Chapter 33: Happy New Year!

Late that afternoon, Ali told me it was time to start getting ready. “The party doesn’t start until 8, but the car is coming at 6. We’ve got a few hours, and trust me, you want to make the most of them.”

I gulped. Oh boy. This was really happening. I looked at her shyly. “Will you help me? This is my first, um, thing with David, and I don’t want to embarrass him.”

Ali laughed and kissed my cheek. “Sweetie, you wouldn’t embarrass him if you showed up in a gunny sack. He’s completely smitten with you,” she said.

“Well, then, help me so I don’t embarrass myself,” I said to her, laughing, “and the feeling is completely mutual.”

“I can tell,” she said. “Go take a shower, and call me on the intercom when you’re done. I’ll come and help you with your hair and makeup.”

I relaxed immediately. “Thank you so much,” I said, and she left. I had hung out my dress earlier, and someone had come along and ironed it. It hung on a rack in the dressing room. My makeup and hair stuff was spread out on the vanity, and my jewelry was laid out on a velvet pad on the vanity top. My lingerie, such as it was, was laid out on the divan and my shoes peeped out from underneath. I drew in a deep breath and stepped into a glass-enclosed shower stall that was almost as large as my garage bay. Showerheads pummeled me from all directions, and I groaned appreciatively.

“I second that,” David said from the doorway.

I let out a little scream, and whirled to face him. “You scared me, you jerk!” I said.

He just smiled at me. “Need help washing your back?” He was already coming into the room, stripping off his clothes. He stepped into the shower behind me and took up the loofah, and gently washed my back. He pressed kisses along my neck, and pulled me against him. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and his hands palmed my breasts. He kneaded them as he nibbled on my earlobe. “I cannot wait to get you out of that dress later,” he rasped in my ear.

I reached behind me to grab his cock, which was now pressing against my leg. He hissed and bent me forward, slipping into me from behind. We made love gently and quietly, and spent a good deal of time washing each other afterwards, playing and teasing each other until we were in danger of missing the party altogether. Finally we finished up, and stepped out of the shower to wrap ourselves in peach fluffy towels. We went into the dressing room, and David got into his tux, leaving the jacket on the hanger. I helped him with his bow tie, and damn, he looked beautiful.

“Now, let me help you with your dress,” he said, reaching for me, his eyes darkening.

“Nope,” I said, dancing out of his grasp. “Ali is going to help me.” He growled and stepped toward me, and I swear, I thought he was going to chase me around the room. I put up a hand. “Please, let her help me,” I said softly, and he stopped dead in his tracks.

“Please stop worrying,” he said. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“So you say. Just let me get ready. I’ll feel better once I’m dressed and coiffed,” I rolled my eyes at him and he stuck his tongue out at me, making me laugh.

“I’ll be waiting for you,” he said, and trailed a hand down my cheek before leaving the room. I sat at the vanity table, took the towel turban off my head and combed out my hair. I put a gel through it and started drying it. I had it mostly dry before I called Ali. I didn’t want her to think I was completely helpless. She said she’d be right down, so I put on my lingerie, which was pretty much panties, thigh-high shimmery stockings, and pasties, then wrapped up in my dressing gown.

There was a discreet tap on the door. “Hath?” Ali said.

“C’mon in, Ali.”

She swept into the room fully made up and hair done perfectly. She, too, was in a dressing gown, and had a long gown of palest blue hung over her arm. She hung the gown next to mine, and turned to me. “You ready?” she asked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said, and let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “I’m in your hands,” I said to her.

We spent the next hour laughing and talking while she helped pull my hair into an elaborate up-do. She had it piled artfully on the top of my head, and thick, glossy tendrils hung down to kiss my shoulders. There were enough pins in my hair that my ‘do would withstand a wind tunnel, yet looked as if the slightest movement on my part would send the curls cascading down my neck. I couldn’t help but stare at my reflection. “Wow,” I said. “You are amazing.” I was turning my head this way and that, and couldn’t believe what she was able to do. “Will you come live with me?” I asked her.

She laughed at me. “That’s nice, Hath, but I’d miss my Tico,” she said. “Let’s get your makeup done, and we can get dressed.

I went pale. I was SO not going to take my robe off in front of this woman. Uh-uh. She saw the look on my face, and knew exactly what I was thinking. Smiling, she stood and unbelted her robe, spreading it a little so I could see the scars from her c-section. “We all have our imperfections,” she said. “I won’t judge yours, and you don’t judge mine, ok?”

And just like that, the tension seeped from my body. “You are an amazing woman,” I said to her. “I mean that. I’d like it if we could be friends.”

“We already are,” she said. “Now, let’s do your makeup.”

She had me made up in such a way that it looked like I had no makeup on at all – except for my eyes. She framed my lashes with thick, black mascara, and did my eyes with hues of copper. Black eyeliner enhanced the shape of my eyes, and when I looked at myself in the mirror, I hardly recognized myself.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“You made me beautiful,” I breathed, hardly believing it.

She put a gentle hand on my shoulder, and leaned in so we were cheek-to-cheek, looking in the mirror. “Nobody can do that to someone,” she said. “I just jazzed up what you had. You are going to be the center of attention of the party.”

I blushed. “Oh, I don’t think so, but thanks.”

“No, really, you’re the only one who everyone doesn’t know,” Ali said, and I thought I was going to throw up. “So, everyone’s going to want to meet you.”

She laughed at the expression on my face. “Don’t worry, David won’t let you out of his sight; not looking like you do. Now,” she dropped her robe altogether. “Let’s get dressed.”

* * * * *

Ali called down to the boys that she and Hath were ready and on the way down. Ali descended the stairs first, floating in a cloud of blue silk and chiffon. She looked like a queen, with her hair swept back off her face, and artful makeup. When Ali got to the bottom of the stairs, she did a little pirouette, and Tico’s eyes swept her from head to toe. “I could eat you alive,” he growled. Ali laughed and punched his shoulder.

Ali heard David’s sharp intake of breath, and knew that Hath had started down the stairs. “Madre de Dios,” Tico whispered under his breath to his wife. Ali just smiled.

Hath carefully made her way down the stairs, her head held high. The gown floated around her, and with every other step, her leg would peep out from the slit in the dress. She held the wrap loosely around her shoulders, and halfway down the stairs, it slipped from her shoulders, and was caught at her elbows. David watched with hungry eyes as the dress shifted and moved over her body. He was intrigued by her glittery skin, and the way her hair was piled atop her head. Her eyes held his, and he marveled at the nervousness he saw there – didn’t she know how amazing she looked?

He stepped forward and took her hand, kissing her knuckles. “You are breathtaking,” he said. “I am not leaving your side all night.”

“Thank God,” Hath said, and winked at him. She turned to show David her back, and dropped the wrap all the way. Tico laughed at her tat, and David whistled.

“Leave the wrap in the car,” he said. “I want everyone to see that you’re mine.”

Ali laughed at him. “You don’t need her tattoo to tell people that,” she said. “The absolutely possessive look on your face will take care of that.”

Tico cleared his throat. “C’mon, you guys, let’s go.”