SUNSHINE

forty-two

[ I just want to first start by expressing how sorry I am for not have been updating. I have been super busy, but there have been times where I could have published a chapter here and there, but it's been a whole month since I've even worked on this chapter. Even though I keep saying it, I promise I will try to be better. Since I have a new direction going, which you'll see by the end of the chapter, I hope it'll motivate me to write more! Until then, here's the update you've been waiting for... ]

Casey got out of the shower and threw her hair up into a towel. She got moving with her shower so late that she could not let it air dry, but drying it in the towel would at least keep her natural hair in shape, just at a quicker rate. She came out of the bathroom and sat at his nightstand, lighting the vanity lights and pulled out her makeup bag.

"You don't need all that makeup. You're gorgeous the way you are." Alessio said as he propped himself up. She chuckled as he struggled in the sheets to get out of bed.

"Thank you, but it at least makes me feel better." She responded as she put on primer.

"Then create the second best masterpiece you can come up with." He answered, kissing her cheek and going into the bathroom to shower. She applied a natural smokey eye with her eyeshadow and put on eyeliner and mascara. She did her eyebrows then applied foundation and concealer. She applied a nude lipstick then took her hair out of the towel and aired it out. She let it air dry the rest of the way. Her hair looked very dark when it was wet, but she knew it would dry quickly now.

She went to the closet where she hung up her outfit for the evening, which was a deep, emerald green dress that had a cutout around the abdomen area. It was form fitting and went down to just above her knees, the bottom part of it going to just above her belly button before the cutout and the top about two inches about where the bottom of the cutout began. It accentuated what curves she did have and showed off the top portion of her abs. She put earrings in her first and second holes as well as her cartilage, then looked herself over in the mirror.

She looked like that bitch.

The bathroom door opened as she put on her heels, Alessio coming out fully dressed and ready to leave. He put his hair up already wet into a bun, and he had trimmed his beard to groom it. She looked at the time and saw it was already four in the afternoon, and they were leaving in a half hour. She did not even realize how late a start they had. She had texted her father to make sure he was awake, and he said had been awake since one, for he had not come back to the house until two in the morning.

"You look... Wow." Were all the words Alessio could muster when he saw her, and she looked away, blushing. She looked him over and found him in a navy suit jacket and pants with a white dress shirt that was not buttoned up all the way. He looked like a model, and she got to call him hers.

"I can say the same exact thing about you. You look amazing." She told him in response, and he chuckled.

"You about ready to go? I'm sure people have already arrived, so we wouldn't be too early." He asked her as he put on a pair of brown leather dress shoes.

"Yeah, let me go grab my dad." She responded as they both went to go out of the room. She made sure she had her phone and Alessio took her lanyard with her wallet and keys and put it into his pocket, knowing he had deep enough pockets to hold her things. She grabbed her jacket off the hook and then went to knock on the guest bedroom door.

"One sec!" Her father called out in response, and then a few seconds later he opened the door. He had gone with the red dress shirt, black pants, suit jacket, and dress shoes. She had not seen her father this dressed up in a long time, and it was nice to see it.