Lucky Number Four (8 page)

Dinner, to my surprise, turns out to be a
wonderful affair. The food is delicious as always, and the company
keeps me laughing with the tales of the life of a male model. Even
Liam chimes in, telling us of his photo shoot with an amorous
kangaroo. I haven’t laughed this much in years. I suddenly feel so
comfortable with these guys.

Papa’s equally rotund wife joins us at one
point, and with the wine and the company, I really don’t want this
night to end.

On the ride home, Drew turns on the heat, and
with the wine and the smooth ride of the car, I feel my eyes
closing. The next thing I know, I’m being carried from the car into
our building. The arms hold me snugly, and my eyes are so heavy
that I keep them shut. I hear voices, but I’m too tired to answer.
My bed feels wonderful when I’m placed gently on it. I feel lips
touching mine and then I feel myself drift off.

I loved having her in my arms. Tonight I wanted her
complete attention. She is so amazing—warm and giving. Watching her
with the people at Papa’s makes me believe I can feel again. I
wonder how long she was in that relationship Papa mentioned. Who
ended it? Does she have a broken heart? Will she even give me a
chance? I felt so much jealously when that Giuseppe guy kissed her
hand. I would love for her to look at me the way she looked at him.
I need her. God, I sound like a stalker. It’s been such a short
time, but I feel…she makes me feel alive.

I haven’t seen the guys in a few weeks, and I
still don’t know who put me to bed that night. I can still feel his
lips, and then
nothing
. I’m not going to go there. Life is
hectic with my classes seeming to stretch for hours, and work,
well, let’s just say it’s work. It seems like I’m always rushing,
like right now to go meet Julie. She’s waiting by her car, and I
can tell by her face she thinks I’m late.

“It’s about time. You’re late,” she quips as
she hits the button to unlock the doors.

“Yep, three whole minutes,” I respond, loving
the scowl she sends my way. “Turn that frown upside down. We’re
going on a big adventure. Oh, how I love Halloween!” I watch as she
tries not to smile and then rubs her hands together, breaking into
a huge smile.

“I want to be something totally different
this year. I’m tired of vampire teeth and zombie stuff,” she says
as she backs out of the parking spot.

“I thought you looked awesome last year. You
had that dead look down!” I say.

“I know, I was pretty hot as a zombie babe,
huh? But different is what I’m going for this year. This party’s
going to be epic, don’t you think? Drew says they rented out that
whole floor, and that anybody who is anybody is going to be
there.”

“Then why are we going? We’re the biggest
nobodies I know,” I reply with an eye roll.

“They won’t know that since we’ll be in
costume. They’ll believe we’re famous,” Julie argues with a
grin.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am excited about
going to the party. I guess I just have reservations about feeling
out of place. I don’t like feeling insecure, and since my life’s
upheaval in September, that feeling has crept up on me more than I
would like.

“We’re here!” Julie’s excited voice
interrupts my musings as we pull in front of the biggest costume
shop in the city, aptly named “Biggest Costume Shop in the City.”
So unique, huh?

The store is like a decorated two-story
haunted house with racks of clothing separated into sections. They
have a werewolf section guarded by the biggest stuffed werewolf
I’ve ever seen. I swear it’s more than fifteen feet tall. Then
there’s the vampire section with—yes, you guessed it—a fifteen-foot
bat. You thought I was going to say vampire, but no, it’s a
humongous, jet-black bat with glowing red eyes. Creepsville, for
sure.

I already know what section I’m heading for,
so I leave Julie pondering while I enter the Victorian section. I
know. Lame. But I feel like I belong back in that era. My mom says
I must have lived there in a previous life. Anyway, here I am,
surrounded by long, flowing dresses and low-cut bodices that would
make any woman feel feminine. I spot a light lavender dress with
fake pearls patterned on the bodice and make a beeline for it,
praying it’s my size.

“May I help you?” A voice stops me in my
pursuit and I turn to find a small, even-shorter-than-me female
dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, basket and all.

“Yes, this dress.” I move forward and place
my hand on it.

“Beautiful, isn’t it? We just put it out
yesterday. It comes with a mask. Let’s see what size it is.”

I cross my fingers. Spying the tag she pulls
out from the sleeve, I know it’s too big.

“I venture to say this is tooooooo big for
you,” she says in a singsong voice. I guess she’s getting into
character.

“Damn. I mean, crap, it’s the one I
want.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll check in the back. We have
a couple more sizes in this one.” She takes off and disappears
behind a partition in the section after I tell her my dress
size.

Looking around, I see an elaborately dressed
footman, like you see in Cinderella stories, guarding this section.
He’s standing on a pedestal and looks to be about six feet tall and
very lifelike.

“Good afternoon, madam,” the footman says,
making me jump.

“God, you almost gave me a heart attack,” I
say a little more loudly than I should have. But damn, he almost
scared the pee out of me.

“I beg your pardon. I did not mean to startle
you.” His tone is very solemn, but the gleam in his eye gives away
his lie.

“Guess what? We have it in your size. If you
follow me, you can try it on back here.” Red is back and takes one
look at my face, which must be pale, because she goes up to the
footman and smacks him on the leg. “You creep. Get down from there.
Next time you’ll scare the wrong person and be in big trouble.”

“Geez, Red. I was just shaking things up a
little. I’m tired of walking the floor. She looks too young to have
a heart attack. I do pick my victims well.” The handsome, even with
the white wig, footman gracefully jumps down and bows low to both
of us.

“Ignore him and follow me.” Red takes my arm
and guides me to a bank of dressing rooms behind an elaborately
painted scenic backdrop of a Victorian ballroom. “Here we are. Now
the corset comes with it, so you’ll need help with that. If you
want to disrobe, we’ll get to it.”

Red puts down her basket and waits for me to
undress. I’m praying my underwear is up to par. She laces the
corset tightly, which makes my waist even smaller and pushes my
boobs up. I must say, I have magnificent cleavage. I pull the dress
over my head, and it flows down my body, fitting perfectly. Okay,
so the bodice is a little low, which is okay because my family
won’t see me in it. No worries. So what if I want to look a little
slutty? Everyone should, once in their lifetime.

I put on the lavender mask Red hands to me,
and then she turns me around so I face the full-length mirror. I
can’t believe it’s me, but it is because Red is standing beside me,
grinning like the Cheshire cat.

“You look so beautiful, and your red hair is
perfect for the lavender color. It’s like you just stepped out of a
Victorian painting,” she gushes. Watching her eyes, I know it’s not
just a sales pitch. She means it.

“Thank you, I’ll—”

“There you are!” Julie says as she walks up.
“I swear some fucking idiot dressed like Cinderella’s hand boy just
scared the daylights out of me. Oh my, Dora, you look…well, you
don’t look like you, that’s for sure! You look fucking great!”

“She does, doesn’t she?” Red nods her head in
agreement.

“Now get out of that so we can go find me
something just as fucking awesome!” Julie says as she exits the
fitting room. I look at Red and apologize for the language.

Several frustrating hours later, we make it
home. Julie’s costume is, well, it’s Julie, and she’s happy with
it, but I can’t wait until Kevin sees it. The loft is quiet when I
enter the front door. There’s a part of me that hopes the guys are
here because I want them to see my costume I’m carrying in a
see-thru bag, but I’m glad they’re not. I kind of want them to see
it on Halloween.