Both girls storm into my room, going straight to my closet. I laugh to myself, not shocked at all that they were listening in on the conversation. Catalina has always been the nosey type -- and I guess that Valeria is too. As I walk towards the closet, I see both girls looking through my things; Catalina is looking through my clothes where Valeria is looking through my shoes.
"Wow Ella, you've got some amazing taste. I may have to borrow some stuff from you one day," Valeria says as she pulls out some light blue Nike dunks I have. Catalina giggles as she nods, agreeing with Valeria's statement.
"She's always had great style. In high school, she was voted Best Dressed and Most Likely To Become Famous For Fashion," Catalina says, pulling a dress off the rack and holding it up to the mirror. Almost as if she knew that she was planning on doing it, Valeria kneels behind Catalina, holding up a matching pair of shoes. Both girls shake their head and go right back to looking through my stuff.
I laugh to myself as I sit on the bench, crossing my legs and watching both of the girls go through my things, trying to find the perfect outfit. "Well Valeria, since we're friends, I'll allow you to borrow my clothes. Gotta follow the same rules as everyone else: don't damage anything and always give it back."
"Don't worry. I always return everything. Both of you girls can borrow my things too. My room is on the left side, fifth door on the right," She says, smiling at me. I never even asked Valeria how she got involved in this lifestyle -- or if she lives here permanently. But, just as I'm about to ask her a question, Catalina interrupts my thoughts.
"THIS," She says, holding a dress up to the mirror. Valeria nods excitingly, then pulls out a pair of heels and a necklace to match. After they both agree on the outfit, they hold it up to me. It's a short, silk red dress. The back of it is completely open till my lower waist. They picked gold heels to go with it, with the matching gold necklace. I smile, nodding my head. I was planning on a more basic, black dress -- but this looks great. Once I agree, they set the outfit to the side, and Valeria sits on the floor while Catalina admires herself in the mirror.
"You know, lowkey jealous on your size closet Ella. I thought mine was big, but yours blows it out of the water," She says, putting back a shirt that she was holding up to her body -- then sitting on my counter. I shrug, not trying to make a big deal of it. But Valeria has a wicked smile on her face, and giggles quietly.
"That's probably because Mateo had them expand this closet the other night. He said that he overheard you one day at the office talking about the amount of clothes you had, and how you loved shopping. So when you agreed to live here, he had people that night come and make it bigger. Even installed better lighting and this island. The big mirror was my touch -- all girls need a big mirror," She says with a big, proud smile on her face. When she says that, I feel my face heating up. I think it's really sweet that Mateo did that, especially since this isn't a permanent living situation. I put my head down when I feel my cheeks getting hotter and start fiddling with my hands. Just then Valeria gets a text and she stands up. "Sorry ladies, gotta go. I forgot I've got training with Michael down in the gym," She says waving and walking out. Catalina and I both mumble goodbyes.
"Ella, now that we're alone, let's talk. What the hell is going on with you and Mateo? I've never seen him that nice to anyone in my life," Catalina says, moving closer to me from the island. I just look at her and shrug, not really knowing what to say. She rolls her eyes, letting me know that she's going to need more than a shrug as an answer.
"Honestly, I don't know. I like him a lot -- you know that. He's really sweet to me, and he's protective of me... which given my past, you know means a lot," I say, looking down at the floor. I don't really like talking about my past; it's not something that went well. Catalina was there for me, so she knows what I'm talking about. She jumps off from the island, kneeling at the floor and rubbing my arm.
"Hey hey, I'm not judging. You know that I'm the first person who says that you deserve happiness. You've been through a lot and I want you to be happy. I'm just, a little worried because I don't want you to get your heart broken... or get hurt," She says, bringing my hands up to her lips and kissing the softly. I know she means well. She has been there for me through everything and she knows how everything has affected me. I give her a weak smile, then stand up, bringing her with me.
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The rest of the night was pretty dull, to say the least. I had dinner with everyone, continuing to get to know the others. I met another girl, her name is Natasha. She just got home from Italy, visiting some family. She's Valeria's best friend, and they've known each other since they were kids. On the side Valeria lets Catalina and I know that she has a little thing with another one of Mateo's right hand men, Landon. They aren't official, but have major history together. Catalina laughs lightly, since she understands that better then anyone else. All throughout high school (and the first year of college), she had a situationship... which is lowkey still going on now but we don't really address it honestly.
After dinner, I hung out in the living room for a little bit, just chit chatting with a few people. Around ten, I head up to my room for the night. I take off my makeup, do my very elaborate skin care routine, put my hair up in a bun and put my headscarf on. Once I get settled into bed, I start my new book I got the other day when I went out.
Mateo spent $3,225 on books for me -- and my entire book case is full (along with the three books I always keep on my nightstand). The book I'm starting tonight is Dear Ava by Ilsa Madden-Mills. I've been on my to be read list for a couple of months... so I was super excited to start it. Around 11:30pm, I put down my book, pop in my airpods, and turn on some soothing music for the night -- drifting off to sleep.
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The next day is the same, the absolute same. Got up, got ready for work, went to work, did my job, met Catalina for lunch (today we talked about the two new interns that were hired... Catalina thinks one is super cute but he's about 4 years younger than her), then went home. Once we went home, Catalina and I went straight for my room -- and I texted Valeria to meet us there.
Once we got to my room, Valeria was already there, sitting on the small loveseat in front my window. "Beat you here, I am in love with your room by the way," She says, smiling and putting back a book she was looking at. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover; a heartbreaking story, but beautiful nonetheless. I smile to myself; just silently thanking the universe for my life, again.
Once I put my things down, I turn on the shower and get in. I hear the girls getting my dress, shoes, and jewelry ready the date. After my shower, I put on my white fluffy robe, and inviting the girls in. Valeria does my makeup while Catalina does my hair. I decide to wear my hair straight, which is something I normally don't do. The last time I wore my hair straight was, the gala, ironically. After they finish my hair and makeup, I go into my bedroom itself, and slip on the dress and heels, as Valeria puts on my jewelry and Catalina hands me my purse. Once I'm finished, I stare at them.
"Thoughts?" I say. Both girls immediately start hyping me up, making me feel as confident as ever. I laugh, hugging both of them and thanking them. Once we finish, I look at the time and notice it's 5:55pm. I let the girls know that I was suppose to meet Mateo at 6:00pm.
As I walk out the room, both the girls walk behind me, calming my nerves that randomly appeared. I don't know why I'm nervous all the sudden, but as I walk down the stairs and see Mateo smiling at me, all my nerves are calmed. He grabs my hand as I reach the final steps, and smiles weakly, bringing my hand up to his mouth and kissing it softly.
"You look stunning Toni, absolutely breathtaking," He says quietly, tipping my chin to look at him. I smile softly, thanking him and also complimenting him. Which results in him kissing my forehead and grabbing my hand.
"Have her home by 10 or I will find you," Catalina says, eyeing Mateo. He just gives her a stone cold face, which I laugh at and so does Valeria.
"Have fun kids, not to fun though," Valeria says, motioning for us to leave and winking at me. I use my free hand to blow them a kissing, mouthing the words "love you guys!". Mateo brings me out to the G-Wagon, opening the door for me and leading me inside.
"Ready to go?" He says, getting in the car.
"I am," I say, fiddling with my hands in my lap.
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Author's Note:
Hii everyone! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter... I know it wasn't too interesting.
Let's talk though: first, how do you think the date will go? Also, we got to see Valeria's personality a little bit more... are we liking her?
Thanks for 100 reads guys, never expected us to get here but I'm so happy; thank you guys!
xoxo,
Ashley