Chapter 13: Car monkey
Seven books and a brand new cell phone later, Kitty was calling the guys.
-"Hey boys! Umm, does Lance, like, have his car? – Good, because we might need it – Relax, she's fine. – I'll, like, ride with him and Kurt, she'll go with you. – We're on 49th and 6th. – Yeah!, like, see you soon!" she closed her phone and turned to me smiling.
-"They'll be here in a few minutes. Kurt is taking Lance back to get his car, I'm like, not sure if it'll all fit in the Mercedes," Kitty said and giggled. I shook my head and looked at the bags by our feet.
-"It's amazing how much clothes we got today! I never thought I'd ever be able to even hold an Alexander McQueen in my life, and now I own more then just one!" I told her and laughed with her. It seemed like my grin was glued permanently on to my face, and I think that everyone could see that: I was genuinely happy.
Just as my thoughts started to wander through Kitty's chanting, a black Mercedes and a silver Hummer with tinted windows parked in front of us. Kurt and Lance got out of the Hummer and Caleb appeared from the Mercedes, all chuckling besides Kurt who had a beaten expression on his face. Lance looked smug and held out his hand as Kurt got his wallet out and handed Lance a twenty. Caleb walked over to me and smiled that perfect smile I liked so much.
-"Hi Amelia, how'd it go?" he looked at the heaps of bags by my feet.
-"I survived," I joked. "Actually, I had fun. It was a new experience. And Christian is so amazing," I told him enthusiastically as we put my bags in the back of his car.
-"Christian? Who's that?" he asked sceptically. I heard in his voice that there was some emotion he was trying to hide, making it impossible for me to decipher it.
-"Um, just a guy I met," I answered. I didn't mean to sound as devious and secretive as I probably did, but at that moment I didn't notice.
-"Oh," was all Caleb said, and opened the door for me. I did notice though, that his smile, -my smile, was gone.
-"We take New York Vintage, Alexander McQueen and Marc Jacobs, and you can take Brian Atwoon, Stella McCartney and the others" Kitty said and climbed into the Hummer with Lance and Kurt. Caleb chuckled and got into the Mercedes.
We drove to the stores we'd been assigned in a comfortable silence, and just as we got back into the car after exiting the last store, my stomach growled. Loudly.
-"Hungry?" Caleb asked me and smiled as he drove out in the streets of New York.
-"Yeah, a tad," I answered and chuckled.
-"Let's take you out to dinner then. You know what they say; fine people dine in late"
-"I've never heard that expression before. And you don't have to do that Caleb, honestly," I said, feeling my cheeks redden slightly.
-"Amelia, I want to," he answered and looked at me, the sincerity of his words apparent in his eyes.
I nodded and bit my lip, smiling. He smiled back at me and returned his attention to the streets.
-"Where do we want to eat?" Caleb asked me.
-"Umm….I don't know, what's good in this town?"
-"There is this little Italian restaurant down on 5th, but I'm not sure if Alessandro would leave you alone in that attire," he told me and nodded his head towards my dress with a chuckle. I contemplated this for a few seconds, before grinning at him.
-"I have an idea, just trust me" I said and started climbing to the luggage room in the car where all the clothes were.
"And no peeking!" I shouted at him, slightly serious but mostly joking. I trusted him enough not to look.
-"Sure, sure. Monkey…" he replied and shook his head with laughter