Chapter Three
Becca
I was about to give up. My hair just wasn’t cooperating. I had an hour to get ready and that still didn’t seem like enough time. I was already drained from a day of updating my resume and feeling sorry for myself. At least tonight I’d have Chris as a welcome distraction and the girls to keep my company.
Tonight was Jeremy’s event. Whatever that meant. Courtney had been talking about how busy Jeremy had been for the last few weeks putting the finishing touches on this project he had been running for the last year. Tonight was the grand unveiling. As much as she talked about him, I still had no idea what he really did, other than being an asshole to her at times.
“Are you ready?” Melissa peaked her head through my door with a large grin on her face, a bottle of wine in her hand, and two glasses in the other. “Hey your makeup looks great, but what’s going on with your hair?”
“Don’t even get started with me Lis!” I quickly barked back at her as she let herself into my room. She looked great. Her dark hair was curled and her little black dress was amazing! She sat down on the ottoman behind me. Her grinning face and rosy cheeks gave away that she’d already started the evening of drinking without me. “My hair won’t listen to me.” I threw my hands up in the air, letting my hair fall around my shoulders. “Help me please!”
Melissa laughed and put the bottle and glasses on the floor. She cracked her knuckles and stretched her arms playfully as she approached me. “Let the master get to work! You pour the wine!”
“Yes Ma’am.” I giggled and quickly poured each of us a generous amount of wine. I watched as Melissa’s nibble fingers twisted a hair here, put a pin there. She had always been good at hair. It reminded me of how she used to braid my hair in high school when we had sleepovers. Life had been so much simpler then.
“What are you thinking about?” Melissa tilted her head slightly. “Are you thinking about seeing Chris tonight? How are things going with you guys anyway? Are you guys like…official? Did I finally find you the perfect guy?” Melissa kept prodding and giggling.
“No we’re not official.” I snapped back. Melissa had set me up on dates before Chris. Usually I never went on more than one date though. She definitely wasn’t a matchmaker.
“That’s all you have to say?” Melissa said with a raised brow. “Come on. Give me some details!”
“Well I’m definitely…” I searched for the right words. “Warming up to him,” I smiled sluggishly. “I just wish that, I don’t know…he was more interesting?”
“I know what you mean!” Melissa nodded, “there are people at work that literally avoid him because he’s so boring.”
“And you thought that was the guy you should set me up with?” I sneered at Melissa.
“Well he’s nice! And I thought you deserved a nice guy for once!” Melissa wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “And you got to admit that he is damn hot.”
“Yeah, yeah he’s cute.” I shrugged her off, laughing. “And he defiantly is a sweetie. Like I said, I’m warming up to him. I just wish he could go ten minutes without talking about computers or saying something stupid.”
She took another gulp of wine and then proceeded to fix my hair a bit more. “But at the very least I think he would be a great wedding date.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” I giggled. “Tonight can be a test. Let’s see how he does in our group, and if all goes well, I’ll ask him.” I glanced out of the window. There was a soft orange glow forming around the tall city skyscrapers. I really didn’t want to go out tonight. It was so hard to be happy for everyone when everything was going so poorly for me. And even though I wouldn’t say it out loud, I was still a little heartbroken over what had happened in Vegas.
Melissa motioned towards my reflection in the mirror. “Done!”
“It’s perfect! Thank you.”
“And without a minute to spare. We need to get going.”
We quickly finished off our drinks and grabbed our purses. I did one last mirror check before we left to catch a cab. I was wearing my favorite blue dress, and my hair and makeup were on point. I mentally prepared myself to have fun. The light buzz from the wine had already set in.
* * * *
I watched all the people rushing every which way up and down the streets. The cab driver was even crazier than most as he weaved in and out of side streets, honking at pedestrians and speeding in between each block, stop sign and stoplight. I lost myself in the moment as the sights blurred past us and I thought about how Chris may fit in to our group. I hoped he would be able to hold up a conversation with my friends, and better yet, that they wouldn’t just eat him alive. Melissa really didn’t know him that well other than an occasional conversation in between the projects they worked on together. It was a miracle she actually got any information out of him in order to set us up on a date.
“So,” Melissa tapped my shoulder bring my attention back. “How did the interviews go today? Any prospects?”
“I’m not sure.” I let out a heavy sign and played with my hair. “I just didn’t get a good feeling. If this continues I’m going to have to beg my parents to help me with the rent. God, it’ll feel like I’m just admitting defeat.”
“Gosh, you parents aren’t still giving you a hard time about moving to the city, are they?” Melissa touched my shoulder compassionately, “And don’t worry, I’m sure they won’t mind helping you out until you find a job.”
“I wouldn’t count on that. Any excuse for me to move closer to them is good enough.” I smiled at her softly, as my chest tightened with anxiety. The cab pulled to the curb and Melissa quickly tossed him a twenty as we slid out of the backseat. Chris was already there waiting out front and I have to admit he looked good. I gave him a quick hug as he kissed me softly. Melissa said hello and they gave each other an awkward, workmate-type hug that made me laugh.
Chris placed his hand in the small of my back, gently touching me as he opened the door for Melissa and I. “You look amazing, Becca.”
“Thank you…and thank you for coming tonight. I’m not really feeling like socializing much, but as at least we can have drink and relax. I hope this will be kinda low key.”
The moment I stepped inside I knew I wasn’t going to get my way. The restaurant and bar area were packed. I grabbed Chris’s hand and pulled him through the crowd, determined to make my way to the bar and find a seat. As we approached, I saw Jeremy standing behind the bar dressed in an expensive looking suit and tapping on his tablet.
“Hey Jeremy, the place looks great! Thanks for inviting us.” Melissa, Chris and I perched ourselves at the bar.
“Thanks! Glad you could make it. Courtney should be around here somewhere…” Jeremy continued tapping on his tablet and looked up briefly again. “Sorry, last minute details I need to get updated before the important people get here.” He chuckled. “Let me get you three a drink.”
Jeremy nodded at the bartender and motioned for him to come over and take care of us and then went back to working. I hoped the entire evening wouldn’t be this chaotic. Chris sat between Melissa and I and I felt myself yelling even louder over the stirring crowd. “So when is Tyler going to get here?” I shouted past Chris to Melissa.
“Not sure. He said he was going to try and make it, but things have been hectic at work. He’s trying to wrap up some things before we leave after the wedding.”
I immediately shot Melissa an evil glance. The last thing I wanted was to mention the wedding in front of Chris. I didn’t want him to make any assumptions he would be attending with me, but it was too late.
“Oh yeah, you do have that wedding coming up, that’s going to be fun, isn’t it Becca?”
My laser beam eyes could have burned a hole through Melissa as I stared at her and then politely smiled at Chris. “Yes, it will be.”