Part One
Nine Years Ago
I twirled in frontof the mirror slowly, wanting to see the full effect of my new dress front and back. It was a daring little thing made of black silk, its front held by thin strings tied behind my neck and completely backless.
I did another twirl, asking out loud, “Do you think this looks good on me?” I wanted my friends’ opinions before they left to have dinner with their families and I had to leave for my second date with my week-old boyfriend.
“Everything looks good on you,” Alyx said, rolling her eyes. She was on the armchair in the corner, one leg tossed carelessly over the side. Slender with boyishly cut hair, she could always be counted on to say the truth, no matter how harsh it was.
Even so, I still felt insecure. I always was when it came to the boy I loved. Glancing at the other girl who made up our close-knit trio, I asked Yanna, “What do you think?”
“It’s what I always think,” Yanna said simply. Petite and curvy, she was lying on her stomach on the floor, flipping through the latest issue of Teen Vogue. Seeing that I was waiting for an explanation, she laughed and elaborated obediently, “You look drop dead gorgeous.”
The words should have comforted me, but it didn’t. I knew Yanna meant what she said, and not just because she happened to be the nicest and most polite person I knew. She was also hopeless when it came to lying, and that was probably why I felt worse now. Doubt had shadowed her gaze as she uttered the compliment, and the sight made it harder for me to stay deaf to the warning inside my head.
FROG ALERT, FROG ALERT, FROG ALERT.
After my third breakup disaster, Alyx had told me I was just like the princess in the fairy tale, and that I was destined – or cursed – to kiss a lot of frogs before finding the prince. The analogy had stuck, and since then my paranoid brain had used it to warn me away from potential heartbreakers.
But this one was different, I told myself. And besides, wasn’t I supposed to follow my heart? The heart should know better, and that was that. I was going to ignore what my brain said and follow my heart.
I met my friends' gazes through the mirror. “Wish me luck?” I asked lightly and pretended not to notice the way Alyx and Yanna exchanged worried looks between them.
“Good luck,” Yanna said finally, but her smile was forced.
Alyx opened and closed her mouth.
When she opened her mouth the second time, I chickened out and shook my head. “Don’t.”
She stilled.
I didn’t want to hear her repeat the words that my brain had long been trying to tell me.
Victor was NOT a frog.
Period.
An hour later, and the words had turned into a mantra. Victor was late. It was just our second date, and he had already made me wait for an hour.
FROG ALERT, FROG ALERT, FROG ALERT.
My brain had turned snarky, reaching the point of croaking out the words like a frog.
Damn you, brain.
I mentally shook a fist at it. You’re not going to make me lose faith in true love. Victor was late, yes, but I was sure he had a good reason for it. In fact, I was going to prove that right now.
Victor’s fifth-floor apartment was only fifteen minutes away from mine, but I got there in ten. He lived alone, preferring to work rather than finish college. That could be the reason why he’s late, I thought as I knocked on the door. Maybe his job at the bar had been so tiring—-
The door opened, but instead of Victor’s twinkling eyes, I found myself staring into heavily made up eyes that were more taunting than curious. She looked a couple of years older and was dressed in a leather bra and matching mini skirt.
“Well?” The other woman impatiently crossed her arms over her chest when I still failed to speak.
FROG ALERT. My brain’s voice meant serious business.
I ignored it.
Clearing my throat, I asked, “Are you, umm, a colleague of Victor?”