Chapter 8: A Day For The Record Books
So remember how I said that the subject of Howie was momentarily forgotten? Well momentarily was the key word. The minute we stepped out of the spa we were right back on the topic. Leighanne suggested we get some lunch before we get our hair done so that we could have some time to talk without someone standing over our shoulders. I may be a bit stupid sometimes, but I knew what that meant.
I wondered if a girl like her actually eats and knew that whatever she suggested was more than likely not going to be on my usual menu. When she asked if I like Thai, I wasn’t really surprised but at least it wasn’t sushi. I’d never tried it before, but hell I’d never had a massage before either and that was fucking awesome. Leighanne smiled at me when I told her I’d never had it. “I think you’ll like it.” She said, “Spicy. I bet you’re the kind of girl that loves things a little spicy.” I knew she wasn’t talking about food with that statement, but she was right either way so I figured I’d trust her again and see what else might just surprise me today.
Apparently Leighanne was tired of beating around the fucking bush because as soon as the waiter was done taking our order she looked at me, all hints of that playful giggle gone, and said, “So you’re not afraid to date, you’re just afraid to date Howie.”
She waited for me to say something as if she’d asked me a question. I can appreciate bluntness but I had no fucking idea what to say to her. I looked like a dumb ass when I shrugged with my mouth hanging wide open. “We are going to talk about this whether you like it or not.” She said crossing her arms, “I have a sixth sense when it comes to sniffing out guy trouble so spill it. I can help, I promise.”
The thing that surprised me the most is not what she said, it’s that she didn’t want to talk about him just for the sake of gossip. I think she genuinely wanted to help. She was right, I was having guy trouble and I was afraid to date Howie. “It’s complicated.” I finally said thinking about the whole situation. “It really doesn’t have anything to do with Howie.”
Leighanne didn’t buy that for a second, and she didn’t look amused either. “Ok, it has everything to do with Howie,” I admitted, “And yet it has nothing to do with him as well.”
I could tell she was intrigued by what I said. She believed me though, so I guess that was a good start, but I’m a pretty tough case. I doubt even her sixth sense would be able figure out what was going on in my head. “He treated me like a lady.” I said.
“You are a lady.” Leighanne said letting herself giggle again.
“I may be a female, but I ain’t a fucking lady. I wasn’t raised to be one and I sure as hell ain’t used to being treated like one. Howie scared the shit out of me on several different levels.”
“It felt good didn’t it?” Leighanne said.
She smiled at me but it was like she felt sorry for me at the same time. Not pity, she didn’t pity me, she just felt bad. In fact she gave me that same smile that her husband gave me when he noticed the bruise on my face. Then the strangest thing happened. I let my guard down, and not just a little. I wanted desperately to figure out what was wrong with me and I just began spilling everything that was on my mind. “It felt real good.” I said with a sigh, “Too good.”
“So what? You don’t think you deserve a little respect?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never had that kind of respect. Never done a damn thing to deserve it. My friends respect me because I’m tough. If I let someone treat me like that, they’d see it as weakness. They’d laugh at me. If they ever found out that I liked it, they’d probably crucify me.”
“What kind of friends are those?”
“The only ones I’ve ever known. Don’t get me wrong; Danny and John are the best friends anyone could ever ask for. They love me, and they’re probably the only people on this planet that do. But they’re guys, and to them, so am I. I don’t know what would happen if I suddenly started acting like a girl.”
“You can’t stay one of the guys forever. Eventually the hormones will catch up to ya. It can’t be easy pretending to be something you’re not all the time.”
Leighanne’s words hit me like a slap in the face. Could she be right? Was I really just pretending? I sat there for a minute thinking about it and realized how much I’ve been struggling lately. Everyday seems like a fight. It’s like those city boys showing up just threw whisky on a fire that was already started. “I don’t have a choice.” I said.
At first I didn’t know I’d said that out loud, but when it came out of my mouth I realized it was true. I loved Danny and John, but I hated who I was. “That’s what your problem is.” Leighanne said sincerely. “I was wrong. You’re not having guy troubles, you’re having girl troubles.”
I slumped back in my chair feeling pretty defeated but Leighanne continued to smile. “You’re in luck.” She said, “Because in case you haven’t noticed, if there’s one thing I’ve truly figured out how to be, it’s a girl.”
I smirked, thinking she had no idea just how true that statement was, but I still just felt so depressed. “You do have a choice, you know. There’s nothing wrong with embracing your feminine side a little. Give it a chance; you might be surprised how natural it feels. Don’t worry about your friends. They’ve been your friends forever. I’m sure they’ll understand. Who knows? They may even like it.”
Leighanne was right. It was time to be brave. I always thought I was brave because I’m not scared of anybody, but it turned out I was really a fucking coward and the person I was scared of was me.
I must be more of a girl than I realize too because I loved the entire day. As it turns out, I love being pampered. Sue me? You know you’d love it too. At the salon they died my hair from its plain mousy brown to a rich brunette with just a hint of red. I didn’t think you would be able to tell any difference. Isn’t brown still just brown?
Let me tell you what, its not! When I saw the finished product I hardly recognized myself but as I looked in the mirror I couldn’t wipe the silly grin from my face. Shit, I didn’t just like it. I loved it! And whatever they did to my eyebrows? That hurt like a bitch but it looked amazing when they were done. For a minute I started to believe Leighanne that I really was kind of pretty. I was curious to see the finished product.
Oh God, then my favorite part of the day was when the lady went to do my nails. You should have seen her face! She turned white as a ghost and called over three other people for a fucking consultation. Leighanne and I never laughed so hard in our lives! It took them like an hour but I’ll be dammed if they didn’t get every hint of grease off my fingers. And god, you should feel how soft these babies are now. Brian, eat your heart out! I didn’t let them do the fake fingernails they wanted knowing that I would only be under the hood of a car tomorrow morning and the damn things might get in the way. But they did file what little nails I had and polished them up so pretty I was afraid to touch anything. And then they did my goddamned toenails! It was fucking hilarious!
After that Leighanne dragged me around the mall relentlessly, starting with Victoria’s Secret. “What the hell are we doing in here?” I asked when we began looking through all the lacy underwear.
“A girl doesn’t look sexy unless she feel’s sexy.” Leighanne said picking up the silkiest pair of panties I’d ever seen.
“And these…” she said with a hint of naughtiness in her voice as she playfully rubbed them on my bare arm, “Feel sexy.”
I wanted to look at her like she was insane but again, she was right. I wouldn’t mind feeling that against my skin once in a while instead of the cotton ones I always wear. She knew what she was doing. I’ll give her that.
After only a little bit of convincing, I let Leighanne pick out a pair of matching bra and panties that she said were sure to make me “feel sexy”. We looked around a bit and wandered into the lingerie part of the store. I looked at all the different things and picked out the most risky think I could find and said, “Fine, but if I’m not leaving here without something new, then neither are you.”
“I already have tons of this stuff.” She said trying to brush me off. “Probably too much.
“Anything that looks like this?” I asked holding up the naughty outfit. When Leighanne saw what I was holding up she blushed a little and laughed as she shook her head.
“This has kitchen sex written all over it.” I said.
“I couldn’t!” she gasped.
“Hey, if I have to try something new, then so do you!”
Leighanne looked at me a little unsure, “Come on Leighanne, give it a chance. You might be surprised how natural it feels.” I teased throwing her own words back in her face.
Leighanne’s jaw dropped when she couldn’t think of an excuse to refuse me, and god damnit, I giggled for the first time in my life.
After that, we went from store to store and tried on outfit after outfit. God she’s an exhausting woman. I don’t know how she does it. When we both had more bags than we could carry Leighanne finally decided to call it quits. She picked out her favorite outfit of everything we had and dragged me into the ladies room insisting that I change. She wanted to prove to me that I could turn heads. “Everything!” she called out tossing the Victoria’s Secret bag under the stall door. “We have to complete the entire ensemble.”
I changed into my new “sexy underwear” and then put on a short jean skirt and a fitted knit top. Then I slipped on an amazing pair of cowgirl boots. I had fallen in love with them the instant Leigh pulled them off the shelf. She laughed at me and said the fact that I got so excited over shoes meant that there was absolutely no question that there was a girl inside me somewhere.
I came out of the stall and took a spin. Leighanne clapped excitedly and then handed me a fat leather belt and the dangliest pair of earrings I’ve ever seen. I left my hair down but the stylist had layered it and gave me a few bangs that he then pushed to the side in order to frame my face. I put everything on and shrugged nervously.
Leighanne looked me up and down and then tugged at my skirt and flipped my hair a little. Then she reached up and unbuttoned the top button of my shirt. I looked at her surprised and she smiled devilishly. “We spent good money on that sexy push-up bra for a reason.” She giggled. Maybe I was wrong about her. Maybe she didn’t need any advice about wild and crazy lovemaking. The more time I spent with her the less innocent she became.
I turned and looked at myself in the mirror. I could hardly believe the person staring back at me. As I studied my new look Leighanne’s cell phone rang. Of coarse I can’t be sure, I don’t really follow music at all, but I think her ring tone was a fucking Backstreet Boys song. I laughed and she shrugged. I can just picture her dancing around in her room singing into her hairbrush to a poster on her wall. The image was fucking priceless. I’d better be careful or she’ll be having me over for sleepovers where we make up dance routines to that teenybopper crap in no time. I’m willing to try new things and all, but I do have my limits.
“Hey Howie!” Leighanne said into the phone making a face at me as she exaggerated his name. I rolled my eyes, now she was just giving me shit for the fun of it. “That’s perfect!” she exclaimed, “I’m at the mall right now. Why don’t you guys come grab something here and then we can all go over together?”
I got nervous when she said we should all meet up. God, how could I face that man now? And looking like this? How could I face any of them? Leighanne snapped her phone shut. “Brian took Baylee to see Grandma at the hospital, but the other guys are hungry. They’re going to head this way and eat something then we can all go over to the hospital together.” She said with a wink and then checked her makeup in the mirror.
She saw the look on my face and smiled. “Don’t be nervous. You look amazing and they’re going to love you!”
Leighanne and I wandered over to the food court and got smoothies while we waited. As we walked the mall I felt so self conscious and it didn’t help that Leighanne giggled every time somebody looked at me. “See?” Leighanne said, “You’re turning all kinds of heads.”
Just as she said that a guy walking toward us tipped his fucking cowboy hat and flashed us a gorgeous smile. “Ladies.” He greeted politely as he passed.
I blushed. I couldn’t believe it! She did it. Leighanne fucking pulled it off. I definitely had a long way to go on the inside, but I sure did look the part of a lady. A not too bad looking one, I might add.
Once we had our smoothies in hand we walked over to the railing and looked down at the lower floor of the mall. We were pointing out good-looking guys to each other until we heard familiar voices coming up behind us. I recognized the whiney voice of Nick instantly. “Why are we in a mall? Might I remind you that we’re in fucking Lexington Kentucky! Can we please get out of here before we get mobbed.”
“What’s a matter Nicky?” AJ teased, “Don’t want people to see your face?”
“Fuck you AJ.” Nick whined making me grin with satisfaction. I’m glad the fucker was miserable over his pretty little face.
“Back off AJ. Nicky’s had a rough day.” Howie said in Nick’s defense yet still laughed at him.
When I heard Howie’s voice I stiffened up. Leighanne turned around to face them but I felt myself turning red so I stayed put until I could compose myself. “Hey guys! How was your meeting? I hope Baylee wasn’t too much trouble.”
“Naw, Baylee’s a good Kid.” AJ said.
“Who’s your friend Leigh?” Nick said with that same cocky tone I heard in his voice the first time we met.
“And why have we never had the pleasure of meeting her before?” AJ added turning up his charm. His efforts were less than subtle but his voice was fucking sexy. Total player. Player or not… I shrugged. I took a slow deep breath and then plastered a smile on my face as I turned around. I couldn’t let them see how nervous I was. “Hello again boys.” I greeted.
The look on their faces was worth all the hours I spent today making myself look like this. Fucking brilliant! All three of them fucking speechless! “Cindy?” Howie finally gasped.
Leighanne beamed with pride over their reactions. “What do you think?” she asked.
“Wow!” AJ said nodding his approval.
Howie took a step toward me and had I not been leaning against a railing I would have taken a step back. He took my hand in his. I wanted to pull away but I was fucking putty at his touch. He raised my hand above my head making me spin. “You look beautiful.” He said.
Oh God, what was is it with me and the fucking blushing lately? I couldn’t make myself stop. I tried my hardest not to smile as I looked down at our hands. He’d let my hand fall back to my side yet somehow managed not to let go. His fingers were barely clinging to mine and I made no effort to break us apart.
There was some kind of electricity that pulsed through by body when he touched me. It was a feeling that twisted up my insides into tight knots and made me want to explode, but in a good way. Fucking magic. Shit, could this be what I think it is? No fucking way! Love at first sight doesn’t fucking exist! Fucking fairytales aren’t real!
And just to prove my point, had this been a fairy tale, that moment would have lasted long enough for Howie to sweep me off my feet, declare his love to me and then whisk me off to some far off palace where he would make me hiss queen. As it is, the fucking cocky-ass blonde ruined our moment. “Holy shit Leighanne!” he laughed. “One day with you and she’s fucking Barbie! Look at her blush! It’s like the taming of the fucking shrew.”
What a fucking prick! That man was about to get his ass handed to him. My eyes narrowed and my fists clenched as both Howie and AJ gave him dirty looks. I was so angry that I had no words. I didn’t need words though. “Damnit Nick!” Leighanne yelled about ready to kick the shit out of the man herself.
Nick, Howie and AJ all looked at Leighanne in utter shock. Apparently such an outburst wasn’t exactly characteristic of the good natured, bubbly blonde. “Sometimes you can be such a… such a…”
Leighanne struggled to find the right words. “Jerk?” Howie supplied.
“Fucking ass hole!” she finally screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Holy shit.” AJ laughed in response to Leighanne’s statement.
Nick’s jaw dropped. I can imagine that was probably the first time she’s ever used that word. I couldn’t help the smirk on my face. Leighanne grabbed my hand and gave it a tug. “Come on Cin.” She said starting to drag me off protectively.
I followed but glanced back at the three men staring at us, completely baffled. I gave Nick a look that probably could have killed him if I’d kept it up long enough, but my eyes drifted to Howie. He watched me walk away with apologetic eyes. As I looked at him I couldn’t help but think of the butterflies that were still kind of floating around in my stomach. So much for fairytales.
I turned back around and was surprised to see tears in Leighanne’s eyes. “I’m sorry.” She said, “Nick doesn’t always think before he says things.”
“Look, don’t worry about it. I won’t lose sleep over him tonight.”
“No I do, I feel bad. He shouldn’t have said that.”
“He’s an ass.” I said, “I swear, you shouldn’t feel bad about anything. Shit Leighanne, you’ve been more kind to me than anyone in my life ever has. I’ve had such an amazing day that nothing a little prick like him could possibly say would ruin it.”
Leighanne stopped walking and looked at me with a pout. “Really?” she asked wiping the tears from her face.
“Really.” I reassured her, “Honestly, I can’t thank you enough.”
Leighanne cracked a smile and then without warning threw her arms around me in a big fucking hug. Surprised doesn’t even begin to describe what I felt. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to react. The woman must have been losing her mind. Finally I managed a weak hug in return hoping that might get her off of me. She pulled herself away and smiled at me again. “We’re going to be great friends.” She said and then continued walking again.
I stood there for a brief second trying to figure out what the hell just happened and then walked along side her. There was an awkward silence, or at least I thought it was awkward, until Leighanne gave a slight laugh. “It did feel kind of good to yell at him though. Did you see the look on his face?” After that, Leighanne and I laughed all the way to the fucking hospital.
Author's Chapter Notes:
hey ya'll! I finally finished my Brian story and have decided this one will be my next main focus. Yea for finishing stories!!! Enjoy the chapter! Oh, and I'm still haveing so much trouble comming up with a title for this one, so if you have any suggestions... I'm totally open! :)
