Breakfast with Duncan and my father was certainly something that I hadn’t experienced before; but it was also entertaining in an almost twisted sort of way. Duncan was trying to be as polite as possible while also trying not to gain twenty or so pounds because of my father shoveling food down his throat.

Poor Duncan. I thought, a small smile gracing my lips. How will he ever survive dinner?

Thinking of dinner made me think of how it’s usually boring, but these past few years hadn’t been that bad since Bridgette had always been there to keep me company and flirt with the older sons of some CEO.

“Oh! How could I have forgotten her!” I suddenly cried, sitting up in my chair at the table. The two males sitting there looked up at me with raised eyebrows; an image that made me want to laugh because of how alike they appeared, but I had other things to do.

“Daddy can I borrow your phone? I have to call Bridgette so we can meet up,” I explained, the blush still loitering on my cheeks from embarrassment.

“Today? Well what about Duncan here? We’ve got to get him in a tux,” my father reminded me and I groaned out of habit, quickly realizing just how rude it must sound to Duncan.

“You don’t really need me to go tux shopping. Besides, Bridgette and I have to get dresses. How about while we go dress shopping you boys go tux shopping and then at dinner we can all surprise each other with how lovely we look.” My words were hopeful and the smile on my lips that of which I knew my father couldn’t deny. He’d never been very good at denying me what I wanted even since I knew how to talk and could catch on to the way things worked in the house.

He appeared to be studying me, putting up a rather strong battle before finally giving in with a smile, shake of his head, and a sigh. “Alright, but try not to totally max out my credit card,” he warned me and I smiled joyfully; taking said card from him after he had pulled it out of his wallet and then placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you daddy,” I practically sung to him.

“Anything for my Princess.” Upon hearing the snicker come from Duncan, I remembered that he had been there to witness the whole event and the blush spread back to my face ten-fold. It was one thing to have to have him see me pull out the ‘daddy’s angel’ card on my father and act all sweet, but another to have him hear my father call me Princess after having me argue so many times with him that I wasn’t in fact a ‘princess’.

Great. Now he’ll never let me live this down. But even thinking that couldn’t crush my high spirits and I think the thought may have even lifted them slightly. Gosh I am just starting to act odder and odder as the days go on in New York.

At this rate my mother will probably explode when I come back home. And somehow this thought made me want to snicker myself, but I held it back knowing that it wasn’t the appropriate thing to do when thinking of one’s mother.

“Well Duncan, I guess you’ll be leaving with my father soon to go shopping as will I with Bridgette.” It was the best I could do when preparing a good bye for said man since things between us had been awkward as of late. In fact things are almost always seemingly awkward, a tension residing between us that sometimes made the air thick.

Taking my hint, Duncan stood and faced me; my father just sitting and watching the exchange. “Right,” he said, pushing me on to continue.

“I guess I’ll just be seeing you tonight then.” Gosh how I despise awkward situations with near strangers especially with my father watching and making me feel like I was being judged on how I interacted with the man before me.

I wasn’t sure what to say now and thankfully Duncan stuck out his hand and I slipped my own hand into his; giving it a firm shake despite how petite my hand was in comparison to his. Duncan’s grip was strong and warm, not too controlling but still experienced and respectable. My father had always said you could learn a lot about a person simply by shaking their hand and shaking Duncan’s hand now I understood how that could be true.

“Thank you again, really,” I whispered, hoping that it would be only him that heard. His only response was a nod, his face still straight and eyes still boring down into mine in a way that made me want to shiver from the feeling of being studied and examined. It was then that I noticed how long our hand contact had gone on and quickly I dropped his hand, my own falling to my side while his slowly returned to his side; fingers twitching slightly which made a string of thoughts go rushing through my mind.

Did he not like touching me? Were my hands not soft because I haven’t put on any lotion today? What if he thinks I’m a tiny girl that needs looking after because my handshake was too weak?

Well, in theory last night had already been an example that I did need looking after of since I had managed to wind myself off being held at knife range and having to have Duncan come to my rescue; but that had been last night. This was today and I wanted, if nothing else, to make a better impression of myself with him.

“Daddy I’ll see you tonight as well. I’m sure Bridgette will be very happy to be able to see you again,” I told my father and saw him smile, happy at the thought of seeing my long time friend after having not seen her for almost a year. With a slight nod to Duncan, I turned and exited the room; right away hearing my father start to talk to Duncan in hushed tones that made me worry just what exactly they could be talking about. It must’ve been about me since my father waiting until I was gone from the room to bring it up, or maybe it was simply timing with everything since I had stopped to thank Duncan and he was waiting for me to be finished speaking before talking himself.

Yeah, that must be it. I assured myself, but someone I couldn’t be quiet sure that it wasn’t me they were talking about in the kitchen.

Ugh, I really do need to talk to Bridgette.

oo-oo-oo-oo-oo

“Court!” The cry was shrill and certainly chocked full of joy as the sound of hurried footsteps thumped on the sidewalk as my best friend since forever, Bridgette, came running towards me. I hugged her tightly upon seeing her, feeling tears sting my eyes with over whelming emotions. It truly had been much too long since I had last seen my blonde sporty friend that had always managed to keep my spirits up during middle and high school. Really, if it hadn’t been for her I probably wouldn’t be as successful as I am now… well as successful as a freshly graduated high school student could be at such a young age.

“Oh Bridgette you look gorgeous! And you grew out your hair again,” I pointed out, patting down some of the loose strands and noting that it was still as soft as ever despite how much my friend was always in the ocean with her hair covered in salt water.

“And you of course Courtney are as lovely as usual. It still surprises me that guys are dropping left and right for you,” she said with a sly smile and I felt myself blush, thinking back to my lack of experience in the ‘boys’ area. That had always been Heather’s playfield and just thinking of the high school Queen Bee left a bitter taste in my mouth but at the same time I couldn’t help but respect her to some extend. She never spread any rumors about me and I never talked down to her, because we both, in sort of way, ruled the school and ‘rulers’ such as ourselves much show respect towards one another.

“Well that’s because they just can’t respect the fact that a woman now a days is entitled to her own opinion and has strong thoughts,” I proclaimed, tone that of like reciting it from a book. Bridgette laughed at my words and I knew it was because she couldn’t count that the number of times I had pulled that line during high school on her hands and toes combined.

“Same old Courtney. And here I was kinda worried that maybe you had changed over the year; become some punk rocker chick with tattoos who smoked,” Bridgette joked but I still couldn’t hold back the scoff.

“Lets not go wandering onto that subject just yet, shall we? Right now, we need to go dress shopping for tonight. There’s a dinner event and I over-heard daddy talking on the phone and some of his work buddies said they were bringing their sons. You know how much fun it is when they do,” I reminded her even though she knew all too well. At these parties, Bridgette and I, though of course mostly her, would usually flirt with the CEO’s sons who were a few years older than ourselves. It was harmless really and we meant nothing by it, never expecting anything aside from a few giggles later on when thinking back on it all. Still, it just gave us another reason to get all dressed up.

But is that the only reason? A part of me inquired and I knew, as much as I really hate to admit it, that the sons weren’t the only reason why I felt like getting extra dressed up today. In all truth, I really did want to impress Duncan which confuses me since what he thinks of me shouldn’t matter, but yet it did.

“Earth to Courtney. You’re about to walk into a pole.” Bridgette’s warning jarred me out of my thoughts and I quickly stopped just before walking into said pole.

“Thanks Bridge,” I said, glancing back at the pole as we walked on and wondering just how I could’ve possibly missed it.

“No problem.” There was then silence but I knew it wouldn’t last long because she was out for answers. Another couple of minutes of silence before, “So… what were you thinking about so intently that you didn’t notice that huge pole right before I warned you about it?” Aw yes, there were the questions I knew Bridgette would eventually be asking me.

“It’s nothing,” I told her too quickly, silently also telling her that what I had just said was a lie and that I was keeping something from her.

“One way or another Courtney, I’ll find out eventually,” she warned me and I knew all too well just how truthful Bridgette was being.

oo-oo-oo-oo-oo

Dress shopping had been a full success with me and Bridgette both finding gorgeous dresses that would surely be drawing many pairs of eyes to us tonight. She had settled for a lovely sky blue dress that ended just past her knees, halter ties keeping it up at her chest with a tight corset-like middle. It complimented her eyes and her natural tan that came from spending so much time out and especially surfing whenever she could and where ever she could. On her feet were a pair of white kitten heals

I had chosen a gold colored dress that went down to my feet and then trailed behind some. It was tight to the point where I couldn’t really take deep breaths but the dress was totally worth it. The top of the dress is strapless and pushing up on my chest making my b-cup become fuller and look more womanly but also left no use or room for a bra so I was forced to go without one. As for the bottom, it hugged my figure, fanning out ever so slightly at my feet so that I had room to walk. With some cute golden flats and a simple diamond necklace that rested just before my dress began; my look for tonight was complete and I was actually looking forward to the dinner.

“Thanks for taking me out shopping Courtney. I’ll see you tonight when the limo picks me up,” Bridgette said with a cheery smile, stepping out of the car and waving as I drove away. Despite how much I love Bridgette, as if she were my sister, shopping with her was somewhat of an exercise since she had so much energy that I was always running to keep up with.

A heavy sigh slipped from between my lips as I laid my head back against the back of the seat. “Long day Miss Cliena?” the driver asked, an amused smile floating across his lips. Despite my exhaustion, a small laugh still echoed through the car with a smile on my face.

“You could say that Lucas,” I told said man, knowing that there was no need to go into details since he knew just how long the day was seeing as he was the one who had to drive us around.

“And then you have that big dinner tonight. Well be sure to get lots of rest while you still have time Ms. Cliena,” Lucas told me and I simply nodded before slipping into a stiff sleep.

oo-oo-oo-oo-oo

So I know that it took me a while to update, but I’m updating within the same month as the last update which is actually very huge for me I hope that everyone enjoyed the update even though not a lot happened in it. Sadly the next chapter won’t have a whole lot more either except for some awkward moments between Duncan and Courtney’s dad. Chapter 9, however, will go through the dinner and some good things should happen then. I haven’t exactly planned it out yet so I’m not promising anything.

Thanks for the reviews! Please review again! Oh and I have a poll up that I need everyone to vote on. I’m going to create an OC and you’ll have two choices: To either make it a boy or a girl and then a name. I’ll give a list of names I want for it to either as a boy or a girl and all you need to do is vote. I’m telling you now that the OC won’t be showing up for a while, but I need to know the gender and name before I can start writing and planning things out for them.

So please go review and vote!

Kattie