Chapter Five: Tonight At Eight/Look At That Face
"ARGH!" I moaned loudly, and poor Hugo looked at me like I'd gone mad. "Sorry puppy," I said, though he wasn't really a puppy anymore. Some people joked that he was almost as tall as I was, and they weren't exaggerating too much. I scratched him behind the ears for a few seconds and then walked over to the mirror to inspect myself. Kind of plain, but I always had been. Brown eyes, waist length brown hair, a somewhat elegant face that betrayed my height, - which always drew comments like "you're so cute!" and I hated being cute, I wanted elegant. - an okay figure, but a bit too stocky. Then there was my clothes. A light blue, casual, knee length dress. It was a cute dress, but I didn't like it on me as well as I had on the hanger. My hair was curled and I'd decided on leaving it down, it seemed to add to my height a little when I wore it down. All in all it wasn't too bad of a picture, but again I groaned and sat down on my bed. "Hugo, what am I going to do?" He just cocked his head to the side and looked at me with those big brown eyes. It was almost like he was smiling at me. "You lucky dog, you don't have to worry about things like this." I picked up the phone and dialed Deborah's phone number. It only rang once. "Hello?" "Deborah, how could you do this to me?!" I demanded angrily. "Do what?" She asked innocently. Ugh, her innocence disgusted me. "Set me up like this. I can't go on a blind date!" She started laughing which made me even more annoyed with her. "Honey," she said, just as sweetly as ever, "You CAN, and you will, but calm down a little, you have ... 10 hours!" I looked at the clock and frowned. It was 10:05am. "9 hrs, 55 minutes," I corrected her. "Whatever. Just calm down!" She was still laughing. "But Deb, I can't find anything to wear!" I whined unhappily. "Yes you can. Calm down and find something else to worry about until about 6, and THEN you can start getting ready. Okay?" I sniffed at her response and simply said "fine, big help you are! Bye.." "Bye sweetie. Don't knock yourself out!"
"... you got me into this! You-" She had hung up. Oh well. I was doubling with her and her boyfriend, so I could get back at her later that night.
She was right, but it still annoyed me. I wanted tonight to be done, over with! I changed back into my sweats and brushed my hair. I would just have to re-curl it anyway.
I again walked over to the mirror and looked at the reflection standing there. Those eyes had cried a lot of tears over the past 2 months, but now they were clear and lively looking. I thought back upon the process of healing that I'd gone through so recently and smiled. It had been hard, but I was happier and stronger. After that fateful day when I had run into Devin at the mall, I had shed many tears, but I had also smiled and laughed more often, I had made new friends - I had built myself a new life. But now I was back into the game of dating, and I wondered if I would regret it. I glanced around the room and my eyes stopped as I saw the dresser, and remembered what was inside. I opened the drawer and pulled out the still unopened envelope that I'd received in the mail so long ago. Trembling, I knelt down on the floor and tore it open slowly, afraid of what the contents might be. I pulled the letter out, opened it, and started reading. As I read the first paragraph, I began to cry.
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"Shevonne? Are you home? You left your door unlocked..." Deborah's voice carried through out my tiny apartment and reached me in the bedroom, still sniffling a little. She walked in and immediately upon seeing my emotional state, knelt down beside me and gave me a hug. "If you really don't want to go tonight, I can call and tell him you're sick.." I just shook my head and handed her the letter that was now crumpled - from having been read over and over - and wet - from the tears I'd shed the whole time. She looked at me, confused, and then started reading aloud.. "Our Dearest Shevonne, you cannot imagine how glad we were to receive your letter after months and months of wishing you would call or write." She smiled and kept reading. "How we have missed you, and hoped that you would come back to us. We were also very sorry to hear that you broke up with your boyfriend, although he did seem a little odd to the rest of us anyway. (Insert smile here).. We want you to know we never stopped loving you, and never will." Deborah was all smiles and I was just sitting there in a daze. "Shevonne, this is wonderful! I'm so happy for you!" I finally smiled and found my voice "yeah, it is, isn't it." I laughed quietly. "They want me, and they LOVE me… Isn't it great?" She laughed "yes, it is." She read the rest of the letter silently, as I sat there smiling like an idiot.
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For the third time that day, I carefully inspected myself in the mirror. Deborah had called her boyfriend and told him to pick us both up at my apartment, and then stayed to help me get ready. Once again, I was wearing the light blue, knee length dress I had put on earlier. My hair was meticulously curled with the sides pulled up in a silver clip, and my makeup had been carefully redone. I didn't look half-bad. Maybe my attitude had changed since that morning, but I was happy with what I saw. Deborah walked up behind me and smiled "you look gorgeous, dear!" she exclaimed. I laughed, "Not as gorgeous as you, Deb.. But then you always did look like you belonged on the front page of Glamour magazine." She slapped my shoulder lightly in response. "Yeah, whatever."
I glanced at my watch and felt something larger than butterflies flutter around in my stomach. 15 minutes until they would be here. Deborah seemed to sense my nervousness and chuckled quietly, "Don't worry, Shevonne, everything will be fine!" I sighed, "Deb, you forgot a tiny detail when you told me about this guy." She looked confused. "I *didn't* tell you about this guy, Shev.. I hardly know a thing about him!" I raised an inquisitive eyebrow and resisted the urge to put my hands around her neck and squeeze. "Deb! You're telling me that you set me up with a guy that you know nothing about?!" I was practically hopping, I was so mad! She shook her head and started walking backwards slowly. "Well at least tell me his NAME!" I yelled. She looked very, very doubtful all of the sudden. "You don't even know his name?!" She shook her head meekly and I just stood there staring at her in angry silence. The doorbell rang and we both jumped. She stood up and ran to get it, glad for the escape, and I attempted to put a pleasant smile on my face as I walked out into the living room.
My heart caught in my throat and I uttered an almost silent "Daam…" under my breath. I blinked a few times, taking in the tall, muscular figure. Black hair, blue eyes… eeeks, those EYES were beautiful! I suddenly realized I must have looked like an idiot standing there, collected myself, and walked over to introduce myself. Holding out my hand, I mumbled, "Hi, I'm Shevonne…" He took my hand and held it briefly. "Pleased to meet you, Shevonne. I'm Erik." I nodded slightly, smiled at him and informed Deborah and Bryan that it was time to go. After they untangled themselves, we all walked out the door together.
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