Chapter 25
Maryellen
Idon’t know how I made it through the rest of the week without anyone thinking I shouldn’t be committed.
It was exhausting trying to act like nothing was wrong.
Especially around Chase. He had become too perceptive with me and knew when I was hiding anything.
Faking it had become my art form in life but doing it to him felt wrong.
This week I had no choice, I only had to get through Saturday.
The question remained: would Chase and I still be together by then?
As I stared into my closet, a different panic set in.
I was so worried all week about avoiding people and their questions that I failed to think about what to wear tonight.
It didn’t help that both Evie and Harper were a good three inches shorter than I was.
No chance of borrowing anything from them.
Maybe they had an idea, though. I’d have to ask.
Me: Morning girls, either of you know anyone my height who I could borrow a dress from for tonight? Totally forgot about it
Bubbles popped up immediately.
Harper: I might, give me a sec
Evie: I really don’t think I do but I’ll think
In the meantime, I tried on the two possibilities in my closet. One was a plain black dress I wear to work regularly. It wouldn’t do; there was nothing special about it. I could dress it up with accessories, but that was about it.
The other option was the dress I wore to the party at The Plaza. The problem with that one was many of the same people would be at this party. I guess that wasn’t a huge problem.
Except Chase had seen me in it.
It was actually our first night together.
I don’t know, maybe that meant I should wear the dress. It could be my good luck one, and he could truly love how I looked in it. But I hated I didn’t have other options.
Evie: Have time to go shopping
That wasn’t what I wanted to do. Shopping stressed me out and I was an emotional mess already, but it might be my only option. I was about to respond to Evie when a text from Harper came through in the chat.
Harper: Hang tight, help will arrive shortly
Huh, I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but I’d go with it.
The dress from the event last summer was a simple red slip dress. It was sexy with an open back and a draped neckline. I didn’t usually wear red and felt like I stood out when in it.
As I looked at myself in the mirror, I noticed the messy bun on top of my head and remembered I needed a shower.
Peeling off the dress, I jumped in to get it out of the way.
Considering I had to wash my hair, I was in and out in record time.
When Harper said help was coming, I didn’t quite know what that meant, so I wanted to be ready.
I was blow-drying my hair when I heard the buzzer for the main entrance.
“Hello?”
“Hey, beautiful,” a very familiar voice responded.
“Chase! What are you doing here?”
“If you can buzz me up, I’ll show you.”
I heard him open the door after I buzzed him in, and I quickly ran to throw on some clothes. He was knocking as soon as I made it to my front door.
As I pulled it open, all I saw was a rack full of dresses in the hallway. Chase popped up in between them.
“Hi!”
“What are you doing with these?”
There were at least seven or eight dresses in bags from designer stores on the rack as he and Tommy, their driver, rolled it into my apartment. Once inside, Tommy nodded and excused himself.
“Harper called and let me know you were struggling to find something. I have a stylist who pulled in a favor once I heard you needed something for tonight.” He walked closer, pulling my chin up, forcing me to look at him. “Why didn’t you say something to me? We could have gone shopping this week.”
This was all so…overwhelming.
Dresses arriving at my door?
I mean, I knew it happened. I was responsible for making these same arrangements for Harper at least once, if not twice. But these things didn’t happen to me.
“We had a lot going on this week. You had other things to think about.”
And he did. His show was his focus. He didn’t need to worry about what I needed to wear to a party.
“You are always what I need to think about,” he said as he bent down and kissed me. Once he did, his nose lingered along my cheek, into my hairline. “Damn, you smell amazing.”
He had me swooning. Literally swooning, over bringing me dresses.
“So, do I get the fashion show?” He stepped back, ready to sit down.
I dragged him toward the door.
“Nope, you don’t.”
His feet stumbled as I continued shoving him, all while he resisted. “Really? You’re kicking me out? After I brought these here for you?”
It was probably cruel of me, but I could hear the tease in his voice, thankfully. I knew if I allowed him to stay, my thoughts would only focus on the potential outcome of later. I didn’t want that; it wouldn’t be good for either of us.
If I was going to make it through this day, he needed to leave.
I’d need the chaos of the party to get me through.
“You will be surprised,” I told him. “Besides, Tommy’s waiting for you.”
He turned toward me once I got him to the door and pulled me against him. “You’ll be the most stunning one there, even if you come dressed how you are now.”
Ugh, this guy’s words…he almost earned a spot on the couch to watch.
“I’ll see you later, and Chase…” I grabbed his hand to stop him before he walked out the door. “Thank you, this was very thoughtful of you. No one has ever done something like this for me.”
He kissed the back of my hand. “You deserve this, and more.”
He winked and walked out.
My mind wouldn’t stop obsessing about the fact that he may not feel that way by the end of the night.
Just because I thought tonight was going to be my undoing didn’t mean I didn’t want to look good while it went down. My hair was sleek and straight. My eye makeup was dark and smoky. And my lips and nails were a sexy red.
I think it all looked pretty good with the outfit I chose.
Regardless of how hot I thought I might look, I still needed reinforcements.
Me: Can you come over when you’re ready, I need you
Evie: Coming
“Oh my God, Maryellen, you look fucking amazing!”
Evie walked in wearing a brown velvet spaghetti strap dress with a contrasting belt. As always, she looked like she belonged on a runway.
“Thanks. So do you. Do you think wearing pants is OK?” I asked.
“You look hot. They’re fucking cream leather pants, Mare. And that matching halter. My God, it’s perfection on you. You look like a goddess.” She literally jumped up and down, clapping her hands, she was so excited. “Spin around for me!”
I did, as silly as it felt.
“Damn, girl, look at your ass in those pants. You will be turning heads tonight. Hope Chase is secure with himself.”
She walked to the rack of clothes he had brought over, looking at the other options.
“There’s some good shit here. Like some quality stuff.” She turned toward me. “He knows what he’s doing.”
“Well, him or his stylist. Either way, it was nice of him to do it.” I was still uncomfortable that it had happened. The differences between us, when they were pointed out like this, hit home hard. “I’d never be able to do anything like this for him.”
“You really think he’s looking for you to reciprocate? C’mon, Mare, he’s not like that, is he?”
He wasn’t, I knew that. Yet, it still highlighted such a fundamental difference between us.
“That’s the least of my worries at the moment,” I said. “I need to make it through tonight, Eve, and I’m not sure I’m going to. When he came over today, he wanted to stay. But I kicked him out. I was too nervous to be around him, knowing what could happen tonight.”
She walked up to me, grabbed my face, and held it tight between her hands.
“You have to stop worrying about things that might happen, kiddo. You don’t know how things will play out. I’ll be there every step of the way, and if things go south, we’ll handle it together. OK?”
When she gave me her pep talks, she gave me hope everything would be fine tonight. That nothing would even happen and I was worrying for no reason at all.
But she didn’t know Robert Parker the way I did.
“OK, when you said this was at a restaurant, I thought, ya know, some Italian place. Like, the back room of a restaurant, or one of the rooms.” Evie stood in awe as we walked in. “I had no idea they rented the entire place.” She stopped me. “They booked every room?”
Nodding, I pulled her along. “Yes,” I said. “They didn’t need all the space but wanted the privacy. The two back rooms are simply unused today.”
It’s what people like the Parkers did.
Harper seemed to be getting used to the lifestyle. I wasn’t sure if I ever could. I saw the ins and outs of it since I did the planning for Gage.
I saw the numbers.
“Let’s not stay near the door,” I said to Evie. “I want to get inside and find Chase.” Although, being near him wasn’t the best plan for the evening either. What I really wanted to do was hide out in a corner, by myself, and talk to no one.
The reality of it was I needed to face my past head-on.
Harper looked stunning in a floor-length floral dress. She greeted guests and was busy talking to some I didn’t know.
“Mitch and Chase are over there!” Evie grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the bar.
That was perfect. I was going to need a drink, probably many of them.
As we approached the boys, Mitch saw us coming and nudged Chase in the arm. When he turned, his eyes lit up as I walked closer. He got up from his stool and met me halfway, his arms encircling my waist.
“Jesus Christ, Mare,” he whispered against my cheek. “You look amazing.” A kiss lingered on my neck as he held me in place. “This was the perfect choice, and I wouldn’t have thought of it.”
His fingers grazed the strap of my shirt, along the top of my breast. He stood back, admiring my choice with a smile.
I peered down at him in his jacket, dark pants, and white shirt casually unbuttoned at the neck. He made a simple outfit look hot. My hands gripped his arms, unsure how he moved in the jacket since it seemed poured onto him.
“You don’t look half bad yourself,” I said.
“OK, you two, knock it off. Enough with the eye-fucking,” Evie said. “I’m stealing her and we’re heading to the bar.”
Evie promised she wouldn’t leave me alone, and she was keeping that promise. As we approached the bar, I scanned the room, assessing who was already in attendance. It seemed we’d made it here before most of the other guests.
“How ya doin’?” she asked.
“OK so far.” The bartender handed us each a glass of champagne.
“But I don’t think he’s here yet.” My eyes went back to nervously surveying the premises from the front door all the way to the kitchen area.
“Being back here is only helpful if I can face the front and see the door. I need to know when he arrives.”
Evie turned to face me. “Babe, what are ya gonna do when he does? Run out the back? Do you have a plan? Because I really think you should just stay by that man’s side. He’s obviously smitten with you, and I don’t think anything his father says could change that.”
Both our eyes drifted to Chase, who was still sitting with Mitch at a small table.
“I know, I’ve been thinking about it a lot and do think I need to face it and tell him. I’m scared how he’ll take it.”
Her face softened. “If he cares about you half as much as he appears to, he won’t bat an eye.” She hooked her arm in mine. “Let’s head back to them. You can see the front from there.”
My steps were heavy as we walked across the room.
The guys gave us their seats once we returned. Chase’s hand went to my back, bumps rising on the exposed skin from his touch. Our conversation was casual among the four of us. We even set up a night for us to go out together next weekend.
“Oh, Maryellen,” Mitch said. “I forgot you used to work for Chase’s dad. He was sitting with us before you guys got here and was asking about you.” Mitch glanced around the restaurant. “He wanted us to find him when you got here.”
I felt like I’d been kicked in the gut.
The sip of champagne I’d just taken felt like acid sliding down my throat.