First Sight (44 page)

“Uh, definitely not,”
Emily
said laughing.  “You obviously don’t know my cousin.”

We finally ended up in the fine china section, and
I spotted a sleek stainless steel tray with elegant edges that sloped out
ward
.  The display model showed it with martini glasses and a cocktail shaker, but I imagined it would be useful for a variety of things.  I grabbed one of the boxed trays and held it up questioningly for
Emily
to see.

“Hmmm…
,
” she said, walking over.  “I actually like that.”

“And would your cousin?”

“I think so….”

“See?  That was easy.”

We walked over to the register, and
Emily
handed the salesgirl a credit card.
 
“What time’s the wedding?” I asked, leaning
against
the counter
as I waited for her to pay
.

“
H
alf past five in the evening,” she said, quoting from the formal invitation that she’d shown me earlier.  “The reception is right after
ward
at some fancy-pants h
otel.  It should be nice though—sit-down dinner,
champagne toast,
open bar.
”

“Maybe you’ll meet a cute groomsman.”

“Ha!  We’ll see.  I mean I certainly wouldn’t complain if I did,” she said with a sly smile.  “What about you?  Do you
and Travis have plans
this weekend?”

“
Yeah, h
e’s coming over for dinner tomorrow.”

“You’re cooking for him?”

“Yep.
  And why I offered to do that, I have no idea.
”

Emily laughed as the cashier handed her the wrapped package, and we turned to walk away. 
“What are you making?”

“No clue.”

“Well
, good luck with that,
”
she teased.  “It sounds amazing.”

“Yeah, let me know if you think of any ideas,” I said wryly.  “I probably should have thought it through before I invited him over. 
Next time remind me to suggest dinner out. 
Now I’m going to be stressing out over what to make.  I’m fine with cooking for myself, but it seems like a bigger deal to be making dinner for him—like I need to
prepare
a fancy
gourmet
meal or something
.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll figure something out.”

I laughed, remembering how I’d said that to her earlier about picking out a gift for her cousin. 
If only having your
new
boyfriend over for
dinner was
as simple as
shopping
for a present
.
  A
s we made our way out of the
s
tore
, my phone beeped with a new text message.  I
glanced down
at it
and saw that Travis had texted me.

Are you still out with
Marissa and
Emily?

“Travis?” Emily asked.

“Yeah, he wondered if we were still shopping.”  I quickly typed a message back.

Yeah.  Call me tonight?

His reply came a few seconds later.

Okay.  XOXO

“What time is Marissa meeting us?” Emily asked.

“She said around 7:00,” I
said, glancing down at
the time on my phone
.  “She’ll probably be here any minute now.”  Just as I finished speaking, I saw
Marissa
in the distance waving as she headed our direction.

“Did you meet up with Rob?” I asked as she approached.

“Yeah, we
grabbed a quick drink
, talked
over
some stuff.  We’re still on for this weekend, so we’ll see what happens.  But hey,” she said, her eyes growing mischievous, “
you’re
the one who’s
got
the
hot date with Travis tomorrow
night
.”

“I don’t know if I’d call it a hot date,” I said with a laugh, “but he is coming over for dinner.”

“We definitely need to
find
something great for you to wear.”

“
It’s just dinner.  I have tons of clothes
.”

She rolled her eyes at me and leaned closer.  “I was thinking something more appropriate
for
after
dinner
.
 
Something that no one else will see?” she hinted.

“
Marissa
!” I protested, laughing.  “
Nothing
is going to happen
.  And really, y
ou don’t need to announce it to the entire world.”

“Oh, it’s just Emily, and she already knows
about you guys
.”

Emily
shrugged in surrender and grinned
, not offering me any help
against Marissa’s agenda
.
 
Although I
had
to admit that I’d been wondering what to wear tomorrow
evening
and
what, if anything, might happen between
Travis and me
, I hadn’t
exactly envision
ed
Marissa
and Emily
being part of that plan.

“
Well, you should at least get a cute new sundress or something to wear.  I saw lots of new spring clothes last weekend.”

“I thought you were in Florida?”

“I was—they have stores there too, you know.”

“And you would find them,” I said, flashing
her a
grin.

“But of course,” she said innocently.

“
Well, it couldn’t hurt to look,” I said.

“This will be so fun!”
Marissa exclaimed
, ignoring me.  “We can look at the spring dresses; I totally want to get something
,
too, you know, to wear out with Rob.  Then maybe we’ll h
ead over to Victoria’s Secret.”

I sighed.  There really was no arguing with her sometimes.  “So
things are better with Rob
?”

“Yeah, what’s going on?” Emily chimed in.  “
Maddy
said you were mad at him about something?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Marissa answered breezily.  “We had a little chat about what my expectations were
,
and it’s all taken care of now.”

“Your expectations?”
I asked in disbelief.
 
O
nly Marissa could get away with
having a conversation
like that
,
with a guy she’d just started dating
,
and have him still be interested in her.

“It’s nothing. 
We’re going out to some fancy dinner this weekend.  I wish I could
’
ve seen him
last
weekend, but after Friday night, I was in Florida the whole time.  He sent me tons of text messages while I was gone.”

“Well
,
at least we know he’s interested,” I joked.  We’d
all
had our fair share of guys that we’d gone out with once or twice and then never heard from again.  Of course,
Marissa
’s and Rob’s relationship seemed to
have progressed
beyond that point already.

“He called me one night just to say that he missed me,”
Marissa
said,
blushing
a little.

“That’s sweet,” I said, glancing over at her. 
Marissa
nodded and looked serious for a moment.  She adjusted her black cardigan, and as I examined her face, I
realized that she
really liked him
. 
She had seemed frustrated earlier today, but if she really wasn’t interested, she would have dumped him
over
drinks
tonight
, not agreed to go out with him again this weekend. 
Elizabeth
had told me privately once that she thought
Marissa
just didn’t want to be in a relationship—that she was more the type to play the field.  While
Marissa
certainly did seem to love dating a variety of guys, I knew that she’d be happy if she found someone who was right for her.

After trying on dresses in
a few different stores, Emily had purchased a cute black eyelet sundress, Marissa had found several dresses and a pair
of black stilettos
, and I had
n’t
bought
anything
. 
We paused on a bench to regroup and figure out where to head next when Marissa suddenly exclaimed,
“Oh,
I love
that!”
 
I turned to see her
pointing at a hot pink bustier in the window at Victoria’s Secret.
  She rushed toward the display, Emily and I trailing behind her.

“
That’s totally not my style
,” I said
, cringing slightly.

“Not for you silly, for me!  Maybe I shouldn’t have bought so much,
I
could totally
spend a good chunk of my next paycheck in here,” she said with a laugh.

“Oh really?
 
You and Rob?”
  I looked at her expectantly.

Marissa
giggled but didn’t say
anything.

“So that’s why you wanted to come here so badly,” I said, laughing.

“Let’s look around,” she said.

“Well geez, I’m not even dating anyone,” Emily protested.  “You two get to have all the fun.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find someone for you,” I said reassuringly.

“Oh, I’m so getting this,”
Marissa
said, holding up a sheer, black lace teddy, with clips
dangling beneath it
for attaching stockings.

“Really?”
I asked, looking at her doubtfully.  Not only did it look complicated to put on and take off, it also looked unbelievably uncomfortable.

“Yes,” she said emphatically.  “I want something
different
than what I already own.”

I shrugged.  “Okay.  I’m going to look around a bit.”  I wandered through the store, looking at silky panties and
lacy
bras.  It would be nice to have something special
just in case
.  I finally found a black silk chemise, with delicate spaghetti straps and lace trim around the edges.  The back was low cut, with a tie made from the same thin material as the straps.  I picked out a matching black thong and took my purchases up to the register.

“What’d you get?” Marissa asked after the cashier had wrapped my purchase up in tissue paper and neatly tucked it into the bag.

“It’s for Travis’s
eyes only,” I replied with a grin
.

“Oh, you’re no fun,” she pouted.

I noticed Emily glancing down at her watch. 
“Ready to head out?”
I asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got a few things to get done for work before tomorrow morning.  Nothing big, but I should get going.”

“All set, Marissa?” I asked.

“Yeah, I t
hink I might be all shopped out,” she said, holding up her own large bag.  I noticed Emily was holding the other
bags of clothes
Marissa ha
d already purchased
.
 
“
Or at least my
credit card is.”

We
all
walked out of the
mall together.  “Bye ladies,” Emily said.  She gave us each a quick hug before we headed off in different directions.  Emily had to hop back on the metro, but Marissa and I lived close enough to walk.  My building was the opposite way from Marissa’s though, so I gave her a
little
hug goodbye as well.

“S
ee you tomorrow then?”

“Yep, see
ya
bright and early.”

I walked back to my apartment building
, suddenly feeling a little sad that I
hadn’t done something with
Travis tonight.
 
We could’ve been snuggling up on my sofa
right
now since
we
’d actually gotten out of work at a decent time, and now I was headed back to an empty apartment. 
I carried my bag
upstairs and
called
him
as soon as
I got
inside
, not wa
iting for him to try calling me. 
S
tretch
ing
out on
my
sofa,
I relaxed
against the soft cushions
as I settled in to talk with him
.