Chapter Twenty-Four
Gabrielle
“This is paradise,” Heather moaned as the therapist massaged her scalp.
With no small amount of effort, I had managed to convince her to take the day off from studying and have a girl’s day with me instead.
So far, we’d gone shopping. I found a lingerie set that I was dying to show off to James. Then we got massages. We were in the process of getting our hair done, and nails were up next, as soon as our hair was washed and wrapped.
I glanced at the pile of shopping bags at our feet. A naughty thought snuck into my mind. I snapped a picture of the logo of the lingerie store on the bag and sent it to James.
We hadn’t made plans for that night, and I wanted to tease him into dying to want to see me as much as I was dying to see him. Well, see him, amongst other things.
He replied right away.
James: ?
Gabrielle: I might have gotten you a gift ;-)
James: I have a feeling that I’m going to like this gift. It’s going to be *hard* waiting to see it.
Gabrielle: That’s the general idea.
“He has to be incredible at something if you’re texting with him right now instead of marveling at how the stress is just melting away,” Heather said, lifting her head from the basin. I stashed my phone quickly in my bag.
“He is,” I admitted. “At everything.”
“Swoon,” Heather said, following me across the expansive salon to the nail technicians waiting at the chairs where we’d be getting our hair done. “It sounds like you’re well past just having a little crush.”
“I think I am.” I knew it, actually. “I think that this relationship might just be the real thing.”
Heather whirled around in her chair so fast, I was afraid that she might have given herself whiplash.
“It’s probably best if you don’t do that when I have scissors near your ears,” the hair stylist reprimanded. She was a cool-looking girl with a slightly gothic style and bright pink hair. “I’m Anna. I’ll be responsible for your ears today.”
Heather shot her an apologetic grin and waved between us, but her eyes were pinned to mine. “I’m Heather. This is Gabrielle. What did you just say, Gabbi?”
“You heard me. I said that I think that this might just be the real deal.” Heather’s eyes widened to the size of saucers, and even Anna giggled in delight.
Anna caught my eye in the mirror, winked, and started brushing through my hair. “What? I’m not going to apologize. One of my favorite parts of my job is that I get to hear all the juicy gossip going on in my clients’ lives. I’m a vault. I’ll never tell.”
“You hear that, Gabbi? Anna’s a vault. So spill.” Even the nail technician leaned in closer, not-so-subtly eavesdropping, but not quite as open about it as Anna.
Having this conversation with so many people listening in should have bothered me. It didn’t. Frankly, I would have shouted it from the rooftops for all of the world to hear. If my father didn’t live in this world. Or if I’d already broken the news to him.
“I’m in love with him, Heather. Like over the moon, reach for the stars, World Series kind of in love.”
Wow, soppy much? Since when was I such a goddamn romantic? I hated romantics. Yet as I sat with a stupid grin on my face and told the girls all about James, I couldn’t bring myself to care.
I loved James. I was in love with James. It was undeniable, and I didn’t even want to try to. If that meant that I’d turned into a romantic, then so be it.
Well, I told the girls almost all about James. I still hung on to his identity and his chosen profession. I would have to break that to Heather in private when the time came. I wasn’t going to risk rumors flying around and making it back to my father somehow.
Anna styled our hair as she listened with rapt attention. You would have sworn that I’d known her for as long as I’d known Heather from the “oohs” and “aahs” they delivered in perfect sync.
They asked a million and one questions, and I answered them all, neatly sidestepping the dangerous ones that would give away who he was.
“Have you told him?” There was the dreaded question. The one that I couldn’t sidestep and didn’t want to answer.
“No, I haven’t told him yet.” I twirled the ring on my index finger. Heather picked up on my nervous habit and tilted her head questioningly.
“Why not?” Anna squeaked. “From the sounds of things, he’s as far gone as you are.”
“There are some things that we need to work out before we can have that talk.” There. That was vague enough.
“There will always be things, girlie.” My nail technician, an older woman with hair graying at the temples, chimed in, finally giving up any pretense that she wasn’t listening to us. “Take it from someone who’s been there. You have to tell him. Men have a tendency to be slow on the uptake and do some stupid things on the way there.”
Her words rang with quiet authority, settling heavily all around us until Anna broke the sudden contemplative tension. “Amen to that, sister.”
“I agree,” Heather said. You have to tell him, Gabbi. I’ve never seen you this way before. He’s good for you.”
“Yeah, he is,” I agreed. “I’ll talk to him about it, soon.”
They breathed a collective sigh of relief, and the light, happy mood returned. Anna switched from working on me to working on Heather.
As they talked, the older woman’s words bounced around in my head, almost like an omen.
Things were going spectacularly well between us, but I still had no idea how James felt about me. I was certain that I was much more to him than a faceless fuck or a notch in his bedpost by then, but we hadn’t exactly discussed the status of our relationship.
I hoped we could talk about it once James signed his new contract, eradicating the threat that our relationship could compromise his future.
My father had to postpone their meeting because he got caught up wherever he was, but as soon as that contract was signed, I planned on sitting James down and talking through it. Bubbles of nerves floated through me.
“What do you do?” I heard Anna ask Heather once I forced myself to focus on the present again.
“I’m an aspiring lawyer. Though, it doesn’t feel like the ‘aspiring’ part of that description can drop away fast enough.” Heather sighed, tension lining her eyes again.
Anna must have noticed the sudden tension as well because she waved her hand like she dismissed the notion and gave Heather a kind smile. “It will all be worth it in the end. When is the end?”
“I’m taking the bar exam in a month. But it feels like I haven’t slept in at least six months. I don’t even remember when the last time was that I did anything like we’re doing today.”
“That explains your split ends, then,” Anna teased. Heather squealed and reached for her hair. “Relax, I’m kidding.”
“You’ve never had a split end in your life, Heather,” I said. The last thing that Heather needed was something else to worry about, even it was something as trivial as having split ends.
“I don’t know about the rest of your life, but your hair is in great condition now,” Anna reassured her. “So, one more month until the bar exam, then?”
“Yeah,” Heather said. “I can’t wait for it to be over, but I also feel like I need three more months to study for it.”
“You definitely don’t need three more months, Heather. You’re ready. This last push is nothing but review for you.”
“True, but there’s so much to review. How’re you holding up?”
“I’m okay. Almost there. I was thinking of maybe waiting until the next sitting to take it, but now I’m seriously considering taking it with you.”
“It would be silly of you to wait. You can only study so much. Another six months would be torture.”
“Look who’s talking.” I stared at her pointedly.
Heather laughed but nodded her head. “Touche, old friend. Come on; I want to hear you say it.”
I blushed, remembering James saying almost those exact same words to me not so long ago. Dammit. Why did everything have to come back to him these days? “Say what?”
“Say, ‘Heather, I will take the bar exam with you in one month.’ You know you want to.”
She was right. I did want to. Now that I’d made up my mind to take the exam, I wanted to get it done. Not have it hanging over my head for months on end.
“Okay, I’ll say it. Heather, I think that I will take the exam with you in one month.” My lips curled into a smile. It felt good to say it out loud. I pushed all the nerves about confronting James away. This was a time to celebrate.
“Sold!” Anna cried joyously. “To the lady in the black cape.”
“I wish it were a proper cape. I’m going to need superpowers to survive this month.” I was ready for it, though.
“You are both going to knock that exam out of the park. Mark my words.” Anna insisted.
“How do you know? You’ve known us for all of about an hour.” I hated to point out the obvious, but Anna’s complete faith in us astonished me.
“I know because I know people. Women like you are go-getters. You won’t let anything stand in your way, and you’ll work hard to get what you want.” It was a matter-of-fact statement. There was no doubt in Anna’s voice.
Heather beamed. “You’re right. We have worked hard. We’re going to own this exam.”
“Yeah, we are.” I thought we would, anyway, but I wasn’t about to be the doubting downer.
“These are the only capes that I keep around here, unfortunately. I do have champagne, though. That should give you the self-confidence of a superhero.” Anna smirked and motioned to a girl carrying a tray of champagne flutes.
Heather and I each accepted a glass and sipped in silence as Anna snipped and sprayed and clipped around us. She moved a bit like a ninja. It was quite something to behold.
“So, on to other things that you want. You promise you’ll tell the mystery man soon?” Heather asked quietly, her eyes searching mine like she knew something was holding me back.
“Yeah, I will.” It was a promise that I intended to keep.
“Good. I want to meet him. When do I get to meet him?” Heather’s eyes lit up. “And does he have any hot, single friends?”
I laughed. Heather was beautiful, intelligent, and driven. No man had been able to keep up so far. Although, the same might have been said for me until not so long ago. I would ask James about it.
“I think he does, but I’ll have to ask. You will meet him, though. I don’t know when yet, but I have a feeling that he’s going to be around for a while. So you definitely will.”
Hope flooded my veins. I wanted James to be around for a long while. I wondered if he wanted the same thing.