Morozov

Chapter 6

I woke up in the morning with a note next to me.

Will be at work til 12. Meet you for Lucía's dance competition and the opera afterwards. Outfits are prepared ;)

I couldn't help but blush at the note. Wait stop, I couldn't blush because of Ace. I shook my head to clear my mind and got ready to work out. I didn't even look at the outfits, scared that another bolt of endorphins might come clashing to my face and cause another one of those scary smiles.

After the workout I took a shower and Jaqueline came over to do my make-up. "Will you do this every time Ace and I go out?" "Yes probably. If he doesn't fire me," she answered, slightly laughing while applying some concealer. "I won't let that happen, trust me. You're the first person that does my make-up the way I like it," I winked at her to which she responded with the purest smile ever.

I put on my outfit and was really surprised that it was so.... normal.

I was about to go downstairs to eat something when I heard desperate sighs coming from Lucía's room.
I quietly approached and knocked at the door that was already open. Lucía stood in front of her mirror, struggling with her hair.

"Lucía?" I asked carefully. She turned around annoyed but her face dropped when she saw me "Oh, it's you," she exhaled before she turned back to face her mirror.
"Are you okay?" "I got the comb stuck in my hair and now I can't get it out. The other girls will laugh at me so bad if I have to cut it," she sighed and let herself drop onto her bed.

I hesitated for a second. Maybe, what I was about to do would be inappropriate, maybe not. But if failing an attempt to get to know her was what it took, I was willing to try. "Can I?" I asked pointing at her black hair and earning a nod in response. She sat down in front of her dressing table and I inspected her hair.

"Oh yeah, this happened to my mother at least once every two weeks. Give me a minute," I nodded pointing at the comb that was tangled between her hair.
After a good twenty minutes I fixed her hair and styled it. "Aaand you're good to go," I said as a big smile formed on her face. "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed excited but also thankfully. "No problem," I smiled back at her.

Right as I walked out she stopped me. "Maybe you're not as bad as I thought."
I didn't turn around. I also didn't say anything. But I smiled, acknowledging my triumph.

"Wow, no suit?" I said surprised as Lucía and I walked down the stairs. Ace was wearing black jeans and a black hoodie with sneakers. "I can pull everything, I know," he bragged full of confidence as we reached him.
"How do I look?" Lucía turned around one time for her brother to inspect her. "Like the most beautiful ballerina to ever exist," he said - with a straight face of course. I bit the insides of my cheeks. Because while he might have managed to keep his face straight, his eyes spoke a whole different language.

After we arrived at the big hall, we went to our seats in the V.I.P. area and watched. Even Mr. and Mrs. Rodrigues were dressed like normal people, which was very odd to see.
The competition went by pretty fast and we all got home to prepare for the opera.

"Are Mr. and Mrs. Rodrigues coming as well?" I asked as Jaqueline helped me into my dress. The black silk swirled around my shoulders, chest and waist, falling majestically below until it almost touched the floor. There was a slit at the right side, almost reaching my hip bone.
The white pearls around my neck and on my ears created a contrast to the pitch black dress and high heels.

"They're all coming" She answered as she did the last touches to my make up and hair and I wondered what she meant by 'all'. My hair was curled again and my make up similar to the last times. The only difference was that I had dark red lipstick applied to my full lips.