I tried not to dwell on it long because where I was my mother’s greatest disappointment, to Tab, I was one hell of an achievement and his love was definitely making up for having been love-starved for most of my life. The way I would catch him looking at me, the way I would turn and see that ghost of a smile on his otherwise stoic face, that made up for so much, I couldn’t even begin to put it into words.
I went back to our room, the zippered leather case of stylist’s equipment in my hands. I was still surprised that it’d just been given to me. Faye, the woman running the bed-and-breakfast had insisted, and I was sure I had room in my pack for such a useful item; if I didn’t, then I’d make some.
When I slipped back through the door it was to Tab, already out of the shower and mostly dressed in a neat pair of pressed black slacks and a black button-down shirt. The fabric screamed expensive, and I raised an eyebrow.
“What’s the occasion?” I asked.
“You,” he said with a smile. “And dinner out tonight.”
“Like a date?” I asked, teasing.
Tab looked thoughtful for a moment, but he couldn’t suppress the creeping smile forcing its way back onto his lips.
“Yes,” he answered, finally. “Exactly like a date. Go and get cleaned up. My hair can wait a moment longer.”
I set the grooming kit on the table by the bed and picked up my pack. “I’ll dress to impress,” I said.
“I am the only one in attendance tonight,” he said absently, tucking in the tail of his shirt.
“Exactly,” I stated, wrinkling my nose with impish humor. I scooped up my pack and his laughter chased me into the bathroom where I shut the door on it.
I sighed and stared at myself in the mirror for a minute. I didn’t exactly have any dressy clothes, so I was a little dejected.
I wouldn’t look half as good as Tab. Maybe if I wore the Chinese silk blouse Mei-lei had given me so long ago back at the temple, I could at least try to come in at a close second. I mean, I could pair it with jeans and it would look pretty good.
My brain clicked off when I opened the top of my pack to a tissue paper wrapped package. I stilled, and lifted the light package off the top with careful fingers, turning the plain white tag over so I could read it.
Cupcake-
You didn’t think I was going to let you get out of here with only your dreadful man-clothes, did you? Hang it up in the bathroom with you when you shower. The wrinkles should come right out.
XoXo,
Gabriel
(AKA The sexy Archangel)
I chuckled and slipped the ribbon holding everything together free of its bow. I had a feeling I knew what was inside. I mean, the lavender satin of the ribbon was kind of a dead giveaway, and I was hoping against hope that I was right.
I couldn’t help but give a little triumphant jump while at the same time suppressing the victorious yelp that was struggling to crawl up my throat. I held in my hands the beautiful lavender silk dress edged in hand-sewn-on amethyst crystals. While it was something Tabbris had seen me in before, I couldn’t help but feel giddy about wearing it for him during a time he wasn’t wounded and the whole world was on the brink of collapse.
I loved this dress – how it fit, how it felt, and how it made me look. I quickly looked around for a place to hang it while I showered so the steam could release the wrinkles as Gabriel’s note suggested. Although the joke was on her, I actually already knew that trick.
I settled for pulling off one of the bathrobes hanging on the back of the door and abandoning it by laying it across the white, country-looking, porcelain pedestal sink. I used the satin hangar to hang the dress in its place and turned on the shower over the claw-foot tub in the corner. The pipes shuddered and groaned about having to do their duty, but the water that poured out was clean and clear and started to gently steam after a few seconds.
I stripped down efficiently and stepped in, pulling the curtain closed around me and let the heat work its magic on my road-weary muscles.
I shampooed my long, dark hair and the stuff provided smelled so nice, I took the time to condition it as well. It was with a little reluctance that I shut off the tap and got out. I wrapped my hair in one of the smaller towels and my body in one of the bath sheets. I dried off thoroughly before shrugging into the terrycloth bathrobe provided by the place we were staying.
I found a hairdryer, cord neatly coiled around the handle, tucked into a distressed, country-looking cabinet beside the sink. I found an outlet and plugged it in, pointing it at the mirror on the wall above the sink to clear the steam before unwrapping my hair to give it the same treatment. I brushed it out and realized just how much it’d grown out. Before it’d hung to the middle of my back. I hadn’t noticed when it’d gotten to my waist, but I liked it and whatever was in that conditioner was something of a miracle worker because it shone with health and there wasn’t a split end in sight.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” I murmured at the mirror. “Okay, girl, best get to Tab’s hair before it completely dries out and you have to make him get it wet again.”
A light tap fell at the door and Tab called out, “Adelaide, who are you talking to?”
“Myself,” I called out. “Guess I just got used to it. I’ll be right out.”
I heard the light rustle of cloth as Tab moved away from the door, and I gave an appreciative look to the dress hanging straight and perfect on the back of the door, as if it’d been pressed and not just steamed. There wasn’t a wrinkle to it, and I thought to myself that it must be some minor miracle Gabriel had worked on it. Leave it to him to waste divine power on making a fashion statement, although it was better than unleashing one of her plagues for fun. He got way too much of a kick out of that. Almost as much of a kick as he did gender-bending just to screw with people. Gabriel definitely brought a whole new meaning to ‘gender fluidity.’
I slipped out of the bathroom after making sure my robe was tied securely and found Tab moving a kitchen chair onto a flat sheet that had been spread onto the carpet. He stopped and straightened, a concerned frown marring his gorgeous features. He was model perfect – sharp cheekbones, the slight, dark shadow of a day’s growth sweeping down to a strong jaw and sensual lips. His skin was lightly tanned, and it lent a healthy glow to what would otherwise be a complexion too pale without it.
Dark black hair, so dark as to have blue highlights like a raven’s wing, hung over his forehead and nearly into his soft gray eyes. I loved his eyes. The gray muted, an almost silver-like thick morning mist… except when they whirled that dangerous, frightening blue. I hadn’t seen that in a while, and I was okay with that.
Tab was taller than me by a head, and I had drifted close enough that I had to crane my neck back to look at him fully. He touched the side of my neck gently with his fingertips, his thumb grazing along my jaw as he took his time drinking me in with his eyes.
I swallowed hard, the moment tenuous, and I chickened out hardcore, opening my mouth and dispelling the magic of it.
“You know if we keep going like this, we’re never going to make dinner,” I murmured, voice strained with the war going on between my heart and head. I wanted with all my heart for Tab to kiss me, to close the gap between us and place his warm lips against mine… However, I knew that Gabriel had gone to some trouble to arrange an evening for us and I didn’t want to disappoint him. He was, after all, Tab’s best friend and had even made room to call me his friend too. That was no small thing when it came to any angel.