A Wish with a Bow (Girl Power Series)

Chapter 3 - Dinner Guests

I give myself one last look in the mirror. I have managed to make some wide curls with a curling iron and the stripes are less noticeable this way. It will be a matter of hours before it will go limp again, but I hope they will be too drunk to notice or have gone home.

"Hey gorgeous," my brother says, coming from his bedroom and looking very handsome in a navy shirt and gray trousers.

"Do I look alright?" I say, looking down at my simple dark emerald dress. "Hair? Tell me the hair is fine."

"Lovely," he says, putting his arm over my shoulders.

I miss Dan so much. My brother is just a year younger than me, and has always been my biggest support. I'm really proud of him and I know he will become an amazing doctor. I just wish that he was around more often, but he has college to attend.

"Mom is trying to hook me up," I say to him.

"Me as well," he says, smiling at me. "Somebody from church that has a daughter,"

"Are you alright with that?"

"I wish things would happen naturally, but you never know. Don't close yourself to opportunities," he says, caressing my cheek.

We make it downstairs and I'm still amazed at the big amount of food that we managed to make in record time. Mom is in the dining room fixing some flowers in a vase. She looks flawless and relaxed. The perfect image of a hostess.

"Don't you two look gorgeous? Wait Callie, I have a lipstick that will make that outfit look fabulous," she says, looking for her purse and rummaging through it.

"Mom, I don't really wear lipstick,"

She turns around and to my horror, she has it in her hand. The thing is the most awful color. A red that borders almost in orange.

"I can't wear that!"

"Oh, come on Callie. A little bit won't hurt," she says, grabbing my chin and smearing the thing on my mouth. "Perfect,"

Mom hands me a little mirror and it looks worse than I expected. She goes back to the kitchen while humming another Christmas song. I look at Dan, who is trying to keep his composure, but is about to burst laughing.

"I look like a hooker, right?" I say and he looses it.

I take a paper napkin and remove the disgusting lipstick, but is too late. I smell like a koala and my lips are orange. The door opens and I hear a rumble of feet. My sister Evy must be here. Let the humiliation games begin...

"Oh, you are here," she says as she enters the dining room. "Where is Mom?"

Well, hello to you too.

"Kitchen, where else?" I say.

"Nice lipstick. If we were living in the 80s," she says before disappearing through the kitchen door.

"Wow, I have actually turned transparent," says Dan next to me. "Is it my imagination, or is she a bigger bitch than the last time we saw her?"

"Unfortunately, I see her more often than you and the answer is yes,"

Dan and I walk to the living room where Dad is already nesting on an armchair and watching TV. Stefan, my sister's husband is standing there with my niece on his hip and with despair on his face. I feel sorry for him, but still don't know what he sees in my sister.

"Let me hold her for you," I say and she almost jumps in my arms. Like I said, kids like me.

"Can I offer you a beer?" Dan asks.

"If you hit me unconscious, it would be alright as well," he says. "Aria has a bad cold and we didn't sleep at all,"

At that moment, Aria sneezes straight into my face and then starts wailing.

"What did you do to her?" my sister says while grabbing the girl out of my arms.

Jeez! Wasn't she in the kitchen?

"I didn't do anything. I was only holding her," I say, wiping my glasses.

"Here you go Stefan," my brother says, handing a cold one to my brother in law.

"Seriously, Stefan? A beer already before dinner. Your parents are not even here,"

"Let the kid enjoy himself and stop nagging,"

We all turn to look at Dad whose eyes are still glued to the TV. Evy glares at him and then goes back to the kitchen. Probably to complain to mom about how nobody understands her.

Stefan plops down on the couch and we all join. I indulged in watching the parade on the tiny TV in the kitchen while making food, and now Dad is watching a really nice concert.

The doorbell rings and I go to answer it. Stefan's parents are here, together with their son. I don't remember much about him from their wedding five years ago, but what I have here in front of me is worth forgetting.

He is dressed from head to toe in athletic gear. He looks as if he just came out of the gym. I look at Dan, whose mouth is half open.

"Hey there babe," Stefan's brother says, grinning and winking at me. His teeth are covered with gold. "You have gotten chubbier since the last time I saw you,"

Right when I'm about to tell this filth to go fuck himself, the doorbell rings once more. I go to open it and feel relieved at the sight. There is a man and a woman dressed very neatly. Behind I can see another young woman and another person that I assume is the son as he is partially hidden. I greet them with a smile and move aside to let them in.

"Good evening. I'm Carlos," a deep voice says next to me.

I look at him and my heart skips a beat. He is so incredibly handsome. His black hair is wavy and has big brown eyes. He is offering me a hand to shake and as I put mine on his, I can't help it but to appreciate how beautiful his tanned skin looks next to mine. This time I feel thankful for my mom's antics and hope that he is sitting next to me.