Chapter 2
THAT LABEL
“Ilook like a streetwalker. Come on, Tonya, you can’t be serious.”
“A bet is a bet,” Tonya said, nodding her head as if she were the authority of the day. She kind of was. “And you look stunning. You just aren’t used to wearing anything that shows your body off.”
“I noticed you didn’t say showing my curves off because I don’t have any.”
“You’ve got some nice tits and you know it. I wouldn’t have realized it if I hadn’t shown up at your house that day to drop your badge off and caught you doing yoga without your glasses on. Why don’t you wear contacts to work?”
“Laziness, maybe?” she said. She didn’t know, but she was blind without her glasses and she did like to do yoga and try to get a little muscle on her skinny frame. But every time she did the downward dog, her glasses slipped off her face and fell to the floor.
“You look so good without your glasses on. Your blue eyes are just clear as day and the makeup makes them stand out even more. Which is another thing. Did you watch how she put the makeup on? You should start doing it. It’s very subtle but rocking at the same time.”
She had to admit that Tonya was right. She was sporting a thin line of brown on her upper lid with some shimmer shadow and mascara. Her lips were glossy and she probably looked better than she ever had before.
“I think I can handle this on my own for special occasions.”
“It took three minutes. Just add it to your daily routine and don’t whine about it,” Tonya said. “Even if you had your glasses on, you’d still look fresh.”
“Do I look dirty normally?” she asked frowning.
“You know what I mean. Why are you fighting this so much?”
She shrugged, wondering why the clothing felt so tight when it wasn’t really. “I don’t know. You tell me. I feel like my pimp is priming me to have my cherry popped.”
Tonya laughed. “You know, you have a great personality when you let it loose. Your cherry is popped, right? I mean you’re thirty.”
“That’s none of your business,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. The chest that was currently on display like never before in a black dress made of some kind of stretchy material that was clinging to every part of her body.
Maybe that is why she felt constricted. Her clothing was actually touching her.
“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 her shoulders.
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.
Well, her brother Matt had it too, but she didn’t talk to him as much. They were never as close and him siding with their father years ago had been a bit much for her. She didn’t care that Matt realized what a jerk their father really was, the damage had been done.
Just like she still had a bit of a grudge that her mother didn’t stick up for her much either.
She took a deep breath. One more call she could make.
Scrolling through, she found her half sister Ruby. Eight years older than her, married and had one son, Caleb. Five years old.
She loved her little nephew.
Even the relationship she had with Ruby after discovering she had a half sibling almost seven years ago.
She hit the button, it rang twice. “Hi, Molly. How are you doing?”
“Good. I’m not interrupting anything, am I? Your dinner?”
“Nope. Josh got called into work and Caleb is watching a movie. I’m just cleaning up dinner. What’s going on? Do you want to come over and hang out with us?”
Boy, did she ever. That would have been a great excuse to get out of this date.
“Wish I knew that a few days ago, then I’d have an excuse to not be sweating in this new dress right now.”
“You’re wearing a dress?” Ruby asked. “What’s the occasion?”
How sad was it that even her family didn’t think she might go on a date.
“I lost a bet and have to go on a blind date tonight.”
“Huh? Why would you bet something like that?”
“Because I got cocky and then lost.”
“Had to be a work thing,” Ruby said. “That’s the only thing you ever get cocky about.”
“Right on the first try.” She filled Ruby in. “I thought they were good.”
“Sorry. No way you could get me to eat cookies with Brussels sprouts in them. That was a sucker bet on Tonya’s part. She shouldn’t be taking advantage of you that way.”
That only made her feel worse. “It’s over with and now I look like an escort.”
Ruby laughed. “I highly doubt that. Go stand in front of the mirror and send me a picture. I need to see.”
She walked back toward her room. “You won’t laugh?”
“Never.”
She put the phone down in front of her while she looked at her reflection in the mirror, snapped the picture, and sent it. “Well?”
“Hot damn,” Ruby said. “You look crazy good.”
“Do you think?”
“I wouldn’t have said it that way if I didn’t mean it.”
No. Ruby and everyone else would have put a polite smile on their face and say she looked nice.
Never did anyone have that much excitement in their voice.
“I do feel kind of good. Just wish I wasn’t wasting it on someone that I’m not even really attracted to.”
“Then why did you agree to it?”
“Because I lost fair and square.” Though she was thinking it wasn’t that fair. “Anyway, hopefully it won’t be that big of a flop. And it gets me out of the house for the night.”
“There you go. Think positive.”
“I don’t have much of a choice.”
“We all have choices in life, Molly. You could come down with the sudden runs…eating one of your Brussels sprouts cookies.”
“Ha. I guess I have no one to blame but myself for even taking the bet. Wish me luck.”
“Good luck and let me know how you make out.”
“With any luck, it’s something I can laugh about another day.”