Freshly out of the shower, clad in a lavender bathrobe, Vanessa tried to fight back the queasiness lurking like a guard dog in her stomach and pick out an outfit.
She was craving for something sexy but not trashy; an outfit that was cute and sweet but not a visual remnant of her ten year old self.
What in the world were you supposed to wear when going on a date with your best friend and crush's best friend as part of a plot to make him green with envy? The thought made her even sicker; was the entire point of the date to use Justin to get to Lance?
She ponder the idea a little further then shook her head, as though it would clear out all her negative thoughts and doubts.
[Of course that isn't the only reason why you're going out tonight with Justin. He seems like a really nice guy and you want to get to know him a little better] Vanessa silently told herself.
She glanced around the deserted hotel room, with the exception of herself. Gillian had gone out to dinner with JC and Lance...who knows where he had ventured off to?
[He's probably locked up in his room, talking to Bridget on his cell phone] she acidly thought.
Vanessa gazed around the messy hotel room; it resembled the aftershock of a massive hurricane. Her eyes focused on the digital clock on Gillian's nightstand; three minutes left until her date with Justin.
"Shit...I still have nothing to wear!" she whined. She began chewing on her thumbnail, hastily searching the discombobulated room, in hopes of finding an ensemble.
Her eyes landed on an oufit in the closet she must have overlooked. It was a pair of Baby Phat, low-rise, jeans. The jeans were studded with clear jewels across front pocket area on both legs, the jewels stopping a few inches below. The bottom hem's of each legs were also studded; all the jewels in a non-patterened matrix. On a hanger in front of the jeans was a one-shouldered, jet black shirt from The Limited. The sleeves came about three quarters of the way down each arm and the material was that of a thin sweater.
Vanessa quickly grabbed the shirt and the jeans off the rack and changed out of her bathrobe into the outfit. After this, she discovered a pair of black, high-heeled sandals.
In an attempt to tidy up the room, she stuffed as many articles of tossed out clothing into an open suitcase, then threw the suitcases into the closet. She sighed and glanced around the room. Everything was perfect, except for one vital indgredient that would make this outfit complete; her hair.
She took another peek at the clock; two minutes to go. Justin was probably waiting in the front lobby, wondering why she was taking so long.
Vanessa made her way across the room and to the closed bathroom door. As soon as she swung the door open, a cloud of thick steam greeted her. Vanessa frowned.
Why was someone in her bathroom? She caustiously took a step into the bathroom and was about to give the intruder a peice of her mind, when the words died on her lips. She tried not to let her mouth hang open in surprise but it didn't help.
Standing about two feet in front of her, hovering over the sink, was Lance.
His only clothing? A knee-length towel wrapped around the bottom half. Vanessa was in heaven as her eyes slowly traveled from his sculpted, six-pack abs and to his puzzled face. Beads of water dripped from the tips of his hair, the steam from the shower surrounding him as though he were some kind of Greek god rising down from Mt. Olympus. She drank in the image, knowing it would most likely be the only time seeing him wearing close to nothing.
"Uh...are you ok?" he asked, with a chuckle. Vanessa broke out of her daze and quickly nodded.
"Yeah. But could you tell me why the hell you're in my bathroom?" she demanded, trying to erase the expression of giddy on her face.
He gazed away and into the wide mirror, grabbing a bottle of green, Bed Head hair gel. He squeezed out a dime-sized amount and began running it through his damp hair, to achieve the spiky front peices.
"This isn't just your bathroom. It's also mine and Justin's. The bathroom is connected to our rooms", he informed, meaning Justin and himself and Gillian and Vanessa.
"Oh", she simply replied, still at a loss of words at the earlier, pleasant surprise. Vanessa stood in place, not having moved an inch yet.
"So, why are you all dressed up? Going somewhere? Not that I really care or anything", he abruptly added, tearing his eyes away from the mirror and to her face. Vanessa shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Nowhere..just on a date with Justin", she stated. He stopped the process of fixing his hair and turned to her. His face curled into an ambigous expression.
"Do you like him?" Lance curiously asked, jealousy oozing into his voice like water through a crack.
Vanessa gave him a half-smile.
"As a friend, yes. As something more, who knows. Maybe after tonight's escapade, we'll see," she vaugely validated. Lance stared at her for a moment then turned back to the mirror, snatching the bottle to repeat the "spiking process" all over again.
"I see...hey, I thought you weren't talking to me. Did you suddenly get amnesia at the site of me to follow through with your plan?" he wondered aloud, with a growing smirk. Vanessa let out a fake laugh, a sarcastic smile on her face.
"That's right, I'm not. I just came in here to fix my hair," she causticly informed. He chuckled.
"Well, I'm glad we got that cleared up." Vanessa let out a frustrated exhale of breath, scanning the bathroom counter for her Loreal Curl Defining hairspray and John Fredia Frizz Ease hair serum.
"You're so annoying", she snapped, her voice void of any true malevolence. He threw her a boyish grin.
"I love you, too", he playfully replied.
"Whatever, Poofu", she teased, a grin slowly escaping her glossy lips. He laughed.
"Hey now, let's not go there." She laughed and stood beside him, as she applied the John Fredia gel into her curly hair.
"I think we already did."
"Well, I'm going to let you think up some more insults while I get dressed", he replied as he walked over to the door and opened it, reveiling part of Justin and Lance's room. Vanessa laughed as Lance walked into the room and shut the door behind him.
That conversation had almost made her forget about Justin and some of the reasons behind their date tonight. The playful teasing and joking was a reminder of the special bond between herself and Lance and the way he never failed to lift her spirits.
It was almost as though the kiss had never happend and she had no knowledge of his engagment.
Well, that is, almost.
Vanessa sighed, her hands on the counter. To no one in particular she suggested: "Guys should really come with some kind of instruction manual, cause if they did, then maybe I wouldn't be in this mess."
*~*~*~*
Vanessa carefully decended down the stairs of the hotel, her frantically scanning the hotel area for Justin. She reached the base of the stairs, gnawing on her bottom lip.
[I hope he didn't think I stood him up.]
Vanessa rushed up to the front desk, which was occupied by a tall man in his late thirties. His thining, black hair was slicked back with what looked like a gallon of hair gel and his uniform, a pair of black slacks and a dark red, polo shirt had been obviously ironed.
"Um, excuse me but have you by any chance, seen a really tall, blue-eyed, blond guy come through here?" Vanessa politely asked.
The consiaire glanced up for a pile of paperwork and nodded.
"Wee Madomiselle, he is right over there", he informed, with a thick French accent.
She followed his gaze to cushioned bench a few away from where she was standing. With his head bowed down, Justin waited for her. A long-stemmed, peach colored rose was present in his left hand. He was dressed in a pair of khaki pants and a half-way buttoned, collared shirt, the color a shade lighter than royal blue. Vanessa slowly smiled; he looked even better in person.
"Thank you", Vanessa quickly departed. She then walked over to Justin, most of her worry vanishing.
"Hey, you", she greeted. Justin's head snapped up and the expression of manifold was alleviatied. He rose, towering over her.
"Hi. This is for you", he greeted, handing her the rose. Vanessa gratiously accepted the gift and smiled.
"Thank you. I'm sorry I was a little late", she apologized. He shook his head.
"It's ok. It was worth the wait", he assured. Vanessa chortled at the shrewdness of his comment.
"Have you always been this charming?" she questioned, linking her arm through his. He laughed.
"Well, I don't wannna brag or anything but I used to be quite the ladies man in first grade", he teasingly boasted.
Vanessa laughed; she loved Justin's sense of humor. It was too bad she wasn't in love with him, then maybe the dreaded feeling of guilt, for subjecting Justin as an innocent pawn, would cease from eating away at her insides.
"Let's go before that big head of yours won't fit through the door."
*~*~*~*
After going out to dinner at The Olive Garden, one of Vanessa's favorite restuarnts, Justin had brought her to the beach, where the two had been wandering around, talking and getting to know one another. It was heading towards tweleve o clock and neither were willingly to leave.
The sky had transformed into a black, choppy blanket, the stars glittering like the wings of a fairy from William Shakespeare's, A Midsummer Night's Dream. The turgid moon hung in the air like a framed picture on a wall, glowing like the silver beam of flashlight and providing the only light while gray and black shadows danced everywhere.
Silence had overpowered the couple for sometime now and so, Justin felt it was time to break it.
"So, did you have a good time tonight?" he curiously questioned. Vanessa gazed at him out of the corner of her eye and then back at the sand.
A smile crept across her face.
"Yeah, I did. Especially since you left your ego at home", she honestly replied, kidding of course about the last comment.
Justin gave a relieved chuckle and stopped walking. Vanessa followed his action then looked up and discovered they had strolled to the end of the beach. Justin turned to her, the relief vanished and replaced with anxiety. Vanessa's palms began to sweat, her stomach jumping with wild butterflies; what was he going to say?
"The night would be perfect if.." he trailed off, his voice not above a whisper.
"If what?" Vanessa apprehensively asked. Something began to knaw at her stomach along with the butterflies.
Justin paused, bringing himself closer to her. There was a raw hunger in his eyes that gave a clue to what the last part of his sentence was. It was the thing she had been praying she could avoid.
"If I kissed you."
She couldn't open her mouth to protest or change the subject for Justin had silenced her by pressing his lips against hers. Not to her surprise, she felt nothing, absolutely, positively nothing at all.
Justin, on the other hand felt the opposite. And that was when Vanessa realized she had signed herself up for more than she bargained for.
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