Chapter Six
On Friday, as she’d hoped, Adrien finally called her about the date. The article on Samuel had gone off without a hitch, so she didn’t have to worry about him hindering her in any way, and could only respond to Adrien’s call with total enthusiasm.
They agreed to meet up for lunch, and the date would last until evening. Camila couldn’t keep her excitement hidden, and her mom of course noticed. She saw her mom’s disapproving look, but Camila ignored it, too giddy to placate her mom.
Her first task was to get ready. She had no idea where Adrien could be taking her, since he hadn't said, but if they were meeting for lunch, they were obviously going to a restaurant, and she could only imagine it was a high class one.
“Shit,” she muttered to herself, frozen in the middle of her room. “What the hell do I wear?”
Camila really didn’t have a lot of nice outfits, the kinds that you could go out to a date to, especially not the kind that you went to anything high class in. She’d already used up two good dresses, and while Adrien hadn't seen her in the peach dress, she would feel too embarrassed to put it on after wearing it for his brother. Sure, it was for work purposes, and it wasn’t as if Adrien would know. But while they were twins, Camila was doing her best to separate the two in her mind by whatever means necessary, including this.
She attacked her closet, hoping she had something in the back somewhere that she’d used for an important event and never touched again. There were actually outfits like that, but she also had to pick something appropriate. Then, she had to worry about her make-up, her hair…
Adrien had called early, and she now wondered if it was so she could have the chance to prepare herself. She could only feel grateful for the consideration if it was indeed true.
I should have something,she thought, a little frantic as she pushed clothes aside. Most of her closet was filled with a bunch of t-shirts and flannel shirts, khaki pants and shorts, and heavy jackets, and there were some track clothes as well for working out in. She only had two pairs of jeans, one skinny, one straight leg, and a few flowery tops she’d bought back in college.
There were occasions when she went out with friends to parties and such, and she’d graduated nearly two years ago. She had only bought a few nice clothes after that, but they should all be available because she didn’t get to wear them often. As for the outfits she wore in college, they might be a bit outdated, but she wasn’t looking for anything spectacular. She was already cursing herself for wasting the simple little black dress she’d put on to go to visit Samuel at his mansion.
Once she had all her good clothes placed on her bed, she took her time looking over them. She had a few skirts and nice tops, but they were more business style than casual, so no skirt. Her only chance were the dresses, and she wasn’t sure which one to pick.
She fretted, because none of them had been particularly expensive, so the quality couldn’t match to anything Adrien was used to. But maybe it was okay to have hope that it wouldn’t matter so much? Banking a lot of faith on this, she picked an outfit out. It was dark blue with a halter neck that mostly bared her back, with crisscrossing fabric going from the neck to her waist. The top part of the dress was a slim fit with a flared skirt. It was a style she preferred when picking out outfits, otherwise they’d be uncomfortable for her, who was not used to dresses and skirts, to wear.
Now that she had the perfect clothes, it was time to prepare everything else. Well, when she actually did look at the time, it was to realize she had quite a bit of it still, but wouldn’t it be more worthwhile to use that time to get ready properly?
Camila ducked out of her room to go and shower. Her mom didn’t say anything, even though she could probably guess that Camila was going against her wishes, but she didn’t try to stop her or argue, and Camila felt relieved for it. She ducked back into her room with a towel wrapped around her.
She started with drying her hair off, combing through it as she did to straighten it out. She’d think about styling it once she was dressed. After her hair was done, she applied some lotion and then got her make up kit out. She’d already used a scrub on her skin the evening before, so her skin was feeling smooth and she took advantage of it. She didn’t usually use a lot of make-up, but she was determined to go all out for this date.
Only when she had everything else ready, did she pick up the dress she’d chosen and pull it on. Next were shoes, but she’d already decided on those. She had a pair of strappy sandals in silver that had a short heel and were comfortable enough if she was going to be walking or standing on her feet for a long period of time.
Fully dressed, she looked herself over in the mirror on the inside of her closet door. She thought she looked pretty good, and she tried to play with her hair a little bit, pulling it this way and that, trying to come up with a nice hairstyle. In the end, though, she just left it to fall around her shoulders.
By the time she was done with her meticulous preparation, it was about time. She wasn’t sure how they were going to meet up, if Adrien was going to pick her up or if she would go to him.
As if he could tell she was thinking about it, Adrien texted her with an address and told her he would be waiting for her there.
Camila was actually more relieved by this plan, because it meant he wouldn’t have to come to her neighborhood. She lived in a pretty good place, considering just how much it cost to live in New York City, but it would be too obvious how different their worlds were. Also, she didn’t want to risk her mom following her and bombarding Adrien with an inquisition in front of their building. She quickly sent back a confirmation to him. Then, she picked a purse from the small collection she had, a light grey one with a silver chain in place of a strap. She put her phone and wallet in it, a small make-up kit and some other essentials. Then she picked up a jacket and headed out.
Finding a cab wasn’t difficult, there were always plenty of them passing the street, and she only had to flag an empty one down. Then she gave the address Adrien had given her, and waited anxiously to get there. It really wasn’t that far and there was no traffic, so it didn’t take long for her to make it there. She paid the driver and stepped out. Before she could even look for Adrien, he found her.
“Camila.”
He called her name from close behind her, and she whirled around, face warming up as she looked up at him, because he’d spoken too close in that low, sexy voice of his. He was smiling warmly down at her.
“Hey,” she said, smiling back, relaxing under his warm gaze. “Sorry, did you wait here long?”
Adrien shook his head. “I actually just got here. I parked my car and got out, then I saw you coming out of the cab.”
“Oh,” Camila murmured.
She was looking Adrien over, and she realized his style had changed slightly. He wasn’t dressed as flashy as before, but instead was wearing more formal attire. He had on black leather shoes and slacks, and a blue shirt with a black coat over it. He’d skipped the tie, though, for a silver chain around his neck. On his wrist, she still saw some leather bands and a few rings, but even without those she knew it was undoubtedly Adrien in front of her.
“We match,” Adrien said, his grin turning to a smile when he noticed the blue dress under her dark coat.
“I guess we do,” she said shyly, tucking some fluttering strands of hair behind her ear.
“Shall we?” Adrien said, offering his arm to her.