Almost as soon as the clock turned 2 o’clock there was a knock at her door. God that’s freaky. Opening the door she wasn’t surprised at all to find Mitchell standing there. But what did surprise her was that he wasn’t in his BMW. Instead he had the Denali. She wasn’t going to say anything, but he saw her looking in that direction and volunteered. “I figured we might need the extra room.” When she gave him a quizzical look he added, “You know, for packages.”

“Oh. I thought we were just looking for a swimsuit.”

“Well, that too. But if we are going to be out all day I’m sure we’ll find more than just a single bikini.” Brianna grabbed her purse and followed him out the door.

Surprisingly, Mitchell had quite and eclectic sense of style. Well, when it came to women’s clothes anyway. Every store they went into he would immediately start handing Brianna dresses, skirts, jeans, pantsuits, shorts, it didn’t matter. Some of the items were a bit too revealing for Brianna, not that she was overly conservative, it was just that these particular outfits were extremely revealing. She’d humor him and try them on, but ultimately refuse to accept them if he offered to get them. Although, she soon learned that refusing to let him buy her anything just wasn’t going to work. If he liked it and thought what ever it was looked good on her then regardless of how much she protested he would still get it and tell her to just deal with it. In a way it was flattering.

She had never really been with anyone who took such an interest in how she dressed. Nick always told her she looked nice and had even bought her a few really nice outfits over the years, but nothing like the way Mitchell was going on and on about how wonderful she looked in the outfit or that dress.

“You know, you deserve to be dressed like a movie star every day.” He told her.

“Well, that wouldn’t be very practical.” She tried to laugh it off. Yeah, maybe her family had money, but not THAT type of money. Besides, she just wasn’t into all that excessive fashion, and she wasn’t the type to try and put on airs.

“Who cares about practical. It’s what you deserve. Besides, Brianna you look good like this. Not that you don’t look good anyway, just, you know what I mean. Aren’t you having fun?”

He looked crushed, like a little boy her just lost his favorite puppy. Taking his hand in hers she smiled at him, “Yes, I’m having a lot of fun. I just feel funny having you spend so much on me, is all.”

That seemed to cheer him up. “Well, get used to it. You know, I have a friend who is a makeup artist. I’d like for her to come over and give you a make over. You know, pamper you for an afternoon.”

“I don’t really wear that much makeup. I never have.”

“Well, all the more reason to do this. It’ll be a change, a new experience. Wait till you see what Tyisha can do. I think you’ll love it.”

“Well, maybe just for fun.” She had never really even been to a salon and had that stuff done to her, except for prom, and then she still didn’t wear much makeup.

“Why don’t you let me call her and set something up? Then whatever day she does it, afterwards you can put on one of these new dresses and I’ll take you out to a nice dinner and maybe a show. Do you like theater?” He was already reaching for his cell phone and dialing. After a brief conversation and only a few questions to Brianna he decided that Thursday would be a good day. He had business to take care of on Wednesday. And putting it off another day would give him time to make dinner reservations and see about tickets. There really wasn’t much for Brianna to do except agree, no didn’t seem like much of an option.

They were sitting down waiting on their dinner when Brianna had a yawning fit. “Oh, Mitchell I am so sorry. You just wore me out today. I thought only women knew how to power shop.” She laughed at her joke.

Reaching across the table he held her hand and whispered, “I just wanted to do something special for you. I didn’t mean to tire you so much.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m used to being tired. It’s okay.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small enamel pillbox. After opening it he handed her one of the small white pills like he had given her before. “Here, why don’t you take this? It’s still early and this will help give you a bit of energy.”

“Are we doing something after dinner?”

“Sure. What ever you want to do.”

“Dancing?” She looked hopeful and he chuckled at her.

“Dancing it is. Just take the cross.” She did.

By the time dinner was over Brianna didn’t feel tired anymore. In fact, she felt completely awake and ready to dance the night away. Mitchell wasn’t much of a dancer. Most of the time he sat in a chair at the edge of the dance floor and watched her dance. He didn’t even get upset when other guys came up and danced with her. His green eyes just sparkled and laughed while he watched her having fun. Every so often he’d get up and share a slow song with her. He kept her glass full and had a warm smile for her every time she looked his way. They closed the club down and went to an all night diner for ice cream and coffee. By the time she was walking up to her door it was nearly 4 a.m.

“Mitch, that was so much fun. Thanks for taking me dancing.”

“Well sorry I didn’t dance too much. I enjoyed just watching you though. And I’m glad you had fun. But can I ask you a favor?”

He was suddenly very serious and Brianna didn’t know what to make of it. He seemed so moody sometimes. “Sure, you can ask me anything.”

“I don’t mean to sound snobby, but, it’s just my Dad used to call me Mitch. He and I don’t get along so hearing someone call me that gets on my nerves a bit.”

She held her hand up to stop him. “Say no more. I know exactly how you feel.”

“Really?”

“Really. I have a friend who has a nickname for me. He is the only one that calls me that. We tease each other. Well, John heard it and he used to call me by this nickname. It got on my nerves too. So, a bit different, but I still understand.”

“This friend? You mean Nick don’t you.” He was holding her hand and didn’t pull away.

Brianna was glad that it was dark so he couldn’t see her blush. “Yes, the friend I mentioned is Nick. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize for having a close friend. I can respect that.”

“Really? I mean, it’s just John always hated him with a passion. To the point that I could never mention his name or anything remotely related to Nick, even though I’d known him for so long. John expected me to just cut him out of my life all together.”

“Well that sounds a bit unreasonable. If he’s important to you, then he’s important to me. Why don’t we just leave it at that?”

She smiled at him as an answer. Mitchell leaned down and kissed her quickly before standing up and walking to his Denali. “I’ll see you on Thursday. Be ready by 6.” Then he got in and drove away.

<~ Chapter 58 or Chapter 60 ~>

In the End

Karina 2003