The Pretend Girlfriend(43)

"Yes. He's taking me out to some charity gala tonight, and he wants me to wear this." The note also said to be ready and waiting outside her building at nine. That was in under two hours.

Beatrice set her glass of vodka down and pulled the dress out. It was a strapless affair, and a blue so dark that Gwen thought it was black at first. It had a subtle sheen to it in the light. Holding the dress up, Beatrice moved it in her hands. That sheen moved as well. It looked good. And expensive.

"There's shoes, too!" B said, nodding down at the box.

So there were, Gwen noted. Heels. Cute ones, too. Probably super uncomfortable. The cuter the shoe, the more it hurt. The price you paid for looking good, apparently. They went well with the dress. Gwen didn't want to know how Aiden had come across her size.

"Are you gonna go? Because if you aren't, I demand you let me borrow this dress!" Beatrice said, laying it against herself to check the size.

Gwen extracted it from her friend's unwilling fingers. The material felt soft and smooth, like silk yet somehow different. Gwen checked the size as well, noting how the dress ended just above the knee. She sighed, not looking forward to carefully pulling up pantyhose.

"Yes, I'm going," Gwen said. Not like I have much of a choice, she added silently.

"Don't sound too happy about it," Beatrice said.





Chapter 14


There wasn't a whole lot of time. She needed to start getting ready right away. B followed her to her bedroom, and sat down on her bed. B had also grabbed her glass of vodka, and sipped at it as she watched Gwen rush around.

"I wonder why he didn't tell me earlier?" Gwen said.

It was strange. If he wanted to pull this off, surely he realized that he needed to give her more notice than this?

"Maybe it just came up," B said.

"Maybe..." Gwen replied. However, she felt that in a life like Aiden's, things rarely ever "just came up." Events like this were planned months in advance, weren't they? No, something was definitely going on.

"Wow!" Beatrice said as Gwen pulled the dress on. Gwen pulled the fell-length mirror out of her closet and then leaned it against the wall. Wow was right. This dress looked great on her, even without being zipped up at the back.

It hugged her waist and hips without being too tight, yet somehow still managing to flatter her figure. And, being strapless, there couldn't be any annoying threads poking out over her shoulders to catch the attention of rich men. Had he done that on purpose? Gwen wondered.

"Will you help me?" Gwen said.

Beatrice came over and helped zip the dress up. It tightened up a bit more around her, but she could still breathe. The bodice exposed just enough of her cleavage, pressing her breasts together, to be suggestive without also being lewd.

Gwen twisted and turned, watching that shimmering effect of the fabric.

"It's things like this that make me think I'm playing for the wrong team," Beatrice said, "Here, try the shoes."

Gwen slipped those on, putting one hand on B's shoulder for balance. She suddenly felt a lot taller, and even had to take a step back from the mirror (the heels clicking on the floor as she did) so that she could see the full effect.

The shoes accentuated the curve of her back, and she could already tell that they were out to kill her feet. But even she had to admit she looked good.

"Fine, very fine," B said.

"Yeah..." Gwen said, her initial apprehension and annoyance at having a second last-minute social engagement disappearing. Had Aiden picked this out?

Beatrice cleared her throat, "If you're done checking yourself out for now, I think you need to keep getting ready."

"Oh!" Gwen said, glancing at the clock. It was already almost 8:30 and she still needed to do something about her hair. She spun around, intending to get to the bathroom, but instead tripped over her own feet. She hadn't walked in heels in a long time.

"Are you sure you haven't had any drinks today?" B said, catching her and letting her regain her balance.

"Quiet, you," Gwen said.

Somehow, she managed to make her hair look not terrible, apply some makeup to make her face look not exhausted, and made it down to the front entrance of her apartment with five minutes still on the clock.

Though her feet already throbbed, despite only having the shoes on for a half hour or so. She decided to leave them off while they were in the car. Give her body some time to recharge. For some reason, the butterfly wings of nerves and anxiety battered against her stomach. So much so that she hardly noticed the cool evening air on her bare shoulders.

Beatrice waited with her until the limo pulled up to the curb. She gave Gwen's hand a squeeze as the driver stepped out to open her door.