AN: Sorry for the long wait, but this chapter is extra long to make up for it! Love those reviews!

Chapter nine

The day of the party had arrived. Christie and Meg met up that morning and went shopping. They bought new dresses, went shoe shopping. They both got their nails and hair done. Then they went back to Meg's apartment and Meg did both of their makeup, teaching Christie as she did. After Meg finished with her she went to the mirror and looked at her reflection. She could hardly recognize herself. Her normally frizzy hair was smooth and shiny, and her curls were tamed, but still curly. Meg had done her makeup very defined and dramatic. Christie didn't want to look too sexy, but now that she saw the finished product, she loved it.

Half of her wanted Erik to see her like this, and the other half felt almost ashamed at the thought of him seeing her. She felt a strange combination of confidence and insecurity. The party didn't start for over an hour, so she told Meg that she forgot something at home, and she would meet her at the party.

When Christie got home, she sent Erik a text.

-Wanna see me all dolled up?-

He responded almost immediately.

-You at home?-

-Just got back from Meg's if you want to come over before I have to leave?-

He didn't respond, but she knew he was coming. Around 5 or 10 minutes later she buzzed him up. When she heard him knock on the door, she felt a sudden flash of excitement and nervousness. She smoothed her hair and straightened her dress. She opened the door and when he saw her his mouth popped open. She would have given anything to see his eyes at that moment. She beckoned him inside and he walked in, just staring at her. Her long brown hair fell softly around her face and her deep crimson dress had three quarter sleeves with a flaring skirt that went to the top of her knees. It came down off her shoulders and it had lace around the top, showing off her collarbone and her pale skin. Meg had made her buy a strapless bra to wear with it.

"Well? What do you think…?" she asked nervously.

"Umm… wow… You look… different…" was all he said. She looked down, embarrassed.

"Bad different?" She whispered with a pained expression on her face.

"You look amazing." He finally said. He touched her hair and smiled.

"You really think I look ok?"

"You look so much better than ok, you look exquisite, stunning, magnificent!"

"I'm not sure about all that." She said trying to hide a smile. "I wish that you could come to the party with me." She blurted without thinking. His smile faltered.

"I can't. You know I can't."

"I know…" She said, looking down again. He could sense her disappointment.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked softly. She looked up in surprise.

"Here?"

"Yes, here." He pulled out his phone and put on something classical and dramatic. He set his phone on her counter and stepped forward and slowly reached around her waist, and then suddenly pulled her towards him. She gasped and he smiled and lifted her hand into his. Her free hand rested on his broad shoulder and he began to dance.

Christie had taken a dance class or two in high school so she kind of knew what she was doing, but boy could Erik really dance. He twirled her around the small space and she barely kept up. The next song was much slower and he held her more tightly and Christie felt tingles through every part of her that was touching him.

"Erik…I..." She said, at a loss for words.

"I know." He said quietly. Christie had never felt more connected with anyone, ever. She felt like crying from the sweetness of it. He held her so desperately, as if he was going to float away and she was his only tie to earth.

When the song ended, he let her go and turned to his phone and shut off the music. He cleared his throat loudly.

"You really look lovely." He said. Christie smiled at him and popped her head in the bathroom to check if her hair still looked ok. She still couldn't get over how different she looked. Suddenly Erik was right behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. Christie pressed herself softly against his chest. "But you looked beautiful before all this." He whispered into her hair.

"I think you're beautiful too." She responded. He did his little half smirk smile at her in the mirror.

"So, what time is this party?" He finally said, pulling her into the other room.

"It starts in a few minutes; I should probably get a cab." He took a step back from her and looked her up and down, and then frowned. "What's wrong?" Christie asked her hand flying nervously to her hair.

"Nothing… It's just… I don't know if I want you going out looking like this."

"You said I looked fine!" Said Christie.

"That's the problem…" Erik muttered under his breath.

"But, I have to go! I told everyone that I would be there, and Meg will get worried if I don't show up. She spent the whole day getting me ready!" Christie protested. He considered her, his jaw working.

"Alright, I suppose that you may go… but please, be careful, I don't want you getting into any trouble." He seemed concerned from what she could tell.

"I'll be fine." She assured him. He nodded back slowly.

"I should get going; tell me how it went after it's over."

"Ok, I will." She promised and walked him to the door.

"Oh, I almost forgot, this is for you." He said, pulling a single rose with a black ribbon tied around it from behind his back.

"What? How did you do that?!" Christie exclaimed taking the rose from his outstretched hand.

"I got it for you." Was all he said. Christie brought the rose to her face and breathed in its sweet aroma.

"No one has ever given me flowers before." She said quietly. "Well… Flower." She joked. He smiled down at her. "Thank you." She whispered. He nodded again and suddenly stepped back, turned around, looked back at her once, then quickly strode away.

After he was gone, she put the rose in a glass of water and called a cab. When she got to Ralph's apartment, she saw that he had invited quite a few more people than just their sales team. His place was downtown, with huge windows and an amazing view. Ralph did a double take when he opened the door and saw her there.

"Christie? Is that you?" He asked incredulously. Christie blushed and nodded. He looked her up and down and then invited her in. Meg was already there and Christie went and sat by her.

"Too bad your mystery man couldn't come tonight." Meg said teasingly.

"I saw him before I left, actually. He gave me a rose." Christie admitted. Meg's eyes went wide.

"So that's why you just had to go home. Why didn't he come here with you then?" Christie hesitated in her reply.

"Umm… well, he doesn't really like parties."

"He should have come anyways, at least so that we could all meet him." Meg said stubbornly. Christie knew that Meg was just trying to look out for her.

"I don't think he likes meeting people… he's very… private." Christie told her.

"Private or not, if he is interested in you, he should be interested in your friends."

"That's just it… he spends all this time with me, and he says all these things that make me think that he is interested… but I just can't tell with him."

"Well, if he spends time with you, then he is obviously interested. Men are simple creatures." Meg said with a knowing smile. Just then, they saw Peter and Carla come in. They both waved at the couple, who waved back. Tatiana and Sylvia were already there, along with Joe, but they were mixed in with the crowd, flirting and drinking. A few guys ended up coming over to talk to them and a few of them asked for their numbers. Christie was feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the attention, but it didn't bother Meg, she seemed unfazed by all the guys but never gave out her number to them.

As the night wore on, people started dancing. After dancing with Erik, the type of dancing that they were doing didn't appeal to Christie at all. She got asked a few times, but said no. Meg actually did end up dancing with a few different people. While she was dancing with a short Hispanic guy, Joe materialized out of the crowd and sat next to Christie. He had obviously had a few too many drinks.

"You look amazing tonight." He told her, trying and failing to be smooth.

"Thanks." Christie said, scooting slightly away from him.

"I mean, who knew that all this-"he gestured up and down her body "-was under all… that. You seriously look so much better now. You should dress like this all the time." He told her loudly. Christie was mildly offended, but took it with a grain of salt. Every time Christie scooted away from him, he would close the gap. He reached around her and put his arm on her shoulders and squeezed her in close to him. Christie tried to push him away, but he had an easy 100 lbs. on her. He grabbed her face and leaned in to kiss her. He smelled like cologne, sweat and something bitter.

"Joe, stop!" she said, trying to pull out of his grip. Suddenly Meg was standing over them.

"What are you doing?! Get off of her!" she yelled at him. Joe finally let go and Christie stood up furiously.

"I'm gonna go." She said to Meg.

"Aw, come on, don't be like that!" Joe called after her as she walked to the door. Ralph caught up to her just as she had pulled it open.

"Leaving already?" He asked her. Christie nodded.

"I'm kind of tired, not used to staying up this long." Christie said, half lying.

"I really wish you would stay, I was going to ask you to dance." Christie blinked in surprise.

"Umm, I should probably get going." She said, throwing a nervous glance back at Joe.

"Ok, I will see you on Monday then?" He asked, obviously disappointed.

"Sure, see ya." Christie mumbled and pushed the door open. When she got into the hallway, Meg came running up behind her.

"Hey, you ok? Joe can be such a jerk." Meg said angrily.

"I'm fine… I just want to go home, I don't really go to parties and I'm exhausted from all the socializing." Christie said with a grim smile.

"Well, call me tomorrow, ok?" Meg asked looking worriedly at Christie.

"Sure thing." She said and called the elevator. When she got outside, she stood on the sidewalk and took several deep breaths of the crisp autumn air. She hailed a cab and rode it home with the window down, letting her hair blow in the breeze.