Yellow
I pulled up to Allie’s house, nervous as hell. I spent most of the day in my own head, overthinking everything. Would Allie really want to be seen with me? What if she thinks this isn’t worth it? What if I fuck up?
Over. And over. And over. All damn day.
I ended up calling Carson to help get out of that cycle, and also went ahead and scheduled another therapy appointment. Getting another message from my older brother that I left unopened had put me on edge and my head in a weird headspace. Regardless, I was determined for us to have a fun night.
Allie’s house was bathed in the glow of the sunset. The large flower beds bursting with different kinds of flowers were a wash of color swaying in the evening breeze. It truly looked like an image plucked straight from a countryside painting.
Walking up and ringing the doorbell, I smoothed my suit out while I waited.
I tapped my fingers against my legs to try to expel some of the anxious energy running through me.
We’ve been on plenty of dates at this point, and I’ve met her family, but I knew her work was important to her too.
Especially with her considering applying for this big promotion.
Which I have no doubt she would get if she did.
I wanted this night to go well for her. After what felt like an eternity, Emma answered the door and let me in.
“Hey Spencer, good to see you. Give her just a second, and she’ll be out.”
“Hi Emma, doing alright today?” I stepped inside, giving Emma a quick hug as I did.
Since Allie and I started dating, Emma was also around.
She’d sometimes have movie nights with us, or we’d all go out to dinner.
Most people would find it annoying, or some may even find it odd, but Emma had become like a sister to me.
We’d bicker back and forth, I’d purposely make her mad, and she’d do it right back to me.
How Allie put up with us together was beyond me.
“Oh yeah, I am. We’ve kinda been hanging out. I’m only gonna be staying for a little longer, so I can make sure Dolly is taken care of, since y'all will probably be out for a little while, and then I’ll be heading home.
“I gotcha. That’s really nice of—” My response died on my tongue as I watched Allie walk, practically floating, down the hallway, looking ethereal as ever.
My mouth suddenly felt too dry. I swallowed to try and help, but I was so damn nervous it felt like my tongue was getting stuck in the back of my throat.
“Hi there,” She said, smiling at me with those beautiful, full red lips.
“Hi back.” Lame response much?
Walking over to her, I took her hand, lifting it above her head and twirling her in a circle.
“Allie, I-I don’t even know what to say.
Look at you. You're magnificent, sweetheart. Every single part of you is jaw-dropping. Like a statue of a Greek goddess.” Slowly lowering her arm, I placed a kiss atop her hand, her wrist, slowly making my way up.
The dress accentuated her soft curves. It was strapless, putting her muscular shoulders and back on display, as well as showcasing some of her tattoos.
The heels she had on accentuated her legs, and you could see the muscle definition in her calves that she worked so hard for, and god, if that didn’t do something for me.
Fuck she was amazing. I couldn’t help but drink her in, not caring if her best friend was standing mere feet away.
“Thank you. You don’t look half bad yourself, stud.
” She stuck her pointer finger in the air and made a circular motion, wanting me to spin for her.
I happily obliged because having her eyes on me was one of my favorite things.
“Yeah, I knew the all-black suit would look good on you.” The heat in her eyes was hard to miss as she raked them over me.
The tension between us steadily grew the longer we stood here.
“Okaayy, well, as fun as this is, if you two would wait to pounce on each other until you’re not right in front of me, I’d appreciate it. No need to remind me that I am painfully and incredibly single,” Emma said, laughing as she walked over to Allie to fix an errant piece of her.
“Shit, sorry, Em. Thank you again for watching her. I appreciate it, and I’ll text you.”
“You’re good, girl, you know I never care. I’m gonna eat your food and watch your TV, and then I’ll head out.”
Allie and Emma hugged at the threshold before she shut and locked the door behind us as we left.
“Ready to cut a rug, sweetheart.”
“Did you just say cut a rug? What is this, the 1920’s?” She laughed, and a little snort came out. “Yes, lover boy, I'm ready to cut a rug with you.”
I placed a soft kiss against her cheek and then opened the car door for her.
We arrived at the building a little over thirty minutes later.
A good amount of people had already arrived, and we could hear the music pouring out as we walked up.
Thankfully, we didn’t have to carry our badges with us, and just had to show the tickets we had saved on our phones to the security at the front.
Once we made it inside, we wandered over to the bar they had set up.
“What can I get ya?” the bartender asked when we made our way to the front.
“I’ll take an Angry Orchard, and she’ll have a Dr. Pepper with Crown in it, please. Oh, and a couple of cherries, if you can.”
“Coming right up.”
I turned around and leaned back against the bar next to Allie. “This has a good turnout so far, huh?”
“Yeah, it does, and it’s still early. People weren’t lying; they really did go all out. Look over there.” She pointed to a stage in the middle of an area across from us. “They actually got a quartet to play, holy shit.”
“I can’t believe it.” The bartender came back up and handed us our drinks.
We walked around, stopping to talk to people here and there.
Allie introduced me to her department head, Celine.
In turn, Celine wanted to introduce her to some other higher-ups, so she was whisked away to talk to them, and I didn’t want to impose, so I continued walking around and looking at all the decorations they put up.
Multiple standing tables outlined the perimeter of the gala, tucked between posts they erected and strung lights on.
They had a few chairs for people to sit, which started about halfway and went to the back.
The tables had various centerpieces with small pumpkins, autumn-colored leaves, and candles.
On the right, they had a DJ playing music while people were still arriving, and in the middle of it all was a dance floor with a giant raised round stage where the quartet was setting up.
As I walked by one of the tables, a group of guys stood around it, talking and drinking.
“Yeah, dude, did you see her talking to Celine? Does she actually think she’s going to get that spot?” Surely they aren’t talking about Allie? Maybe someone else? I slowed my pace so I could eavesdrop some more.
“Fuck, yeah, she may have a nice face and great tits, but the rest? Nah man. You can put makeup on a pig, but guess what? Still a pig.” The blonde one with a bad receding hairline and beaked nose in the middle of the group said, and they all busted out laughing at his bad attempt at a joke.
I settled at a table within earshot, pretending to take in the decorations and sip my drink.
My heart was pounding in my ears as I continued to listen to them.
“Besides, no way would they hire some fat chick as a department head of a PR and Marketing firm. They need someone who looks like they’re in control and knows what they’re doing.
She clearly can’t even take care of herself if she looks like that.
” Well, this just wouldn't do. I’d be damned if I let some poor excuse of a man talk about my girl that way.
I walked up and joined the group at the table.
“Hey guys, how're you doing tonight?” I tilted my bottle toward them in greeting, and they all did so back, saying they were having a good night so far. “Man, they went all out for this, huh? And have you seen some of the women here?” The one who I first heard piped up.
“That’s what we were just talking about. How some of 'em should’ve stayed home.” He smirked as he raised his bottle to his lips. Where did men find the audacity?
“Oh shit, yeah? Which ones? I’m new here, so I’m still learning about everyone. My name is Spencer, by the way.” They didn’t need to know that I was in IT yet, or that I had been here for a couple of months now.
The blonde, who acted as the leader of the group, stuck his hand out to shake mine as he answered me. “Well, it’s nice to have ya, man. The name’s Paul. We’re the top managers, so hang with us, and you’ll go far. Here, let me show you.”
He walked around to where I stood and slung an arm over my shoulders and spun me around.
He reeked of cheap aftershave, and his hair looked like it had a pound of oil in it.
“See that chick over there?” He pointed toward where Allie was still talking with her supervisors.
“Well, let’s just say she thinks she’s going to get this big promotion coming up, but it’s for sure going to me.
You want someone easy to look at, and, well, let's face it. She’s not it.
She may be a good fuck, but that’s about it.
Always has a stick up her ass too.” He patted my shoulder and let out a sleazy laugh.
Red filled my vision. The others started laughing at what he said, and one piped up.
“Yeah, didn’t you say that you slept with her once, and that she’s been begging you since then for more?”