Autumn

Chapter 11: Dress Up

    When I got out of the shower, wrapped in a warm, fluffy hotel towel, my phone was going on my bed. I padded across the carpet with a sense of urgency to pick it up. There was a message from Jessie and when I opened the chat, I found that he had sent it three times in the space of a few seconds.

"I miss you."

"I miss you."

"I miss you."

   My heart fluttered in my chest against its bony cage. He was incredibly sweet but I really had no way of knowing if it would stay that way. It really had only been over a week. Change was inevitable and people had a tendency to change but what I had with Jessie, no matter how small, was somehow important enough to me that I didn't want to loose it. I was about to type a reply when another message came in from him. 

 "You are by far, the most beautiful woman that I have ever met."

"You're a mighty fine sight yourself." I replied with a grin on my face. I tried to throw of a bit of the Southern charm he'd used on me, right back at him. "I really wish I hadn't left your place . I never got to finish playing 20 questions with you. (Insert sad face here)."

He responded almost immediately. "So that's what you were trying to do with your little questions. I don't think you got that far though. I'd be happy to finish that game with you whenever you're free; anything to be able to spend more time with you. I can't stop thinking about you."

   A furious blush crept up my cheeks. It surprised me how open he was; how willing he was to open up to me and share his feelings, especially when they concerned me. I really had never met anyone quite like him. 

"I'd like that. Listen, I have to attend a dinner in a few hours with my parents at the Governor's Mansion. I need to finish getting ready because its a bit of a lengthy drive. Talk to you later, handsome." 

"Alright. Later, beautiful," Jessie replied.

      What I felt in my chest wasn't summed up completely by butterflies. The feeling was more akin to a warmth rather than a buzzing. It was the same kind of warmth that I felt radiating off of Jessie whenever I was with him. A thousand fireworks went off simultaneously at every kind word uttered, every caring look, every feather like kiss and gentle caress and in this case, with every sweet text. It seemed like wishful thinking but a part of me believed that he was the closest thing to perfection. If I had learned anything from past relationships, it was that men rarely retained the gentle aura. Eventually, their real personalities started bleeding into the reality. I couldn't imagine Jessie becoming anything like the cruel, self-absorbed boys that I'd dated in the past. His Southern charms and boyish grins were some of his most attractive features but there was also a emptiness in his eyes sometimes, especially when he talked about his parents. 

   He'd been so alone for most of his life and my heart broke for him. Loosing his mother must have left him extremely vulnerable and he needed stability more than anything. God knows I wanted to be that for him and I think he wanted me to be there too. 

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    It took me all of thirty minutes to get ready and I stood in front of the mirror to check myself. The dress was my mother's idea. It was an almost dangerously fitted emerald dress with a modest sweetheart neckline lined with lace of the same shade. The color complemented my eyes. A long slit reached up my left calf and stopped just above my knee.  A dusting of pale rose blush brought some color to my alabaster cheeks because simply pinching them wasn't enough. However, that did nothing for the skin on my throat and shoulders. The deep shade of the garment clashing with the  stark crimson of my hair made the skin there look all the more paler.