I hesitate on that toast.
“Drink,” she bosses.
When the Queen says drink, we drink.
“Ash, that's very nice, but don't you think you're jumping the gun a little?”
“No, I don't. And we're going to toast again. This time to the fact that with this date you are headed down the road to becoming my sister.”
“Ashley, I can't drink to that.”
I mean, I seriously hope that's the road I'm heading down, but she doesn't need to know that.
She gets testy with me and says, “Well, what will you drink to then?”
“Gosh, I can drink to the fact that I am indeed on a road.” She grins at me. I shake my head and say, “This road is long and windy and could have many forks in it as well, and it is a possibility, albeit a small one, that one of those paths could possibly, someday, eventually lead to marriage.”
She drinks to this.
I swear, I'm going to be drunk before my date.
A horn honks outside.
“Crap, so soon? It's only four-thirty. He is not supposed to be here until five. We're not even ready yet.” She is muttering, as she heads toward the door, “I hate being rushed.”
“Uh, Ashley, it's ten till five. Is Phillip out there? I mean it's okay with me if…...”
“No, he's not out there,” she says, quickly interrupting me, “but the limo is.”
I watch Ashley run out my front door and think, A limo?
Ashley comes flying back in the house. “I told him we needed a few more minutes.”
“Oh! I've got to get dressed, Ash. Come help me decide which dress to wear. I have four different ones, but I just don't know who I want to be tonight.”
“Who you want to be?” she laughs at me like I'm nuts. “What do you mean?”
“Well, come in my room, and you'll see.”
Ashley sits on my bed, watching me.
I'm cheap entertainment, I think.
I pull the first dress out of my closet. “Okay, so this dress is the kind of sexy, wild me,” I say, holding up a slinky, red wrap dress. I put it down on the bed and grab another one, “This one is the more conservative me.” I hold a little black dress in front of me and then place it on the bed. “This third one,” a flowing, fuchsia and gold paisley dress with a scalloped hem, “is the creative, kind of artsy, me. And the last one,” a simple cream silk dress, “is the demure, innocent me.”
I still have no idea who I should be. Really none of them seems quite right, and that's not the way it's supposed to be because I look great, and you know, I feel complete.
And then I start to panic a little.
“Ashley, what does Phillip like? Who should I be?”
“JJ, don't freak, he likes you. All of you,” she says, rolling her eyes at me and apparently insinuating I have multiple personalities.
She runs in the kitchen, grabs the big box, and sets it on my bed.
“Why don't you open this and see if it'll solve your problem.”
So I open it.
And I think she is very right.
Problem solved.
Nestled in the box is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen. It's made of stretchy ivory lace, lined with a golden colored silk.
It's the kind of dress that from a distance you look naked underneath the lace.
I know this because a girl from my sorority had a top made this way and when we walked in the bar, the boys practically went crazy and couldn't get over there fast enough to see her up close.
They really thought her shirt was see-thru.
Needless to say, they were disappointed.
Scattered on the ivory lace are millions of little ivory iridescent sequins, which now that I get it out of the box, I see are not ivory, but more golden, almost the exact color of my hair. The sequins shimmer when I move the dress.
The cut of the dress is, well, pretty damn sexy, and it isn't even on my body yet! The top part of it is a halter. It's cut low in the front, and the skirt is straight and short.
I can't wait to try this thing on. I sure hope it fits!
I put the dress on, and it fits like a glove. The neckline plunges down and shows off my um, assets and the skirt makes me look skinny. I love it! I grab the satin and rhinestone sandals I wore to Danny and Lori's wedding and put them on. Ashley and I look at my reflection in the mirror.
“Now, you look perfect!” Ashley beams. And that is a really good thing because Ashley is not a very complimentative person. I mean she doesn't give out many compliments. So I must look good.
Very good.
I look at myself in the mirror. One more time!
It's amazing! This dress is perfect. It's sexy, demure, wild, and creative, all at the same time.
Just like me.
Phillip will love it.
“Where did you get this dress?” I gush.
“I didn't get it. Phillip did.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, believe it or not, he did. My brother, the guy who bought me Scooby Doo slippers last Christmas, bought this amazing dress. I didn't think he had it in him. Evidently, he saw it a few weeks ago when he was in Kansas City visiting Danny and Lori. He had Lori go back to the store and buy it.”
He did?
Wow! I should take him shopping with me more often. I didn't know he could find such great stuff.
Ashley hands me my glass.
Another toast, God forbid.
Then she gives me another package to open. “Hurry, open this.”
She is getting awfully bossy now, but I know she can't really help herself because that trait definitely runs in the family.
I open the package and inside is a silver linked bracelet.
“It's beautiful,” I say, as I start to put it on.
“Wait,” she says, and hands me a smaller box.
I open the little box and inside is a charm. It's a rose.
“Here, let me put it on for you,” she says, snatching them out of my hands.
I just stand and watch. She gets the bracelet and the charm the way she wants it and puts it on my wrist.
“Alright, the limo is waiting for you. You better get out there.” She looks at me like she's never going to see me again. She is really acting weird.
“Thanks Ash, for everything,” I say, as I give her a hug.
Then she gets all teary eyed.
What's going on with her?
I'd blame it on PMS, but I hate when I have important feelings that are glossed over as PMS. So I won't.
“Um, isn't Phillip going to come get me at the door? I mean the flowers, the dress, the champagne, the bracelet, and he isn't even going to walk up to the door and get me? What? Is he just going to honk and wait in the car? Jake used to do that. It drove my dad nuts. He said it meant he didn't respect me.”
Obviously, he was right.
As if on cue, the limo honks.
“I told you. Phillip isn't in the limo, JJ. He's meeting you….um, somewhere…else. You need to Go.”
Okay! So I'm going.
I take a deep breath, but then I stop quickly to smell my roses and realize that in all the excitement, I haven't opened the card.
I open it quick.
The card has no signature. There is just a big heart drawn in the middle. I still have no idea what the heart means exactly, but it really makes me smile.
“JJ, stop stalling, you really have to go, or you will be late for…..”
“Late for what?” I ask, holding my heart card up to my chest.
“Um, for your dinner reservations,” she tells me, but I get the feeling she's not being 100% truthful.
“Yeah. Whatever,” I say to myself, as I walk to the limo. The driver opens the door for me, and I ask where we're going, where we'll meet Phillip. The limo driver just shrugs, tells me to have a glass of champagne and enjoy the ride.