Chapter Fourteen:
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Two days later
Mara Jade allowed herself a gentle smile as the hair-stylist massaged the shampoo into her head. It felt so good, and it helped to relieve some of the tension she'd been dealing with for over a week now.
She sighed contentedly, silently willing the stylist to take her time. All too soon however, the blue-skinned Twi'lek woman finished and sat Mara up, towel drying her hair to remove the excess moisture.
Mara moved to a different chair and allowed herself to relax as the woman began to style her red-gold tresses into her chosen do-up.
"Are you looking forward to the ball, Miss. Jade?"
Mara looked at the Twi'lek's reflection. "I guess."
The woman cocked her head, her lekku twitching. "You aren't excited?"
"There's not really a whole lot for me to be excited about, to be honest." Mara admitted.
Part of her mind was chastising her for sharing such things with a stranger, but another part of her welcomed the ear of someone she didn't know. It would do Mara no harm for someone she did not know to think any less of her for a weakness.
"May I ask why not?" the woman asked.
Mara glanced at the nametag pinned to the woman's front.
Hilma.
"I guess it's because everyone is expecting big things from me. Everything about this evening has been planned for me, right down to what dress I'm supposed to wear." Mara groused.
"That does sound rather boring." Hilma agreed tentatively as she worked on Mara's hair. "But still, not everyone was invited. What an honor to be among those who were!"
Mara decided not to snap at Hilma for her opinion. She was right: the ball was by invitation only. It had to smart all these salon girls and other business folk to have to help all the party-goers but then watch from the sidelines as the party itself played out without them.
She almost shook her head, but remembered just in time that she was getting it styled, and refrained.
"Maybe someday you will find yourself at one of these functions." Mara offered politely.
"Oh, I wouldn't know about that." Hilma smiled shyly. "I'm not a politician. Can't stand all those pointless debates the Senate seems to love."
Mara smiled. "That makes two of us, then!"
They shared a laugh: Hilma put the last pin in place, and handed Mara a hand-held mirror.
"What do you think?" Hilma asked.
"It's perfect, thank you Hilma." Mara said.
She produced a credit-chip, which she handed to Hilma. The woman grinned happily.
"Oh, thank you, Miss. Jade!"
"Thank you for listening." Mara returned with a goodbye wave.
Mara walked slowly to her next appointment, and marveled at how nice it was to have vented even a tiny bit. She felt a little portion of the weight on her chest lift as she entered the nail boutique.
00000
"It turned out perfectly, Luke!" Leia beamed at him as she handed him a long black bag with a protruding hanger.
Luke gingerly opened the garment bag and gazed at the gown. His eyes alighted with delight, and he crushed Leia into a hug, barely remembering to set the article of clothing down first.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Luke whispered vehemently.
Leia patted him on the back, and Luke realized he was literally crushing her airways. He drew back with a flush of chagrin.
"Sorry." He apologized. "I owe you big time!"
"Yes you do, but don't worry about that right now." Leia checked her chrono. "I suspect Mara will be home within an hour, so if you plan to sneak this over to her place, you'd best get going."
"Right. I'll see you tonight, love you!" Luke zipped up the dress bag and dashed from the Solo residence.
He made a quick stop to his apartment first to pick up one more gift he'd purchased to go with the dress. So it was that fifteen minutes after he'd left Leia's home that Luke Skywalker was walking through Mara's front door with a dress and a special bouquet of flowers.
He laid the dress-bag over Mara's bed, and then rummaged carefully through her cabinets in the kitchen until he found a vase. He filled it with water and the plant food, and then carefully set the bouquet in the vase.
Luke felt a tingle of warning in the Force, and knew he was pressing his luck simply by entering her apartment without her consent. He hurried to place the flowers on her bed-side table, and then cleaned up his mess and raced from the apartment.
He didn't stop running until he was home and safe in his front room.
00000
Mara blew out a grateful sigh when she finally arrived at her front door. She had enjoyed her day out, but now she wanted time to rest before tonight's grand event. She checked her chrono and swore when she saw that the arrival time was one hour from now.
Well, better just get this night over with. Mara thought dourly.
She entered her code, and the door opened quietly to let her slip through. She dropped her handbag on the couch and went to get a glass of water from the kitchen. She gulped it down, and set the cup aside.
Mara grabbed a piece of fruit from the fridge, and munched on it as she settled into a lounger in the sitting room. She allowed herself a few minutes to vegg. before she got up to put her makeup on.
Mara walked toward the refresher from the door on the hallway side of the bedroom and went to grab her dress from where it hung on a wall-hook. She unzipped the bag and studied the red gown, trying to decide how best to match her makeup with the color.
She came to a decision and retrieved her makeup from the countertop.
When Mara opened her bedroom-side door, she was rummaging through her case of makeup. It wasn't until she looked up to avoid running into the bed that she saw the bouquet of Toydarian fire-lilies sitting arrayed on her bed-side table.
Mara gasped, ignoring the bag of makeup as it dropped, spilling its contents all over the floor. Her hands flew to her mouth as her eyes finally accepted the fact that she was seeing real flowers.
Mara walked toward the bouquet almost fearfully, pausing beside the table. Reaching out timidly- afraid that they would disappear if she touched them- Mara brushed her fingertips along the fluted pedal of one of the flowers.
She sat blindly on the bed and yelped in shock when something poked her buttocks. She jumped up, rubbing her sore muscles, and realized there was another garment bag on the bed. Mara felt a touch of uncertainty, and gazed again at the flowers.
Who could have sent these things? And who had access to her apartment?
Anger and indignation seared through her, and Mara simmered for a moment before the fact that the flowers were her favorite seeped passed the haze. Something else about the flowers tickled her mind, but she couldn't quite piece things together. Her eyes fell on the bag resting invitingly on the sheets.
She didn't know why, but for some reason she dreaded opening the sack. In an effort to stall, Mara perused the flowers for a note of some kind, but found nothing. She bit her lip and gazed again at the mattress.
Was this a last minute wardrobe change from Karrde? And the bouquet his way of appeasing her?
Mara shook her head. Karrde didn't know she loved fire-lilies, and he'd certainly not buy a bouquet exclusively of the expensive flowers. Nor did he know her apartment access code.
No, only one person alive knows I love fire lil… Mara froze in mid-thought, and almost against her will her eyes shot to the dress hidden under the black of the bag.
A strange mixture of fear and tentative hope swarmed her as she started putting the puzzle together. Only one man knew of her love for fire-lilies, and he had also just seen her entire collection of dress designs not two days earlier.
No…you're imagining things Jade, there is no possible way anyone could make a dress that fast.
Mara stared at the bag, at a loss as to how to proceed. She had an idea of what was in the bag, but didn't want her hopes dashed if she was wrong.
Oh for stars sake, Jade, what are you doing cowering like a puppy? She yelled at herself. Just open the bag and be done with it!
Mara grabbed the zipper, and pulled. In another moment of emotional instability, Mara squeezed her eyes shut. She unfastened the zipper the rest of the way, took a deep breath, and peeked open an emerald eye.
She gasped upon seeing the contents of the bag, and her knees wobbled. Mara slumped into a semi-sitting position on the bed beside the garment.
It was her dress!
Her dress! The one she'd designed, and had been saving her credits to make.
Tears sprang to Mara's eyes, and her mind gingerly reached out to Luke Skywalker. She was careful not to let him catch her, and she felt him in the midst of his own preparations. Nevertheless, Mara blew him a mental kiss, half-hoping he wouldn't notice it.
A thought crossed her mind. Luke was sending her more than one message here, though he probably didn't realize it.
The first was that he cared about her. He cared about the woman that was Mara Jade, not just her dancing, athleticism, or business suave.
The second was that he was unknowingly encouraging her to be her own person for once at a ball. And he'd delivered the means for her to do just that.
With a brilliant smile and a twinkle in her eyes, Mara donned her gown, marveling at how perfectly it fit.
She might be going as a business associate for Karrde, but she was going to dress her own way this time.
And if anyone had a problem with it, they could suck vacuum.
00000
Pausing in the act of putting on his shoes, Luke smiled when he felt a feather-light caress. Mara had found her gown.
He returned the gentle touch, wanting to know if she was angry with him, but all he was getting were happy vibes.
His smile widened, and Luke prayed that Mara would enjoy herself this evening.