“That would be great,” she said. “I’ll call Tiffany after the meet.”
“Cool, I’ll talk to Gabbi.”
It was time to get into competition mode. I changed into my suit and put in my ear buds until it was time to announce the teams. The order for competing changed every meet and I was up first this time. I climbed the ladder for the platform and waited a moment before I went any further. I took a deep breath, blew it out and walked to the end of the platform. I centered myself and dove. When I landed, I knew it had been good, I could feel it.
My team cheered when my head broke the water. If we kept this up there was no way the other college could beat us.
A few hours later, we waited for the points to be totaled. When it was announced that Bay State was the winner the entire place went up in a cheer. I found Kayleigh and hugged the crap out of her. In between my dives I was able to see a couple of her races. She had done an outstanding job.
The atmosphere in the locker room was loud and upbeat. Someone put some dance music on, and it was like a party as we all showered and got dressed.
I wasn’t surprised to see Anthony waiting for me, but I was surprised that he was holding a bouquet of flowers. He didn’t really seem like the type to do that, so I appreciated the gesture.
“Congratulations. You were outstanding,” he said, pulling me into a hug. “Are you up for celebrating?”
“Yes, of course. And thank you for the flowers, they are beautiful. What did you have in mind?”
“I think I’ll leave it as a surprise. You can get ready at my place, okay?”
“Sounds perfect.”
All he told me was that we had to be there at 7:00 and we’d have to leave at 6:30. That gave me just over three hours to get ready.
“If this is a surprise dinner, how will I know what to wear?” I asked, when we walked into his living room.
“I’ve already picked out your outfit for the night,” he said.
“Huh?”
“The evening requires a certain attire, so I took the liberty of choosing something for you to wear.”
I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. I was getting a little Christian Grey vibe at the moment.
“Before you say anything, go see what it is. It’s hanging in the closet.”
If I was going to throw a fit, I’d at least see what I was “supposed” to be wearing. I walked into the bedroom and went straight into the walk-in closet. I stopped when I saw the outfit that he was referring to. It was a floor length royal blue evening gown with an intricate pattern of beading down the front of it.
“Wow, Anthony, it’s absolutely beautiful.”
“I thought it would look stunning on you, especially with your red hair.”
“It’s very elegant. What kind of dinner are we going to?”
“Nope, not telling. You said you wanted to be surprised. So, will you wear this dress for me?”
“Of course, I will. I can’t wait to put it on. I better start getting ready. And yes, it’ll take me that long.”
He grinned at me, gave me a kiss and left the bedroom.
At 6:00, it was time for me to put on the most gorgeous dress I’d ever seen. Before I took it off the hanger, I sent a picture of it to Kayleigh. I slipped it on, did it up as far as I could and looked in the mirror. I couldn’t stop the grin from forming on my face. It was like it was made just for me.
“Anthony, can you come here please,” I called to him.
A minute later, he was in the bedroom. “Hey. Wow, Karma, you are stunningly beautiful.”
My grin got bigger. “Thank you. Can you help me with the zipper?”
I turned around and he finished doing it up.
“I’d rather be taking this off of you than doing it up,” he growled in my ear.
That made me shiver from head to toe. “Later you can do whatever you want to this dress.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” he said. “I have something for you. It goes with the dress. I’ll be right back.”
I went to the closet and found a pair of black stilettos. By the time I had them on Anthony was back.
“Close your eyes,” he said. I did and I felt him put something around my neck. “Okay, open them.”
I looked in the mirror and saw that I was now wearing a necklace that was probably worth the same as a new car. It sat just below my throat and was made of diamonds and sapphires. “Anthony, this is amazing, but I can’t accept this. It’s too much.”
“Of course, you can. Just look at how beautiful it looks on you. Please Karma, tell me you’ll wear it.”
With the look he was giving me there was no way I could say no. “Okay.”
“Thank you. Are you ready? Our ride is waiting.”
“I am. Let’s go. By the way, you look hot in that tux.”
A deep rumbling laugh erupted from him. “They’re just going to love you tonight.”
“Who is?”
“Surprise, remember? And here’s the first surprise of the night.”
We rounded the corner and there was a limo in the driveway.
“Are we really taking a limo?”
“Yes.”
I giggled. “I feel like a princess on the way to a ball.”
“You look like a princess,” he said.
The chauffeur opened the door. Anthony got in, then took my hand to help me. The door was closed, and Anthony handed me a glass of champagne. I took a sip and the limo started moving. I was really curious as to what Anthony had planned.
****
Bodie
I watched as Karma left with Anthony. He’d brought her a bouquet of red roses, how very unoriginal. Major said something but I wasn’t paying attention. I was focused on Karma leaving the building.
“Huh?”
“I said, you’re coming with us tonight,” he repeated.
“I’m not going to be the third wheel,” I said.
“You can’t say no when you don’t even know what we’re doing.”
“Fine, what are you idiots up to?”
“I take offense to that,” Kayleigh said, from the other side of me.
“Sorry. I thought he was talking about just him and the boys.”
Major smacked my arm. “You need something to take your mind off certain things.”
I couldn’t disagree with him. “So, what are we doing?”
“That’s more like it,” Major said. “I thought we’d go try out that 7D Experience at Pier 39. We’ve been talking about it for a while and if we go with a group it’ll be more fun.”
“That actually sounds like a good idea.”
“You sound surprised,” Major said, with a laugh.
“The last time you had an idea I ended up in a dress, so I’m a little cautious now.”
“Oh, don’t think betting is off the table. We’ll find something to wager on.”
I knew that was a true statement. I just hoped I wasn’t the loser this time.
Major and Kayleigh started making calls and within the hour they had everything set. I was going to pick up Tiffany and we’d meet everyone there.
She was waiting outside her building when I pulled up.
“Hey,” she said, when she got in. “I think this is going to be fun. Have you done this before?”