Pleasurable Expectations

t w e l v e

"Kiki, you are about to burst from excitement," Adrienne noted as we both stood in front of the full-length mirror in my bedroom, rifling through outfit options for dinner tonight. "If you don't go on and tell me what happened today..."

"I already told you. I'm waiting for dinner so I can tell everybody at the same time." I peeled my eyes from the two dress options in my hands to look at her, a small eye roll following. "Now, I can't decide which one is better."

I held a red dress with a thin material in my right hand, it flowing smoothly by the air conditioner blowing out from the vent above me in the closet. In my left, I held a dress that was the exact opposite. It was a figure-hugging dress, a neat array of zippers splaying out from the waist.

Adrienne turned her attention to me and before I could even ask, offered her opinion. "You can probably guess which one I'm going with but, just in case you can't, clearly the black dress is the superior option."

"Let me guess? Because mi cuerpo será de fuego? Yeah, I've heard it all before." Despite my teasing, I took a few more steps into my closet, the tiled floor cooling my feet concealed behind my socks. I placed the red dress back from whence it came and laid the black dress neatly on the bed.

"I knew you were gonna go with my choice." She wasn't facing me, but I could hear the smirk in Adrienne's voice as she pushed around a couple hangers, still searching for the right fit for her.

"I went with the choice I liked best. A classic Alexander Wang over a Roland Mouret any day."

"Oh, Roland Mouret is cheap or something?" Adrienne inquired.

"Nah. Mouret's stuff is generally in the thousands, and I can find a good Wang for like eight hundred. I didn't feel like being too bougie today."

A murmur followed in Spanish before an audible "Because eight hundred is nowhere near bougie," with an apparent sarcastic undertone.

"You are not one to talk tonight," I countered. I lazily gestured towards the navy blue dress Adrienne was clutching in her hands. "That's an Oscar De La Renta."

"Okay..." she trailed cluelessly, taking her attention from me and back to the dress I can see she adores. "I don't know what that means, but I do know this is a cute dress."

I did like the dress, yet I had never found the right occasion to bring it out. I loved the black floral lattice that stemmed up from the dress's hem, standing out slightly from the midnight blue silk. The only thing I didn't like was how it fell at the hips; it makes me look awkwardly boxy.

"In other words, the dress is close to two thousand dollars," I explained. "Way more bougie than I'm getting tonight, Ri."

I watched Adrienne's eyes bulge as I exposed the price of the dress. She pivoted on her heel and scurried to the bed, gently laying the dress out. "Kiki! What the hell were you thinking casi dejarme wear that thing out? Usted're maldito loco por que uno!"

"Ri, I have no problem with you wearing that tonight. I know it's going to look fire on you, first of all, and secondly, I haven't worn that thing and have no use for it. Take it."

"You want me to just take a two thousand dollar dress?"

I was surprised at the way Adrienne was acting. She acts as if I haven't given her a million and one hand-me-downs, especially things that she knew I was never going to wear. "This is not the first expensive thing I've given you," I remarked with a chuckle. "Why are you all of the sudden tripping over it now?"

"I never knew the price of all the fancy things you've given me! Cristo, Kiara." The back end of her sentence came out breathy, almost as if she was astonished.