Center Courtship (20 page)

A quick stop in Charming Charlie's and I had a small black purse with a long strap that allowed the bag to hang below my hip. Apparently this was the trick to make me even taller.

Back at the apartment I ran to my bathroom and got a quick shower and shaved my pits. There was no getting around it with a strapless top. I washed and dried my hair. It was nearly 6:30 and I was nowhere near ready. Colette came over and helped me get zipped and put my hair up in what she called a messy bun. Ringlets fell around my face and a select few cascaded over my bare shoulders. The necklace and bracelets she lent me were perfect. She quickly helped me add makeup that I had purchased on the way home, and I was done.

Colette grabbed my phone and took a bunch of pictures. “Bart, eat your heart out!” she said.
Why did she have to bring him up?

“I feel like I'm going to prom, but in pants. Of course I'm only going on pictures I've seen. I never went.”

“I know, but this is better than prom! By a million!” She smiled, a tear in her eye. “You are STUNNING, Mae! I can't believe we pulled it off so fast!”

“Colette, thank you so much. You're my own personal Fairy Godmother.” She gave me a quick, cautious hug.

I looked down at myself, disbelieving what I saw as well. I knew I didn't look like myself. I hardly recognized me. It was a strange sensation. I gathered my phone, the lip gloss that Colette swore I needed, my ID and some cash and threw it in my new purse just as there was a knock at the door. “He's here!” I panicked. I ran to my bedroom for one more look in my full-length mirror. This wasn't going to work. No one there would buy that this was who I was. I felt like such a phony. Was it too late to call it off? What would my mom say? I wished my grandfather could see me. He'd give me a hug and tell me to have fun. Bart would probably tell me I was stupid for thinking this was anything but a horrible, horrible idea. ‘
Girls like you don't get dressed up'
I could hear my mom telling me. Every negative thing that anyone had ever said to me began flooding my mind and I could feel tears begin to form in my eyes.

Colette walked into my room and looked at me. “Stop it! Stop it, now! You deserve this! More than anyone in this whole city! You're going to knock them dead! Don't listen to whatever is going on in that beautiful little head of yours! There is a super-sexy man standing in your living room and if you don't go with him, I will!”

I laughed thinking that I had actually tried to pawn this date off on her. I quickly wondered if it wasn't too late to try again. She gave me another hug and I walked out into the living room where Casper stood with his back to me, looking at some pictures hanging on the wall. I cleared my throat and he turned around. He wore a shiny gray suit with a black tie and white shirt. His shoes were high polished black. I had to agree with Colette on this one, he was rather sexy.

“Shit!”

I raised an eyebrow. Did I look that bad? “I'm sorry, is it ok? I wasn't sure about the pants and…” I stammered as I tried to straighten out the tutu.

“I'm sorry, Mae. No, that's not what I meant. You are, WOW. I mean, damn!” He walked to me and put his hands on my bare arms. I flinched at the touch but smiled. “You are stunning, Mae.”

I smiled up at him. “I bet you say that to all the girls,” I said as I smacked him in the chest.

“Only to the drop dead gorgeous hotter than hell ones, Mae. I've only ever met one of those in my life, and she's right here!” He stepped back and ran his gaze over my body. I could almost feel his eyes tracing my curves. “WOW!”

Colette came out of the bedroom and asked for my phone. We took some pictures so I'd have something to remember the night by. We left quickly and made our way to the dinner.

Casper had purchased the Corvette. It seemed to suit him well. When we pulled up to the restaurant I could see some of my employees doing their valet duty with the cars ahead of us in line. “This is a little awkward,” I said, slouching down like hiding here would make them not see me a minute later.

“Your guys are cool, don't sweat it. If they give you problems, I'll take care of them.” He laughed.

“You have an accent,” I said.

“Is that a question or a statement?” he asked.

“I guess a bit of both. Where are you from?”

“I've lived in the US since I was twelve. I was born in Jamaica.”

“And yet no dreads,” I smiled at his short cut hair.

“Not my thing,” he said as he inched forward.

“So do you have a girlfriend, Casper?” I asked.

“I've got my eyes on someone, but I'm not sure if she's taken or not.” He kept his eyes ahead of him and I wondered if there was something I should be reading into his words.

There was a tap on my window and I saw Greg's smiling face. “MAE?”

“See? He's cool,” said Casper as he got out of the car and rushed around to open my door.

I held his hand as I got out. I pulled my top up, making sure I wasn't revealing too much and stood up straight, looking at Greg who had a huge grin across his face. “Wow, boss, you clean up well! Better than well!”

“Thank you, Greg,” I smiled at him. I could just imagine him thinking the complete opposite to himself.

Casper offered me his arm and I accepted. He had already seen me stumble down the hallway at the apartment building, so he knew I was not to be trusted in the new heels. There was a red
carpet that led down the sidewalk and apparently every news channel, magazine and website was in attendance around a large logo'd backdrop with their cameras ready to aim and fire at anyone who stepped in front of them. I could see Brent ahead of us with a blonde woman on his arm, both were smiling at the cameras.

I looked at Casper nervously, “I'll just go around and meet you on the other side,” I said, pointing to the opposite side of the camera flashes.

“Oh no, I'm showing you off,” he said as he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close roughly. “I didn't spend all that money not to have bragging rights. I've got the hottest chick here, and I want the world to know!”

He guided me forward and we took our spot in front of the cameras. All I could do was stand like a deer on the highway as a million flashes went off in my face. I could hear people calling for Casper to look in different directions. I tried to look where he looked so it would appear that we were paying attention to the same things. I smiled as best I could until I heard my name. “Mae? Is that Mae?”

I gritted my teeth into a smile and whispered “oh shit” under my breath. The questions began.

“Mae, what about Elsu?”

“Mae, look this way!”

“Mae, are you playing the court? How many hearts do you plan to break before you've had your fill of the Whoopsters?”

“Shit,” said Casper. “Let's get out of here.” He pulled me out of the line of fire.

“I'm sorry,” I said as we continued to walk along the carpet.

“Sorry for what? For them being assholes? It was one picture. It didn't look like you two were making out or anything.” We got in line behind other people trying to get into the building. “You weren't making out, were you?”

I laughed. “No, we were definitely not making out. I was leaving, he gave me a hug. Carl thought he was doing something important and took our picture.”

“That guy is a creep,” he said. “The 80s called, they want their glasses back!”

I laughed agreeably. A man who reminded me of Millard in broad, solid muscle, stepped out from the crowd ahead of us and up to Casper. “Sir, ma'am, right this way.” We followed him around the line and into the hall.

“Wow!” I said as I looked around at the lavish surroundings. “Are we still in Massillon?” I asked.

“I sure hope so, Mae.” He lightly tapped the hand that was gripping the inside of his elbow.

The place was huge. Tables were set up around the room, everything was decorated in the team's orange and black. Large flower arrangements decorated each table, a dance floor sat at one end and on a raised platform were two tiers of tables where some players and their guests were already sitting. “We're on a stage? That's not awkward.” At least we weren't in the middle of the crowd this way. But now everyone could watch us eat.

We made our way to the platform and found Casper's name tag on the front table. I placed the wrap I had borrowed from Colette on my chair, and stood and looked out into the audience of diners that were filling the room. I was suddenly overcome with dread and a chill filled the air. I sat down in my chair and pulled the wrap back around me.

“Are you cold?” asked Casper as he stepped up to me.

“Yeah, I don't know why.” I said. He offered his hand and I stood again. He began rubbing my bare arms, I noticed his eyes were looking down my top at my cleavage. I quickly prayed that everything planned to stay in place. I smiled at him, nervously. While I wanted to, I didn't step away.

“This place is just stupid! Who has a party like this in the middle of nowhere in a stupid little town?” Saraya's complaints arrived before she did.

“Sweetheart, this is where the team's home is. They've been more than hospitable to us.” I heard Elsu's voice on the other side of Casper and it made me cringe at the thought of him trying to please Saraya.

Casper turned around, creating a barrier between me and Elsu. “Hey buddy, did you get attacked by the paparazzi too?” he asked.

Casper and Elsu slapped palms and gave each other a half hug by pulling each other to themselves and slapping one another's shoulder.

“Where's your date? I thought you were bringing your boy.”

“He couldn't make it at the last minute. So Mae agreed to be my date,” said Casper as he stepped to his side revealing me like a prized possession.

Elsu froze. A look I had yet to see crossed his face. His eyes closed for a longer period than a blink and I saw him suck air through his teeth as if he was trying to keep himself from saying something. He then glared at my date as he watched Casper's arm snake around my waist. The look on Elsu's face changed immediately and this one was a look of near rage. I suddenly got the feeling that this whole thing was a bad idea.

Elsu stepped to me, took my hand, and kissed the back of it. “You my dear, are the most beautiful woman in this whole place,” he whispered close to my ear.

“Stop it,” I said, blushing.

“Stop what?” He stepped away from me and put his hand on my shoulder. I could feel the heat radiate across my whole body from his one simple touch. A finger wrapped a curl near my ear. “You're…wow!”

I blushed a little more, I began to worry that all the heat on my face was going to melt my makeup off.

“Yeah, the bitch wouldn't let me bring my boy at the last minute, so I needed someone to fill his seat. Mae agreed. I'm glad she did,” said Casper as he blew out the last few words into my ear. He wrapped both arms around my waist and placed his head near mine. I could feel the stubble of his goatee scrape my bare shoulder. I shivered uncomfortably at his closeness.

The rage face returned to Elsu as he eyed Casper's head near my neck. “I honestly didn't recognize you,” said Elsu as he looked at me. I wriggled my way out of Casper's grip and stepped a half step closer to Elsu. I felt his gaze follow the contours of my body as he stepped back and took me in. “Damn!”

The screeching sound of electronic feedback was heard over the speakers and everyone reacted by covering their ears.
“Testing, testing.” We looked to the DJ booth and saw Carl trying to get things settled down.

“Oh, brother,” said Elsu as he grabbed my chair and offered to help me sit.

Casper saw Elsu's act of gentlemanliness and nudged him out of the way. “Move it,” he said with a sound in his voice that said he was staking his claim.

I rolled my eyes as I sat, letting Casper push my chair in. Elsu sat next to me, and realized he was two seats away from Saraya. He looked at her, her face was in her phone. He looked back at me and then at the name tag sitting on the table. He quickly took the tag that had someone else's name on it and exchanged it with the one that had his name that sat in front of Saraya. “Let's scoot down a bit, I want to be closer to…Casper.”

“No, that's probably not a good idea,” I said as I tried to stop him while I made eye contact with Carl who was visibly unhappy with me.

Saraya didn't question it, stood and moved down two seats, keeping her gaze on her phone the entire time. Elsu returned to sit next to me.

“Why not?” he asked me.

“Because, ummm…” I tried to find an excuse that didn't include Carl. “Those tags are probably there in a specific order. What if they call your name and the camera goes to that seat and you're over here? You'll look silly.”

“Silly? If they don't know what Elsu looks like, there's something seriously wrong with their camera guys,” whined Saraya as she continued to text.

“Saraya, sweetie, do you remember Mae?”

Saraya looked up and then at me. She was wearing a beaded, short, gold-colored dress and black heels. Her beautiful legs were bare beneath her dress and I felt silly wearing pants. I reached my hand to her for a greeting. She smiled but didn't reciprocate. Her thumbs were moving too quickly across her phone to be bothered.

I looked at Elsu who just shrugged his shoulders at me as if he was just as frustrated.

The tables in the room filled quickly and after a brief introduction of the team and coaches, they began serving dinner.

“Mae,” I smelled his voice before I saw Carl's greasy face. “So
nice
of you to come today.”

“Doesn't she look stunning?” asked Elsu.

“Didn't you know I was coming?” I asked Elsu. I had assumed Casper would have said something since he had obviously told Carl.