Arranged by Katy Wong (free ereaders txt) 📖

I asked looking around.

"No, you won't EVER see a single one of them." he said.

"Can I have a parfait?" James asked one of the chief.

"What do you want?" James asked me.

I grinned, "I LOVE PARFAITS! MAKE THAT TWO, PLEASE." I said shouted over James's shoulder.

I walked out of the kitchen and sat down at the dining table.

"So which dance you like best?" I asked him.

The maiden pasted out the forks and spoon.

"The rumba!" he said.

"Well, my is the tango."

"Are you just saying that because you don't know the other dances?" he said, smirking.

I laughed and said, "Yeah,"

He shook his hand and smiled.

"Which of the dances did you learn first?" I asked.

"The merengue."

"You got to teach me those dance moves next time." I said.

"Sure." he said and smirked.

Then, there was an awkward silence, until, he broke the silence.

"Oh, I forgot something!" James said jumping up from his seat, "How can I forget!"

"What?!" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"Wait, just hold on, I will be right back, ok?" he said and running out of the dining room.

A moment he return hiding his hand behind his back.

"Is it a surprise?" I giggled.

"Yeah," he said, "Ok, close your eyes. No peeking."

I closed my eyes and can't help, but grin a little.

I heard a bag rustling and a bow opening.

"Done?" I asked, impatiently.

"Almost and don't peek." he said.

I could feel someone behind me and leaning foreword. The heat of James heat near my body was making my heart beat. I could feel something cool and smooth going around my neck. I could hear a little clasp from a claspers.

"Open your eyes now." he said. My hand flew to my neck and I looked down. I gasped, it was simple and beautiful necklace, it has the letter V on it.

"It's really simple and I didn't really know what to get you, like, you know." James said and scratched his neck.

I grinned and said, "I love the necklace, it's beautiful."

"Oh," he said and blushed a little.

The parfaits came and James took a seat.

"Let's dig in!" I said and started eating.

"Mmmmh," It's really good.

"Oh, yeah, James, you're hired as my ballroom dancing teacher and Bex is FIRED!" I said, smiling.

James chuckled, "$100 for an hour!"

I gasped, "An hour? Than, I quit!" We both laughed.

"GIRLS AND BOYS!" Mrs. Cohen said, walking into the dining room with Jason and Jen behind her. The 4 inch high heel created a high pitch click, clock on the marble floor.

Jason and Jen took a seat and groaned a little. I looked at Jason to see what was wrong and right away, he looked at my neck. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his socket and his eye looked at my finger quickly.

Mrs. Cohen clapped her hand loudly and smiled her thousand dollar smile.

"Ok, I got good news." she said in her super high pitch voice, "I thought that the Night of Engagement for Jason and Vanessa should be pushed to an early day."

All of the eyes flew to Jason and me.

Still eating my parfait, I can feel the piece of fruit that I was chewing in my mouth getting stuck in the middle of throat and my eyes widened. I choked on the fruit and coughed, while Jason cleared his throat, sounding very uncertain.

"It's everything ok?" Mrs. Cohen asked, like she doesn't see the problem. She looked at me and sighed, "I know I am pushing you to the limit, - arrange marriage, ballroom dancing and making the Night of the Engagement early - but everything is going to be perfectly fine, ok darling?"

I reluctantly nodded and smiled like everything was perfectly fine too.

She turned to Jason and said, "And Jason, it's not that bad, ok? Just trust me, ok?"

Jason just raised both of his eyebrows and shrugged.

"And as for Jennifer and James, I will start thinking about your wedding." Mrs. Cohen said dreamily and smiled. She sighed, clasping her hand.

"Ok, now darling, go back to what you were doing, ok? Oh, by the way, that was the good news." she said.

Before she walking out, she turned and looked at me.

"Vanessa, come to my room, please."

I sighed.

Oh, boy!

It's not going to be bad . . . I think Layla said.

Yeeep I said sarcastically.

And pushing the Night of the Engagement is not going to be that bad

It will be pretty bad I sighed.

No, he is your mate and your going to love him, I promise Layla promised.

I got up and followed Mrs. Cohen upstairs.

"Sit, darling." Mrs. Cohen said, when I was in her office. I sat on one of the chairs and I fold my hands together, I squeezed them really tight together.

"Vanessa, I know you are having some difficulties with Jason, so I decided that I am going to push you and Jason together, like, more together." Mrs. Cohen said. I stared at her, really confused, how did she know about me and Jason not being so close together? I have to give her credit for knowing it.

"So how are you going to do that?" I asked. I squeezed my hands tighter.

Mrs. Cohen giggled and sighed, "Like what they do in modern days. Go on a date."

"A date?" I asked.

"Yeah, a date."

"Where?"

"Anywhere you and him want to go. I am going to let you decide." Mrs. Cohen said.

I hold in a sigh and an eye - roll.

"And don't worry, you're going to love him." she grinned.

That's what EVERYONE says

"Ok, that's it for today." Mrs. Cohen said, "Oh, yeah, the date is tomorrow, so wear something nice and don't worry, Valerie, Sunny, Vicky and Beth is going to help you. Ok, bye darling."

I got up and rolled my eyes when my back is to her. I got out of the office and I sighed.

OH, GREAT!!! A DATE COMING RIGHT UP!!! I thought.

Oh Great, A Date Coming Right Up!

 

~~

"Pss, pss, wake up!!" someone whispered in my ear.

I groaned and tried to shoo it away.

"Wake up, Vanessa!"

"Shut up, Jason!" I whispered sleepily.

"It's me, Beth! Now wake up!! Hurry up!!"

I groaned, Who is Beth??

I got up and looked around me, Valerie, Vicky, Sunny and Beth, Ohhh, that Beth.

"What's the matter?" I asked rubbing my eyes. Valerie gasped and rushed to my side and started clawing through my hair with her hand.

"Your date is today!" Beth explained and everything flow through me.

"What's time is it right now?" I asked.

"3:00."

"3:00!! THAT'S CRA -!!"

"SHHH!! Jason is still sleeping!!" Vicky said, covered my mouth and jerking her thumb behind her. She removed her mouth and I sighed.

"I don't need to wake up that early to be preparing, right?"

"Yes you do, you need all of that time, now get out of bed!" Beth whispered.

Great, a bad start so far.

Men have everything easier, they don't have to care about their look, they don't have to wax, shave, pluck or thread, they don't have to be forced to wear something uncomfortable like heels, and they don't have to do anything that girls have to do.

When they was finished with making my hair softer, skin more shinier, legs shaved and muscle relaxed, Sunny came in the bathroom with the outfit.

"No, no, no, dress please." I pleased.

"Oh hell yeah you are gonna wear this!" Sunny said.

I pouted a little and asked, "What about now? No, please?"

"No faces, you have to wear it!"

"But it's fall outside and it's going to be cold!"

"Well, that's why you have a Burberry coat." Sunny said.

I sighed; this is hopeless arguing with them.

They helped me put on the dress, while Sunny went to get the shoe.

"Watch, I'm gonna come home freezing my ass off." I said.

"No, you won't, we love you, kk?" Vicky said and kissed me on the cheeks.

"I got the shoe!!" Sunny said, hiding it behind her back.

"Dear Jesus Christ, let's just take a moment to pray that the shoe Sunny was talking about is not a high heel. I have already suffer enough - being waken up, not even seeing the sun yet, wearing a dress on a freezing - a$$ day and being forced to have a date with Jason. Please God, HELP ME!!!!" I took a deep breath and said the last part, "Amen."

Sunny laughed and said, "Well, guess what, IT IS A HIGH HEEL!"

I nearly died.

"Please, no heel, I am already wearing a dress." I pleased and made a puppy face.

"No faces! The final answer are high heels." Sunny said, hands on her hips.

"There's always another shoe among the 200 pairs of shoe that would look better than high heels. Like . . . um, like . . . my favorite purple SNEAKERS!!!!" I said brilliantly.

"NO!!! WAY!! Sneakers, no, no, no. Now hurry up, we need to do the make - up. And we are wasting time arguing!" Valerie said, clapping her hand to hurry everyone up.

I sighed and slipped my feet into the 100 inch heel.

"How much inch is this? 'Cause I don't think I can step up to bring my other feet in my other heel." I said.

"Relax, it's not that tall, it's only a 3 inch heel." Sunny said and helped me put on the other shoe.

I stood up and I swear I felt like I was 100 feet above ground. Yep, this is the first time I EVER wore high heels.

Valerie lead me to the make - up table, I lean on her in case I fall. I slowly sat down and Valerie worked her magic on me. At the end, I looked in the mirror and I looked like a live Barbie.

"Beautiful," Mrs. Cohen said, making me jump.

I turned around; this is the first time I saw Mrs. Cohen in her bathrobe.

"She is good to go." Beth said.

Sunny came in with the Burberry coat. She helped me put on the coat. Valerie helped fix my hair that was tucked in the coat.

"Ok, time to go, the limo is outside and Jason is there waiting." Mrs. Cohen said, grinning like crazy.

I walked down the stair, mostly leaning on Vicky.

"Good luck." Vicky whispered.

"She doesn't need luck, she's FAB!!" Beth said, winking.

We headed to the front door and before we opened the door, Beth said, "I like that V necklace. And it looks good on you."

I blushed and said, "James got it as a welcome gift."

"Well, ok, have fun with your date." She opened the door and the sunlight stabbed my eyes.

"Here's your sunglass." Vicky handed it over and I put it on.

"Ok, have fun and get into the car!" Vicky said and giggled, "And Jason looks hot."

I looked at him. Alright, I admit it, he does look hot. He wore a casual, white bottom down and a pair of dark jean with his hair gel. He waved at me and I took baby steps walking over to him, not wanting to trip and hoped that I didn't look like an idiot who doesn't know how to walk.

"Hi," I breathed.

"Hi, you look beautiful." he said.

I blushed and said, "You look handsome."

He flashed me his billion dollar smile.

"Let's go." Jason said, opening the car door. I turned around and waved, when Jason wasn't looking, Beth winked and Vicky made a heart with both of her hands. I smiled like an idiot and got inside the car.

"So where do you want to go?" Jason asked.

I shrugged.

"Let's go eat something first." Jason said.

I nodded.

"You know you look really good." Jason said.

I blushed.

"And I see that James got you a necklace."