Chapter 56
Juniper
My heart is racing in anticipation. I can see the stares of men as they walk by, and I feel like a mannequin on display in a high-end retail store.
"Hey there, sexy." An older blonde man with sky-blue eyes comes up to me. "What are you up to tonight?"
"I am actually waiting on my date. Thank you." I stare at him for a couple of seconds and then give him a small smile. He looks me up and down. I'm slightly regretting wearing the tight skirt and low-cut top now.
"You shouldn't ever be left waiting. If you were my woman, I'd never leave your side," he says, gazing at my boobs.
I offer him a weak smile and look away. I blink rapidly, as my eyes feel dry, but I'm pretty sure it's because I'm wearing my contacts and not my glasses.
I look at my reflection in the window, and once again, I'm blown away by how different I look.
My hair is straight and sleek, shiny like a model in a TV commercial for shampoo.
My blue eyes are vibrant, my mascara dark.
My skin looks flawless, and well, my body looks banging, if I do say so myself.
I've never worn tight-fitting clothes before, but I have to admit that they suit me, even if I do feel like my bust is going to pop out of my shirt.
I bite down on my lower lip. Maybe I’m not as excited about the makeover as I thought I was going to be.
Skye and Lila were over the moon when they saw me, jumping up and down in glee, telling me that I looked like a trillion dollars.
Everyone in the beauty salon clapped when I stood up and twirled around.
I knew I looked different, but I didn't feel like me.
I look back at the man who's standing there and see that he has a business card in his hand, and I take it timidly. "Thanks," I say.
"You call me if you ever want to go on a real date," he says and winks at me.
I nod slowly. I want to drop the card on the ground, but I hate to be rude.
I stand there for another couple of minutes, waiting, wondering if Marco has stood me up.
Maybe he is more upset at the fact that I couldn't make it on Friday than I thought. Maybe somehow he knows that I have a crush on my boss and gave him a blowjob just a couple of days ago. It makes me feel slightly guilty, knowing that I was going on a date with Marco while being interested in someone else, but I feel like I’m not really doing anything bad because it isn't like I actually have anything with Marco or Remington.
"Juniper." I hear a voice behind me, and I twirl around.
Marco's standing there with a single rose in his hand.
He looks me up and down, and his eyes widen.
"Whoa. I thought that might be you, but I didn't think it was." He looks me up and down again, and I can see that he’s admiring what he’s looking at.
“What happened to you? Damn girl, you went from a 5 to a 10+.” I stare at him for a couple of seconds, hoping that he's joking, but I don't think he is.
He hands me the rose. "This is for you, but shit, if I knew that you were this hot, I would've gotten you a whole bouquet.
" He chuckles and grabs my hand. "You want to go in and get a drink and some appetizers? "
I nod. "Sure." We walk into the restaurant, and I can see that he keeps glancing at my boobs, which reminds me to never wear this top again.
"Hi, we're here to get some drinks and appetizers."
"Do you have a reservation?" the ma?tre d’ asks.
He looks over at me and shrugs. "Nah, but can we still get a table?"
I stare at him in confusion. "I thought you said you got a reservation."
"Oh, I just said that. I wanted you to think that I was going to take you somewhere special, and then when I didn't have a reservation, I figured we'd go to my place or something. But now that I know that your wifey material, I will step it up."
I stare at him for a couple of seconds. "What are you talking about? I'm confused."
"I mean, when I met you the other night, you looked kind of cute, but nerdy cute, you know. Someone who might be down to fuck, but now that I see that you're actually a 10…" He gives a low whistle. "Well, I feel like you deserve a drink in a place like this."
"But the me you met in the bar didn't?"
"Don't get me wrong, girl. You were cute. That's why I asked you out. But you were not looking banging like this."
I stare at him for a couple of seconds and realize that I don't find any of his words a compliment.
The ma?tre d’ looks at me and then looks at him. "We do have an open table, but you may have to wait about fifteen minutes. Is that okay?"
"Sure," Marco says and pulls me to the side. "So, Juniper, what was up with the outfit the other night? Were you trying to dress down to see if men would find you attractive while looking dumpy?”
“Sorry. You think I’m dumpy?”
“No, I don’t think you’re dumpy at all. You’re looking hot as hell, girl.
I’m just saying the other night when I met you at the bar, you were funny and kind of cute, and I was feeling horny.
So I was like, you know what? She seems like she would be down to have some fun.
" He grins. "And now I'm like shit, maybe we can have a bit more than fun. "
"A bit more than fun?" I raise a single eyebrow at him. I want to scream. I don't know how he knew, but Remington was right. Marco is a douchebag, an absolute douchebag.
"So, let's just forget that and start over again," he says. "I'm Marco. I'm a waiter, and perhaps soon to be your next lover."
"Yeah, about that. Would you excuse me? I'm just going to go to the restroom," I say, and I don't wait for his response before I hurry away.
"Where's the restroom, please?" I ask a cute waitress, and she points me to the other side of the restaurant.
I hurry inside into a stall, close it, and sit on the toilet, taking a couple of deep breaths.
I know I should feel like a million dollars.
I should be happy that men are finally noticing me and using words like beautiful about me, but I'm starting to realize that sometimes the grass isn't always greener. I actually prefer being invisible. I’d rather have conversations with men who value my mind and aren't just trying to get into my pants because they think I’m hot.
I realize that I don't mind not being hot. Not the way I thought I did.
My phone beeps, and I pull it out of my handbag, hoping it's not Marco wondering where I am. I'm surprised to see it's from Remington. I read it quickly.
I hope your date is everything you dreamed it would be, it says, and I scowl at the text.
It is, I respond quickly.
He responds right away. Yeah, right.
What does that mean?
You're texting me back right now. He has a smiley face next to his text.
So?
So if you were having a great date, you wouldn't be texting me right now.
I stick my tongue out at the phone and don't respond.
He's right, of course, but I don't want him to know that.
I stand up and open the stall door and walk outside.
There's no way I want to continue the date with Marco.
I just want to go home, watch TV, eat ice cream, and possibly cry and dream about Remington and all the ways that he made me orgasm nights before. My phone beeps again. It's Remington.
Hey, I didn't mean to upset you.
You didn't, I respond quickly.
So how's the date going, then?
I bite down on my lower lip. I don't want to tell him that it's shit, but I also don't want to lie.
My phone rings a second later, and I decide to answer it. "Yes. What do you want?"
"So it's really not going well, is it?" he says.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because you were texting me and now you answered the phone." He chuckles.
"Marco's a dickhead."
"I told you he was."
"You didn't know he was a dickhead."
"I guessed he was. I have a sixth sense about these things."
"Yeah. Well, I am trying to figure out how I'm going to get out of the restaurant without him seeing."
"You're still on the date?"
"I am still on the date," I say. "And I don't want to be."
"Wow, it's that bad? What happened? He chewed up his steak and spat it on the plate?"
"We haven't even sat down yet. He didn't have a reservation."
"You mean he forgot to make one?"
"No, he wasn't going to make a reservation. He said it was just like a trick to make me think that he was going to take me to a nice dinner, when instead, he was going to ask me to go to his place so we could bang.”
There’s silence on the other side of the phone. “So, he's a bigger douche than I thought he was." Remington sounds pissed. "Are you okay?"
"Not really. I feel really..."
"Where are you?" he interrupts me.
"What do you mean, where am I?"
"Where are you? I'm coming to rescue you."
"I don't need you to rescue me, Remington. I'm fine."
"Juniper Hardman, tell me you are where you are right now. You don't want to be on that date, right?"
"No."
"And you don't just want to tell him to his face, right?"
"I mean, I guess I could, but..."
"Where are you?"
"Fine. I am at Heaven and Earth Fine Dining Restaurant on 34th Street."
"I'll be there in ten minutes. Just go to the front, and I'll be there."
"What if the ma?tre d’ seats us before then?"
"Then sit. Don't worry. You won't be there long."
"Remington, what..."
"Just be patient, my darling. I'll be there soon."