Author's Notes: We'd like to thank Jewelgirl04, cena-holic8, Inday and Takersgurl35 for your awesome reviews for chapter sixteen! We're so pleased y'all are still enjoying the story, and we always appreciate you comments and support.
Chapter Seventeen: The Halloween Party.
Marissa was awoken early on the morning of the party by an excited Maddie jumping on her bed.
"Mama, mama!" the strawberry blonde cried. "It's time for the party."
The redhead opened her eyes to find her daughter already dressed in her fairy princess costume with glitter smeared across her face.
"Honey, you don't need to get ready for another few hours yet," replied Marissa, climbing out of bed and pulling on her robe. "And I think Aunt Kate should do your make up," she added, wiping a clump of purple glitter from the girl's eyebrow. "Go and change out of you costume and I'll get us some breakfast ready."
As Marissa was serving up some French toast, scrambled eggs and fruit smoothies, Maddie bounded into the kitchen, now wearing jeans and a Dora the Explorer T-Shirt.
"Did you put away the Barbie that Uncle Dave brought for you?" asked the video tech, as her daughter began eating, knowing the five-year-old had a habit of not clearing up after herself.
"Of course, I did, mum," replied the strawberry blonde, for a minute sounding a lot older than she actually was. "I know that doll isn't for playing with."
"Oh, okay," said Marissa, realizing how fast her little baby was growing up.
"Is Uncle Dave still coming today?" questioned the child eagerly.
"Yes, I think he'll be here around lunchtime," answered the mother. She'd already told Maddie that Dave was coming to the party but had held off mentioning that Cena would be there too. She didn't want her daughter to get overly excited only for the wrestler not to show. Now, with the voice message he'd left for her and Dave's insistence that Cena was coming, Marissa thought she should let her daughter know. "I have a surprise for you as well. You know how Mummy works with the wrestlers on TV? Well, one of my friends, John Cena, said he'd like to come to your party too. So, he'll be coming over with Uncle Dave this afternoon," informed Marissa, watching as her daughter's eyes lit up with delight.
"Really? John Cena is coming to my party?" she questioned, hardly able to believe her ears.
"Yes, honey. John and Mummy are friends, and I've told him all about you. He said he'd like to meet you some time, so I invited him to the party," explained the redhead.
"Wow! That is so cool. Rebecca is going to be so jealous. She just had a clown at her party, no wrestlers," exclaimed Maddie, slurping down the rest of her smoothie and jumping off her seat.
Marissa chuckled and began loading the dirty breakfast things into the dishwasher as Maddie went to inspect the decorations in the living room and Kate came downstairs.
"Morning, Kate, did you have a nice time with Dave last night?" the redhead asked, making her friend a mug of coffee.
"Yes(,) thanks. We went to Lillie's for dinner and then watched The Butterfly Effect at Dave's," replied the brunette, taking a sip of her coffee.
"And nothing happened?" Marissa asked with raised eyebrows.
"Not much," she replied with a shrug and a crooked grin, implying that there was indeed more. "Would you mind telling him he can drop the whole 'gentleman' act any time now?" The redhead laughed with her friend, who then added, "He said he'll call Cena this morning and then they'll both be around at lunchtime(.)"
"Perfect, I think the kids are getting here for the party at about half past two," commented Marissa. "So that should give us plenty of time to finish everything off."
"What else needs to be done?" asked Kate.
"Well, we need t o get all the food and drinks ready for Maddie's party and it wouldn't hurt to get some of the stuff for our party ready early. Then we just have to change into our costumes. Would you mind putting a little make up on Maddie? She came into my room this morning covered in glitter," chuckled the redhead.
"Sure, no problem. Do you have any idea what the guys are wearing?" pondered the brunette.
"No, Dave didn't mention anything to me. I'd have thought he'd have told you though," replied Marissa.
"No, he said he wanted it to be a surprise," sighed the sound engineer. "Oh, and I was thinking, the She-devil costume might be a bit much to wear with all the kids running about, so I'm digging out my old cow costume to wear for Maddie's party."
"Excellent! I'm sure that will amuse them all," replied Marissa, finishing off her coffee and loading the empty mug into the almost full dishwasher.
As Kate finished her coffee too and headed back upstairs to get dressed, Maddie came back into the kitchen, trailing Xerxes behind her. The St. Bernard now had an orange and purple bow around his neck, and a plastic bat attached to his tail.
"The living room looks awesome, Mama," the strawberry blonde exclaimed, her voice full of excitement. "But I thought Xerxes looked a bit boring, so I made him all beautiful too."
The mother took one look at the dog, which was trying to bite off the bow and wagging his tail so the bat was flying backwards and forwards, and began to laugh.
"Xerxes looks very pretty, sweetheart, but I think the bow is irritating him. How about we take it off until later?" Marissa suggested.
"But Mama, he has to be dressed for the party," protested Maddie, stamping her foot.
"And we can get him ready just before the party," insisted the video tech. "But we don't want to make him angry, so that he's all grumpy for the party."
"Alright," conceded the child, dejectedly untying the bow.
When Xerxes had been restored to his normal self and had sulked off outside, Kate returned to the kitchen fully dressed and the two women began preparing the food. Maddie tried to help too, but she was so excited that she kept bounding about and getting in their way.
"Sweetheart, why don't you put the gifts in the party bags, over there?" suggested Kate, trying to find something for Maddie to so the women would have room to work.
"Okay," agreed the strawberry blonde, heading over to the dinner table, where Marissa had set out party bags and small gifts for each child that would be attending the party.
As Maddie dropped a toy, balloon and colouring sheet into each bag, Kate and Marissa successfully managed to prepare all the food. Within an hour and a half, Maddie had all the party bags packed, and the women had made up plates of sandwiches, bowls of salad, chips, dips, platters of cheese and pineapple and a tray of cocktail sausages.
As Kate brought in the crates of juice and soft drinks form the garage and counted out paper cups, Maddie laid out some paper plates and napkins and Marissa took four large pizzas out of the oven and began slicing them into small portions.
Just as everything was finally ready and the three of them were sitting down for a drink and small snack, the door bell rang.
Marissa's heart jumped into her throat, knowing there was every chance that John Cena would be standing on the other side of the door with Dave Batista.
"I'll get it," Kate announced, noticing how her friend had frozen as soon as she'd heard the bell ring.
As the brunette went to answer the front door, Marissa quickly brushed her hair and put on some light pink lip gloss.
"You look pretty, Mama," said Maddie, watching her mother in the living room mirror.
"Thanks, baby," replied Marissa nervously as she heard the front door slam shut and voices approaching the sitting room. Trying to act as calmly as possible, the redhead sat back on the sofa, pretending she'd been relaxing for a few minutes.
Maddie jumped up as Kate re-entered the living room, followed by Dave and Cena, who were holding a clothing bag each, which obviously contained their costumes for the party.
"Uncle Dave," the strawberry blonde cried, throwing herself into the larger wrestler's arms. "Thank you so much for the Barbie, she's beautiful."
"You're very welcome, pumpkin," replied the wrestler, beaming down at the child, as he placed a kiss on her forehead.
As Maddie jumped down from Dave's embrace, she noticed Cena and backed away a little sheepishly, the child's face showing a mixture of awe and trepidation.
Pulling herself together, Marissa rose from the sofa to greet her guests. "Hey Dave," she said, quickly embracing the older man, before turning to Cena. "Hello, John, it's good to see you."
"You too, Marissa, you look great," replied Cena, even though the redhead was just wearing a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt.
"Thanks," she mumbled, a blush creeping up her cheeks. Then she turned to her daughter. "Maddie, this is mummy's friend, John Cena. John, this is my daughter Maddie."
The strawberry blonde inched forwards, a hit of a grin playing on her freckled face. "Hello, Mr. Cena," she said meekly.
"Call me John," replied the wrestler with a laugh, before bending down so he was at eye level with the child. "It's very nice to meet you, Maddie; your mummy has told me lots about you. Like I know you love Barbies, which is why I have a special gift for you from the European tour in Uncle Dave's car."
At the mention of presents, Maddie's hesitation instantly slipped away and she drew closer to Cena. "A present? For me?" she exclaimed in wonder.
Cena nodded and then looked up at Marissa. "I saw it on the tour and couldn't resist," he said sheepishly. "I hope you don't mind?"
"Well, that all depends on what it is," she teased, with a sly grin.
"Do you want to have a look?" he suggested hopefully.
"Sure," replied Marissa as Maddie starting bouncing around in excitement.
Dave threw Cena the keys to his car, then the WWE Champion, Marissa and Maddie headed outside as Batista and Kate snuggled up on the sofa and began chatting. Outside, Maddie ran straight to Dave's car, as Cena and Marissa lazily strolled along behind her.
"I brought something for you too," the WWE Champion informed sheepishly.
"Oh, John, you shouldn't have," replied Marissa, again blushing deep red.
"I wanted to though," insisted Cena as they arrived at Dave's car and the wrestler popped open the trunk.
He pulled out a large, wrapped box, to which both Marissa and Maddie gasped, and then set in on the driveway for the strawberry blonde to open.
The little girl's eyes filled with delight as she tore off the floral paper and ripped open the packaging.
Inside was a hand-made, two story, and wooden doll house, complete with real carpet, wallpaper and curtains. Even though it was as yet unfurnished, it still looked beautiful and would be the perfect size for Barbie and her friends.
"Wow!" exclaimed Maddie excitedly, as she opened the doll house up and began looking in each room.
"Do you like it?" Cena asked, kneeling down to Maddie's eye level. He hoped so as he'd spent most of the night putting it together and wishing it wasn't so large it couldn't go in his suitcase fully assembled.
"I love it," she replied with a huge grin.
"Great," beamed the wrestler and then turned to Marissa. "I was so worried she wouldn't like it."
"You couldn't have picked a better present, John. The house is wonderful, but you shouldn't be wasting your money on me and Maddie," protested the redhead.
"But I wanted to get you both something special," he insisted, placing his hand on hers. "To show you how much I care."
Marissa hesitated for a moment, debating if now was the moment to confess everything to the wrestler. However, as she opened her mouth to speak, so did Maddie.
"Mama, can I take the doll house inside and play with my dolls?"
"You can't carry that on your own, sweetheart," insisted Cena. "Here, let me take it."
The WWE Champion grabbed the doll house and headed back through Marissa's front door, Maddie trailing eagerly behind him. As he got inside and to the foot of the stairs, he asked, "Where do you want this, Marissa?"
"I'll take it from here, thanks," replied the redhead. "You head back into the living room."
"Are you sure?" questioned Cena, still hoping to get the video tech alone to give her the gift he'd brought.
Marissa looked at her watch quickly. "Yeah, the guests will be arriving in an hour, so we should all be getting ready. Will you let Kate know? Then you and Dave can change into your outfits in the guest room. It's up the stairs and the second door on your right."
Cena nodded and headed into the living room as Marissa carried the doll house upstairs. He was a little disappointed as he wanted to talk to her alone, as well as giving her his gift.
The redhead placed the doll house neatly in Maddie's room and then instructed her daughter to change into her costume as she did too. She wanted to keep busy so that they would be ready in time but also to keep her mind off Cena. The doll house was just another reminder of how perfect he was, and she was anxious about confessing her feelings to him. As Marissa was changing into her outfit, Kate knocked on the door and entered. The brunette was now dressed in a large cow outfit, complete will a bell around her neck.
"You look hilarious," giggled Marissa as she pulled on her black wig.
"Thanks," laughed Kate. "You look wonderful, you're gonna knock John dead when he sees you like that."
The redhead merely blushed, and set about attaching her cape.
"So, what did he buy for Maddie?" questioned the brunette.
"Go to her room and see for yourself," replied Marissa with a sly grin. "And while you're in there, can you check that Maddie's ready and apply her make up?"
Kate nodded and headed into the next room. A few seconds later, a gasp was heard as the brunette obviously spotted the doll house.
Almost ready for the party now, Marissa sighed and took her seat on her bed. She knew within fifteen minutes she wouldn't have another chance to stop all afternoon. Because of how busy they were going to be, Marissa knew she really should speak to John now while she had the chance. However, the prospect filled her stomach with butterflies, and she didn't want to work herself up in case she was sick or something.
Vowing to talk to him when she got the chance, the redhead double checked her appearance one last time and headed to Maddie's room.
In the strawberry blonde's bedroom, Maddie sat on the floor as Kate carefully applied a little bit of make up and glitter to the child's face. Already she looked like the perfect fairy princess(,) her long auburn hair curled slightly and topped off with a tiara. She was now dressed in the sparkling green princess outfit, sequined slippers, with the fairy wings clipped to her back and the wand clutched in her hand.
"You look beautiful, honey," the video tech told her daughter, as she entered the room.
"Thank you," she replied with a huge grin. "You look very pretty too, Mama. Although, the wig is a little bit scary."
All three of the females in the room laughed at the comment, and the video tech tossed her fake black hair over her shoulders.
Marissa had wondered how much she wanted to wear the costume because of the fake hair but it was something different and a little daring for her. However, there was something empowering about being Batwoman for a day. At first, she worried about the fact that the outfit was a tight, black bodysuit but didn't all superheroes were tight clothing? Red wasn't a color she usually wore but now she was bedecked in the costume, with a red bat logo on her chest, a red utility belt, red knee-high boots, and a red cape. Dark, Gothic, and the former lover of Batman—yes, definitely different for her but she was turning over a new leaf in her life anyhow.
"Cena really went all out with that doll house, didn't he?" commented Kate when they'd finished laughing.
"You're telling me," replied Marissa. "I couldn't believe my eyes when Maddie opened the box."
"It shows how much he cares about both of you," added the brunette with a smile. "Did he get you anything?"
"Yes, but he didn't get a chance to give it to me yet. And no, I haven't had the time to speak to him either," informed Marissa, knowing what her best friend's next question was going to be.
"Don't leave it too long, Cissa," warned Kate.
"I won't," replied the redhead before adding, "Now let's get down there before the guests arrive."
The three women of the Carlson household rose and stepped out into the hallway just as Dave and John were coming out of the guest bedroom.
Marissa and Kate could barely contain their laughter as Dave emerged dressed as James Bond, complete with a Martini glass in his hand. "007—what do you think?" he asked, acting as if he was swirling a drink in the glass.
"Wow! That outfit is really something," said Kate, appraising the wrestler's appearance in a tight fitting black tux. That would look even better in the floor beside a bed, she thought.
"So is yours, Miss Moo," teased Dave. "Although didn't you say your outfit was quite racy? Because I hate to tell you, but cows don't really do it for me."
Again, everyone burst out laughing, and then Kate said with a wink. "Honey, this outfit's just for the kids. I'll put the real one on later."
Dave blushed, and Marissa's attention fell on Cena. The WWE Champion was dressed as Zorro, complete with mask, hat and cape. Compared to his usual 'street' wrestling style and his more casual non-wrestling clothes, Cena looked quite dashing as Zorro and the redhead's breath caught in her throat.
At the same time, the smaller of the two wrestlers was taking in the video tech's appearance. Cena had always thought of Marissa as cute, and the few times he'd seen her out of 'uniform' she had looked pretty and as though she took care in her appearance. However, to him, Marissa had always looked a little formal and business like and as though she was afraid of letting herself go properly. That afternoon, however, she looked nothing short of stunning. It was as though the Halloween costume allowed the redhead to express a more carefree, easy going and sensual side of her personality, a side Cena was loving and eager to see more of.
"Marissa, you look great," he complemented as Dave and Kate headed on down the stairs, still giggling about the brunette's cow costume.
Maddie ran after them, amused by Kate's tail and eager to show them both every detail of her own outfit.
"Thanks," she replied, going deep red, which wasn't as noticeable due to her costume. "I never got a chance to say it before, but thank you for Maddie's present. She really loves it."
"You're both very welcome," answered Cena, blushing as well. "I have something for you too; I just never got a chance to give it to you before. Maybe, we could...erm..."
The wrestler was about to ask Marissa if they could go somewhere private so he could give her his gift. It wasn't something he wanted Maddie, Kate or Dave seeing, until he'd had a chance to talk to the redhead properly. However, at that precise moment, the door bell rang, announcing that the first of the guests had arrived.
"Sorry, John, I've got to answer that," she said hastily, rushing down the stairs. In all honesty, the video tech was glad to be away from the WWE Champion as she still had no idea how she was going to confess everything to him.
As Marissa reached the front door, she could hear Kate starting to play some spooky music on the piano. In addition, Maddie came bounding up to her, eager to see her friends.
The first arrival was a couple Marissa had met years ago in the prenatal group and who had a son in Maddie's class. The redhead got on very well with Jayne and Phillip Thomas, and their little boy Joshua often visited for play-dates. "Welcome," the video tech greeted, showing Jayne and Phillip in.
Joshua, dressed as a pirate, beat his parents through the door and ran excitedly to Maddie. "Wow! Your house looks awesome!" he exclaimed, and then his eyes fell on Cena and Batista – who had gathered around Kate at the piano. "No way! Mum, Dad, have you seen this? John Cena and Dave Batista are at Maddie's party!"
The little boy rushed forwards to the two wrestlers as Marissa hung his parents' coats up and led them through into the living room. After the adults had finished laughing at Joshua's excitement, Marissa made the introductions.
"I work for the WWE and see a lot of the wrestlers," she explained. "So when John and Dave heard about the party they wanted to come and give the kids a treat."
As the Phillips got acquainted with the wrestlers, and Kate stopped playing the piano for a minute to get everyone some drinks, the door bell rang again. More party guests and their parents were shown in as Marissa ran franticly to and from the door. Soon, the hall way resembled grand central station, and the living room was fast filling up.
Kate continued her rendition of movie themes and popular Halloween songs as Marissa played hostess and set out the refreshments.
Cena and Batista kept the children - and a lot of the adults – entertained and awed by telling them all what it was like to be a WWE wrestler.
Eventually, all the children that had been invited arrived and the commotion settled down a little. Cena and Batista were still holding court, with Kate's piano playing in the background, as Marissa finished off putting all the food out on the large dining room table. Little bodies went backwards and forwards, picking up cups of juice or plates of pizza as many of the parents gathered around the food table to catch up on each others' news.
Cena kept trying desperately to catch Marissa's eye. However, whenever he did, she was either rushing to do something or answering the requests from one of the guests. He could hardly imagine what school teachers went through when every few minutes a five-year-old asked where the restroom was.
The redhead liked that she was so busy because she was still unsure of what to say to the wrestler, and mopping up split drinks was a good distraction from having to talk to him just yet.
As the children became restless, Batista suggested a game of 'pin the tail on the donkey', which was met by many eager, agreeable cheers. The children followed the wrestlers around as if they were gods, setting up the game just as they were told to. It was amazing how star struck and obedient the - usually chaotic - children became when faced with two men big enough to lift them all off their feet at once.
As Batista entertained all the little party goers with the game, Cena took the opportunity to try and speak with Marissa. However, just as he was about to approach the redhead, he was accosted by one of the children's mum's. The cute, petite black-haired woman approached the WWE Champion with a broad smile on her face.
"So, how long have you and Marissa known each other?" she asked.
"Since she started working for the WWE about a year and a half ago," replied Cena, wondering what all this was about. "But we've really gotten to know each other in the past few months because Dave is dating Kate, so we've all been hanging out together."
"And how about you? Are you dating anyone?" the black-haired mum continued to pry.
"Well, actually, I'm kind of seeing Marissa," the wrestler half lied. It was true, they had been seeing each other and he hoped they'd get back together that night. However, Cena also wanted to make it clear to this woman that he wasn't on the market.
Stopping for a minute, Marissa allowed her gaze to find John Cena. Even though she had been avoiding him all afternoon, she still wanted to keep him in her sights so that when she did build up the courage to speak to him, she'd know exactly where he was.
As the redhead scanned the room, she saw the object of her affections chatting to Dana, Rebecca's mum.
Marissa instantly bristled, even though she liked Dana well enough, the woman had a reputation of being a bit of a flirt. Now Marissa could see why because, as the black-haired woman stood chatting to Cena, she was slowly inching closer to him, her hand rested possessively on his upper arm. After everything she'd been through with Maryse, Marissa wanted to storm over to Dana and tell her to keep her hands off Cena. However, the video tech knew it would only cause a scene and embarrass herself in front of everyone. Instead, she tried to ignore the situation as Dana threw her head back and laughed at something Cena had just said. Stomping into the kitchen, Marissa re-filled the bowl of chips.
Finally, after a few games of 'pin the tail on the donkey', a round of 'pass the parcel' and contest of 'musical chairs', the party began to wind down. At lot of the guests had been invited to a sleepover at Rebecca's house before which they were going trick or treating. As the other guests collected their party bags from Kate, Marissa packed up Maddie's sleeping bag, bedclothes and a change of clothing for the next day. When everyone was ready and a dozen costumed children were standing in the hallway with bags for collecting even more candy, they began to depart.
"Now, be a good girl for Rebecca's mum, and have fun trick or treating," Marissa said to her daughter, kissing the strawberry blonde on the forehead.
"I will. Mama, and I'll remember to brush my teeth too," she grinned in reply, before quickly returning to the living room. "Auntie Kate, I'll see you tomorrow. Uncle Dave, thanks for coming to my party and I'll see you soon."
Batista and the brunette both beamed at Maddie and took turns kissing her on the forehead.
"You have a good time, honey," called Kate.
The strawberry blonde then turned to Cena, "Thank you very much for coming to my party, and thank you for the doll house. You'll have to come back soon and play with me and my dollies."
"I will, sweetheart. I'll make sure I arrange something with your mummy, and next time I come I'll bring a Cena figure to marry Barbie," the wrestler replied, embracing the little girl and kissing both her cheeks.
Marissa stood in the doorway, watching the WWE Champion interact with her daughter. It warmed her heart to see how well they'd both taken to each other and confirmed in her mind that speaking to Cena about her feelings was the right decision, she just hoped he still felt the same.
Finally, after the children and their parents filed out to go trick or treating, Marissa, Kate, Dave and John were left with clearing things up before the guests from the WWE got there for the adult party.
"Phew," said the brunette, taking off her cow outfit and revealing jeans and a t-shirt underneath. "That costume was getting rather hot."
"I'm not surprised, you've been playing on that piano like crazy all afternoon," commented Dave as he crossed the room to embrace her.
"It never ceases to amaze me that they'd rather sing 'the Monster Mash' with the piano two hundred times than listen to that Halloween CD I found," she replied, cracking her knuckles.
Marissa and John contemplated each other for a few minutes and then, when the wrestler was about to speak, the redhead beat him to it.
"I think we should start clearing up before everyone gets here," she announced.
The others agreed, and so they each got a rubbish bag and started collecting used paper plates and cups as well as mopping up split drinks and throwing away unwanted leftover food.
Still unable to find the right words to tell Cena how she was feeling, Marissa busied herself in the kitchen. There wasn't really much to do, apart from setting out the food and the drinks. However, it offered the redhead a good distraction from her thoughts. What she was really hoping for was some hint from the wrestler that he still felt the same. The doll house for Maddie had been a good sign, but apart from that he'd said very little to her. In addition, the video tech was still worrying about him chatting to Dana. Hoping it was all just in her mind, the redhead made her way back into the living room. When she entered, Dave was reattaching some of the decorations that had fallen down, but Kate and Cena were nowhere in sight.
"Where is everyone?" she asked, joining Batista in his attempt to secure a ghoul onto the door.
"Kate has popped upstairs to change, and John is outside on his cell. Carlito rang asking for directions from the airport. He's with Jeff Hardy, and I think they'll be here soon," replied the wrestler, finally getting the hanging to stay in place.
"Right, I better go and freshen myself up then and see if Kate is ready," said Marissa, turning to head upstairs.
"You're avoiding John, aren't you?" Batista asked, without any preamble. "Just talk to him Marissa."
"Am I really that obvious?" she sighed, flopping down on the couch. "I do want to talk to him, Dave. I'm just scared what he'll say."
"He'll say he wants to work things out. Haven't you seen how he's been trying to catch your eye all afternoon? And that doll house for Maddie wasn't just for her benefit either. He didn't go to bed until four o'clock this morning for putting it together. He wants to show you he accepts her as part of your life," replied Dave, joining her on the sofa. "He also mentioned he's got you something special from the tour. So, just be honest with him and everything will be fine."
"Okay, I will, but let me freshen up first. I can't talk to him with my make up all smudged and smelling like I do at the moment," insisted Marissa, rising from the couch. As the video tech headed up the stairs, Cena came in from the porch.
"Marissa, can I talk to you for a second?" he asked, standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"Erm... yeah, sure," she replied hesitantly, backtracking a few steps.
However, at that moment, Kate called from upstairs. "Marissa, have you got a second? I need help with my costume," she shouted.
"Sorry, John, I should see what she wants," the video tech said, rushing upstairs to see what her friend needed.
Cena stood rooted to the floor at the bottom of the stairs, wondering what the hell was going on with Marissa and why she'd been acting strangely all day.
When Marissa entered Kate's room, the brunette was having trouble attaching her cape to the back of her outfit. The redhead walked over to her friend, gently moved her dark tresses out of the way and then clipped the cloak on.
"Thanks," said Kate, turning to look in the mirror and check her appearance. She too wore a black wig, simply because she wanted her hair to be another color and black fit the devil well. Under the cape, the red dress fit so tightly and was so low cut that the black teddy pushing her breasts up was almost visible. The dress flared at her hips and was ripped to reveal the layer of crinoline underneath and just a hint of garters. Thankfully, the red thigh-boots she had sported during her Chrome Bumper days still fit. Her red lipstick matched the dress and her eyes were ringed with kohl. Situating the devil horns on her head, she asked, "So, have you spoken to John yet?"
"No, and jeez, you and Dave are like dogs with a bone. He asked me the exact same thing downstairs," replied Marissa.
"Well, that's because we're right. The quicker you talk to him, the sooner you two can stop acting like fools and get it on," insisted the brunette.
"I know, I know, and I will talk to him," assured Marissa. "But please, let me freshen up first."
The sound engineer nodded and Marissa headed to her own room to reapply her make up. Resolving to talk to John when she got downstairs, the redhead spritzed some perfume on herself and straightened her wig. As she walked down the stairs, her heart pounded and her stomach fluttered at the thought of what she was about to do. Reaching the hallway, Marissa took a deep breath and prepared to enter the living room.
Suddenly the door bell rang, announcing that the first of the guests had arrived, and the evening was about to get under way.