“I get it. You don’t kiss and tell.”
“No, I don’t.” She wasn’t about to admit she’d only slept with two people and the first was in college. Another graduate student. They were friends and both virgins and neither of them wanted to be. They’d decided to get it over with so they didn’t have that label hanging over their heads.
Would she regret doing it that way? No, not one bit, because the last thing she needed was to ever get close to someone at her age and have to admit she was a virgin.
It was hard enough to find a man. That might just scare some off.
The second was when she was twenty-five. Five years ago.
A relationship. Or so she thought. It was more like dating on his end, six months of it. Guess she hadn’t been up to date on the dating rules.
That ended when she’d found out he was talking to other women and when confronted was almost insulted that she was upset over it.
“Fine,” Tonya said. “What shoes are you wearing with that dress? Let me see them.”
She’d told Tonya she had a pair of black pumps and she did. They probably weren’t good enough in Tonya’s eyes but too damn bad. She wasn’t buying new shoes, nor was she letting Tonya pay for them like she had this dress. Thankfully, the dress was on the clearance rack and pretty darn cheap because few people could wear a size two in something this form fitted.
When she handed over her simple black heels, Tonya said, “I knew you’d have something like that. Those are kitten heels and not to be worn with a smoking dress like this. Good thing I’m prepared.”
“Yay, you,” she said weakly.
“I heard that,” Tonya shouted from the other room, then came marching in. “Here you go. We wear the same size.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because you leave your sneakers in your office for when you want to walk at lunch and I checked last week just in case.”
“Is there no privacy anywhere?”
“Not with me.” Tonya moved her toward the mirror. “Well, what do you think? Fabulous, right?”
Molly looked at her body in the dress. Yes, she was uncomfortable at the way it fit, but it really looked stunning. Her hair was down, loose, and wavy at the ends just past hershoulders. It had body, and it had shine without looking greasy. She’d paid careful attention to how it was done so she could do it herself, if she ever wanted to.
“Yeah, I guess so. I just wish it wasn’t being wasted on this blind date.”
“No worries,” she said. “Dwayne is a great guy. He’s friendly and sweet. Even if you don’t feel any chemistry with him, you’ll have a good time.”
She supposed that was some consolation. “You can go now,” she said. “I’ve got thirty minutes before I’ve got to leave and maybe I need to mentally prepare myself.”
“You’re not going to back out, are you?” Tonya asked, giving her a glare so hard she squirmed.
Maybe it had crossed her mind but she’d spent so much time getting ready that she didn’t want to have it feel wasted.
“No,” she said. Tonya stared hard. “No. I mean it. I won’t. I promise. But can I please have some time to…gather my courage?”
Tonya gave her a quick hug. “You got it. You look fabulous though. Knock him dead.”
It was the last thing she wanted to do, but she was speaking the truth when she said she needed time.
Time to get some pep talk from her sisters.
The minute the door shut, she grabbed her phone, found her sister Erika and touched her name. It rang five times and then went to voicemail.
Figures when she needed her, Erika wasn’t around. Probably doing something with her kids. Maybe dinner with her husband.
That happy family her sister got.
Glad someone did in the family.
