Chapter 14
“Will?” Kate yelled out as she walked into her friend's apartment. Willa lived in modest two-bedroom loft in an up and coming neighborhood. The rent was reasonable, but the space was small. The second bedroom currently served as more of a catchall for Willa's many interests and hobbies. Kate liked to tease her that it's where she sent careers to die. She'd been a one time, baker, painter, hell, probably even a candlestick maker if Kate thought back far enough.
Kate sometimes wondered how Willa lived in such tight quarters. She wondered the same about Deacon too. Not that she needed as much space as she had. Her apartment was overwhelming at times and she was barely in it.
“Yep,” Willa said, poking her head out of the bathroom. “Just finishing up my make up.”
“Any chance you'd freshen mine up,” Kate asked, taking a seat on Willa's bed. The pillows and bedspread were a jumbled mess in the middle, and Kate did her best to smooth out her surroundings. “And maybe lend me a dress that doesn't scream uptight lawyer?”
“You know I love a makeover,” Willa said as she applied a coat of gloss on her lips. She pressed them together and make a popping sounded before smiling. “What the occasion?”
“I need to seduce a man.”
“Deacon?”
“Yeah,” Kate said. “I keep screwing things up with him,” she told her. “We've gone on two dates and both times I've bailed because I get too in my own head.”
“You're good at that,” Willa said with a laugh. She walked over to her closet and started riffling through to find Kate the perfect outfit.
“Tell me about it.” Kate sighed. “I don't mean to be. I really do like him. I just haven't figured out how to balance work and dating. Plus, I found out that he got a letter from Hope urging him to go out with me, so I can't stop thinking that's he's only in to me because he feels obligated to be.”
“He got a letter?” Willa said, turning to face Kate. Her smile had flipped to a frown in seconds. “Why does he get one and I don't?”
“You'll get one,” Kate said, hoping to cheer her friend up. She needed cheery, witty, great with makeup Willa, not mopey, sad, here's-some-black-lipstick Willa.
“Easy for you to say,” Willa scoffed. “You've gotten two.” Before Kate had a chance to deny the second letter, Willa spoke. “Don't deny it... Vanessa told me.”
“I didn't ask for it,” Kate said.
“I know,” Willa said. “I just feel left out. You're getting letters and a hot guy. Vanessa getting letters and away from Jerky McJerkerson. You're all getting life changing advice from Hope and all I got was 'your letter is coming.' I'm starting to feel like the red-headed stepchild over here.”
“I thought red hair was in now?” Kate said, trying to change the subject. “I think it's lost it negative connotations when Ed Sheeran came along.”
“Not helping,” Willa said, pulling a couple dresses from her closet and laying them out on the bed next to Kate. One black and far too revealing for Kate. She shook her head and moved it to the side. The second a deep shade of purple and more material than the other.
“I like this one,” Kate said moving it to the opposite side of the bed.
“I just don't understand what Hope is waiting on,” Willa said. “I mean, I need advice. I need her to tell me what to do with my life. Hell, I'll even take a blind date if that's what she was all about when writing the damn things.”
“Will,” Kate said, standing to stop Willa from her tangent. She placed her hands on her shoulders and took a deep breath. Willa mimicked her motions. “You'll get your letter. And when you do you'll be just a confused as Vanessa and me are. Don't wish you're calm away.” Kate chuckled. “Do have any idea how jumbled the inside of my head is at the moment.”
“So why go see Deacon?” Willa said. “If you're so confused then why not remove him from the equation and go back to the way things were.”
“Because I've tried not thinking about him and it's not working,” Kate said, grabbing another dress from the closet. This one was simple with stripes in shades of green. “And because I don't want to regret not trying. I don't want to miss Britney.”
“What does the Queen of Pop have to do with this?”
“Sorry,” Kate said, tossing the striped dress in the maybe pile on Willa's bed. “Inside joke.”
“From the letters, right?” Willa said shaking her head. “See?! Left out.” She threw her hands up.
Kate couldn't help but laugh. She wondered if Hope was doing all of this on purpose just to get a rise out of Willa. She was probably laughing her angel ass off at the moment.
“I'm sorry,” Kate said. “Will you please help me look like I haven't worked thirty-six of the last forty-eight hours.
“Fine,” Willa huffed. “Sit down. I'll fix your makeup first.” She went into the bathroom and returned with her makeup case. She had more makeup in one box than Kate had owned in her whole life. The most annoying things was that half the time Willa didn't even wear any make up most days and she still looked like a supermodel. “Look up,” Willa instructed as she picked up a black eyeliner pencil. “So fill me in on this guy. All I know his is name and that you met him through Grey and Hope apparently...”
“He went to college with Grey,” Kate said. “Works in finance. Is spectacular in bed,” Kate tried not to smile and crease her eyes. “And lives in an RV.”
“I'm sorry, did you say he lives in an RV?” Willa stepped back to get a look at Kate.
“Yeah,” Kate confirmed. “Caught me off guard too. He works for himself so he travels around the country and chooses to have a home on wheels. I guess if you really think about it he's being super practical.”
“So you're dating a dude in a camper,” Willa said, focusing her attention on the other eye. “Never thought I'd put those words in a sentence in regards to your dating life.”
“Maybe dating a dude in a camper,” Kate said, trying to feel hopeful. “He may not want anything to do with me since I freaked out and left him high and dry twice now.”
“How can you be sure that you won't freak out again?”
“I can't,” Kate said. “I probably will, but I really think I can be okay with it if our connection is as good as I think it is. I just don't want to regret not getting to know him a little better. I owe myself at least a few more dates, right?”
“Of course you do,” Willa agreed, smoothing a brush up Kate's cheek. “And definitely a few more rounds in the bedroom.” She paused. “Does his camper even have a bedroom?”
“Yes it has a bedroom,” Kate said rolling her eyes.
“You're going to mess up your mascara,” Willa warned.
“It's more than that,” Kate said, stilling herself. “He's sweet and funny. I've never been this into a guy that I just met,” she confessed. “There's just something about him.”
“I'm glad for you,” Willa said, stepping back to look at Kate's face. “You deserve a great guy. So does Vanessa,” she added. “I still can't believe she really left him. Props to Hope for making that happen.”
“I didn't think she was going to go through with it,” Kate told her. “She still might back out.”
“I hope not,” Willa said. “I hate the idea of her spending one more minute with him. He's barely around. He's always barking orders at her. She is too good for him.”
“I know,” Kate agreed. “Hopefully now that she's out of that house she'll see that it's better on the outside.”
“Word,” Willa said as she put a couple finishing touches on Kate's make up. She ran a hot iron through her dark hair, smoothing out a few of the fly-aways she had. “There... perfect.” Willa moved out of Kate's way so she could walk over the mirror.
“You're good at this,” Kate said, admiring her fresh look in the mirror. She'd never been good at putting on make-up or fixing her hair. She was lucky to put a few curls in her hair on a good day.
“I'm good at everything,” Willa said with a grin.
“Speaking of... Got any more one of kinds in that closet of yours like that jumper you wore the other night?” Kate was referring to the blue one-piece that Willa had worn to Concordia. “I'm not really feeling any of these,” she said motioning to the ones on the bed that she'd already sifted through.
“I might,” Willa said, skipping over to her closet. “I just fixed up this dress I found at vintage shop a few blocks over. It was pretty matronly when I found it.” She pulled a simple, floral patterned sundress out. “It had a lace collar,” Willa pointed out the new slender straps. “And some sort of slip thing underneath that screamed school marm.”
“Well it's gorgeous now,” Kate said, reaching out to take the hanger from Willa. “Can I?”
Willa nodded.
“You're sure?”
“It needs to be worn, Kate.” She grinned.
Kate did a little happy dance before slipping out of her clothes and into the dress. It was perfect. The material was soft and it clung to her body just enough to show her assets. Deacon might not want to give her the time of day, but hopefully he wouldn't be able to immediately shut her down.