CHAPTER 6
Ali came out of the shower and shook her wet brown hair. “Oh yeah! Man that felt good! I was such a mess”.
“No kidding. I smelled you even before you came into the house” Rose smiled. “You know what you’re going to wear?”
Ali rolled her eyes and slumped on the couch. “I think so, but I don’t know. I think I went through about twenty outfits. I want to look good, but I also want to be comfortable”. She started drying her hair. “It wold make my life a whole lot easier if I knew what we were doing”.
“Yeah really”, Rose laughed. “I’d let you borrow something of mine, but none of it would fit you.” She got up and started sifting through Ali’s closet.
“I talked to him for a little bit earlier today”, Ali said. Her and JC got to talk for a few minutes before he left for his next photo shoot.
“So I’m guessing he didn’t let you in on any of his plans, huh?” Rose replied.
Ali went over and started throwing outfits around. “Nope, not a word. But I’m letting my imagination take over, even if he insists on being a stinker”. She couldn’t hide her excitement from her friends at work. She had a permanent smile on her face the entire day. They still didn’t know about the whole situation with her and JC. She had simply told them that she had a new boyfriend and they had a surprise date tonight. On top of that, a dozen red roses greeted her when she came home for lunch. Included in the roses was a note that had a line from one of their songs of their Christmas CD. I promise the best part is yet to come.
“Figures. Typical male”. Rose pulled out a dark blue dress with three-quarter sleeves. “How about this?” Blue was JC’s favorite color, and the dress was one of Ali’s favorites. With the way Ali’s closet is set up, she must have passed it by accident.
“I can’t believe I missed that one”, she replied, removing it quickly from Rose’s grasp. “Gimme that!” She held it up and checked herself in the mirror. “Hmmm”, she said, “What do you think? You think he’ll like it?”
“Sure do, and you like that dress too…you’ve worn it enough”, Rose said with a laugh.
“Oh be quiet. The last time I wore it was for that one night we went to that club opening in Ybor about two months ago”.
Rose waved her hand at Ali. “Whatever. Wear it. Or I’ll make you wear a moo-moo”.
“Like hell you will!” Ali threw her dirty shirt at Rose and started to unbutton the dress.
“Yuck! Smurf cooties!” Rose said with a laugh. She threw the shirt into the nearby laundry basket and went to help Ali with the dress. “JC is gong to drool all over you tonight, girl”.
“Not quite. But he’ll like what he sees”. Ali started messing with her hair, which she now managed to get down to almost the middle of her back. She had decided to let it grow out, since it was finally starting to behave on a regular basis. After testing different styles out, she decided to leave it down. Besides, she remembered how much JC liked playing with her hair. It was his way of kidding around with her.
“Dude, I’m piling on the deodorant. Nights like this make me so crazy.” Ali went into the bathroom to finish freshening up.
“I know what you mean. So what time did JC say he would be here?”
“He said someone would be by about 4:30 to come and get me. Which reminds me, what are you doing tonight?”
“Lance said that he and I were going to go do something tonight, but we hadn’t decided just what.” Then Rose perked up. “Come to think of it, he said that someone was picking me up the same time that JC had someone pick you up”.
Ali poked her head out of the bathroom and her eyes widened. “You don’t think…”
“That Lance is pulling a JC on me?”
Ali couldn’t hold back. She started laughing hysterically. “Girl, I hope you’re ready, cause Lance has got plans for you!”
Rose went in and proceeded to tackle Ali. “Alright, what are you hiding Smurf?”
Ali was laughing as she tried to get Rose off of her. “I tried so hard not to say anything, but it was just too good!” Then she calmed down. “But seriously, I’ll tell you right now that I don’t know too much. All I know is that he’s pulling a JC and you guys are going to be spending the day together.”
Rose got off of Ali and the two of them grinned. “Looks like we’re both in for a treat tonight!”
**Later That Day**
A limousine pulled up to the girls’ house at 4:30 on the dot. Ali had finally decided on the dress that she and Rose had picked out. They had later learned that a separate limo was going to be picking Rose up about a half an hour later. Rose was all jitters as Ali stepped in.
“Girl, you have my cell phone. Call me as soon as you get to wherever you’re going.” Then she cocked her head and grinned. “So I don’t expect you to be coming home tonight?”
Ali smiled. “I wouldn’t go that far, but you never know. JC has been pulling some major surprises the past few days. I don’t know what’s going to happen”.
“Well, whatever happens, I want details. I’m feeling the same way about my date with Lance, so I’ll be sure to give you the 411…that is, if I decide to come home tonight”. The girls laughed. Rose waved as the limousine drove off.
“Good afternoon, miss”, said the limo driver. “How are you today?”
“I’m doing fine”, Ali replied. “Just out of curiosity, whereabouts are we going?”
The driver looked up in the rearview mirror and smiled. “I’m sorry, miss, but Mr. Chasez wanted this to be a complete surprise, so he asked that I give no indications on where we are going”.
“Can you at least tell me if I’m overdressed?”
“Miss, you look perfect. I’m sure Mr. Chasez will agree with me”.
Compliments like that made Ali blush. She rolled her eyes and grinned. “Only JC would keep me in the dark like this. I have a feeling that this is going to be an interesting night.” Then she thought about Rose and Lance. After what happened last night, she was just as curious about what type of night Lance had planned for them.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the mild squeal of brakes as the limo stopped. Sounds to me like someone needs their brakes fixed. Ali was starting to sound like her father. She looked up and saw that they had stopped in front of a very ritzy-looking salon. “Is this where I’m getting off?” she asked.
“This is one of them. You will be going elsewhere after you are finished.”
“Finished with what?” Then it clicked with her. JC had arranged for her to get pampered. How sweet is that?
The driver opened the door and she slowly made her way out. “I will be returning to pick you up in approximately one and a half hours. I will come in and ring for you at the desk”.
“Thank you.” Ali started to reach into her purse for a tip. The man had been very generous. But he stopped her. “No need to tip, miss. Mr. Chasez has taken care of such expenses in advance.”
“Ok”, she waved to the driver as she made her way into the salon. She was in awe. This place is huge! You get lost going to the bathroom most likely. She was greeted by a woman, probably in her early to mid 30s, wearing a nice ankle-length dress, with her hair done up. She didn’t look frumpy, so Ali was relieved that this wasn’t some sort of old lady place. “Hi, my name’s Ali”.
“Oh yes, Miss Ali. My name is Lena. We’ve been expecting you.” She followed Lena to another part of the room, where it looked like some girls were getting their nails done. Lena glanced at her and smiled. “I will honestly say that I love your dress. Mr. Chasez will definitely like what he sees”. Ali smiled. She was amazed at how much effort JC put into all of this.
She and Lena sat down at a small table and Lena started to pull out several small bottles. Looks like I’m getting a manicure. Ali had gotten manicures many times back home. She was even able to recognize the smells.
“Do you have a preference on color, Miss Ali?”
“Not really. I’m mostly into darker browns or something along that line”. She looked at her nails, which had broken up a bit because of her hectic work the week before she left. “I don’t have too much to show off anyway”, she laughed.
“Well, how about this? It’s called Mahogany Sunset”. Ali took a look to see if it had anything funny, like glitter. That wasn’t one of her favorites. But it had a nice, smooth look to it. “I’ll take it”, she said, handing it back to Lena.
Ali’s mind was jumping all over the place as she kept wondering about JC. Lena could tell. “You’re curious, aren’t’ you?”
“You bet. This is JC and I’s first real date. I mean, we had done things with a group of friends or we’ve done double dates, but this is the first time that it’s just been me and him.”
Lena smiled as she filed Ali’s nails. “Well, I’m sure you’re not the only one. When he called us, he was very particular. He wanted everything perfect. He said he had a very special lady and he wanted her to get star treatment”.
Ali grinned. “Why am I not surprised?” She looked around at some of the other women getting their nails done. Some of them looked very proper, almost snobbish. But there were some that were just like her. Lena interrupted her thoughts.
“What would you like done with your hair?” she asked.
Ali jumped out of her daze. “Oh, I get my hair done too?”
“Oh yes.” Lena looked her over. “You look like you have a very healthy head of hair. I swear, I won’t do anything that would damage it”.
Ali smiled. “Thanks. I’ve tried for a while to keep it long. I finally got it to the length I want, so I’m want to try and keep it looking good.”
“I don’t blame you in the least.” Lena got up from her seat and started checking Ali’s hair. “Yes, a few split ends, but nothing out of the ordinary. Your hair is quite healthy. Anything particular you wanted done with it for tonight?”
Ali shook her head. “Not really. I want to keep it down. If you can get to it where it doesn’t look so matted, that would be good. If you could even try straightening it, that would be wonderful”.
“We can certainly do that. We can do all this for you so you can let your nails dry.” She helped Ali out of her chair over to a nearby sink. “Let me know if the water is too hot”.
But the water was just fine. Ali lounged as the water went over her hair. Good, now someone else can fuss with it. They’d probably do a better job than I would. She laughed. Once again, Lena snapped her out of her trance.
“Oh, Miss Ali, this just came for you from Mr. Chasez.”
Ali looked over and saw another dozen roses being brought her way. Her heart swelled. Then she saw the other note. “Another note”, she said with a giggle. “Look inside the bouquet, this is your ticket”, it said. She moved her hands around gently, as not to get stabbed, and found a key wrapped in tissue paper. It was the key, with the numbers 279. She flipped it over and saw the name “Grand Royale” on the outside. The key was to their hotel room at the Grande Royale hotel, room 279, which was her birthday. Ali thought she was going to pass out if she hadn’t already been reclining. This was getting to be too interesting.
As Lena blow-dried the final strands, one of the other ladies came in. “Ma’am, you are being ringed at the front desk. Your limo is here.”
Ali hadn’t even realized that time had passed already. She checked herself in the mirror and her eyes widened. “Oh my God, I love it! I have to say that this is the best my hair has looked straight in a long time”. She began to reach into her purse for a tip, but Lena motioned it away. “Miss Ali, it has already been taken care of”.
“JC?” she asked. Lena nodded. “Well, I will continue to say that you did a wonderful job. Thank you very much”. She stepped outside and into the waiting limo, which was now on its way to the Grand Royale.
As she stepped out at the hotel, she grew even more curious. Where’s JC? It was now almost 7:00 and he wasn’t at the hotel. Maybe he’s upstairs. He’s going to surprise me. Yeah, that’s it. The limo driver helped her move her bags up the desk. “Hello, there’s a room here for me. Room 279”.
“Oh yeah, for Mr. Chasez. You have already been checked in. The bellhop will take you to your room”.
Ali said goodbye to the driver and went upstairs to the room. Once again, her tip was refused because JC had taken care of it in advance. As she opened the door, her jaw dropped. The room was totally lit in candles and another bouquet of roses sit on the dresser next to her bed. There were two single beds, so Ali made herself comfortable. Then she looked over and saw another note. I’m running a bit late, but don’t worry. The best is yet to come. Love, JC. Love? Wow, this was getting interesting.
She went into the bathroom to check her hair. She was now totally nervous. What was going on? She stepped out and played with the radio. Not too many stations were coming in, but one finally came in that was playing some nice rhythm and blues music. Suddenly, one of her favorite songs, one that she had sung to JC during one of their dates, came on. Since no one was around, she started singing.
With every passing moment
Thoughts of you run through my head
Every time that I’m near you
I realize that you’re heaven sent, baby
I think you’re truly something special
Just what my dreams are really made of
Let’s stay together
You and me, boy
There’s no one like you around
Oh baby
I really like what you’ve done to me
I can’t really explain it
I’m so into you
“I love it when you sing. You sound even more beautiful then you look”
Ali jumped and turned around. There stood JC, in a full tuxedo. Ali thought she was going to faint. Oh my God. He looks heavenly, even better than in the pictures. Then she smiled. “What are you all dressed up for?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you” he laughed.
“Tell me. I may surprise you”, she said cutely.
“I have a date tonight.”
“Oh really? And whom would that date be with?”
“One of the most beautiful women in the world.” He went over and took her hand. “Ali Edwards, may I have this dance?”
Ali wrapped her arms around his neck. “The pleasure would be all mine”.
JC went and kissed her softly. “Oh no, the pleasure would be all mine.”
They stepped back, and as they kissed, JC reached his foot back and closed the door.
* * * * *