Sold #3 - A Haunting Hope

Chapter 4

"Yeah, we walked over so I'll have a beer." He agreed, taking his phone from his back pocket as Darcy sat next to Ben and kept up her happy conversation with Nara over the two men, neither woman aware of Ben's disapproving sigh when he heard them discussing Darcy's plans for a family. And he only disapproved all the more when he noticed the way his friend was staring at his girlfriend so lovingly, as though he didn't care that she had practically planned out their entire life together before they were married. "Listen, I'm going to give Tai a quick call, before he starts freaking out thinking something's happened. Baby, I'll just be a minute okay...you stay glued to this chair until I get back, I don't want anyone getting ideas with you in that damned dress." Michael teased her softly, kissing the top of her head as he turned to leave, only to be stopped by Paul, Darcy and Nara laughing at his words for just a moment before they began talking about the dress she wore.

*****

Nara couldn't help but admit that the dress Darcy wore was beautiful, a rich red that only showed off her blonde hair all the more as it sat in a high ponytail, the thick waves hanging over her shoulders as she sat forward. There was nothing innocent or childish about her dress or the way she looked in it, even though Ben had mentioned just the night before that she seemed nothing more than an 'innocent kid' and that he was happy Michael had someone who would keep him in his place and remind him of just how young he still was. But the dipping neckline, falling in nothing more than two bands of fabric to reveal the hollow between her breasts and halter neck fasten, the short length that was flared enough that Nara could imagine that her young friend wouldn't be dancing tonight for fear of just how much it would reveal if she twirled even an inch, seemed altogether much too grown up for Darcy's own good. Little did she know that it was the very dress she had worn on her first arrival at Michael's house and she had worn it with the very intention of stirring his recollection of just how much he had enjoyed it then. After all, he had openly admitted that it had been the sight of her in that dress, after he had woken from his nap that night, that had made it impossible for him to spend their first night doing anything other than making love. "So Darcy... how about I get you a drink while we wait on Mike?" Ben suggested with a sigh, once the two girls had finished discussing the intricate details of the dress she wore, which he saw as being nothing more than a very cleverly thought out way of making sure that no matter what Mika did to make her fiancé mad, he would be much too busy looking at her to let it bother him for too long. But just as Darcy opened her mouth with a smile, about to tell him what she wanted to drink, Michael leant over the back of her chair answering on her behalf as though she was incapable of making her mind up.

"She'll have an orange and lemonade. No alcohol." He insisted, reminding her of their plans to start a family, and if her biological clock was so perfectly ready for that to be an option, then he didn't want any mishaps or to give her any reason to worry if she did get pregnant so soon. He knew that if she thought back, after finding out that she was pregnant, perhaps that she had become pregnant during their trip, then she would instantly single out that one alcoholic drink and worry that it would do their baby some harm and he didn't want her to worry about anything, before or after she got pregnant.

"I'm sure I can have a glass of wine Michael. I'm not pregnant yet." Darcy protested with a faint blush as both Ben and Nara studied her curious as to why she would answer the way she had, even though theirs was the only stare filled with curiosity as Mika only seemed to feel an even more intense hatred and loathing for her as she turned and explained the situation to her boyfriend who had missed their prior arguments the night before. But she didn't like her, she had told Michael that much and tonight, she really was in no mood to cater to her jealousy and he had been warned that if she said one flirtatious or spiteful thing to make her mad, she wouldn't keep her mouth shut and keep the peace as she had the night before.