“I’m not blushing. It’s whatever you’re putting on my face.”
“Nice try, but I’m not putting any rouge on you; my brother would skin me alive. Just a light foundation and some gloss, with a little smoke around the eyes. Even he can’t complain about that; it’s too light. Ah, there you go again; you’re hopeless.”
“Leave her alone, Rosa; you already know what she’s thinking about. Or should I say who?” Anna waltzed into view in a black and gold evening gown that was stunning. “You look so grown up.”
“You like?” She did a little twirl while her sister finished with me.
“Get dressed, Gia, while I finish getting ready.” I looked down at the bed where I’d placed the dress when I first walked in. It’s too elegant to wear, I think, but I won’t say it out loud for fear of sounding like an idiot. The dress reminded me of something my mom would wear. Before I lost all the pictures of her, I used to spend hours just looking at them, at all the different fashion statements my beautiful and vivacious mom used to make. She had a kind of class that I could never achieve.
I always wanted to grow up to be like her. I think I inherited her love of fashion. But with Becky and Victoria constantly destroying anything of beauty I owned, I’d pretty much given up on that. The baggy jeans or sweats and oversized tees became my uniform long ago when that was all Becky would allow.
I’d learned long ago that the idea behind her craziness was to make me less beautiful to others than the daughter she birthed. It’s so obvious the blind could see it, but somehow, it’s gone over my dad’s head for years. Somehow, he doesn’t see that the woman who tells him that I should dress the way she chose because anything else would be too revealing is the same woman who buys her daughter all of the latest designer wear while leaving me in rags.
She’d even convinced him that it was my choice that I chose to dress like a homeless bag lady because of my shyness. I’d stopped fighting things like that ever since they got rid of grandma and the aunts; there was no point...
No, I cut my thoughts off. I’m not going to let them intrude here. I expect things to go back to normal when we get back home, but for now, I’m going to enjoy this to the fullest. I stepped into the dress and looked into the full-length mirror, feeling for just that moment in time; reborn.
GABRIEL
“Yo, what’re you doing standing around out here?”
“I’m waiting for the girls.” Actually, I’ve been trying to move from this spot for the last ten minutes, but my legs won’t work. “What about you? Why’re you over here?”
“Same. You know if one of us don’t light a fire under them, we’d never get out of here.” He looked at his watch. “I don’t want to miss anything.”
“Don’t pout, you ass; they should be out soon.” Just then, the door opened, and they came filing out. Fuck! I’d been too mesmerized by her hair before to notice anything else; now, it was her body in that dress, the dress I'd bought. I’d guessed her size maybe too perfectly. The shit fit like a second skin.
I took her in from head to toe, “what’s on your face?” I looked at my sisters accusingly.
“It’s just a little powder Gabe, don’t be a caveman. Come on; it’s too late to do anything about it; we’ll be late.” Is that why you two waited until the last minute? She’s right; it wasn’t that bad, no color on her cheeks, and they’d left her lips bare, with just some gloss to add shine to the natural soft pink of her mouth.
Still, she looked too pretty; no, that’s not right. She’s always been pretty; now, with her new hairstyle and what they’d done to her face, she looked like a damn fairytale come to life. I’d fucked myself over. I forgot while I was shopping for her that others would see her in what I bought. That it was not just solely for my pleasure.
“Whoa, Gia, is that you?” Something inside me grew hot then cold at the sound of admiration in Lance’s voice, the way he looked at her with something approaching awe as he walked around her, and when he reached out as if to touch her, I grabbed his wrist and flung it away from her. Too late, I realized my mistake; I’d fallen into his trap. His boyish grin and that twinkle in his eye would’ve been enough, but that ass can’t ever leave well enough alone. “Uh-huh, not interested, my ass!” Bastard!
GABRIEL
“Let’s go, people. We can’t always be the last ones walking in everywhere we go.” Lance grabbed the twins leaving me to take Gianna’s arm to follow.