patience was wearing very thin when it came to the subject of Lizzie. “First, there was no mix-up. I never planned to take Lizzie to the benefit. Second, she becomes ‘inconsolable’ over a broken nail so I think she’ll be fine. And third, you would be doing yourself a big favor if you would not speak on my behalf. It would mean a lot less calls apologizing for the fact that you were wrong.”

  His mother’s expression grew tight and he knew he needed to leave before one or both of them said something that they would regret. He stood and made it to the front door before he heard his mother calling his name. Deciding that he didn’t have the energy or patience to deal with her, he opened the door and left.

  He had no idea why Phil and his mother were so adamant about wanting him to take Lizzie to the benefit and at this point he didn’t even care. There was no way that was happening. He knew who he wanted to take. And it sure as hell wasn’t Lizzie.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Nikki dropped her bags beside the queen size bed in the hotel room and collapsed on to it. After being on a plane for sixteen hours, which included three two-hour layovers, she was finally off duty. She had ten hours of downtime before she had to get back on another flight. She planned on using nine and a half of those to sleep, ten minutes to eat, and twenty minutes to shower.

  She still wore her white button up shirt, pencil skirt, nylons and heels but did not have the energy or desire to disrobe before crashing out. There was one thing she did have to do though before she could drift off into slumber time bliss.

  Her heavy arm dropped down next to the bed. She blindly grabbed at her bags until she felt her purse strap. Her eyes remained shut tight as she dragged the heavy bag up onto the bed. Reaching inside, her fingers dug around until she felt her phone. She pulled it out clumsily knocking the bag back onto the floor.

  Okay, now was the hard part.

  Nikki had to open her eyes so she could see the screen. Dammit. She forced her eyelids to part, but it didn’t do her much good considering her vision was a blurry mess.

  Ugh, she was getting old. In her early twenties she would have been able to pull an all-nighter and then work for sixteen hours straight no problem. Now, it was an entirely different story all together.

  Of course, she had to give herself a little break because it was actually more like she’d pulled two all-nighters in a row. She hadn’t slept more than an hour or two the night before the luncheon. That night had been a marathon of tossing and turning sleeplessly in her bed. She just hadn’t been able to calm her nerves enough to fall asleep.

  Lying here now she was having no such problem. Whether it was because of her age or the fact the she’d been running solely on caffeine and sugar for the last forty eight hours she didn’t know, but one thing she did know, she hadn’t just hit a wall, she’d crashed into it going one hundred miles an hour. Still, all she needed to do was stay awake long enough to set her alarm and then she could fall blessedly to sleep.

  Lifting her hand to her face she rubbed her eyes attempting to speed up the process of getting them to focus. When that didn’t work, she scrunched her face in and stretched it out trying to wake up her senses. Her vision however stayed as blurry as can be.

  Water. She needed to crawl over to the bathroom and splash water on her face. That was her only hope of waking up enough to get her elusive alarm set.

  Just as she managed to get her feet to fall off the side of the bed, the phone buzzed in her hand. She didn’t feel like talking to anyone. But, maybe it would perk her up just enough so she didn’t gave to drag her sorry self to the bathroom.

  She couldn’t make out the name of who was calling but it’s not like it mattered, she was just using the phone call to wake herself up anyways.

  Hitting the green blurry button on her screen, Nikki lifted the phone to her ear. “Hello.”

  “Hi beautiful,” Mike’s deep voice sounded on the other line.

  And just like that all of her senses came to life. “Hi,” she said as her body flooded with tingles.

  “I missed you today,” Mike’s husky tone cause a deep pull in Nikki’s belly.

  “Did you?” Nikki’s breath caught in her throat.

  “More than you know,” he rasped.

  She felt the corners of her mouth lift up in a smile. The way he spoke to her always made her feel…special. Not just the words he said but it was also the way he said it. The feeling that was behind his words enveloped her completely, wrapping around her like a warm blanket on a cold night.

  “Do you have plans next Saturday?”

  Nikki’s stomach flip flopped. They’d said goodbye to each other less than twenty-four hours ago and he was already asking her about next weekend. This was good. Very good.

  “No. I get back on Wednesday and I’m not flying again until Monday morning out of SFO.”

  “Would you
like to come to a benefit dinner with me? It’s the annual Fire and Ice Ball that my family has hosted for generations. The proceeds are divided between four different charities.”

  Mike continued talking, explaining a little about each one of the deserving charities, but Nikki was only half-listening. Okay, she wasn’t really listening at all. She’d tuned out as soon as the words “Fire and Ice Ball” came out of his mouth.

  She’d been vaguely aware of the event for a few years now. Celebrities and sports figures often went and she’d heard that the charity dinner always raised well over a million dollars. In some social circles—not any Nikki had been a part of—it was the event of the year.

  But all of that didn’t matter to Nikki. What was making her heart race was the fact that Mike had invited her to be his date. Showing up together to something like that was pretty much the same as taking out a front page ad announcing that they were a couple.

  Wait. Were they a couple?! Holy shit! Were they a real couple?

  “Nikki?”

  “Oh sorry.” Nikki had totally checked out of the conversation she was having with Mike and checked into the conversation she was having with herself in her own head.

  “If you’d rather not go it’s fi-”

  “No. I mean yes,” Nikki took a deep steadying breath. “Yes, I’ll go.”

  “Really,” Mike sounded unsure, most likely his feelings of uncertainty stemmed from her initial radio silence.

  “Yes. Really. I’d love to go with you,” Nikki assured him. She wanted to add, sooo does this mean we are together? I mean If we ran into someone would I be introducing you as my boyfriend…or…?

  She didn’t though. Mainly because she wasn’t sure she would like either answer. If Mike was just Mike, the sexy, funny, smart guy she met at the bar then of course she would want to be in a relationship with him. But he wasn’t. He was Mike the sexy, funny, smart senator. Not only that, he was also currently topping over twenty Most Eligible Bachelor lists. She had no idea how to fit into his life, especially with people like that slime ball, Phil, surrounding him.

  I mean he had ‘people’ for God’s sake. If someone said to him ‘have your people call my people’, he could.

  “Good. I’ll have Jane send you the information. I leave for Washington Thursday and will be back Saturday afternoon so I can send a car to pick you up. Then I would love if you would stay with me until you leave Monday. I’ll take you to the airport.”

  “Okay,” she agreed easily. Because come on, who wouldn’t agree to that offer? It was straight out of a movie, and Nikki had always been a sucker for romantic movies.

  “I know you must be exhausted. I’ll let you go.”

  “Okay,” she repeated.

  “Nikki,” the way he said her name made her wish she could crawl through the phone and into his lap.

  “What?” she breathed.

  “Don’t go picking up any guys in hotel bars, okay?” His tone was light and there was a smile in his voice. Although she could tell he meant it as a little bit of a joke, she also realized that this was his way of saying that he wanted them to be exclusive.

  Hot diggity dog! Her smile spread even bigger. “I won’t if you won’t.”

  “Don’t worry. My days of picking up random guys at hotel bars are behind me,” he quipped back.

  She busted out laughing, “Good, so are mine.”

  Mike groaned. “Damn, even your laugh turns me on.”

  Her core pulsed at his words. She loved that everything he said, she felt deep inside of her.

  “Get some sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow,” his sexy tone instructed.

  “Okay,” she repeated. Sure she may be repeating the same word over and over but hey at least it wasn’t ‘why’ anymore.

  They said goodbye and when she set down the phone two things became crystal clear. One, she was now wide awake. And two, she had a week to get ready to go to a ball, a real life ball.

  The Fire and Ice Ball was less than a week away and she wouldn’t even be back in the country until Wednesday. That didn’t give her much time and she wanted to look ah-may-zing. Not because it was the social event of the year but because she would be Mike’s date. She wanted to blow his socks off.

  Karina. She definitely needed Karina. Nikki was suddenly extremely happy to have a friend whose closet could rival the Kardashian’s and who also happened to be the same size as her.

  --- ~ ---

  “What do you think?” Nikki asked as she spun in a circle for her friends and sister.

  “You look gorgeous,” Amy said.

  “Beautiful, just beautiful,” Amanda gushed.

  “I like it. But I can’t say that I love it.” Lauren critically eyed her up and down.

  “I’m with Lauren,” Karina agreed. “I think we can do better.”

  Nikki nodded and headed back into Karina’s large closet. This was the fifth dress she’d tried on. While they were all incredible and she thought she looked nice in them, none of them had that w-o-w factor she was looking for. She would think that maybe she was just being picky, but both Karina and Lauren felt exactly the same way. The dresses were either too flashy, too simple, too sexy, not sexy enough. None of them were the dress.

  She pulled the backless red gown, that she was pretty sure Karina had worn to the Grammys, off of the hanger. Holding it up she had to admit it looked promising.

  “Try on the red Grammy dress,” Karina yelled though the door.

  “I am,” Nikki said as she lifted the dress over her head.

  The material slipped down her body smoothly, like honey. Nikki had never before worn something that felt like it had been made for her. This dress did.

  She threaded her arms through the delicate straps and pulled them up over her shoulders. There was no mirror in the huge walk-in closet but just glancing down at herself Nikki, thought this dress looked pretty good. It felt amazing. Smoothing her hands down the sides of her body she felt like this might just be the one. Only one way to find out.

  She stepped out of the walk-in and Amanda, Sam, and Lily’s jaws dropped open. They just stared at her completely speechless.

  Okay, so that’s a good sign. Right?

  “You look hot,” Karina smiled as she nodded her head.

  “Yes, that’s more like it,” Lauren said. “Here, try these on.”

  Karina and Nikki might wear the same size dress but there was no way she could fit into her friend’s size six shoes. Lauren, however, was a size seven and a half and had amazing taste in shoes.

  Looking around the room Nikki was overwhelmed by the fact that the girls here were really the best friends you could ever have. And not just because of their wardrobes either. Although that was a nice bonus. No, she loved them because they were all spending their Thursday night happily helping Nikki find the perfect dress to wear to her ball. And she would do the same for any of them.

  Nikki stepped into the black high heeled strappy shoes Lauren had handed her and then moved in front of the full length mirror. Oh yeah, this was definitely it. The crimson dress molded perfectly to her body. The scoop neck showed just a hint of cleavage. Not that she had a lot to show but the dress showcased what little assets she had beautifully.

  She pointed her toe and stretched her leg so she could see how the shoes looked with it and noticed that the side slit ran all the way to her upper thigh. Very sexy but not in your face about it. The shoes were unbelievable and looked like they were made to compliment this dress perfectly.

  She turned and realized that the front of the dress was not even the show stopper. The back dipped down to a low V that landed right at the base of her spine. It was stunning. It was breathtaking. It was perfect.

  Tears started forming in her eyes. She sniffed and wiped beneath her lashes thinking it must be allergies. Apparently, she was allergic to beautiful dresses.

  Amanda was by her side with a tissue in a flash. “This has to be the one if you’re crying. At least that’s the rule for wedding
dresses.”

  All the girls agreed. Nikki knew they were right, this was the dress. She also knew that her crying had nothing to do with this dress being the one. It was more about the fact that she even needed this dress in the first place.

  Everything with Mike had happened so fast that it was still very overwhelming to her. He called and texted everyday no matter where he was, where she was, or what their schedules were. He always made sure that they talked, even if it was only for five minutes.

  He was smart, funny, successful, incredibly hot and most of all just a really great guy. She’d seen her friends and sister hook up with guys that all met that criteria but somehow Nikki just never imagined that it would happen for her. Now that it had, she was scared of what would happen to her and how she would deal with it if it went away. So as excited as she was to be seeing Mike again and to be going to a ball, yes a real life bona fide Cinderella style ball, she was equally terrified.

  Nikki was a tough girl. Not much really ever penetrated her protective shell. But somehow Mike had gotten past it effortlessly.

  “Do you not like the dress?” Amanda asked with concern flooding her voice. Which was totally reasonable, it’s not like Nikki was prone to public displays of waterworks and she was standing there crying like a little girl. Amanda, always the fixer offered, “I’m sure Karina has more. We’ll find the right one.”

  “No, I love the dress. It’s perfect. It’s just…everything else.” Nikki’s arms flapped wildly as she attempted, albeit poorly, to explain what was going on inside of her.

  Karina held her hands out like a model showcasing a display. “This ladies, is what buckling up, holding on and enjoying the ride looks like.”

  Amanda’s brow furrowed, “But she’s crying.”

  “Yep,” Lauren sighed, “it’s scary not being in control.”

  Nikki sniffed again and nodded her head in agreement. “What they said.”

  “But I have to say, Nikki,” Karina placed her arm around Nikki’s shoulder supportively, “if you’re gonna go for the ride and let go, sweet Lord Almighty, did you pick the right guy to do it with. He is beyond delicious.”