by Emily Bruce
“I can’t Sophie, I would have paparazzi up my ass the whole time and it would ruin the whole date, not to mention they would splash her picture from here to next year all over the internet! I can’t do that to Violet, I want to get to know her again before I start parading her in front of the paparazzi.”
“Okay then, something closer to home.” Sophie tapped her chin with her fingers as she thought.
“Yeah, preferably at home,” Blake grumbled. He hated that he couldn’t just take Violet somewhere she wanted to go like New York and that he had to worry about ridiculous shit like security and paparazzi.
Sophie screwed up her face. “That’s not very romantic. Violet would never admit it, but she is a total romantic at heart.”
Blake rolled his eyes.
“Oh! How about a romantic dinner outside, you could do it under the huge willow tree, string fairy lights up, have candles. Get it catered, and not by Mom. Then you would be alone and it would be romantic and who doesn’t like candles and fairy lights!” Sophie said, clapping her hands together.
Blake scrunched his nose.
“That doesn’t sound too cheesy and lame? How many times has she been to our parents’ house?”
“Well with that attitude, it will blow. You need to make it romantic, think fairy lights, candles, and roses,” Sophie said as she nibbled at her breakfast, a dreamy smile on her face.
Blake wanted to roll his eyes, he wasn’t into grand romantic gestures, was that even something Violet would like? Maybe he should just take Sophie’s advice and reserve his judgment for later. “What could go wrong?” Blake replied, taking a sip of his coffee, still feeling unsure.
“And Sophie, don’t you dare say anything to Violet about what I just said here, got it?” he added.
Sophie pretended to zip her lips with a massive smile on her face and mirth in her eyes. Blake gulped, he had a feeling he was going to regret getting a little loose-lipped in front of Sophie.
Chapter 17
Violet
What did one wear on a date with the man of your dreams when that guy was one of Hollywood’s hottest actors and you were, like, poor and couldn’t afford designer clothes? Violet pondered as she threw another top onto the floor of her bedroom.
Her tiny closet was so not equipped to handle such a big task.
And neither was she.
She felt like she hadn’t slept since Tuesday and it was a miracle she was able to function as a semi-normal human at work for the rest of the week. On Friday, Mr Jameson had given her an odd look and asked her if she was experiencing her ‘lady time.’ Violet, knowing from past experience to say yes, had scored herself a half-day on Friday. She scurried home, curled up on her sofa, and had a back-to-back Blake Wilson movie marathon.
Yes! She was the saddest person alive!
She took a few calming breaths as she looked through the few garments left in her closet, rather than in the heap on her floor.
Why hadn’t she picked out an outfit yesterday, like most normal people would before a hot date? Nope, not Violet, she was the last-minute queen. So far, she had decided on her tightest pair of dark blue skinny jeans and her favorite tan leather cowboy boots. Now she just had to find a blouse that made her look 20 pounds thinner. So far, she wasn’t having any luck. Violet’s trembling hands jutted forward and continued to go through her clothes.
She, Violet Stone, was going out on a date with Blake freaking Wilson. She just knew she would do something embarrassing in front of him!
She could feel it.
Something even more embarrassing than when Blake waltzed into the office and found her elbow deep in her own bra.
She needed a fairy godmother and fast.
Also, one of those memory erasers from the Men in Black movies.
Violet landed on a sheer pink blouse, pulled it off the hanger, and gave it a once-over. She couldn’t even remember the last time she tried it on. Throwing it on over a white tank top, Violet looked in the mirror.
It looked okay, only it was just too flowy and made her look fat. Violet turned to the side to assess that angle and, oh god, it looked even worse!
It made her look even fatter!
It was also, like, 10 years old.
So not Blake Wilson date-worthy.
Oh, dear god! Was that a moth hole?!
She was so not dating-a-Hollywood-celebrity material. She wasn’t polished, with perfect hair, she wasn’t a size zero, and she didn’t have a designer wardrobe. She was just little old Violet, from a sleepy beach town in Texas!!
Maybe there was a school all those women went to? Like a finishing school on how to snag a heartthrob and keep him.
Million-dollar idea, right there!
“Vi?” came Sophie’s sing-song voice from the lounge.
“In here,” she called out as she took off the billowy blouse and put on a plain black singlet.
“So, tonight’s the big night, are you excited?” Sophie asked as she came into Violet’s room carrying a garment bag, a beach bag slung over her shoulder, plus her own colossal tote.
“No, I’m not excited. This wasn’t my idea!” Violet said, slumping on the twin bed, her legs feeling like jelly again.
“Well you’re lucky that you have me. I’ve decided to look past the fact that you like my brother and I went shopping and got you something to-die-for!” Sophie wiggled the garment bag and threw the rest of her things onto the floor.
“Sophie, you can’t buy me stuff!” Violet said, eyeing the designer name on the garment bag.
Whatever was in there had to have cost thousands! Like over $5,000!
“Vi, you never go on dates and you know how I love to do makeovers, please let me!” Sophie said in her whiny voice with puppy dog eyes.
“But it’s too much! I can’t wear such an expensive dress!” She said, shaking her head.
“Oh honey, you’re wearing this dress. It’s an ‘I need to get laid ASAP, so let’s skip dinner and go straight to sex’ dress!” Sophie wiggled the garment bag.
“I don’t even want to go on the date, let alone have sex with him!” Violet said, crossing her arms.
“Don’t give me that horse shit! You can’t wait to go on your little date! Your heart is probably beating wildly right now! And I’d bet my bottom dollar you waxed your lady-bits in anticipation that they might actually get some action for once,” Sophie said, throwing the garment bag on the bed beside Violet, crossing her arms, and giving her the death stare.
Violet moved her hands over her denim-clad crotch.
How had Sophie guessed?
Taking a deep breath, Violet looked at Sophie, who was daring her to deny it with one manicured eyebrow raised.
Jesus, her life was so damned embarrassing!
“Fine! I couldn’t even sleep I got so excited and yes, my heart is beating wildly and I have nothing to wear and he is way too hot to want to go on a date with me! I’m so clumsy, I’ll do something stupid!” Violet said in a rush as Sophie smiled.
“There we go, an honest answer! And what are you talking about? You’re just as hot as Blake, most likely hotter! Because, ewwww, Blake isn’t hot.” Sophie made a vomit face as she bent over to unzip the garment bag on the bed. She pulled out a beautiful emerald green form-fitting evening gown. “It’s amazing,” Violet said in awe, as she ran her fingers through the satin fabric.
“Where is he taking me if I have to wear this?” she added in a panicked voice.
“Don’t you worry about a thing, trust me, you’ll love it!” Sophie said, waving her hand, as she laid the gown out across the bed.
“The sweetheart neckline and the trumpet flare will flatter your body, and hopefully make Blake swallow his tongue when he sees what he’s been missing out on for so long,” Sophie said as she picked up the other bag she had brought and pulled out her makeup bag and a shoe box.
“Sophie, it’s too much, let me just wear my jeans like I was going to, I won’t feel comfortable in that incredible dress.”
“Nope, no, and never! You’re wearing this dress, and I’m doing your hair and makeup, and there’ll be no buts about it.”
Violet sighed, yeah, she wasn’t getting out of this, she would be wearing that amazing dress tonight and a little part of her was just too excited.
Sophie dashed out of Violet’s room and came back with a chair.
“Sit your ass down and let me get to work, we don’t have long.”
Violet complied and sat on the chair. Sophie had faced it away from the mirror, so she had no idea what Sophie was doing to her.
“I’m freaking out, Sophie, I’m probably going to do something embarrassing tonight,” she said and added a nervous laugh.
“Stop thinking of him as a celebrity, just think of him as my ass-hat older brother who made our childhood hell,” Sophie said, whacking Violet in the arm with a hairbrush.
“Ouch!”
“You had it coming, stop putting yourself down, trust me, the whole thing is going to turn out fine, more than fine. In fact, I see a huge fairytale wedding in your future!”
“Yeah, yours.”
“After that,” Sophie said with a secret smile like she knew something Violet didn’t.
Violet rubbed her arm and tried to relax. The most embarrassing thing that could ever happen had already happened, maybe Sophie was right about the whole date turning out fine, but not that wedding bullshit she was just spouting.
How much more embarrassing could it get?
Perhaps, Eden Greene showing up…
After what felt like hours of wedding chatter and how Jamie was the greatest man on the planet, Sophie finally allowed Violet to put on the stunning satin dress.
Violet shimmied into it and was amazed it actually covered her ass and that the fabric had more give in it then she expected. Now she wouldn’t have to worry about busting a seam. Violet turned her back to Sophie so she could zip up the dress. “Holy shit, you look amazing!” Sophie said as she gave Violet the once-over, then rummaged around on the floor for the shoebox she had brought with her.
“I got you gold heels because every woman needs a little sparkle,” Sophie said as she pulled out the strappy, sparkly heels.
“Holy shit! Are those?!” Violet gasped as she saw the red soles. “Just put them on,” Sophie replied as she tossed them on the floor. “You can’t throw them on the floor like that!” Violet cringed, crouched down, and slid them on.
Oh, they fit like a glove and were comfy too!
“They’re just shoes,” Sophie said, sounding bored and rolling her eyes.
Oh, to be rich!
Violet stood back up and turned to face Sophie.
“How do I look?”
“Vi, you look amazing! Blake is definitely going to swallow his tongue when he sees you!” Sophie said clapping her hands together, smiling at Violet. “Now close your eyes,” she added as she grabbed Violet’s arm and towed her into her bathroom to stand her in front of the mirror.
Oh god! She felt like she was going to throw up!
“You can look now!” Sophie said excitedly.
Violet opened her eyes and took a deep breath as she looked in the mirror.
She was unrecognizable.
She, Violet Stone, looked like a sex siren!
Sophie had done her makeup to perfection. Green and black eyeshadow made her eyes pop and fake lashes – not too long – framed her green eyes and made them look bigger. Violet’s cheekbones had been contoured and her nose appeared smaller then it was. Her blonde hair was in a fancy updo that Sophie had spent ages on, and that dress fitted her like a glove and flattered her body.
You couldn’t even tell she had an ice cream addiction! Violet looked and felt like she was ready to go down the red carpet or something.
Oh shit!
When were the OSCARS???!!!
Holy crap! Calm it down Violet, the Oscars are in February and it’s July.
While Violet had been freaking out, Sophie had been talking.
“He’ll be here in a minute, have a great time Vi!” Sophie said. A final hug and she was out the door. She turned and added, “And I expect a blow-by-blow of tonight, minus the parts involving Blake’s dick.” She gave Violet a pointed stare as she shut the door.
Crap!
Violet looked at the time. Blake was meant to be here in the next 15 minutes, so she had just enough time to freak the hell out.
Holy shit!
Here she was, dressed like some fairy princess about to finally go out on a date with the man of her dreams. She hadn’t spoken to him in the last 13 years. What if they had nothing to talk about? Maybe she should do an internet search current events or something. She needed to have something to talk about, otherwise she would start nervous-babbling!
Yikes! Her nervous-babble was the worst, too!
Violet smoothed her sweaty hands down her dress. She hoped they were going somewhere low key and not fancy like the dress suggested.
She had no fine dining skills!
Damn it, she should have searched that beforehand, when Sophie was doing her hair and makeup. Why was she just thinking of this now?! He had better not be taking her to some movie premiere or something! She should have made Sophie tell her where in the hell Blake was taking her before she left.
As the minutes ticked down to 6:30, Violet felt her nerves ramp up a level and the irrational-ass sweat break out. Violet paced her little living room. She needed to calm her nerves, she was about to go on a date with the man of her dreams!
Yeah, she needed a couple of scoops of ice cream to help calm her down.
There was nothing that calmed her down faster than her buddies at the Icy Mountain ice cream company.
Violet marched purposefully into the kitchen, swiped a spoon from the sink, and headed over to the freezer. She tried not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Here she was, dressed to perfection like she was going to go to the Oscars or some other red-carpet event, sitting at her dining table eating chocolate ice cream.
Best flavor choice ever, by the way.
Violet munched on a huge spoon of creamy chocolate goodness as she tried to relax.
She could do this, it was just a date with the hottest guy she had ever seen, no biggie, and she kind of needed the nine grand.
Think of the money Violet!
And his sexy hair, lips, ears, body, feet, tattoos.
The whole lot of him was sexy!
A loud knock at the door startled Violet from her sexy chocolate-induced daydream and she jumped.
Oh no!
The spoonful of ice cream in her hand, which was just about to make it to her mouth, had tumbled off the spoon and down the green satin dress, leaving a brown smear in its wake all the way to the hem.
“Fuck!” Violet cried out. She had just ruined her dress!
“Well, we can... But I kind of wanted to take you to dinner first,” came Blake’s sexy voice from the other side of the door.
Dear god! He was here!
At her house!
She could hear his smile from here!
What was she going to do now? She had managed to ruin her dress and she didn’t have a replacement! Violet had destroyed her dress before she had even left the house!
Curse her clumsy ways!
…and ice cream for being so addictive!
…and while she was at it, Blake for making her need the ice cream in the first place!
Walking to the door on wobbly legs, Violet tried not to stumble in her beautiful strappy heels. She had just ruined everything. She let out a sigh and opened the door, bracing herself for the onslaught of hotness she was about to witness.
Chapter 18
Blake
Blake looked out towards the cliff from his parents’ east field and listened to the fierce ocean battering the coast. It had been so long since he’d been down here in the east field with the old willow tree which had been such a huge part of his childhood. If you climbed it all the way to the top, you could se
e the ocean. Blake chuckled as he ran a hand along the old willow’s gnarled trunk. Blake Rulz was carved into the trunk many years ago and he smiled as he ran his hand over the old carving. Sophie had been right, this was the perfect place for him to have his date with Violet. It brought back so many memories. Blake chuckled because one memory that stuck out in particular was when he dared Violet to climb the old willow all the way to the top and touch the highest leaf. She was scared of heights back then and he had bet all his pocket money that she wouldn’t do it. $80 was a lot of money back then. Blake could still see the 10-year-old Violet, with her long blonde hair that was always falling out of its ponytail and getting in her face. Her cheeks flaming red, she got madder and madder as he taunted her that she couldn’t climb the willow. “You’re such a girl,” he had said, and that’s when she had stood tall, squared her shoulders, looked at him and said, “No one calls me a girl!” Sophie was begging her not to climb it, telling her to ignore his cruel taunts, but Violet just turned around, walked to the tree, and started to climb. She got up to the top quickly, touched the highest leaf, and then made her way back down, but she slipped on the way down and fell a good eight feet out of the tree. Blake could still hear that sickening thud and the fear in Sophie’s voice as she screamed Violet’s name and ran to her, crying and saying she was dead. Blake had hurried over, his heart in his mouth, because he never meant to get her hurt. He just liked teasing her, he didn’t know why, he just liked winding her up. Being 15 years old at the time, he should have known better. When he leaned over her, heart in his throat and worried she had been seriously injured, Violet opened her eyes and said, “Hand over your pocket money.” She then got up, refusing his help, and walked, head held high and arm in arm with Sophie, back to the house. Not once did she wince in pain, which he knew she must have been feeling after that thud. The next day, Sophie had raced home to tell him that Violet had broken her arm and it was all his fault, in front of their parents of course. Blake had never felt so bad in his life as he did that day. His mother and father were furious with him and he was grounded for the better part of 6 months. That didn’t bother him though, he was just worried about Violet, that he’d gotten her hurt. That memory still made him shake. She could have died that day and it would have been his fault.
