Confusion had me by the proverbial balls. What was happening? No, I knew what was happening; Garrett had made that clear. What I didn’t know was what I wanted to happen. I knew who could help me make sense of it all.
“Hiya, lovely. How you doing?” Cass’s friendly voice and immediate answer almost made me cry.
“Umm, I’m fine. I think.” Cryptic, I know.
“What’s up? Is it Jake? Have you heard from him?”
“No. Why do you ask that?”
“No reason. You just sound a bit, uhh, over-excited and I wondered if he had. That was all. So, what’s up?”
“You know we talked about seeing what happened with Garrett?”
“Hmmm?”
“Well, he kind of bought me a dress. And kissed me,” I admitted.
“Hang on! What exactly has happened in the, what, four days since I saw you?” Cass had a right to be incredulous; when we last talked, the plan had been to see what happened, not fast-forward into another relationship.
“We went shopping for his mum’s birthday and I saw a dress. Next thing I know, it’s being delivered. I tried to tell him to take it back but he kissed me. And…” I was struggling to find the words to explain what had gone on. Were there words which could make sense of it?
“Right, get off this bloody phone and onto Skype. I need to see as well as hear this. You’ve got two minutes,” she added before hanging up.
Exactly two minutes later, still working out what to say, I hit answer on my laptop. As soon as I saw Cass’s smile, I breathed with relief. It would be okay. She would help me sort this mess out. Someone needed to.
When I picked up the notecard, which had somehow materialised under my door during the night, I was relieved to find that at least I had a Garrett-free day to try to get my head clear.
Stood in the shower the next day, I paused just before I shaved my legs. Was shaving a sign that I was expecting something to happen? I remembered the time I had sometimes spent getting ready for a date with Jake, knowing I was unlikely to be the only person enjoying the fruits of my labours. Part of the joy was in knowing there would be a moment when he caressed my leg or nuzzled my skin, making me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. When I wasn’t going to be seeing him, I was a little less meticulous about body hair. I don’t mean that I would sport a full-on leg beard, but I didn’t worry about it every day.
Viewing visible leg and underarm shaving as being for public benefit, rather than for Garrett, I carried on. The rest of the beautifying was for my benefit. It had been a while since I had had the excuse to glam up and I wanted to feel special. For me.
I dried and curled my hair into loose waves whilst listening to a soundtrack of 80s disco, a guilty pleasure acquired from Mum. Other than applying a little more eyeliner and mascara than usual, I opted to keep the rest of my makeup fairly minimal. I wanted the dress to be the focus of attention, not me. Thinking I would need to touch up my nude lip gloss during the evening if we were eating, I went to put it in my handbag. And realised my black, slouchy hobo was not the bag I needed to go with the dress. Still in my dressing gown, and less than half an hour until I was being picked up, my options were somewhat limited. Ruby!
Quickly putting on a pretty, but not overly sexy, lilac knickers and bra set, I slipped the dress on and paused to look in the mirror. You’ll do, girl. Propping my door open, I ran barefoot across the hall and knocked on Ruby’s door.
“Hey, neighbour,” she greeted me before looking me up and down. “Cinderella, you seem to have lost your shoes. If you fit mine, does that mean we get married and live happily ever after?” I smiled at her friendly innuendo.
“Sorry, but I’m already taken tonight. I’m after a favour. I haven’t got a bag which looks anything like halfway decent with this dress, and I’m going out in a few minutes. Do you have anything I can borrow?”
“Ah, so you want me to play Fairy Godmother, not Princess Charming? Boo you! Let’s see what I’ve got,” she said, wandering over to her wardrobe. The doors opened to reveal a treasure trove of colour and textures. Ruby sifted through the contents of a few shelves before pulling out a silver box clutch, coated in sequins. Looking closely at it, I saw there was a skull of slightly-darker sequins on one side, giving it enough edge to stop it being twee.
“Any good?” Ruby asked.
“Perfect. My shoes are silver so it will look great. You’re an absolute godsend!” She handed me the bag and I gave her a hug.
“So, who’s the lucky guy, then? I’m assuming it’s a guy?”
“Yes, it’s a guy,” I laughed and she pouted. “Some guy from my Lit class. It’s our first date tonight,” I confided.
“Oh, that’s good. I thought you were going to say that American I’ve seen drop you off. You’re better keeping away from him.” My heart raced. I didn’t want to embarrass Ruby with her incorrect assumption but needed to know what she meant.