She pointed to a strapless satin dress in a rich purple that looked like it would hug the body all the way down, with a slit up one leg to make walking possible.“You need to try on that one.Excuse me.”She gestured to the sales lady.“Can we get this in her size?”
A few minutes later, Adrienne was zipping me into the dress.It fit perfectly and made me lookgood.The price tag scared me though.It was more than I spent on clothes in an entire year.Enough to buy me a guitar.Not a high-end one, but middle of the road.
“You look amazing.”Adrienne’s voice was all awe.
I twisted this way and that in front of the three-way mirror.I really did look incredible.
“We’ll take them both,” Adrienne told the saleswoman.
I grabbed Adrienne’s arm.“No we won’t.”I tried to keep my voice quiet.She’d found the one thing that embarrassed me.
“Give us a minute.”Adrienne smiled at the clerk, then grabbed my hand and tugged me to a quiet corner of the store.“Please,” she said.“Let me buy this for you.”
My humiliation climbed higher.“Please don’t ask.”
Adrienne looked me in the eye.“I told you, I know how it feels.YouknowI do.”The entire time, she spoke quietly enough only I would hear her, but it had to be obvious what we were talking about.“I got a good bonus, we’re splitting our expenses three ways at home, and I want to do this for you.It doesn’t put me out.It doesn’t change my opinion of you.You lookamazingin that dress.”
If I were talking to anyone else, I’d question their sincerity, but it was impossible to do that with Adrienne.In her place, I’d want to do the same thing for friends.I’d probably buy non-stop presents for months for Danny and everyone if I had extra spending money.And I did love the dress.“Okay.But I’m paying you back as soon as I can.”I was already doing the math in my head to figure out how much I could give her a month.
“You really don’t have to, but yay.”She gave me a big hug, and turned back to the clerk.“I’ll take them both.”
I hated this so much.Always relying on other people and being so incapable of providing for myself.
Eleven
Danny
When Brandon crawled into bed,the night he and Reese fucked at home, he’d woken me up.
“Where’s Reese?”I asked.“Where were you?”The pair of questions pushed aside my sleepiness.
“She had to go.I was working.Composing.”
The first answer hurt, and the second one surprised me, but I was happy he’d found inspiration a second time.It was better to focus on the latter.“How’d it go?”
Brandon wrapped himself around me.“Beautifully.Get some more sleep.”
I hadn’t.It took hours for me to doze off again after he passed out.
And several days later, I was still rolling the brief exchange over and over in my mind.I’d brought it up a few times since, and Brandon didn’t think it was a big deal.
I spent the rest of the week between contract work at AcesPlayed, and working with groups at the shelter, and by Friday night, I was ready for the fun that came next.
Brandon and I followed the signs in the downtown hotel that directed us to the AcesPlayed Holiday Party.When we reached the ballroom, I had to pause in the doorway and take it all in.
Dustin had outdone himself this time.The room had been transformed from basic and bland.Evergreen branches, lights, and tasteful ribbons decorated the walls, and the two long tables lining the room had the perfect rustic feel to them.
It was my understanding he got a bigger budget than normal, because this wasn’t just a holiday party, it was a celebration of their game being in beta, and that they’d made it this far.
The entire affair included an open bar, and discounted hotel rooms for anyone who didn’t want to drive home after taking advantage of it.Brandon and I wouldn’t be drinking, but we did have a room, so we could step away from the world at the end of the night.
I loved all of it.The look, the setting, and the suits.Brandon looked sexy as fuck.
We weren’t the first to arrive, but we were close.We tracked down Dustin long enough to tell him everything looked great, then let him get back to running the show.Nigel and Jeremy were here, too.Somehow Nigel managed to get on Luna’s bad side her first few weeks with the company—I didn’t think she had such a thing, but apparently so—I thought he was a nice guy, though.
Actually, I liked most of the people at AcesPlayed.This last week in the office had been a lot of fun.The work, the colleagues… I wouldn’t go back to cybersecurity full time, but it was nice to dig in and get my hands dirty every once in a while.
We chatted with Phillip between his helping Dustin, and flitted from group to group as more people wandered in.