“Then I will give you the five grand to make up for it, and you can book somewhere else,” he snapped, his frustration finally pushing through. “But you are not going away this weekend, Alex and I have been working our asses off to plan a party for you, and you’re going.”
Evie pursed her lips and folded her arms over her chest. “I’m sorry, can you repeat that? Because I’m pretty sure you just said you and Alex were planning a party for me that I not only didn’t ask for, I specifically said I didn’t want!”
Tommy seemed to realize he was treading on thin ice because he immediately backed down. “I know, Princess, I know. But we’ve both noticed you’re wound tighter than a coiled spring, and we thought this would be a nice way to get you to have a little fun. I swear, every step of this has been planned with you in mind.” he gave her a tentative smile. “Come on, you know I wouldn’t mess this up.”
“Obviously, it wasn’t planned with me in mind, because if it were, you wouldn’t have worked your ass off to plan somethingI don’t want.” She sat back in the chair and glared at him for a moment. “It’s the Calumet Falls Spa and Retreat,” she smirked and stood up. “Go ahead and see if you can change the weekend. Otherwise, you owe me fifty-three hundred dollars.” She walked out of his office, a darkly amused smile crossing her face as she went back to hers and got back to work on upgrading HELIX’s memory.
Tommy
When the door closed behind Evie, he let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head. He wasn’t sure what was going on with her lately, but he was starting to think he shouldn’t change her spa weekend at all; she clearly needed it.
Opening his laptop, he searched for the spa's name and called their reservation line when it came up.
“Calumet Falls Spa and Retreat.” A voice that was trying just a little too hard to sound peaceful and soothing answered.
“Hi, this is Tommy Sloane. My sister booked herself a spa weekend, not realizing that we had a birthday party planned. I was wondering if there was another weekend available that we could potentially change it to, or even three nights during the week.”
“I can check upcoming availability for you and put a short hold on the dates for you, but she will have to call and confirm the switch.”
“No problem, but can we put any extra charges that might be caused by doing this on my card?”
“Certainly, sir.” There was a slight pause, and Tommy could hear the sound of nails clicking on keyboard keys. “Can I have the name of the person the booking is under?”
“Evelyn Stanley.” There was another pause, and then the voice spoke again, sounding confused.
Mr. Sloane, I’m afraid we don’t have an Evelyn Stanly here as a guest this weekend.”
“What?” Tommy frowned, a crease forming between his eyebrows as he pulled them down in confusion. “Try Evie Stanley.”
“No, sir. There’s no booking under Evelyn, Evie or Eve Stanley for this weekend, nor any other weekend in the near future.
Tommy looked up at the door Evie had walked out of, realizing she had made the whole thing up to get him to admit there was a party. “Oh, well, I must have misheard the name of the spa. Thank you anyway.” He hung up and leaned back in his chair as he went back over his conversation with Evie. He truly hadn’t realized what a little actress she’d become. He hadn’t doubted her or her story for a second.
“Cheeky little minx.”
Chapter Forty-Five: Red Velvet
The day of her birthday party, Evie was dragging her feet on getting ready when HELIX let her know that Nissa was on her way down. Alex and Tommy had already left for the party venue, both of them excited and insisting she was going to love every moment of everything they had planned for her.
She was wrapped in a towel, staring blankly into her closet as she mumbled for HELIX to unlock the door for Nissa. She had no idea what to wear. Alex and Tommy had been very vague about the details beyond “Dress up” and “Look pretty” when she asked. Her lack of knowledge about anything they planned, coupled with her unwillingness to spend an evening forcing smiles and gratitude, had left her without enough energy to try.
Hearing the soft pad of footsteps approaching, she looked up in time to see Nissa come to a stop in her doorway, a delicate brow raised as she took in Evie’s undressed state.
“Please tell me you’re not still staring at your closet.”
Evie huffed out a sigh as she took in Nissa’s outfit, inwardly groaning in dismay. Her dress was… a lot. Black, fitted, with cutouts and strings that somehow all worked together, and it definitely wasn’t something Evie would ever have the confidence or the body type to pull off.
Nissa, tiny as she was, wore it like a queen. The black silk hugged her in neat, clean lines, and the cutouts showed the narrowness of her waist and the faint definition of her abs. Her honey-brown hair fell straight down her back, almost reachingher hips, and her big brown eyes looked even larger against the dark fabric.
“Please tell me I don’t need to dress for a night out at a club.”
Nissa frowned, walking over and laying her purse and jacket on Evie’s bed. “They didn’t tell you Tommy rented out Nightshift’s upper floor and rooftop patio?”
“No.” Evie groaned. Nightshift was a very popular dance club that opened in Greenpoint the year before. It was always packed, and the bouncers were very picky about who they let in. Of course, Tommy had rented it. Alex had been trying, and failing, to get in since the doors opened.
She reached into her closet, grabbed her navy sequined mini-dress, and started getting dressed while Nissa walked over to her makeup vanity and plugged in her hair straightener.
“This is ridiculous,” she muttered, shimmying the dress over her hips. “Why would they have my birthday party at a club?”
