Page 88 of One More Chance
Me:No, we made very specific plans.
Cora:Yeah, those have been derailed.
Me:I don’t think he thinks we’re dating.
Cora:You guys avoid talking about this shit, don’t you?
Me:There’s nothing to talk about so why would we talk about it?
Cora:I think you should talk about it.
Me:Okay, you know what, you’re not helping.
I put my phone down, releasing a heavy sigh.
When I get back home, maybe I won’t jump right back on that dating app. When I started things up on the hot and heavy side with Jensen, I deactivated my profile rather than deleting it. But I have a feeling I’ll need a break after all this. I’ll flip that switch at a later date.
I run upstairs to the bathroom to reapply my makeup a bit sexier—smoky eyes and all. Checking the clock, I realize he should be home very soon. So I slip on surprise number two. It’s got quite a lot of straps but the lady at the lingerie store assured me it would be worth it. That’s right. Lingerie. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those women that has like forty-three sets tucked away in a bottom drawer for special occasions. In fact, this is the first set I’ve ever owned. I tried to wear something for Charles exactly one time on our honeymoon and he said I looked ridiculous. He actually used that word. Ridiculous.
How does a woman wearing lingerie pull that adjective from someone? So I threw it away and never revisited the option.
Stepping in front of Jensen’s full-length mirror, I don’t think I look the way Charles described me all that time ago. My breasts fill out the cups and the lace hugs my body gently, accentuating every curve. I turn to take in my profile and see the lace cut diagonally across my ass cheeks. This is when I realize maybe for the first time, at least to this extent, that Charles is a complete and total donkey ass. Not just a regular ass. Specifically a donkey ass.
I pull on the silky robe I purchased to accompany the lingerie. Everything is black and sleek and I feel like a goddess for maybe the first time ever. Growing up, I might have been the popular girl. I might have been the prom queen and harvest princess and all that. But what people saw outwardly, I didn’t. It’s not that I considered myself ugly necessarily. More like plain. I felt just plain. A scoop of vanilla ice cream in a sea of the rest of the flavors. But tonight, wearing this, I feel great. I’m not vanilla. I’m mint chocolate chip. I’m rocky road. I’m something else entirely.
As I slip on high heels to complete the ensemble, I hear the front door open and shut.
Jensen’s home.
And I can’t wait to show him what I’ve been up to.