by LS Anders
Vehn rushed forward, catching Callie before she hit the ground. He knew she would be shocked at the very least and hoped she wouldn’t be mad.
He had explained to Avie and Cale why he had hidden his true identity after Tegan introduced them for a second time. They seemed to understand and were curious to see Callie’s reaction.
Avie’s comment had been, “Wow, Callie's gonna shit a twenty-pound baby gorilla when she sees you.” He had hoped that her reaction to his surprise wouldn’t be that severe. Nope, no gorilla babies.
It had been way worse! She had seized up, turned a ghostly white, and her eyes had rolled back in her head just before she nearly face planted on the marble flooring.
After Vehn had convinced the others Callie would be all right, he closed her pocket door so they could have some privacy when she came to.
Callie began to stir where Vehn had lain her half-reclining on the cushy client chair. Sitting on the edge, studying her unmasked face for the first time, he held one of her hands while brushing her hair away from her face with the other. Oh, yeah, absolutely gorgeous. He would definitely have recognized her without her Cat Woman mask.
“Are you really here?” Callie asked, barely cracking open her eyes.
“Yep, it's really me. Just your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. I'm so sorry you found out this way, Callie. I should have done this differently. Are you mad?”
“I just don't know what to think. Why didn't you just tell me who you were?”
Vehn reached for the bottled water Avie had brought him, cracked open the lid, and handed it to her. As she sipped the water, he tried to explain. He had been practicing this conversation with her inside his head over the last few days.
Taking a deep breath, he prayed she would understand his reasons. “I wasn't trying to trick you or anyone else. I didn't know I was going to meet someone that I would be interested in. When Tegan told me about that party, I took it as an opportunity to be just a regular guy. I can't go anywhere that I'm not recognized and approached. I mean, it kind of sucks being famous. I wanted so many times to tell you, but I thought since you seemed to like me as Lee, I wanted to give you a little more time to get to know me first. Tegan told me you were a huge fan of mine, and I didn’t want to scare you off. Does that make any sense?”
Callie gave him a thoughtful look as if she were trying to understand what he was telling her.
“I can't imagine what that’s like for you, but I do understand what you're saying. And I'm glad I got to know you a little bit first before you unmasked yourself. No, I'm not mad, just still a little shocked. Well, maybe a lot shocked. Besides, you could never be just another guy even if you were still Lee, because you are such a great person.” She smiled up at him through her lashes.
“That’s the greatest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thank you.” Vehn touched his chest making sure his heart stayed behind his sternum since it had grown ten times the original size at her words. “So, does that mean you’re still going out with me on Saturday?”
“Of course. I gotta find out what’s so top secret.”
Vehn blasted out the breath he’d been holding and hugged Callie to him. “Thank you. That’s such a relief. I wanted so bad to tell you. I’ve been scared to death you would change your mind about our date.”
Callie giggled, nuzzling his neck and hugging him in return. Breathing deeply, he drew her intoxicatingly unique scent into him.
“So Lee is your middle name,” she said knowingly.
“Yeah. Being my number one fan, I guess you already knew that, huh?” he said as they pulled away from each other.
Callie nodded and smiled looking away embarrassed. “What do I call you?”
“Vehn is fine.”
“That's gonna be hard to get used to. I actually liked you as Lee.”
“I'm kind of used to you calling me that, too. But I am Lee, Callie. I’m the still same person.” he emphasized, grinning back at her.
He hoped their new relationship wouldn’t change now that she knew who he really was. A small amount of relief spread through him when she nodded her head in agreement. Only time would tell, and he was willing to take it slowly, one day at a time, to not scare her off.
“So anyway, how did you manage to get the photograph?”
“Oh, I bought it off the raffle winner,” she blushed before looking away.
“Did you now? Out of curiosity,” Vehn gave her a sideways look, “how much was I worth?”
“Does it really matter? You would be worth whatever the asking price, because you’re priceless to me.”
Well damn! That was definitely an answer he could live with. Maybe this transition from Lee to Vehn wasn’t going to be as difficult as he'd first thought.
“Well, you definitely have me now,” he said, leaning down to capture her mouth with his.
“You don’t think she’s preggy, do you?” Callie questioned, wondering why wedding boutiques always had to smell like bouquets of roses sprinkled with baby power.
“Hello… Evana?” Callie grumbled, still flipping through the rack of bridesmaids’ worst nightmares.
Miffed at being ignored, she turned fully to face her boss, who was mentally not in the same room as her. “Evana!”
“What?” Evana shot her an irritated look.
“Are you even listening to me? You’ve been looking at that same dress for, like, the last fifteen minutes.”
“Sorry, what was the question?” Shaking her head, Evana released the skirting of the pastel blue dress she’d been examining.
“Do. You. Think. Avie. Is. Preg. A. Nant?” Callie sounded extremely irritated as she enunciated each word.
“What? No, I don’t, and keep your voice down,” Evana looked around answering in a harsh whisper.
“Then what’s with the shotgun wedding?” Callie questioned, imitating Evana’s hushed tone.
“The date is set six months away. I hardly think that would be considered a shotgun wedding, Callie,” Evana rationalized.
“Then why are we already here trying on bridesmaid dresses less than a week after he proposed?”
“Because, she’s excited about getting married. You’ll understand when it happens to you.”
“If,” Callie breathed.
“When. When it happens.”
“I guess,” Callie sadly exhaled.
“What has gotten into you anyway? Your big date with Vehn is tonight. I thought you would be beside yourself with excitement.”
“More like beside myself with anxiety,” Callie groaned.
“What? Why? I knew you would be a little nervous, but come on, Callie, he already really likes you. You shouldn’t have anything to worry about,” Evana tried reassuring her.
“Oh, really? He’s a mega superstar, and people will be looking at us. Judging us. No, correction—not him, me. They will be judging me!” Callie swept her hand down her front.
“Honey, you shouldn’t care what anybody else thinks. Besides, you’re beautiful.”
“That’s easy for you to say, Miss Drop-Dead Gorgeous. I wouldn’t be half as nervous if I had your body and face,” Callie said, looking Evana over.
“Then he wouldn’t be attracted to you, if you looked like me, dummy.”
Callie exhaled. “I guess.”
“Hey, girls, look at this one!” Rayna rushed over from the other side of the boutique, a flowing pale pink confection flagging out behind her.
“Wow, Rayna, that would look great on you. You could totally Barbie that out. But I can’t wear pink with my outrageous red hair, and that fluffy skirting would make my ass look even fatter than it already does,” Callie commented, rolling her eyes as she went back to unenthusiastically flipping through dresses.
Callie hated herself when she got like this. She always let her anxieties take control, swapping her bubbly personality for full-on selfish bitch mode.
She really wasn’t the least bit aggravated with either girl. She was simply venting off the exc
ess stress she was feeling about that night's date with Vehn. For all the times she’d fantasized and daydreamed about dating him, she never would have guessed if her fantasy had become true that she would be wishing Vehn was a different man. She could date Lee, but Vehn was going to put her deep-seated insecurities to the test, and her faith in herself was waning with every second that ticked by bringing her closer to tonight.
She could just overhear Evana and Rayna whispering about her before switching to a conversation that no longer included her. The whispering didn’t bother Callie because she knew they were taking her hatefulness in stride and knew not to take any of it personally, but she was still going to feel like shit about being an asshole to them and apologize later for her bad attitude.
“What’s with her?” Rayna whispered to Evana.
“She’s freaking out about her date tonight. We need to do some damage control and pep talk her soon, before she sinks into a depression we can’t get her out of. I want this date to go great for her. She totally deserves an awesome guy, and I think Lee, I mean Vehn, is the one.”
“Ooh, me too!” Rayna nodded. “We gotta get to the studio soon anyway to open. Let’s corral her before our first appointments arrive and talk some sense into her. Where did Avie and her friend go?”
“They’re in the dressing room. Avie wanted to try on one more dress before we left.”
“Her friend Arin is so much like her in the strangest way. Not really in looks, except for the eye color, but just something.” Rayna waved her hand in the air trying to grasp the missing word she was unable to hit upon. “Like they both have this ethereal presence about them. Did that make any sense at all?”
“Believe it or not, that made complete sense. I’m glad you verbalized it that way, because I was racking my brain trying to figure it out,” Evana said, testing the softness of the pink chiffon skirting draped over Rayna’s forearm.
Callie set her bitchiness aside to focus on the conversation going on around her. She even cracked a smile, noticing how Rayna was bestowing that pink dress with the same lovesick look she eyed Tegan with.
“They remind me of like little Tinkerbell fairies,” Rayna said, touching Evana’s arm and shaking her blonde head. “I don’t mean that to be mean, either.”
“No. I know what you’re saying. They’re so damn cute,” Evana agreed.
Now that Callie’s thoughts weren’t centered solely on herself, her concern for Evana’s well-being came rushing back to the forefront. She couldn’t keep from wondering whether Evana’s low attention span didn’t have to do with Tegan and Rayna’s new infatuation with each other. Ever since Rayna had returned from her bereavement leave/vacation with her sister a few days previously, Evana had begun wandering aimlessly through the studio, switching to auto pilot. She had something inside her brain that was getting a serious mulling over.
Even though Evana had admitted that she had no romantic feelings for Tegan, Callie wondered if she was merely fronting for Rayna’s sake. Anybody with two eyes had seen Rayna fall head-over-heels at the first sight of him. Callie had watched the girl literally drool on her shoes!
What if Evana and Tegan had starting to fall for each other only to have that new spark of interest redirected after meeting Rayna a few days later? If that were the case—and Callie prayed that it wasn’t—fate would be dealing Evana another cruel blow.
“Ok, ladies!” Avie rushed out of the dressing room, spinning around. “I think this is the one! What do you think?”
The chiffon skirting flowed around her slight form as she swayed and spun around, while the girls gasped and praised her. Her long sherbet-orange hair fanned out around her, completely at odds with the romantic style of the heavily beaded bodice and long full skirting.
“You look like a fairy princess. I love it.” Obviously, even Callie’s pissy mood couldn’t compete with Avie’s joy as she brushed away a tear.
Evana and Rayna brushed their own tears away as Avie’s friend and maid of honor, Arin, clicked off pictures with her cell phone.
“Avie, stay and get fitted if that’s the dress you want. We can cover for you until you get finished—”
Before Evana could get out the rest of her sentence, Avie had grabbed her in a strong embrace. “You are the best boss ever, E! Thank you so much. I promise I’ll hurry!”
“Hey, Arin, would you mind sending some of those pics to my phone?” Callie asked.
“Oh, sure. I wanted to get your cell number anyway. I was going to beg you to help me plan the bachelorette party, if you don’t mind.”
“No begging required. I’d be happy to help.”
Callie and Arin exchanged cell numbers and bounced a few party ideas off one another. Callie found herself intently studying Arin much the same way she did sometimes with Avie. Rayna had nailed it. The two girls had an unearthly look about them. It wasn’t over the top, in your face, but some subtlety that made you look into them rather than just at them.
Callie glanced over to where Avie was being fitted and then back to Arin, comparing the two girls. She had no idea what Avie’s true hair color was, but Arin’s was stick-straight and the darkest brown, just a shade shy of being black. They both were of the same height and build. “Tinkerbell Fairies” was spot-on with their petite bodies and slender limbs. They both had tiny waists and small high breasts. So similar were their large luminescent whiskey-colored eyes, she would bet if you covered each girl from head to toe leaving only the eyes exposed, no one would be able to tell one from the other.
Avie had left the bridesmaid dress selection up to them and, unfortunately, none of them had found a dress they could all agree on, so it looked like they would be making this trip again until they did.
Pink being her least favorite color, Callie didn’t want to hurt Rayna’s feelings but she was glad she had put the kibosh on Rayna’s selection. The girl was practically drooling over the thing and had yet to hang it back on the rack. As a matter of fact, she was giving it to one of the sales ladies. Was she planning to buy it?
* * *
An hour later, Callie sat at the reception desk scrolling through the photos Arin had forwarded to her. She was feeling a lot more comfortable about her date with Vehn that night thanks to her colleagues' inspirational pep talk and reassurances. Plus, she had gotten a chance to talk to Dylan, too. That girl had a knack for making her feel better no matter how foul her mood had become.
They were right; he already liked her. Besides, she had gotten to know him as Lee, so dating Vehn shouldn’t be all that scary. She felt like she had known him a lot longer than just a handful of days after their multitude of long phone conversations where they talked about everything imaginable.
She paused mid-scroll, stopping to study a photo of Avie. It was a moment captured just before she was about to spin around. She had fanned the skirting out and was looking back over one shoulder. Callie increased the size of the image, then the brightness, trying to get a better look at the anomaly that seemed to be in every damn picture.
“That’s so weird,” Callie whispered, running her finger over the screen outlining the luminescent glow around Avie’s slight form.
“What’s weird?”
A squeak was plucked from her as she jerked, nearly losing the grip on her cell phone. “You scared the shit out of me, Avie! I didn’t even hear you come in.”
“Sorry.” Avie grinned.
“So, you’re all done with your fitting?”
“Yep. Thanks for letting me know you could cover for me longer since your client was running late. I totally needed that extra time.”
“No problem. I’m so glad you found your dress.”
“Me too,” Avie said, sighing heavily. “That was the one thing that had me so worried. I’m so short, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to find anything that would look good on me.”
“You’re such a doll, Avie. I wasn’t the least bit worried.”
“Thank you, Callie. Your soul is the purest out of everyone'
s.”
“Um... thanks, sweetie, but what does that mean?” Callie's question went unanswered as Tegan and his client made their way to the front. Avie came around the desk, and Callie moved off the stool, making room for her so she could get settled in.
“Hi, Janet. Did you finish your tatt today?”
Avie was the best receptionist. She always remembered people’s names, even the ones who didn’t come in very often. She was always so friendly and personable with everyone.
“I did! He does such amazing work. I’d show you but he already has it wrapped up,” Janet said, indicating the bandage on her shoulder. “He asked me to model this piece for the shop. I’m so stoked about having my picture on the walls in here!”
The smile Janet bestowed on Tegan was a lot more than just friendly. That man was bad boy beautiful, with features that looked like they had been chiseled out of stone by an artist’s hand, and Callie had no doubt that he got hit on all the time from his female clientele. He wasn’t conceited at all and seemed to take the attention in stride, returning her smile with a little teasing upturn at the corner of his sculpted goateed lips. Callie liked to think of it as Tegan’s signature smirk.
“Thanks, Janet. I’ll get back with you to work out the time and date for the shoot after I talk to my roommate. We’ll do the shoot upstairs as soon as the place is finished. It shouldn’t take very long.”
Evana had been so impressed with the shots Vehn had taken of her, she was having the majority of the third floor above the shop renovated, turning it into a studio and dark room for him to use. She decided it would be easier if the studio had its own personal photographer on site. This way, any client willing to model didn’t have to go to a different location to have the portrait done.
All the items in storage up there had already been either donated or reorganized, and the contractor was due first thing Monday morning to get started on the renovation. Vehn had tried to pay her rent for the use of the space, but Evana refused to take any money from him. So he agreed to be the shop’s personal photographer only if she would agree not to pay him for any photos he took for the shop.