My Baby, My Darling.

When I got home, I told Nicole about the spontaneous date and she took that as her queue to come over and raid my freezer of all its ice cream while I was in the shower. She was sprawled out on my bed, eating ice cream when I came out and I made a mental note to steal my key back from her when she wasn’t looking.

"You’re going out with the decoy guy?" Nicole mumbled in between spoonfuls of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, not bothering to look up at me.

I nodded, pulling a grey tank top over my head and walking over to my bed. "Yeah, can you believe him? Gabe does a lot of shithead things, but what kind of idiot move was that? I mean, you all heard me complain about him on the way home.

Nicole nodded absentmindedly and continued to flip through her Glamour magazine. She reached for the pint at her right side and fiddled with the spoon a little before glancing over her shoulder to meet my eyes, "Gabe must really trust him. He doesn't do these kinds of things without reason, especially involving you. You're like his baby sister."

I rolled my eyes and plopped down onto the hardwood floor, gesturing for her to hand me the pint. She willingly handed it over and reached for the red nail polish on my bedside table. I shook my head slowly and put a spoonful of ice cream into my mouth, "I guess. But, I really don't know how I'm gonna get through tonight without choking the perv."

She put the finishing touches on the last finger and extended her hand outward to admire her work, "Just make sure you look hot, then everything will fall into place. At least, that’s my motto."

I narrowed my eyes, "I don't want to impress him. He's not worth it."

She threw her head back in laughter and pretended to wipe tears from her eyes. "Honey, he has the face of a god." Her smile snapped straight back to a serious face and the room turned dead silent.

I couldn’t help the way my lips curved into a smile in response to her fake hysterics. "You are so weird sometimes, you know that?"

"It's what I do, bitch. Now to find yourself something to wear, he's picking you up in an hour." She returned her attention to the magazine.

With Nicole’s approval, I decided on a black a-line dress that stopped just above my knee. I decided not to do anything with my hair because the dress itself would make me look date worthy. There was no need to put more effort into my appearance than needed. I went light with my make-up, causing Nicole to cluck her tongue in disapproval. I was not going to let her touch my face. Knowing her, she would probably smear the darkest eye shadow and dark red lipstick. And that wasn’t me. Plus, it would just smear considering how much I absentmindedly rubbed my eyes.

"Honey? Are you home?" I could hear my mother's quick, fragile pace as she scurried up the stairs.

I narrowed my eyes at Nicole who was throwing popcorn up into the air and trying to catch it with her mouth, only to scatter it all over my bed. I finished zipping up my dress and peeked my head out of my bedroom door.

"Yeah," I called out to my mother, "and Nicole's here. We're in my room."

She rounded the hallway and raised her eyebrows in a questioning gaze, "Well you look nice, honey. Where are you going?"

I let out a heavy sigh, "I'm going out with one of Gabe's friends tonight. I kind I have to. I'm obligated actually. He'll be here any minute now." I didn't hide my relationships with my parents. They trusted me and were pretty okay with dating. But I did notice how my mother pursed her lips in distaste when I mentioned that it was one of Gabe’s friends I was going out with. My parents loved Gabe, he was family. They just didn’t like Gabe’s friends. Travis, they were okay with. He’s come with us to quite enough family trips for them to grow a strange love for him. I can’t help but think that a small part of my mother wishes that I would just date Travis and be done with it. I mean, Travis and I got along really well. But I didn’t see him that way.

My mother’s lips curved into a smile, "Well that's nice. I look forward to meeting him. Hi, Nicole." She peered into my bedroom.

Nicole grinned and stumbled up to the door, "Hi, Mrs. Chelsea's mom! That's a beautiful dress you're wearing. What is that color, coral?"

"No, actually. It's salmon. Although, it does have an awful coral feel, doesn’t it?” She looked down at her dress and back up at Nicole. She was just another sucker for Nicole’s sweet charm. I’ve gotten out of so many major groundings because Nicole was able to sweet talk my parents into letting me go out with her.

“No, don’t say that. It’s not awful. Actually, it’s a really good color on you, Senora.” Nicole looked down at my mother’s dress and nodded, giving her approval.

The doorbell rang and I winced slightly. He's here. Is it too late to call it off? I could tell him I'm sick. But, I'm already dressed. I could say that there's an emergency with Nicole and she needs me, but Nicole would probably blow that one for me. She really wants me to go through with this. I let out a puff of air and grabbed my heels off of the floor, leaving Nicole in the middle of a conversation with my mother about spring colors. I continued to rack my mind for ideas that would get me out of this night.

I walked past Nicole and my mother and made my way downstairs. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I was confronted with the image of my father and Dexter in a deep discussion about things that made little sense to me. I watched them talk, awestruck as to what was going on. My dad never liked to make conversation with my dates. I didn’t blame him. Most of my dates were terrible at making conversation. I don’t know why, but most guys have this fear of dads, mine especially. But watching the two of them talking just now, I realized that was not the case. Dexter and my dad stood at about the same height and they looked like they fit well together. It wasn’t that they were dressed alike. Actually, Dexter was underdressed compared to my dad. But then again, everyone was undressed compared to my dad. He wore perfectly tailored suits a majority of the time. Dexter stood next to him in black boots, black jeans, and a plain white shirt. His leather jacket was clutched in one hand, the other slowly reaching into his back pocket to pull out his wallet. He caught sight of me from the corner of his eye and nodded, sending me one of those annoying little smirks of his. What a cocky asshole.

I stepped off the stairs and made my way over to them, looping my arm through my father's in the process. He spun around to look at me and smiled, placing a quick kiss on my forehead. "Hi, honey.”

I smiled, “Hey, dad. How was your trip?”

He and my mother had been at a conference all weekend for his job. My dad never liked to travel alone and if my mother could spare time away from her Café, my dad insisted that she come along. So I was left to my own devices a majority of the time. Growing up, my mother would stay home while he went away so that she could watch my brother and I. But now that me and Max were adults, they were rarely ever home. Most of the time, I had the house to myself. And I didn’t mind it. I liked the quiet. I just missed them sometimes.

"It was good, honey. I was just talking to your friend Dexter about a little business strategies. He knows an impressionable amount about the stock market, and I really do think he might be able to give me an edge in the game.” He looked into my eyes delightedly and sent me a look as to say, 'Where did you find this boy?'

Dexter nodded at him. "Yeah, your dad and I were just talking business while I was waiting for you. Richard, by the way, I have the number for my friend in the stock market if you want it. He'll talk you through all the current statistics and strategies as to the approach you should take toward your subject of interest." He reached into his wallet and pulled out a business card, handing it to my dad.

My father widened his eyes in surprise. "That would be excellent. I look forward to speaking with him." He shook Dexter's hand and accepted the card. Looking down at it, he turned to walk away only to turn back around one more time to tell us to have fun and be safe.

Have fun and be safe? I raised an eyebrow at my father as he walked away. Who was that man and what has he done to my father? Usually, he would jump at the chance to interrogate my dates. He was especially tough on Brian who was far too afraid to even ring the doorbell sometimes. Usually he would wait out in the driveway, send me a text message telling me he was here, and wait until I came out of the house.

I turned back around only to meet a grinning Dexter. "Shall we?" He held out his arm for me in a big gesture. I narrowed my eyes and walked past him, leaving him standing in my foyer with a confused expression and an arm gone slack.