Pleasurable Expectations

t w o

Adrienne was at my house at four-thirty on the dot, ready to help me choose an outfit and do my makeup for my date with Jeremiah later on today. She wasted no time. I wasn't even greeted when she barged into my place. She made a beeline for my closet and started looking for clothes for me to wear.

"Ri, you don't even know where we're going yet. You would know that if you bothered to say hello," I spoke as she moved hangers left and right.

"Oh please, girl, you said he ordered a car to pick you guys up and was wearing a five thousand dollar suit. You're going somewhere fancy," she stated matter of factly.

"How do you know he's not modest about his money? Not every rich person flaunts around their money, you know."

"Not everybody's like your family, KiKi. You know how to handle your wealth."

"Or lack thereof," I muttered under my breath. Our wealth all went down the toilet during my sophomore year of college. "And yeah, we do, but some people..." I trailed, referring to Mr. Justin Umbridge, who quite clearly, didn't.

"Justin got blackballed. He can't ruin anyone else's business like he did yours," Adrienne reassured with a warm smile.

"My parents still have five more kids to put through college, you know this. They have enough in their college funds, but the extra money could have been nice." I joined Adrienne at my closet, rummaging through dresses that might be suitable to wear tonight.

"Your brothers will be fine." She placed a warm hand on my shoulder. "What you need to focus on right now is getting ready for your date tonight with the tall, chocolate hottie."

"He has a name, you know?" I responded with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah. What's his name again?" she questioned. If there's one thing this girl is terrible at, its names.

"Jeremiah Diamond," I quickly responded, the name flowing smoothly off the tongue. His name sounded like a famous movie star's name, or maybe a model—definitely someone who's important and adored everywhere. You can't have a name like 'Diamond' and be a nobody.

I noticed Adrienne shoot me a glance out of the corner of my eyes, so I turned and raised a questioning brow. She turned from me quickly, continuing to rummage through these same dresses for the twentieth time. "You're forreal not gonna tell me what that look was about?"

"What look?" she asked, playing dumb. "Can I not look at my gorgeous best friend?" she questioned. She moved to bring her hand up to my face, me swatting it away.

"Not when you're acting suspect, no," I answered. "So you finna tell me why you were looking at me all weird?"

"I'm straight, thanks," she responded. "How about this dress?" She pulled out Temperley London's gold carnation dress. "It's gorgeous and is most definitely your color." She held the silk dress up to my dark complexion. "Oh yeah, this one." She shoved it into my arms and urged me to put it on.

"Are you sure this is fancy enough?" I held it up to my body and looked down at it, an unsure look on my face. It only fell to just above the ankles.

"I don't make a habit of eating at restaurants that make my bank account cry, but I'm assuming so," Adrienne assured. "Go put it on, and then you'll love it."

I gave in and started unbuttoning my jeans, shimmying them down my ashy, dry legs. Before I removed my top, I walked over to my bedside table, grabbed my cocoa butter lotion, and squirted some into my palm, lathering it all over my legs before continuing to undress.

Once I put it on, I stepped in front of a mirror and ran my hands of the silk material, gliding effortlessly. I relished in the feeling, missing the days when I'd be wearing dresses like this every other day to head to some fancy event.