I stepped back from the mirror and studied my reflection. I’d opted for pastels, sparkles, and lots of highlighter. Despite the amount of product I used, I was left with a light, airy look complete with soft, pink lips and a blushed center. I hadn’t done a dual tone on my mouth in ages, and I was reminded of howfunmakeup could be.
“There you are,” I murmured to myself, looking at the soft mint on my lid and the slightly glimmery nude in my crease. “Missed you, lady.”
Time to get dressed. Stockings were always annoying to put on, so I made sure I went and peed before wiggling into them. And once Iwasinto them, I took a few minutes to just sit and catch my breath. As much as I loved dressing up, sometimes it was a workout in and of itself.
Once I’d caught my breath and all threat of sweating off my just-set foundation ceased, I finished dressing, then put on accessories. Nothing too crazy—a ring, a necklace, and simple pearl earrings. Faux pearl, of course. They went with my outfit and made me feel pretty, so that was what mattered.
Finally, I was all primped and primed with my shoes in my hand. I preferred not to put those on until I was downstairs, since we were a shoe-free household unless someone was wearing house slippers. It kept our carpets cleaner, and we all despised vacuuming, so it was more than worth it.
I glanced at my phone. Somehow, I only had half an hour before Ben came to pick me up. Wow. I was definitely more than glad that I had gotten a head start. If I hadn’t, I’d definitely be rushing, and Ihatedrushing.
I sat in my room for about five minutes before I got too antsy and headed down the stairs.
While I knew my brother and father were home, I didn’t expect them to both be waiting at the end of the short hallway.
“Oh, hello there!”
My brother applauded lightly in response while my father placed his hands over his heart, looking a bit teary-eyed.
“You lookbeautiful,my dear,” he said, voice thick. He opened his arms, and I went to him, not caring if it would wrinkle my dress. Unfortunately, when I was far too young, I’d learned the lesson that hugs were a finite resource, and one day you’d be hugging someone you loved for the last time.
“Thank you, Daddy,” I said, letting the comfort of his embrace wash over me. God, I hoped I was just being paranoid about all the things I was noticing. I had lost so much in life, and I wasn’t ready to go through losing a parent again. It would happen eventually, but did that eventually have to be now?
Jeez, Giselle, lighten up.
Okay, fair enough.
Giving him one last squeeze, I pulled away and looked at my brother, who was grinning brightly.
“You look like yourself,” he said with a firm nod. “And for the record, I was absolutely right about the purple.”
“Yes, you were,” I agreed.
Together, the three of us went to the kitchen. My father drank some tea, while my brother sipped on a water bottle. He had sensitive teeth and cold could sometimes set off a pain response. I opted not to drink anything, because I was afraid I’d need to pee in the middle of the meal. Or worse,the car ride.It was kind of hard to be a gracious and ethereal date if I was clenching my legs together in an effort not to piss myself.
Bathroom worries aside, I had some lovely conversation with my father and brother. Simon updated us on work, and I got a little hot goss from Dad about his walking group. Nothing too spicy like an affair or divorce, but there was an issue with Donna saying that Craig’s dog had impregnated her prize poodle, and in Dad’s world, that spelled DRAMA.
Before I knew it, the ten-minute alarm I’d set on my phone buzzed. Nervously, I glanced at the screen. There were no last-minute texts of him canceling, but there was still time. I’d once had a friend-date where she canceled an hour after we were supposed to meet.
Still, I refused to fall into a spiral of paranoia or worry. After putting on my shoes, I headed to the door. I grabbed my shrug and put it on while I stared out across our porch. I could wait outside, but the sun had set, and it was a bit too chilly for me to be out there longer than a few minutes. Being cold forced the body to burn extra calories, which was something I was trying to avoid—I’d slacked off and hadn’t bought more Ensure, so I definitely needed to keep the calories from leaving my body.
Was I determined to really be good about my diet and recovery? Of course. But was I also going to procrastinate as longas possible on those drinks? Also, of course. I was but a human, and I was flawed.
Thankfully, I wasn’t left to languish about my supplemental shake shortage, because a car pulled up to the front of the house, and I heard the door open. Oh, so he wasn’t just going to text that he had arrived? What a gentleman.
Huh, the bar was really low, wasn’t it?
“Hey there,” Ben said as he stepped onto the porch. Holy hell, he had no right to look so stunning with those ridiculous yellow lights beating down onto his head. And yet he looked like Prince Charming approaching my doorstep. The harsh light made his blond hair shimmer, and his blue eyes practically glowed in a way that was borderline unnerving. Except I wasn’t unnerved at all. No, not unnerved. Completely attracted to this man? Definitely.
It wasn’t just the ridiculously broad expanse of his shoulders, or his many muscles that were apparent through his shirt and jacket, or even the dashing smile he shot me as I fully opened the screen door and stepped out. No, there was an almost gravitational force to him, something that compelled me to be closer, to bask in his presence.
Or maybe I was just really hard up.
But that reasoning rang false in my head as I returned his smile. “Hey there,” I replied. I wasn’t normally a particularly meek person, nor was I very loud or outspoken. I liked to think of myself as a talkative person who spoke at an average volume but also valued whatever my conversation partner had to say. But in front of Ben? Well, he had me feeling all sorts of tongue-tied.
“I hope you’re hungry,” he said, offering me his thick forearm. Not to be particularly Victorian, but he’d rolled the sleeves of his gray dress shirt up to his elbows andwhoo boywas that doing things for me. It wasn’t quite as puritan as lustingover his ankles, but many women would agree with me that such a thing was drop-dead sexy.
“Starving,” I replied, realizing that I had let there be a bit too long of a pause after his question. I wanted to be in the moment, not caught up in my head, so I tucked away my inner snarky monologue and focused on what was actually being said. “Do I get to know where we’re going?”
