Chapter 34
“No, no, I can’t do it!” she said, closing her eyes as a wave of nausea slammed into her, threatening to make her race towards the bathroom. Well, it would have if she didn’t currently have a crazed woman pinning her down on the bed.
“It’s going to be fine, Kasey,” Sara promised when they both knew no such thing!
“No, it’s not!”
“Oh, my god! Would you stop already? It’s just a date!” Sara snapped in exasperation as she sat up, grabbed the blouse that she’d picked out for her and tossed it at Kasey. “Get dressed.”
“No!”
“I will beat you!” Sara snapped, pressing her fingers to her temple as she closed her eyes and slowly exhaled, clearly praying for patience while Kasey took this opportunity to turn around and quickly crawled towards the closed bedroom door that separated her from her precious freedom.
“Seriously?” Sara demanded, as she grabbed hold of her ankle and-
“You didn’t even shave?” the woman that was supposed to have her back demanded, as she released Kasey’s ankle in disgust.
“I didn’t get a chance!” Kasey snapped defensively as she reached down and shoved her pajama pants back down.
“You had plenty of chances!”
“Really? Because, I believe some crazed bitch dragged me off to get my hair and nails done before I had a chance to do anything!”
“Maybe it had something to do with that uni-brow that you’ve been sporting for the past couple of weeks?” the horrible woman that she’d once called friend shot back.
“You...bitch!” she gasped, trying not to laugh.
“Look, clearly you’re in over your head on this one,” Sara said calmly with a sniff as she inspected her manicure.
“And you know this because of your vast dating experience? Is that why?” Kasey asked, blinking up at the woman that had actually helped her keep her sanity over the last few hours.
“I’ve dated!”
“Really? Who? Because I know that you’re not counting your husband since you’ve been together since the eighth grade and his idea of a date is grabbing fast food from the drive-thru and catching a movie on Netflix,” she said, deciding that it was time to climb off the bed before Sara could get another chance to tackle her.
“Hey, that counts!” Sara said in a huff as she snatched the blouses that she’d picked out off the floor where they’d fallen so that she could lay them back on the bed for her final inspection.
“For this?” Kasey asked, waving her hands desperately.
“Yes!” Sara hissed as she opened the bedroom door and-
“So,” Mikey said around a bite of her apple, “is this a date?”
“Yes,” Sara answered before Kasey got a chance to deny it, “and she needs to get ready.”
Instead of freaking out, which she fully expected any loyal child to do, Mikey simply nodded and said, “I like him.”
“Good. One less thing to worry about,” Sara said with a firm nod as she grabbed Kasey by the arm and dragged her towards the bathroom.
“Oh, come on!” she said, not bothering to fight her since a relaxing bath might actually help settle her nerves.
“As soon as I get your mom settled in a bath, you and I are going to pack a bag so that you can come stay with me for a few days,” Sara said with a warm smile that didn’t exactly match the promise of violence in her eyes if Kasey tried to make a run for it.
“Why can’t I stay here?” Mikey asked, already looking bored.
“Because your mom will probably be out late tonight,” Sara said, clearing her throat as panic once again blossomed in her chest.
“Can I watch the game?” Mikey asked while Kasey stumbled towards the bathroom, terrifying thoughts of the night ahead racing through her head as Sara shoved a towel in her arms.
“Sure,” Sara said, following Kasey into the bathroom.
“I-I don’t know if I can do this,” she mumbled as she stood there, terrified, because she had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to do.
“Yes, you can,” Sara said, starting a bath for her before she rummaged through the rest of the bathroom and found a new razor, shaving gel, lotion, and about a dozen other things that she was going to need to get ready for this date.
“I-”
“Look,” Sara said, suddenly cupping her face and forcing her to meet her eyes, “it’s just a date, Kasey. Nothing is going to happen that you don’t want to happen. You’re just going out and having dinner with one of your best friends, okay?”
“But-”
“You love him, Kasey. I know you do and I also know that if you don’t do this that you’ll regret it, because I will kick your ass,” Sara promised, making her smile.
“Tell me that you don’t love him and that you really don’t want to do this and I’ll go tell Reese that it’s not happening and everything will be fine,” Sara said with a shrug as though it was no big deal.
She opened her mouth to do just that only to close her eyes in defeat and admit, “I can’t.”
“Then I suggest that you get your ass in that tub and shave those legs before your prince charming arrives,” Sara said before she turned her around and gave her a gentle push towards the bathtub. “And don’t skimp on the lotion!”
“Fine, Mom,” she said dryly even as she had to smile.
As soon as Sara closed the door behind her, Kasey busied herself by adding a few drops of lemongrass to the tub, some bath salts, and broke out the good body wash. By the time she’d settled in the tub, she was nervous again, but she was also smiling.
She was going on a date and she was actually excited, nervous, but excited. She’d never been on a real date where a guy picked her up, brought her out to dinner, a movie, drinks, or whatever Reese had planned for them. She’d never really cared how the night ended, but tonight was going to be different.
She was ready.
She would always love Michael, nothing was ever going to change that, but she was ready to do this.
She was ready.
She kept telling herself that as she shaved, washed her body, and when the water had cooled off and she ran out of excuses, she reluctantly climbed out of the tub. Keeping herself busy so that she wouldn’t talk herself out of this, she took her time drying off, applying lotion, body spray, and perfume. She kept herself busy by brushing her teeth, carefully putting on her makeup, and by the time she’d moved onto her hair, she regretted cutting it for the first time in years.
Knowing that it was pointless to dwell on things that she couldn’t change, she quickly styled her hair, wrapped a towel back around herself and stepped out of the bathroom just as Sara and Mikey were walking out the front door. Telling herself that she was fine, she walked into her bedroom and ignored the outfits that Sara had laid out.
Deciding that tonight was all about possibilities and taking chances, she opened her closet and searched until she found the dress that she’d bought years ago, the one that she’d bought on a whim and never had a chance to wear. She took her time dressing, selecting a pair of white panties trimmed with lace, dainty sandals, her grandmother’s diamond bracelet, and by the time that she pulled on that beautiful sundress, she was ready.
But, as it turned out, Reese wasn’t.
He wasn’t ready by seven o’clock.
Or eight o’clock.
And by the time that nine o’clock rolled around, she’d decided that she was more than ready to share a few things with him.