"I thought you were joking," Conrad frowns, staring down at the heap of white on the bed in front of her.
"I wish I was joking. Put it on; she won't eat her dinner if you don't," Carlos warns her, tying his tie.
He's wearing an all-black suit, a black shirt, and a white tie, which stands out a lot.
As it should, I spent an hour trying to bleach the stains out of that thing, Conrad grumbles to Jane, who agrees.
"It's like a wedding dress," Conrad groans, and Carlos raises an eyebrow.
"This is the best I could do. She wanted you to look like a baby ballroom dancer; this is a big improvement," Carlos comments.
Conrad snatches up the dress, sliding it over her head.
She sighs with relief when she can't see her strapless bra above the neckline because she didn't fancy trying to survive the night with a hyperactive child without one.
Conrad walks over to the mirror, adjusting the dress as she walks.
It's almost floor-length, and the pointed fronts of her heels are the only things that peek out.
The neckline is square, and the straps aren't too thin, but the material feels nice. There aren't any embellishments on it, which she's thankful for. Her prom dress had thousands of gems and beads on it, and she's never forgotten the weight of that dress.
It hugs her curves, and she sort of loves it, which surprises her. It looked slightly awful laying on the bed, but on her, it's impressive.
"Gorgeous," Carlos declares, spinning her around.
"Hey, I have to finish my makeup," she tuts, wiggling away from him as she peers at the mirror, powder brush in hand as she taps at her face.
"It doesn't even look like you're wearing any," he states, and one look from her makes him realise what he said.
"I only mean because you're always gorgeous. Makeup only enhances your angelic features," he smiles, sitting on the bed as he ties his dress shoes.
"Rina will be wearing white, too?" Conrad asks, lining her lips with a red liner.
She's feeling brave, because she's notorious for destroying white clothing.
Red lipstick on white fabric is practically an accident waiting to happen with her.
"Yeah, she has a gorgeous puffy dress. The nanny who's collecting her is going to have her change before they meet us," he informs her.
Conrad finishes her makeup with a final swish of blood-red lipstick, and she steps back to look at her whole outfit.
She has red heels on with the white dress, and she momentarily considers changing them.
The clutch she has all of her stuff in is red, and it all matches her lipstick; she used to wear this set out all the time in the human world, especially to corporate dinners.
Speaking of corporate dinners, she remembers that she has to reply to Derek.
He sent her a message last night, and she had meant to reply to it, but her day had managed to get away from her.
"Are you excited?" Carlos asks, taking his shirt off the hanger.
"Yeah, I have the books in my night bag," Conrad replies distractedly, staring down at her phone.
'Hey Con, just wanted to check in! I saw you have all of your presentations up to date, and I was wondering if you could possibly get into the city next week for the quarterly meeting. No worries if not, I'll connect you virtually!'
Conrad tries not to grimace as she reads the message, a sigh escaping her lips.
"What's wrong?" Carlos asks, pulling his sweater off.
Conrad is so preoccupied that she doesn't even stare at his chest, which she usually does.
"Derek. He wants me to come to the city next week for a meeting. Whenever we have the quarterly meetings - which I never go to anymore - everyone falls asleep. They aren't even relevant for what I do," Conrad grumbles, trying not to touch her face.
She always touches her face when she gets nervous, whether it's smoothing frowns or tapping at her chin, but she doesn't want to mess up the makeup she spent an absurdly long time on.
Usually, it's a ten-minute job, but she took her time today in an effort to make it perfect.
She isn't sure why she's so nervous about seeing Sabrina; she's seen her plenty of times and spent hours and hours with her over the course of her life.
It's because you and her dad are actually official now, you're not just his friend, Jane comments, and Conrad raises her eyebrows, shaking it off.
"Are you gonna go? It could be dangerous; you'd have to have some security going with you," Carlos warns her, tying his tie in the mirror.
"I might have to. He knows I have another job, but I can't really say, 'oh, my boyfriend has an assassin trying to kill him, so I can't really leave the town I work my second job in'. It might cause some raised eyebrows," Conrad sighs, massaging her temples lightly.
"I'd have to send Scarlet with you," Carlos quietly informs her, and Conrad scowls.
"I'll figure out how to do it online. I'm not going to the city with her," Conrad quickly responds, shaking her head.
"I find your attitude change towards her really funny," he chuckles, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye while he combs his hair back.
"I don't like being forced to do something, and she's trying to force me to take care of the twins! I am in no position to care for them; I do not want babies right now," she mutters to herself, fluffing up a front piece of hair.
"I know that. I think it's ridiculous that she's trying to do that, and it's legally not right for you to do it. They're Atlas' problem, whether or not he wants to deal with it," Carlos shrugs, spraying some of Conrad's hairspray onto his hair.
"They said he would be let out for tomorrow to visit with the kids. I think they'll definitely at least reduce his sentence so that the kids have somewhere to go," Conrad sighs, sitting down on the bed.
"I'm just guessing, but I think that they'll put him on house arrest in his pack so that he can care for the children. His children are currently more important to the High Alphas than his punishment for being a dick to his pack," Carlos offers, offering her his hand.
"You look beautiful," he comments, twirling her around.
The skirt of her dress swirls around her legs, and she can't stop the small smile from spreading across her lips.
He makes her feel so pretty, and he constantly reminds her of how gorgeous he finds her. She always feels a little awkward because nobody else she's ever been with has been this complimentary of her.
"Thank you. You look very handsome," she whispers, kissing his lips gently.
"Con, lipstick!" Carlos groans, releasing her hand and rushing back to the mirror.
"Whoops," Conrad grins, Jane crowing.
Now, none of those single bitches will go near my man, Jane hoots.
Conrad tries not to laugh, stuck between Carlos' dramatics and her wolf's sudden possessiveness.
Carlos wipes the light lipstick mark from his upper lip while Conrad slides on her coat, aware it's a little chilly at the moment.
There was a storm yesterday, and it left everyone a little uneasy. The Capital was generally mild, with very few weather changes apart from occasional snow.
"I've gotta find my coat, you reply to Derek before you forget," Carlos encourages, vanishing into the office.
'Hey, Derek! I don't know if I'm going to be able to make it because there's supposed to be a snowstorm up here! Put me down on the attendance list, though, and I'll do what I can. Thank you for letting me know, I hope you're well!!'
Conrad hesitantly presses send, putting her phone into her jacket pocket before she can press delete.
She always feels awkward when she's texting people that aren't Charlotte and Marcy, it feels wrong in some sort of way.
Carlos appears back into the room, offering his hand.
"Let's go get really fat," Carlos grins, leading her down the stairs.
He walks much slower than normal, and she knows it's because of her heels. She isn't very steady in them, which is a bit ridiculous. She's a tracker, she's supposed to be good at this balance thing.
"Your tattoos look cool in the dress," Carlos offers, holding the front door open for her.
"Oh Goddess, I forgot about them. Do they look obvious?" Conrad frowns.
Carlos smiles, reaching out and putting his thumb between her eyebrows.
"Stop furrowing. They look fine; you know that nobody minds them here. It's not like your pack," he chuckles, locking up the house.
"I always forget that they're not that bad here," Conrad admits, sliding into the passenger seat.
Carlos starts the engine, turning on the radio quietly.
"Are we still okay for the fairy walk tomorrow?" Carlos asks, and Conrad frowns.
"No, we aren't. I thought we were doing that on Sunday," Conrad groans.
"Oh, that's okay! I'll take Sab shopping instead! I think she's more excited for the fairy gardens than she is for looking at the ridiculously expensive pink glittery t-shirts," Carlos grins, pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant.
"Keep an eye out for her. She might run out onto the road when she sees us," Carlos warns Conrad, turning off the car
Conrad keeps her eyes peeled, her fingers drumming on the dashboard of the car.
She's very nervous to see Sabrina - she doesn't want to let Carlos down, and she doesn't want to somehow damage the child. She might earn a lot of money, but she doesn't want to imagine the possible cost of therapy.
"My mother phoned me today," Carlos quietly states, and Conrad turns her head so quickly she almost ends up with whiplash.
"Your mother? The one you haven't spoken to in, like, four years? Really?" Conrad asks, her eyebrows raising by themselves.
"Yeah. She has a new number; I didn't recognise it. That's why I answered," he replies softly, staring ahead.
Conrad gently takes his hand, squeezing it in hers.
"I'm sorry," Conrad mumbles, clenching her jaw.
Carlos' mother is a nightmare. Conrad met her once, and she'd be perfectly content never to have to see her again. She had given Carlos hell all throughout his childhood, and it was due to her selfishness that Carlos had endured all of the problems he had when he was growing up, including a distant father who refused to publicly claim him.
"It's okay. I blocked it when I realised who it was. I'm expecting her to try to turn up soon; she hasn't appeared in two years," Carlos shrugs, running his thumb over her knuckles.
"Well, she's on all of the lists. She's actually sitting just under the mass murderer from the Wrought pack, so she'll be tackled to the ground if any of the guards see her," Conrad reassures him, feeling a sinking in her chest.
She pities Carlos as much as she doesn't want to.
She knows that his experiences shaped him, and it shaped his way of raising Sabrina, but she wishes he hadn't had to endure that witch of a woman.
The fact that Conrad had truly despised her came as a surprise; she knows that children may vilify their parents, but that woman was evil personified.
"I didn't speak to her once I knew who it was. I'm so afraid, Conrad, I'm so afraid she's going to show up," he whispers shakily, turning to look at Conrad.
He has tears in his eyes, and Conrad grits her teeth.
"No. She won't. She isn't going to ruin this night for you; this is what she wants. I'm going to get out of this car, and you're going to ring your therapist. I can take Sabrina shopping tomorrow if you need to see her," Conrad offers, and Carlos runs a hand through his hair.
Conrad immediately leans over to begin fixing his mane.
"I'll ring her. I will, I know I need to see her, I can't let this impact my weekend with Sabrina," Carlos mumbles, closing his eyes and letting Conrad fix him.
She smooths his eyebrows and leans over to kiss his shoulder, the only place her lipstick won't mark.
"Ring her," Conrad murmurs, sliding out of the car.
I swear I'll be more consistent from today.
The problem is, I write the chapters, then am too lazy to edit them.
Hope you enjoyed this one darlings!
- Aoife :) xx