Chapter 13
"We're having a company dinner slash charity ball?"
"Yeah."
"What for?"
"Business purposes."
I make a disgusted face.
"One of those formal ones for rich poseurs?"
"Yeah. Those 'rich poseurs' can be good for something."
"I don't have to go, right?"
"You actually do. You're the head of the Web Design branch. You're representing our company."
"Mista Sparky's Law Firm?"
"I'm going to kill Freed for that," Laxus grumbles.
"No, you won't actually. You sort of need him, he basically keeps this company running."
"Nobody needs to know."
"But if you really must know, tomorrow night I'm free to help you bury the body."
"No, you aren't."
"And why not?" I catch myself, and confirm the worst with a nod.
"The party's tomorrow. And you warn me today? Laxus, a girl needs time for these things and you've given me less than 24 hours to prepare."
"Just throw on your old prom dress or something. I remember that night." He stares dreamily at the ceiling, his hands clasped together dramatically.
"Oh? The night my date stood me up and Ever dumped punch all over my dress, 'on accident'. So unfortunately, that dress is out of commission. It's probably in a landfill somewhere, decomposing slowly. I can just see-" I stop to study his face and my mouth gapes in horror.
"That was not the first night you got laid."
"It was. And let me tell you-"
"And how about we stop here. Seriously, Laxus. How the hell can I find a dress for tonight if the party probably starts at 7 tomorrow. It's 7:30 right now. I'm hungry. Food takes priority over clothes any day. I have a routine. And I don't go dress shopping the day before."
"Borrow one of Mira's or something," he replies nonchalantly, stretching his arms.
"No way. Her boobs are huge."
"And you're creative. Fix the problem," he says, unlocking his phone to call the part-time secretary.
"Hey, Mira."
"LAXUS MAKAROV DREYAR. YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THAT STUPID DINNER THINGY WAS TOMORROW."
He winces at her shrill, furious screams.
"Yeah, about that. Can you lend Luce a dress?"
"WHADDYA THINK I AM A GIANT, NEVER ENDING WARDROBE?"
"Lucy is standing next to me and yes, actually, have you ever cleaned out your closet?"
"Oh, yes. Of course she can."
"Can she come over right now?"
"No way, Laxus. I have to go grab food," I protest, pulling at his arm.
"Oh, Mira, can she have dinner at your place?" I'll drop her off, she's being difficult right now."
"What am I, not here, Laxus? I am a responsible adult, unlike someone I know."
"'Kay, Mira, see you in a few."
His stormy gaze swivels down and lands on me.
"I'm sorry, Luce. I'm trying to fix this problem right now. I have a responsibility to make sure all my employees are prepared for this thing by tomorrow night. I'm going to drop you off at Mira's, and I'll pick both of you up tomorrow. Afterwards, we'll come get your car."
He grabs his suit jacket.
"Whaddya waiting for, Miss Heartfilia? Chop, chop. We got places to go and things to do and people to drop off."
"Just one."
"What?"
"You only have one person to drop off."
"Control your sass, Luce."
"Never," I sneer, sashaying past him.
"Shoo. Get your ass out of my car."
I laugh at him as I slowly unbuckle my seatbelt and untangle my charging phone from all the cords.
"Is somebody regretting volunteering to drop me off?"
"A little," he grunts.
"Check your temperature when you get home, okay? I think you might be sick of my sass."
"Shut up, Luce."
"Oh, little Laxy-poo," I giggle as I ruffle his hair and dart out of the car.
"See ya, Luce."
Mira opens the door as I wave good-bye.
"I thought I heard you guys flirting."
"I'm not going to say anything cause you're cooking my food."
Mira's closet is huge. Mammoth. Titanic. Ginormous. Gigantic. And she's definitely never cleaned it out before.
"Honestly, how many times did you go to prom?"
"Four, but I also have dresses for the before and after parties. That one was from the last dinner we had here. The one over there is from Lis' wedding. That one was from Elfman's first wedding. Twenty bucks he and Ever are going to get married by the way. They're probably having better sex than Laxus and Ever ever did. Honestly. They were never meant to be. But, you and Laxus on the other hand-"
"And cut," I clap my hands in front of her dazed eyes, "We are not beginning that conversation."
"Well, then," she smiles evilly at me, "We'll make Laxus want to devour your face at the party tomorrow."
"First of all, no. Second of all, it's a bunch of stuffy old men with too much money. Not a party."
She pouts.
"Don't you want to look good tomorrow night?"
Sighing loudly, I flop unceremoniously onto the carpeted floor.
"Yes, I do."
"For Laxus, right?"
I think about the tall, blonde man. I can't make up my mind about him. I don't know him anymore. But the other voice, argues loudly. I do know him. He's changed for sure but I can't deny that we've been getting along remarkably well. Almost like the old days.
"Definitely for Laxus," she repeats.
"Believe whatever you want, Mira."
She snickers.
"You didn't deny it."
Dresses basically begin to rain from the ceiling. A few catch my eye, but others are garish and blindingly, well, bleh. Mira wore those? And I thought she had good taste.
I can't remember the last time I dressed for anyone. I dated a few guys in college, but nothing serious.
"How about this one?" Mira smirks at me as she lifts up the stereotypically scarlet red dress with a plunging neckline.
"Yo, it's not the Fashion Week or something."
It's been two hours.
Struggling through the mountain of tulle, velvet and silk, I close my eyes tightly, and hope that I grab an okay-looking gown.
I've never worn such a dark color.
Always pretty pastel pinks and lavenders. But this is a whole new me.
It's not the torn, heart-broken, neglected-by-her-father Lucy Heartfilia from her senior year of highschool.
This is new.
I feel sophisticated and I don't know what. Confident? Ready? Hot?
The navy dress fits my curves perfectly and the halter neck, though bedazzled isn't overwhelmingly so.
The skirt barely brushes my toes and the layers fall perfectly into place as I spin delightfully in a circle.
"Mira? I found it."
She pops her head back into the closet.
"Keep it. I never looked that good in that dress. Although after tomorrow night, who knows if it'll be in one piece."
"MIRAA."
"What? I'm being realistic here. Laxus might not even be the one you get tomorrow. There are plenty of hot, rich, young, and most definitely single men there. Make him jealous." The white-haired woman grins mischievously.
And I thought she was going to drop the matter. I wish for too much.
My hair is elegantly braided into a bun and golden, curled tendrils frame my lightly-made up face. I stare at my face in the mirror, half dazed.
Somebody slips something around my neck, and I open my eyes blearily.
"Laxus?" The blonde man clips the golden chain on the smallest ring and straightens the necklace slightly.
"It's that necklace you left at my house that one time?"
"Which time?"
"You know that one time where we did that one thing and then that other thing?"
"Oh, that time. I remember that time we did that thing and then ate that other thing."
"That thing was freakin' gross. Hah. And after we went and did that other thing. Remember that other time when-"
"I thought I lost this necklace."
"Well, you didn't."
"I can see that."
"We gotta go, Luce."
As we head towards the door, Mira blows a kiss at me and my perplexed face.
"Freed's taking me."
I glare at her. You dare leave me alone?
She winks back. Totally. Have fun, okay? Well, not too much.
STOOOOP.
Laxus mockingly opens the car door, bowing as I lift my dress to compensate for the lack of space.
"I can't believe Mira made me wear these lethal shoes."
"Just take them off halfway through."
"Those old rich douchebags suck at dancing."
"Then I'll just dance with you the whole time."
"I suppose you're better than nothing," I smirk, hiding my blushing face from his view.
"I took lessons," he huffs indignantly.
"Then we'll have to put them to the test."
i feel like before the mini-hiatus i took, i wrote using a lot less dialogue and a lot more flowy flowery language. these past two chapters have been sort of filler chapters with a bit of fluff.
in the next chapter, im rather conflicted on which way i should go. either i'm going to begin to have laxus and lucy fall in love, or lucy will meet someone at this party and kaboom drama. pls tell me what you want to see next!
im in the middle of brainstorming for a few stories too. (the tumblr posts that show up on my facebook feed make for great inspiration.) im not sure if either of these will be fan fics, but if they arent they will be posted on fiction press.
1. a group of 5 teenagers are accused of terrible crimes that they didnt commit, simply put, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. they work to prove themselves innocent without knowing that all of their cases are inter connected and caused by one insanely psycho mastermind.
2. two people, one of them is a villian and the other is a stereotypical superhero. (or maybe they're just sworn enemies), by night. however, they are actually roommates and each day they come back to their shared apartment and make excuses about their injuries, while their roommate patches them up. and then one day... (i got this one off tumblr sooo if anyone wants to write this one that's okay, just tell me cause i want to read it haha)
a big thank you to all of you unknown viewers and known followers and favoriters. it's great to see that you guys are still following along and enjoy (or at least i hope you enjoy it) reading this. you guys are the best.
zephy out.