by Hotcheri
I smiled sickly at her. “Thank you.”
“We’re taking it. That’s it,” Shazia decided, folding her arms over her chest.
I stared wildly at her. “But- I haven’t even tried the other one yet!” I protested.
“You don’t have to. This one just screams ‘Celsi’.” Shazia turned to the saleslady. “How much is it?”
“Eight hundred,” she replied calmly, while my blood ran cold. Eight hundred? For a dress to be worn by little old me? No, no, no, no.
I held up the other dress. “I’m taking this one,” I announced, as Shazia, Robyn and the saleslady stared at me in surprise. “This one- it’s too expensive.” I ran my hand over the soft fabric wistfully. “And it’s too pink.”
“There’s no such thing as too pink, Celsi,” Robyn rolled her eyes.
Shazia turned to the listening saleslady. “Excuse us for a moment.”
The girls pulled me into the changing room and pushed me onto the seat.
“Celsi, read my lips,” Robyn said, a stern look on her pretty face. “You’re wearing that dress to the gala.”
Shazia nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it looks perfect on you! It’s like the ultimate dress! You’re not going to find another dress like this anywhere.”
“Shaz-,” I started.
Wagging her finger in my face, Robyn snapped, “No excuses. You look fantastic in that dress and I swear-.”
“Rob, it’s not about the dress,” I cut in, trying to make them understand. “I love the dress. Love it!”
Shazia frowned, tugging on her earlobe. “So- what’s the problem?” she asked, clueless.
I stood up, pacing in the small room while Robyn and Shazia stared at me like I had gone loco. “The price is the problem,” I said in a small voice.
Robyn snorted derisively. “That’s okay, I’ll put it on my card. Don’t worry about it. Now, are we done here?”
I turned to her, shaking my head. “Robyn, don’t you get it? I won’t be able to pay you back. That’s why I don’t want anything to do with this dress.”
Shazia looked shocked. “But-,” she started, reaching out to touch my arm.
“No.” I shook my head sternly. “I can’t- I’m not taking this dress.”
“Celsi, how long have we been friends?” Robyn asked me, a serious look on her face.
“Since the 8th grade,” I replied, confused at the sudden shift.
“And how many times have you been there for us when we needed you?” Robyn continued.
“Um-,” I said slowly. Was that a rhetorical question or was I actually supposed to know the answer?
“You’ve comforted Robyn through all her breakups,” Shazia said.
Robyn nodded. “You listen when Shazia rants about Ahmed. Like, really listen, not fade in and out like I do.”
“And you help Robyn with her homework when she doesn’t understand it,” Shazia said.
I bit my lip, confused. “What’s your point?”
Shazia put her hand on my shoulder. “You’re always there for us. And you have some nerve thinking that after all you do for us, we’d even let you think about paying for the dress.”
Nodding in agreement, Robyn repeated, “Some nerve.”
Tears sprang into my eyes unbidden. “I – I don’t know what to say,” I whispered, my lip trembling.
A compassionate smile on her face, Robyn hugged me. “Don’t you dare cry. You’ll make me cry too, and I can’t afford to mess up my makeup.”
I sniffled, a small smile on my face as I hugged her back. “I’ll try not to.”
“So it’s settled,” Shazia said, hugging me on the other side (hug sandwich, anyone?). “We’ll buy you the dress, and if you ever think about paying us back we’ll excommunicate you.”
I couldn’t believe what was happening. My friends were willing to pay for an eight hundred dollar dress for me. Do they know how much this means to me?
“Thank you, guys,” I sniffed, blinking back the tears. “You’re the-.”
“Best, yeah, we know that.” Robyn had a pleased as punch smile on her face.
I smiled back. “And you’re full of yourselves,” I joked.
“We love you, Celsi,” Shazia said sincerely. “And we want Luke to love you too, which is why you’re going to rock this dress to the hilt.”
I smiled down at the gorgeous floor length dress, unable to believe that I owned something so beautiful.
“He’s going to have a seizure when he sees you in it,” Robyn giggled.
I snorted teasingly. “Now you’re just exaggerating.”
Penthouse
Back at the El Hamed’s place, Robyn and Shazia got out the makeup after dinner and proceeded to give me what Robyn called ‘the ultimate makeover’.
“Even though Aisha’s sending someone over to do our makeup tomorrow, let’s just practice,” Shazia said, wielding a blush brush while Robyn attacked my eyes with mascara.
“On me?” I complained, secretly enjoying being pampered. Even though it wasn’t fun when Robyn almost poked me in the eye with the mascara wand.
“You have the perfect face for makeup,” Shazia said, an appeasing tone in her voice. “Now, sit still.”
After they finished making me over, they let me look in a mirror (finally).
“Wow,” Robyn said, impressed by her handiwork. “If you look half as good as this tomorrow, Luke won’t be able to keep his hands off you.” She winked at me. “He’ll be groping you all night.”
I tossed my head, smiling at my reflection. I looked like a totally different, pretty person. “Luke wouldn’t grope me. He’s a gentleman like that.”
“When he sees you looking like this, he’ll probably grope you,” Shazia laughed, running a hand over my hair. “I’m so glad Luke asked you, it was so sweet of him.”
Now that’s a rapid turn of events.
I looked up at Shazia in surprise and amusement. “I thought you thought he was a jerk!”
“That was before he apologized to you. Twice. Like I told you he would.”
Lying on Shazia’s bed, Robyn said, “You never really told us how that went down.”
I bit my lip in thought. Obviously not. How could I tell them that the main reason I forgave Luke was because he told me that he was sick? And that the only reason he asked me to the gala is because I was helping him deal? Nobody else knew about this and I didn’t want to be the one who spilled his secret, even to my BFF’s. Luke would never talk to me again.
Luckily, I was saved by Shazia, who threw a cushion at Robyn. “Yeah, she did. He apologized in Science class, remember?”
Robyn stuck her tongue out at Shazia. “Oh, yeah. My bad.”
“Oh, you know what?” Shazia clapped her hands. “Go put the dress on and I’ll go call Ahmed. I think he’s back.”
I stared at her. Randomness was definitely catching. Robyn caught it from Luke and was passing it along to Shazia.
“Yeah, I heard him come in,” Robyn said, rummaging in her bag for her hot iron.
“But- why?” I asked.
“To give his opinion on your outfit, duh,” Shazia said, rolling her eyes.
“Um, you guys already gave your opinions. Unless you and that saleslady were lying,” I said.
Robyn shook her head. “Nope. But we’re girls. We need to know how good you look from a guy’s point of view.”
I laughed in disbelief. “So you want me to parade in front of Ahmed while he tells me what he thinks?”
“Precisely. And don’t act like it’ll hurt. At least you won’t be parading in front of a crowd of strangers like Shazia’ll be doing tomorrow,” Robyn said, smiling snidely at Shazia, who threw another cushion at her.
“What if he disses me?” I worried. Shazia rolled her eyes as she pushed me off of the dresser stool.
“Then he’s a bigger fool than I thought. He’ll probably love it just like we do. Now go put it on!”
Shazia shoved me out of the door and I walked to the bathroo
m to put the dress on. I came back just as Shazia was opening her bedroom door to call Ahmed.
Robyn squealed when she saw me. “Damn, girl, with the makeup and the dress, you look fierce! Tyra Banks- watch out! I’m officially jealous.”
Shazia snickered. “You would be,” she said as I stood in the middle of the room, feeling like a mannequin.
“Ahmed!”
“What?” Ahmed yelled back.
“Come here!”
“Why?”
Groaning, Shazia shouted, “I need to show you something!”
“What?”
Plugging her hot iron in, Robyn said, “He is so difficult.”
“We need your opinion on something,” Shazia continued.
“What?” Ahmed asked.
“Just come here, Ahmed, it won’t take long!”
Grudgingly, Ahmed shouted, “This better be good!”
Footsteps in the hallway then he appeared, looking tousled and very shirtless. Yummy!
Shazia stood aside to let him in as he rubbed his eyes. “Okay, honest opinion,” Shazia said, pointing at me. “How does Celsi look?”
As Ahmed’s eyes lighted on me, his mouth fell open as an expression of mingled shock, surprise and amazement crossed his face. His dark brown eyes widened as he gave me a head to toe look.
From the bed, Robyn muttered, “I guess that’s a good sign,” dryly.
Shazia elbowed her big brother and he snapped out of the Celsi induced daze. “Well? Speak! How does she look?” she asked him.
Ahmed shook his head (presumably to clear the cobwebs) and said, “She looks- you look very nice.”
Very nice. Coming from Ahmed, that meant amazing.
I smiled at him, feeling a satisfied glow and happy that the girls had bought me this show stopping dress. “Thanks, Ahmed.”
“What’s the occasion?” he asked. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of me.
“Luke invited her to the gala,” Robyn divulged.
Ahmed frowned slightly, dragging his eyes off me to look at Robyn. “Luke? Luke Astor?”
“Yeah,” Robyn nodded, a teasing grin on her face. “Surprised?”
“Really?” Ahmed asked me, scratching his head, a look of stone cold disbelief on his handsome face.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Oh. I didn’t know you two were that tight,” Ahmed said, giving me a weird, inscrutable look that I couldn’t decipher.
“He asked her coz she’s helping him in Science,” Shazia was quick to explain. “You see, some people appreciate other peoples help.” She smirked as she got in a thinly veiled barb at her brother, referring to the time I helped him with his Socials project and he repaid me with nothing.
Ahmed bit his lip and exhaled loudly. "Cool. Have fun," he finally said, the unreadable look still in his eyes. I decided not to think of it or it would drive me crazy.
"Thanks," I said again. I pointed to my face. "I'm going to wash this stuff off."
As I walked out of Shazia's room, Ahmed asked her, "Is that all you wanted me for?"
In the safety of the luxurious guest bathroom, I slumped against the sink. Ahmed thought I looked nice. The same Ahmed who never had anything nice to say to me, thought that I looked nice! Imagine what Luke will say, then. Hopefully, something positive. I mean, the dress cost a fortune. The way I saw it, something good had to come from it.
I carefully took off the dress and put it in the bag before I cleansed my face. I don't want to get it wet, that would suck!
As I was wriggling into my PJ bottoms, there was a hesitant knock at the door. I opened it and found myself staring at a still shirtless Ahmed.
"I'm almost done," I babbled, gathering my stuff. Doesn't he have his own bathroom? Odd.
"Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second," he said, surprising me even more with the shy voice he was using. Ahmed was never shy around me.
"Sure," I said, gulping as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Why was I always shut into rooms with hot, unavailable guys? You're lucky and unlucky at the same time.
"Are you really going to the gala with Luke, or was Robyn just running her mouth as usual?" he asked me, looking serious.
I blinked. Didn't we just have this conversation? Was this deja-vu?
"I'm actually going with him," I replied, clutching the dress bag like it was my shield. I wasn't nervous of being alone with Ahmed in the bathroom, but I was nervous about the way he was behaving.
He nodded slowly. "So he asked you out?"
Generally.
I bit back that answer and settled for a nod. Last thing I needed was for Ahmed to think I was a smart ass.
"So, I guess it's my duty to tell you to be careful around Luke."
I laughed, my laugh sounding shrill in the enclosed room before I realized that Ahmed wasn't joking. Well, he wasn't laughing, so I guessed that he wasn't joking.
"What?"
Frowning, Ahmed crossed his arms over his muscular chest, looking as stern as Shazia sometimes got. "He's smooth. I guess I could say- he's been around the block a few times. He knows how to play the game."
Either I was so tired I wasn't following Ahmed, or he was speaking in riddles. And I'm not tired.
"So?"
"So he might get you to do something you don't want to do." Ahmed frowned darkly at me. "He didn't get his reputation by accident, you know."
I rolled my shoulders, trying to keep up with Ahmed. "Are you saying that Luke could- violate me?"
I wanted to laugh again at my choice of words but Ahmed had a somber expression on his face and I thought it was best if I just held back.
"Not exactly," Ahmed said quickly. "He's a good guy. But- he plays dirty. Just-watch out. Watch yourself. Okay?"
I didn't understand. Was Ahmed (gasp) jealous? Why else would he be warning me about Luke's rep? He usually hates me! Was it the dress that brought about this sudden turn of events? Ahmed scared that Luke wouldn't be able to resist me when he saw me and would ravage me right there at the gala? I bit back a smile. Not gonna happen.
Plastering a grateful look on my face, I smiled up at Ahmed. "Okay. Thanks for the warning."
Ahmed smiled at me, the first real smile he'd given me in years. "No problem. Goodnight."
"Goodnight," I said as he opened the door and let himself out.
I turned back to gaze at myself in the mirror. I looked as bemused as I felt.
Ahmed, jealous of Luke? Because of me?
Not possible.
Luke’s Point of View
A slamming door somewhere in the penthouse jerked me out of a deep sleep. I opened an eye drowsily, feeling out of it as I raised my head to glance at the alarm clock on my bedside table. Maybe I was still sleeping and this was an extremely vivid dream, because there was no way it could be 6.00pm already.
Dragging myself up from my bed, I ran a hand through my freshly washed hair as I rummaged underneath my bed, looking for a pair of clean sneakers and yawning as I did so. My original plan had been to take a short nap during the afternoon so that I would be alert during the gala, but somehow I had managed to crash for two hours.
Good job, Astor, a voice in my head said sarcastically as I stood up and walked to my closet to grab my outfit for the night. Ignoring the voice (which sounded like my dad on a really bad day) I went to my bathroom and took a quick shower.
At least I wasn’t tired anymore, especially after my late night at Wendy’s house. She had tried to hook me up with her hot cousin, since I’d been ‘single forever’, according to Wendy.
“You can take her to the gala, since you don’t have a date,” she said perkily, patting my arm while Lynn, the hot cousin, giggled like she’d been doing all night long.
I didn’t even bother answering her, smiling lamely as Wendy prattled on about the gala. She had no idea that I had a date already, since I hadn’t exactly told my friends that I was taking CiCi. I knew what the first question would be when they found
out- why? And since I didn’t know what my real reason for inviting CiCi to be my date was, I preferred to deal with the questions (I knew there would be tons when I walked into the banquet hall with CiCi on my arm) as far into the future as I could.
At 3am (Ahmed had left before midnight, but Wendy would just not let me leave) when I finally convinced Wendy that I had to get home before I passed out, she made me write down giggling Lynn’s number and promise to call her in the morning.
Splashing a little bit of aftershave on, I hoped that Lynn wasn’t sitting around waiting for my call. There was only one person I wanted to go to the gala with, and it wasn’t her. Sure, she was beautiful and sexy, but when it came to chemistry, we had zilch. There was no way I wanted to spend my night listening to that annoying giggle and chatting about Jersey Shore (which was apparently the only TV show Lynn watched) when I could be sitting with CiCi, making her jump every time I touched her. She probably thought I hadn’t noticed that she did that, but like I believe I once told her, I notice everything.
The voice in my head spoke up again. Do you have chemistry with CiCi, then?
“We’re just friends,” I told myself, staring at my reflection in the mirror.
But you wish you could be more, the voice persisted.
I bit my lip, wishing the voice would shut up but intrigued by the question it posed nonetheless. Did I want to be more than friends with CiCi?
Shaking my head, I laughed derisively as I pulled on my tux pants.
“No way.”
So why were you thinking about her when you were making out with Joanna? And why do you lose track of your thoughts whenever you look into her eyes?
Her unbelievably gorgeous eyes.
Before I could come up with a suitable reply to those uncomfortable questions (great, now I was holding a conversation with a voice in my head) there was a knock at the door.
Thankful for the interruption, I yelled, “Yeah?” as I put on my new, crisply starched white shirt.
Faith opened the door and bounded in as I was buttoning up the shirt.
“Hurry up,” she demanded, a smug look on her impish face. “I’m already dressed.”