My Spy 2: Witness Protection

Dibs

I'm already feeling the swing of things and falling into a routine mid-way through my shift the next day. Tinsley is still peppy and I hear her high-pitched voice mingling with customers from all over the room. I grin when I see Gus and Annabeth strolling through the front door and Annabeth quickly skips behind the hostess desk to pull me in for a hug.

"It's so weird to see you workin'! I'm excited to see ya in action!"

"I understand why you're so tired all the time," I tell her as I lift my leg to shake my aching foot out. She grins and then lowers her voice to says, "I hope this is helping to take your mind off things." I nod after I pull away from her and Gus quickly pulls me in for a hug too. I walk them over to a cozy spot in the corner and I wink to Gus after I drop their menus down. Tinsley is waiting for me with a freshly washed bin of silverware and while folding them into napkins, I lean into her and say, "I think Gus and Annabeth are on a date!" Her eyes widen in excitement as she glances to their corner of the bar.

"Well, that' adorable! They would make the most precious couple!"

I giggle back to her, "That's what I said. I mean, we've all been friends for forever so at first, they thought it was odd, but I think they might actually have a good thing going." We both dart our eyes back to them and I watch as Gus pours her a glass of Merlot. They toast and I want to burst with excitement. I should have thought about setting them up years ago.

I glance around the bar and notice all the other couples cozied up, toasting each other under the twinkle lights and I can't help but think of Ryan. This is a place I know we would have enjoyed coming to and dancing when the band played. I hear the front door swing open and I watch as Molly and Margot Hamilton walk in. They are the stunning sisters my mother had hoped to set Austin up with and I watch as Molly flips her sleek straight blonde hair behind her shoulder. She puts two fingers up and Tinsley scrambles to grab menus and silverware. I'm surprised when Margot addresses me.

"You're Austin's sister right?" I nod, confused at her unawareness seeing we've ran in the same social circles since we were infants, "That's what I thought. Do you know if he already left town?" I glance to Molly who looks disinterested and reply, "Yeah, he went back to South Carolina on Sunday." Margot frowns and then asks, "Oh, well is he coming to Poppy's fundraiser?"

I shake my head, "Afraid not, I don't think he'll be back in town until Christmas." Margot glances to Molly and then quietly says, "What an ass. He just dined and dashed! I knew better than to hook up with him again. Remind me of this before I throw myself at him at Christmas." Molly nods as Tinsley leads them to a spot at the bar. I'm standing there stunned that Austin was seeing Margot while he was out here. I didn't have a clue he was hooking up with anyone in Hollis. Before Tinsley makes it back, Annabeth beelines it over to me while Gus strides down the hallway to the bathrooms.

"Sawyer! I have to talk to you!" She says and she glances over her shoulder before continuing, "So, I may or may not have kissed Gus..."

I smile and reply, "Yes I know, I pried it out of Gus the last time I saw him." She quickly frowns and snaps, "When did you and Gus hang out?"

"The night I broke it off with Ryan. I stayed at Gus's because I couldn't be at my house." She looks as if I just slapped her. She knew I had ended things so it's not like this is news to her.

"You spent the night with Gus?" She asks again and I now see where her brain is headed.

"On the couch Annabeth. I've stayed at Gus's house a million times before, it's not that weird." I tell her but I can see her becoming more flustered. She brushes her dark hair behind her shoulders and I'm just now seeing how dolled up Annabeth is. She's curled her short hair so it sits in soft waves on her shoulder and her hazel eyes look bright against the smokey eye make-up she did. She's in a flattering navy dress that nicely accentuates her size C assets too. I put my hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay? I promise Annabeth it was nothing." She shakes her head.

"I'm sure it was. But maybe from now on, you can run to someone else instead of Gus every time you need a shoulder to cry on." My jaw drops slightly and I'm appalled at how she's taking this.

"He's my best friend besides you. He lives five minutes away from me. You can't possibly be acting weird about this. Come on, it's me. No need to get jealous." She gives me the slightest of smiles and replies back, "You're right. Sorry, this is all...so...I don't know weird. I mean a month ago I thought Gus was like... icky but now I think I actually like him. Like, like like ya know? It's weird for me to be calling dibs on him. It's just confusing." Behind her I watch Gus fill his seat back at the table and I look back to her.

"I hope it works out for you two. Don't worry about me, I promise I'll stay at a friendly distance." She nods and also sees that Gus is back to their table. Before sauntering off, she says, "I want to go get something nice to wear for Saturday night. Want to go shopping tomorrow?" I nod to her and she smiles. I watch her make her way back to Gus and I seriously hope she keeps a smart head about Gus and me. If I haven't gone for Gus already, I don't see it ever being likely. He's practically my brother.

*********

The following afternoon, Annabeth giddily retells her entire evening with Gus to me in the car on our way into town. Besides Austin, I have never seen her this excited about a guy. I decide to stay mum on Austin and Margot's hook up- I don't want to break her heart. She looks to me after she spills about their make-out session on his sofa, "Is this weird for you? I can stop talkin' if this is too weird." I laugh as I pull into a parking space and reply, "No, I mean yeah, it's weird but not a bad weird. I just haven't heard anyone talk about Gus's kissing before."

"I know, we usually mock him when he brings up a girl. It's weird how quickly my brain went from ew Gus, to ooh Gus." A burst of a laugh escapes me.

"Trust me, I wasn't expecting you two to be so giddy so quickly either." We hop out of the car and on the way into the first boutique, she looks to me and says, "I want to dazzle tomorrow night Sawyer. I want Gus to bid high for me." I can see the hope in her eyes and I know she wants to be the belle of the ball tomorrow. She wants to be ogled when she walks across that stage. I nod to her, "Alright well let's do some damage then!"

We pull out about ten dresses each to try on and we each come out and show each other our favorites. The event is black tie so our dresses have to be swanky. I can see Annabeth frowning as she checks the price tags and I watch as she disappointingly hangs her favorites on the discard rack after noting the cost.

When she disappears to try on her next pick, I saunter over to the saleswoman standing next to the dressing room and say, "Hi, I'm Sawyer Sweeney, my parents have a charge card here and I was wondering if you could do me a favor?" The saleswoman smiles to me and I continue, "I need you to go and tell my friend in there that you are having a sale on evening dresses and all of them are fifty percent off. After you ring her up, just put the other fifty percent onto my charge card. I'll pick up the other half." She nods and I watch as she goes and relays my message to Annabeth. I see Annabeth pull a silky emerald dress off the discard rack and she beams as she disappears back into her dressing room. The saleswoman gives me a conspiring wink at me and I'm grateful she went along with it. I know Annabeth is a bit tighter on funds than I am but I want her to feel beautiful tomorrow night.

I go and make one more round through the dress racks and realize I've been picking dresses I imagine Ryan would like to see me in. He once told me he loved me in pink and subconsciously, all the dresses I picked are some shade of pink. I shake my head, reprimanding myself for thinking about him and I know I need to stop. I drape two more blue options over my arm and when I make it back to the dressing room, Annabeth peeks her head out of the curtain and says, "They are having a sale! I think I can get the dress I want, isn't that great!" I smile as she disappears around the curtain and I reply, "Good! Now I just have to find a dress!" I glance to my dressing room filled with gorgeous silky gowns and anything that's in the pink family I immediately put on the discard rack. I glance to my last three options and my eye immediately lands on the plum-colored show stopper. If I'm going to be paraded around like some beauty queen I might as well look damn good while I do it. I'm viewing this party as my reintroduction into Hollis's high society. I'm no longer linked to Jackson or Tate so I must put my best face forward and show everyone I am moving on.