Annie‟s parents were gone again and she would really like the
company. Her mom had agreed and she hugged her. Everything was
going perfectly.
The following morning she packed all her stuff and hid the
dress and shoes in the bottom of her bag. She kissed her mom
goodbye and left. Her mom had joked to her on her way out.
“What are you going for the week?” she said pointing to the
bag not proportionate to a one night sleep over at a friend‟s
house.
Annoyed at the attempt at humor Kim left and headed for
Annie‟s place. She got to Annie‟s at noon. Annie was still
concerned but what could go wrong? Annie wasn‟t sure but went
along anyway. Kim showed her the dress and shoes.
“Can you even walk on those?” Annie asked.
“I don‟t know” Kim said sheepishly.
She put on the shoes and tried to walk through the living
room. It was not pretty but she managed not to fall. They
decided that she should keep them on to get used to them. Three
hours later she was doing a lot better and was able to make it
look less pathetic. She could actually pass for pretending to be
used to the shoes if she could limit her movement on them. Her
feet were killing her though.
“Sit down and I‟ll do your hair” Annie said.
She didn‟t have to say that twice. Kim sat down and nursed
her sore feet. Annie left for the bathroom and came back with
half a drugstore in hair care products. After fumbling about for
two hours Annie managed to do something with the hair that was
acceptable according to both. It wasn‟t great but earlier
attempts had only resulted in hysterical laughter from both of
them. At six Kim got dressed and put the shoes back on. The
pain was back immediately but she could hide it and it was
easier to keep her balance. When she was all ready Annie helped
her with makeup and then they were done. Annie stepped back and
looked at her.
“You look amazing” she said, “I hope not too amazing” she
added.
That is not possible Kim thought. She wanted to look her
best for him.
Chapter 7:
Just at that moment the doorbell rang. Kim and Annie
startled and stood motionless.
“Go on” Annie said, “If there is any problems give me a
call. I have my mom‟s car and can come get you.”
Kim hugged Annie and thanked her. She opened the door and
there he was. He looked great and his eyes lit up when he saw
her.
“Are you ready?” he asked and reached out her hand.
She nodded grabbed a sweater that matched her dress that
Annie had lent her and took his hand. It was a very mild early
March night. It looked like spring was coming early. She was
still chilly but she would have gone out like this in a blizzard
if she had to. He helped her in the car and got in himself. They
kissed and he started the car and they were on their way. She
apologized for her hair and explained that it just hadn‟t been
cooperating today. He said it looked fine but if she wasn‟t
happy about it they could do something.
“What? Was he a hair stylist too?” She thought.
He pulled out his cell phone and looked through the
directory. He selected a name and put the phone to his ear.
“Hi Sergio. Are you still at the store? Can you stay a
little longer? I have an emergency. Ok, thanks. I‟ll be there in
5 minutes. Ciao!” he said and he put the phone away.
Five minutes later they pulled up to a salon. He helped her
out of the car. Pain shooting through her legs the moment she
stood up. Sergio was waiting for them.
“I see what you mean” he said. Kim looked embarrassed.
“Don‟t worry” Sergio said, “We‟ll have this fixed in a
minute” as he led her to a chair.
Thirty minutes later and completely surrounded by mist from
aerosol cans he exclaimed to be done. He turned her to the
mirror and her hair looked perfect. She had only seen hairdos
like this on TV, it was fantastic. She thanked Sergio and he
kissed her hand.
“It was my pleasure” he said.
“Send me the bill“ Jake told him as they were about to
leave.
They got back in the car and he said “You look beautiful!”
She blushed. How did he do it? Every moment with him seemed
magical and the strangest things could happen. They drove to the
club and he parked across the street and they walked to the
entrance. There was a huge line. She was about to get in line as
he looked at her.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Isn‟t this the line?” she asked confused.
He motioned her to come and they walked past the line.
Halfway down the line she saw Megan. Megan was one of the few
that had made it in at school or at least claimed to have gotten
in. She bragged about it all the time. Megan noticed her and her
jaw dropped to the floor. Kim pretended not to notice. When they
got to the front of the line the bouncer moved towards them. She
startled. This was definitely the largest man she had ever seen
and there was no fat to be seen anywhere, he was all muscle. Not
someone you wanted to mess with. The large man extended his
hand and she didn‟t know if he was going to greet them or grab
them. He shook Jake‟s hand and said hi. They exchanged
pleasantries and 2 minutes later they were inside with the envy
of the line behind them piercing their backs. This guy could do
anything she thought. Jake led her to an empty table and ordered
some drinks, a whiskey on the rocks for him and an Appletini for
her.
“Is that ok?” he asked.
She nodded happily not to have to figure out herself what
she wanted to drink. The drinks came and she hesitantly took a
sip, it was very powerful and sour. She had never had anything
stronger then a glass of wine at a family event, but it was
good. She sipped every now and then and took in the atmosphere.
The place was packed, loud and everybody looked fabulous. It was
surreal. She never saw people walk around looking like this and
here everybody did. The interior was stylish and modern. It was
a little dark but the light from the dance floor was enough to
see in the bar area.
“Do you want to dance?” he asked.
She shook “Maybe later.”
She was happy to be sitting again and wondered how women
wore these all day looking at her shoes. They chatted and
kissed. Then after a while they danced a bit. He had asked again
at a slow song and she had jumped to that. That she could
survive. After the song they sat down again. Many times someone
would stop by to say hi to Jake. It seemed like he knew
everybody and everybody wanted to be his friend. They all
introduced themselves and made her feel right at home. How was
this possible? At school she couldn‟t get accepted in any of the
clicks made up of adolescent twerps and here she felt accepted
in between all these amazing people. As the night went on she
sipped slowly on her drinks and was starting to notice the
effects of the alcohol so she slowed down. They chatted a lot
and danced as much as her poor feet could handle. It was
wonderful. She wished the night would never end.
After a while they decided it had been enough. They got
outside and found the car. The clock on the dashboard showed
01:00 AM. It hadn‟t seemed like they had been in there for five
hours. They drove to the lake front, got out and walked along
the lake front holding hands. After five minutes she stopped and
took her shoes off. They walked on hand in hand and her shoes in
the other hand. It felt good to have the shoes off, but it felt
even better walking there with him. They walked along the lake
front for a half hour or so. Chatting, gazing over Lake Michigan
and sometimes stopping for a quick kiss. They got back to the
car and drove off. He stopped downtown by an apartment building.
“This is where I live” he pointed to a building with luxury
apartments, “Do you want to see it?”
She gulped and thought. She could care less to see it but
she wanted to be with him. She nodded with hesitation and they
left the car and went in the building. The elevator was quick
and took them up to the 20
th
floor.
“Not the penthouse yet” he joked pointing to the 21
st
floor.
“Maybe next year” he grinned.
He opened the door to the apartment and they stepped
inside. It was gorgeous. It wasn‟t necessarily huge but more
spacious. Almost everything was in one room. Kitchen and living
room blended together. Not like her place where it was clearly
out of need, this was design. Furniture was modern steel frame
with black leather and in the middle of the apartment was a
staircase leading up to an open loft where the bedroom was. It
was clearly a place for people without kids. He directed her to
the couch and she sat down and he walked to the kitchen and came
back with 2 glasses of wine. They were wide glasses with long
narrow stems. Even the glasses were thought about, she realized.
She took a sip and put it down. It felt warm and comfortable.
He grabbed her feet and took her shoes off and began massaging
them. Could this get any better?
“I have something for you” he said.
He handed her a cell phone. It‟s nothing fancy he claimed,
just a prepaid phone. He wanted to be able to get a hold of her,
he explained. Just let him know if the balance was running low
and he would put more on it. She opened the flip phone and
noticed the time on the screen. 03:05AM Annie must be worried
sick. She thanked him for the phone and excused herself. She
needed to call her friend so she wouldn‟t be worried.
“Use your new phone” he said smiling.
Kim walked to the window overlooking the sleeping city. She
dialed Annie‟s number whom immediately answered.
“Hello?” Annie sounded stressed.
“Hi” Kim said.
“Where are you?!?” Annie yelled, “I‟ve been worried sick.
It‟s past 3AM.”
She sounded like she pictured her mom would have.
“I‟m with Jake. I‟m fine.” She said.
“When are you going to be back?” Annie demanded to know.
She thought. At that moment Jake kissed her neck and
whispered “I would like you to stay” in her free ear so Annie
couldn‟t hear.
She didn‟t know what to say. Surely that wouldn‟t be a good
idea.
Before she realized it she heard herself say “I‟m going to
stay here tonight” and Annie gasped at the other end of the
line.
“Are you sure that‟s a good idea?” Annie asked.
“Yeah, cover for me. Please!” she pleaded.
“Ok” Annie said reluctantly.
“Thanks, I‟ll be there in the morning” Kim said and hung up
the phone.
He unzipped her dress from behind and it fell to the
ground. For a split second she thought about catching it but she
had already made up her mind. She wanted this. He picked her up
while she wore nothing but her panties and carried her up to the
loft. The stood a king size bed with satin sheets and he laid
her down. He sensed she was nervous.
“Your first time?” he asked.
She nodded fearfully.
“I‟ll go slow” he assured her.
The made love and it was wonderful. It hurt a bit when he
went in her but she quickly relaxed and that helped. He was
gentle as promised and after they just laid there gazing in each
other‟s eyes. His eyes were the last thing she remembered before
dozing off. She was exhausted. When she woke up he was gone. She
heard something downstairs. She grabbed the sheet and covered
herself and walked to the balcony. She saw him in the living
room on the phone arguing with someone.
“She is almost ready” she heard him say.
“I know she has been expensive but she‟s worth it” he
ensured the person on the other end of the line.
He turned and saw her and appeared startled.
“I have to go” he said quickly and hung up.
“What was that about?” she asked.
“Just business, some problem with some merchandise” he said
almost seeming like he was hiding something.
“What time is it?” she asked.
He looked at his watch and said “Eleven am.”
She panicked “I have to go” she said as she ran down and
found her dress.
She put on the dress trying to stay covered up, which was
stupid she thought. Not like he hadn‟t seen everything the night
before already.
“Can you take me home?” she begged.
He nodded and they headed to the car. It was close to
eleven thirty by the time they got to Annie‟s house. She kissed
him on the cheek and got out. He handed her the phone.
“Don‟t forget this” he said, “I‟ll call you” and he sped
off.
She stuck the phone in one of the shoes and made her way up
the stairs to Annie‟s front door and rang the doorbell.
Chapter 8:
The door opened and to her surprise it wasn‟t Annie in the
opening to greet her but her mom and she did not look happy.
Annie was standing behind her with a fearful apologetic look on
her face. Her mom opened the door wide and motioned her to come
in not saying a word; the look on her face said it all. She knew
that her mom was not able to say a word without completely
losing it and she didn‟t want to do that at Annie‟s house. She
was saving that for the little apartment. Kim just wanted it
over with but thought better of starting the discussion there.
She didn‟t want to make Annie more uncomfortable then she
already was either. Kim rushed into Annie‟s room and got changed
into her clothes from yesterday hoping that would temper her
mom‟s mood. Surely it would be better than the clothes she was
wearing now.
After getting changed in record time she quickly packed her
bag making sure to hide the phone in the bottom of the bag. Next
she ran into the bathroom and cleaned as much of the make-up
from her face as possible. She knew she needed to look as much
as normal Kim as possible and nothing like the vamp she was last
night. Then she slowly emerged from Annie‟s bedroom feeling like
a prisoner on death row leaving the safety of his cell for the
last time. It would be better if she could just stay in Annie‟s
room for the rest of her life but that wasn‟t an option and she
knew it was better to get it over with. On her way out she
hugged Annie and whispered thanks to her. Annie gave a smile and
nodded. Then she walked through the front door into the street
her mom right behind her.
They walked home not speaking a word her mom several steps
in front of her setting the pace. They got home and her mom
opened the door for her to let her in. Her face was still red
with fury and her jaw still clenched preventing every profanity