Massie straightened out her Givenchy tee shirt, before smoothing down her wool Gucci coat. It was cold in Westchester, it being the beginning of spring didn't mean much considering it was still a brisk 40 degrees outside on a good day.
She had reached the mall, parking her car at the entrance closest to Prada and walking inside the sleek glass doors. Looking around, she realized how the mall pretty much always stayed the same. There was no need for renovations with a mall this gorgeous, anyway.
The floors were an imported pearl-flecked white marble, the walls were an airy gray with thick white cavetto molding, and there was an Evian reusable water bottle fill up station on every corner of the shopping mall.
The brunette bee-lined it into the two level Starbucks with a fireplace, desperately needing her hazelnut coconut milk macchiato before she began swiping her black american express wherever she felt fit.
Waiting in line to order, her arms were crossed over her chest and her face most likely had a resting bitchy expression. Her face was almost always expressionless, but she preferred it that way. Expressions made you weak, after all.
As she moved up the line to the counter and began placing her order, a strong arm was thrown around her shoulders. She didn't deter from her order, however, sparing a glare to the offender before straightening the wrinkles he was creating in her shirt.
"And I'll get one of those, as well." The man spoke with a strong voice, handing over his gold starbucks card before placing a kiss to the top of her head. "Good to see you, Mass." The two moved towards the other side to wait for their drinks.
"Kemp, always a pleasure." The girl drawled out, taking a curl into her perfectly manicured finger and twirling it round.
"What are you doing here?" She asked cautiously.
"What, can't I surprise an old friend?" The brunette asked with a glint in his blue eyes.
"Well. You can, but not when the old friend didn't even tell you she was here!" Massie exclaimed, raising an eyebrow at him. "So, I repeat. Why are you here?"
"My mom told me about that ball, or whatever, your parents are having. So, I figured I'd come pick up an outfit, can't exactly show up in my typical jeans and a long sleeve, now can I?" He smirked with each word that came out of his lips, and that was the thing about Kemp. He was always….sly, smirking, ahead of you.
"No, we cannot have that at all." Massie responded, before her eyes moved to watch the barista's behind the counter making their drinks.
"He misses you, Mass."
"Well, he should've thought about that."
"Don't be like that, this is hard for him." Kemp murmured into her ear before stepping forward and grabbing the drinks with their names on it.
"Where are we headed first? Prada?"
And Prada they went to. Massie refused to think about who he was talking about, and Kemp refused to push the subject any harder. Not for now, at least. Maybe over drinks tonight when he tries to get her to go to dinner with him.
It felt normal for both of them, shopping together and small talking. They were very close friends, and when she went off to Oxford and he stayed home to work with his mother on his company, the distance took a toll on their friendship. Well, that and her fiance.
Tristan knew of Kemp, knew of Kemp's ways and his reputation. Although he'd never try anything on Massie now - those days have passed, thank you very much, Tristan was always very wary of Kemp. A little bit too aware, he had begun making up any excuse to keep them apart or be in the same room as them, and it got exhausting after a while. The two lost touch, and Kemp hoped during that time, she'd lose Tristan. I guess we can't all be so lucky.
The two tore the mall apart. Massie loved shopping with Kemp, because unlike every other man in her life, Tristan included, Kemp gave her his opinions on outfits. He criticized some of her choices, he helped put together potential ideas, and he actually knew a lot about clothing and fashion because of his family. He was always fun to shop with, too, because he'd always let Massie dress him in whatever she felt fit. He always said yes, it was hard to say no to Massie Block, he thought as they went into Banana Republic.
His stomach lurched, remembering that soon, it won't be Massie Block anymore. Soon, soon it'll be Massie Montgomery Ferguson. He held back a bit of bile in the back of his throat, looking to the brunette that was lost in thought as she ran circles around all the store's employees, asking for this size and this color and 'can this be hemmed by friday?' She cared about Kemp, she cared about them all, but it was always hard for her to show it. This, for some reason, was how she chose to.
After picking out enough outfits that there had to be at least three that were a yes, Massie shooed him off to the changing room. She held court in the comfy armchairs located outside of the dressing room, pulling her phone out when she felt a buzz. What flashed on the screen was something she hadn't seen in a long, long time.
The Pretty Committee Chat đź’… đź‘‘
Leesh: So, I'm thinking of wearing navy on Saturday, what about u guys?
Deeeeelyn: i was gonna go w/ black to mourn massie's singleness
K Gregs: Possible pink? Thoughts?
Claire Lie-ons: my blazer probs, or a pantsuit.
Massie blinked rapidly for a solid minute, before forming a reply.
Massikur: i'll b the one in white ;)
Leesh: queue SQUEALING! OMG!
Massie let out an easy breath, seeing how well the girls were interacting together gave her some hope.
"What do you think? I feel like I'd definitely need to take the pants in a little, and the blazer is a little tight on the arms, but that I can manage." Kemp took her out of her daydreaming, standing in front of her in a pair of slate grey slacks, a crisp white button down with the top two buttons undone, his Hermes belt, and a matching slate grey blazer draped over his shoulders.
"I think it's fabulous!" The alpha exclaimed proudly, patting herself on the back for effect, which Kemp laughed at. "Let's try the hunter green next?" She requested politely.
"Your wish is my command," he mused, before leaning in and kissing her on the head once more. Then, he was off to the fitting room for outfit number two.
It was like her life was finally falling into place again. She couldn't be happier, but also more wary. Kemp was always a solid, he was always going to come back to her at some point. The other boys, though? Between her and her girlfriends, she wasn't sure how easy that would be, or if they'd even want to.
Distracting herself, she pulled Snapchat up on her phone and replied to a few of her friends from Oxford she barely kept in contact with, except over snapchat. That was their thing. She flipped the camera so it was facing her, put on the flames filter, and took about ten selfies before deciding on one to add to her story. "Waiting for Kemp like…." she captioned it, before posting it to her story. The girl smirked, knowing what an uproar it'll be that she was with Kemp Hurley.
The man in question came back up to her, in a pair of dark hunter green dress pants, a black button down shirt, and a black jacket he held over one shoulder. He leaned against the wall and gave her a wink and smirk.
"So, I take it you like that one?" Massie mused, letting out a small giggle at his ridiculous antics.
"I do think this one's a winner," he replied with the same shit eating grin he always used to wear.
That was the thing about Kemp. He's cocky and snarky, and basically like if Massie was a boy. They got along so well, and they always watched out for each other. Kemp would scare off any man not worthy of Massie's time, and Massie would crush any girl who was less than worthy of going on a sushi date with Kemp.
Watching the brunette retreat back into the fitting room, murmuring something about trying on an all black manner, Massie wondered why they really stopped talking. She wasn't sure, but she had a feeling it had something to do with Tristan. She knew Kemp didn't like her like that - he hadn't in years - so the thought laid in her mind. What if it was Tristan?
Somehow, things get more complicated when you get closer to being married. Things change, people change, relationships change. Everything is shared, which Massie was never opposed to, but he doesn't share the way she does. There's a lot about his life she doesn't know, which makes her uncomfortable. The idea used to thrill her, but looking at the engagement ring on her left finger, it suddenly felt very heavy, heavy with the weight of his secrets.
Her new mission, whether or not she wanted to, was to try and dig deep into the life of Tristan Montgomery Ferguson, before it was too late.
"Think he'd be insulted if I asked for a pre-nup?" The brunette inquired as Kemp left his room, about to ask her opinion on this next outfit. When she let out that bomb, he sighed and sat down on the coffee table in front of her with his legs crossed.
"Clearly if you're asking me, you think he would be." The boy reasoned, reaching out and taking her hands into his. "What's going on, Mass?"
The alpha shrugged her thin shoulders, moving her eyes to a piece of bean's hair that was latched onto her coat. God, she wanted to rip it off right now.
"I just….I feel like I don't really….know him?" She squeaked out, not having really spoken about that with anyone but Dylan. She did not like how her voice sounded right now.
"What makes you say that?" The boy pondered.
"You." Massie spoke softly, looking up at him with her bright amber eyes. "We stopped talking, Kemp, totally. I know it wasn't on my end, and I'm sure it wasn't on yours either."
"Mass, some things are hard to explain…"
"I'm nawt stupid, Kemp." The only time that accent came out anymore was when she was upset.
The boy sighed, leaning back and squeezing her hands before letting them fall into her lap. "He doesn't like my reputation, he always thought I was making moves on you. He thought I'd try to charm you like I do everyone else, no matter how many times I told him you and I are and will never be like that."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You were finally happy, Massie. I wasn't going to jeopardize that for you, not now, not after everything."
"Kemp, I don't really know if I'm happy." She murmured, before straightening her back and looking up at him. "I can't even think about my feelings right now, to be honest. I have to make amends with Kristin, Derrick, and Cam before saturday."
At that, Kemp raised his eyebrows.
"Kendra's orders."
Looking him up and down, she really did like this outfit. It was such good color combination, she was almost annoyed she didn't think of it sooner.
Many hours and many shopping bags later, the two were ready to leave. She could barely hold all the bags she had. Who said retail therapy wasn't real? She'd have to write them a very strongly worded letter.
"Are you hungry?" Kemp asked, turning to look at her struggle with all her bags before he took some out of her hands to help her.
"Starving," the girl replied with a giggle as her stomach began to grumble, as if to prove her point.
"Sushi?" He asked, and was met with eager eyes and a very firm nod.
After a long debate of which sushi restaurant to go to, they settled on KoMo. When the subject of driving came up, Kemp considered this. He knew she needed to drink, so he proposed she could drive to her house, he'll drive to his, and his family driver could bring them both. With a nod and a hug goodbye, they both parted ways.