[Dedicated to Ally, who is hilarious and such a great friend that I've made. She's so incredibly humble and fun to talk with. <333]
"I still kind of can't believe that you dragged me into your scheming," Dom murmured in my ear as we tiptoed around my kitchen in the dying light of the dusk. I caught my breath-I still couldn't quite get over his warm breath on my neck. How did I, Lottie Ingham, get here? How had I gotten so far with my crush? Did I fuck up somewhere and get lucky?
I elbowed his stomach as an excuse to get him a little farther away from me. (I didn't think I could function with him standing so close.) "What did you expect from me?" I answered lightly even though my voice shook on the last few words.
Dom chuckled. "Oh, I don't know." There was a pause as I gingerly turned on the kitchen lights, illuminating the room in a hazy, yellow-ish light. My parents were a fan of the candle light look. He continued. "I thought you'd only go this far when it comes to Guys and Dolls."
"Matchmaking is kind of fun," I admitted to him. "And I've found that I'm kind of good at scheming, you know?"
He shrugged, and we settled back into the silence that we'd shared previously.
And as the two of us grabbed candles and vases from the cabinets, I realized that Dom and I had never hung out in the evening alone before. We went on runs in the morning together, we went to the beach with our group of friends toward noontime, we watched Guys and Dolls in the afternoon-but nothing in the evening. Maybe it was because the evening was a time to which both of us were hesitant to commit. The evening did insinuate something more intimate. There was a reason that dinner sounded more romantic than lunch did. And yet here the two of us were, working side by side with the sky darkening outside.
It was almost night time, and that fact alone made me so, so nervous.
"This tablecloth is nice," Dom commented as he lit the candles in the middle of the little table we'd set out right next to the kitchen island.
I nodded, absentmindedly squinting as I gingerly placed a napkin that I'd just folded in that fancy way that restaurants did on a plate. "Well, I thought that we'd put to use one of my mom's tablecloths. She never uses them anyway, and why not now?"
We both looked up at the same time, and our eyes met. For an inexplicable moment, we couldn't seem to look away-I caught my breath. Why was he so gorgeous? And what was this? My palms broke out into a sweat as Dom passed a fork to me, still maintaining our eye contact. I licked my lips, accepting his fork.
It was quiet in the house. Surprisingly, Carter wasn't taking one of his naps. It was a little strange to not hear his snores-I hadn't realized that my brother's snoring had become a sort of familiar background noise over the summer. I bit my lip, frowning a little. Even though my brother was an idiot, I had to admit that I was going to miss him when he would go back to college.
Dom broke our connection, abruptly straightening and clearing his throat. Dazed, I exhaled emphatically, putting the fork on another napkin next to the plate.
It was odd these days. Dom and I had a lot of those moments, those moments that deceived me into believing that, just for a second, we weren't quite friends. For those few moments, I believed that we were something more, that I meant something to him. I couldn't quite figure out why, and there was something about those times that told me to keep it a secret between me and him.
My friends didn't have to know something that I didn't understand myself.
After a couple minutes, Dom and I finished setting up the table, and we stood back to take a look at our work. We'd done well. The table was simple and effective with a single daisy sitting in the middle in a vase. Dom and I had placed two chairs facing each other with dinner plates for each place. The candles were my favorite. Something about the flickering flames and the scent of jasmine set the mood. And God, was it all perfect.
It really would be nice if my friends could set up something like that for me one day. One day.
"I guess we're done," I remarked to Dom as we stood side-by-side.
Dom grinned, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "Yeah. Now we have to go on to step three."
"Wait." I narrowed my eyes, completely aware of Dom's effect on my cheeks. I really wanted to go turn off the kitchen lights now, both so we could see the full effect of the candles and so my blush wouldn't be as obvious. But I couldn't move now, especially not when Dom seemed to forget how to count. "What about step two?"
Dom raised his eyebrows at me. "Remember?" When he met my blank eyes, he rolled his eyes at me. "Cara's taking care of it."
I nodded. "Right."
Cara, Dom, and I had sat down one day to set up a plan to get Carter and Dacey together alone for one meal. We'd laid out all the steps, but obviously, I was horrible at recalling everything we'd discussed. I supposed that it was a good thing that Dom, as my partner, was here to keep me on track. If Cara was my sidekick, she would have laughed and teased me endlessly.
I really did hope that this plan succeeded. Dacey was gambling her heart, of course, and I was concerned about my best friend. However, she really didn't know how tiring it was to figure out both her love life and mine at the same time...
I shook myself.
"Let's go take care of the couple," I prompted him after we stood there for a couple more moments. Dom, who'd been lost in thought, straightened and nodded, striding purposely to turn off the lights before he headed upstairs.
I let go of the breath I had been holding, rubbing my eyes with my fists. Oh Dom. I'd never felt like this around him before, and how was I supposed to deal?
↔
"You ready?" I said to Dacey, who was staring into my bathroom mirror as she applied yet another coat of mascara. I didn't know how many layers she could apply on herself before it looked like there was a spider crawling out of her eyes. "I mean, you do realize that you have to get yourself out of my bathroom at some point in time."
Dacey hummed absentmindedly and daintily wiped away some smudges of black mascara from underneath her eye with a Q-tip. "Of course I'm coming out."
Right.
I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning against the bathroom wall behind her. I was really tempted to make faces in the mirror...but then again, it wouldn't make any difference. Besides, I was supposed to be getting Dacey out of here in about five minutes-Cara wouldn't be pleased if I were a second late.
"Dacey, you look fine. And besides, Carter's so oblivious that he won't notice if you happened to put on more mascara than usual anyway." I poked her shoulder with my pinky and smirked when she jumped a little. "Come on."
Dacey finally put down her mascara...but then immediately picked up some eye liner. "Hey," she said to me as she appraised the label on the container, "do you think this'll work with the eye shadow palette I picked?"
"Dacey." I snatched the eye liner from her and put it back in her makeup bag, which I then took and threw out of the bathroom, to her outraged protest. "Come on. At this rate, your thing with Carter will never, ever happen, and I do not want to be the shoulder you cry on for the thousandth time."
Glaring at me all the way, Dacey trudged out of my bathroom. As I turned off the lights and shut the door behind me, she muttered, "What's wrong with being a sympathetic friend?"
"When your black mascara gets all runny and you smudge it on my brand new t-shirt, that's a problem," I told her flatly. I pointed at her hand bag. "You'll wanna take that."
"What about my makeup bag?"
"I'll keep that for you." I took the bag and stuffed it in my cabinet. When Dacey gave me a pout, I shook my head, feeling a little like a parent with a spoiled child who wanted to buy everything at the grocery store. "No. If I give that to you, you'll never make it a foot out of my room, and Dom and I did not just set up a nice dinner for you guys for nothing."
And only the mention of Dom would make me forget about serious things (getting Dacey out of the room).
"See, that's the point-it's a nice dinner and I need to look more presentable," said Dacey, reaching behind me for her makeup bag. Then, my fantastical ninja skills that I didn't know I had lashed out, and I immediately smacked her hand with the back of my arm. "Ow!" she protested, recoiling.
"No," I said once again. If this was what being a parent felt like, then I decided that I wasn't going to have a child. "Carter won't take this seriously at all. He'll probably show up in his pajamas, so you'll end up looking overdressed. Chill, Dacey." I glanced out the doorway of my bedroom. "Dom should be stopping by soon to give us the go ahead."
Dacey sighed and plopped down on the side of my bed. She looked paler than she usually did. So now it was my time to be the comforting best friend. Sighing, I sat myself down next to her. I really did have to get used to this, did I?
Sometimes, I really hated being a best friend. I had to pretend that I could actually be a good listener when the best thing that I could do was ramble on and on about the same musical.
"What if this fails?" she asked matter-of-factly. "What if this is just fate's way of saying that not everyone gets what he or she wants?" She shrugged. "You're always pretty realistic, Lottie. Your brother's a college guy who probably bangs chicks in his free time"-I winced-"and I'm some high school kid."
Damn, I kind of did want her to keep on her rose-tinted glasses for just a little longer. I was the one who was supposed to worry about reality like that.
"Well, you can't just let fate lead your way," I said. "You get to make your own choices too. But we'll have to watch and see before you can make a set decision, right?" I paused as a brilliant analogy came to mind.
When Dacey caught my growing smile, her eyes grew larger, and she groaned. "Oh, no, please," she moaned, holding up her hands like she would be able to ward off my words.
"You just have to ask luck to be a lady tonight!" I declared triumphantly. To my credit, my smile didn't even falter when Dacey shot me a look that made it look like I'd killed three kittens in front of her. My skin really was getting thicker, wasn't it? What a success. All of my time with Dom had served a purpose for me, at least.
"I'm not a dude," Dacey said. "So I guess I'll have to ask luck to be a gentleman tonight..." She winced. "I can't believe I just made a Guys and Dolls reference." She sighed. "Maybe I need to find myself a new best friend to replace you."
"Nope," I responded, popping my "p". "I'm irreplaceable, of course. But really, I'm kind of surprised you know what I'm talking about." I put a finger on my chin. "At least one of my loved ones knows what's going on in my brain."
Dacey shook her head. "I remember what goes on vaguely, but not what just happened in the plot."
She seemed to have realized that she dug herself into her own grave at that point, but I couldn't really care. As my smile grew, hers died. I jumped into the explanation before she could stop me. "Well, Sky Masterson does this huge monologue thing because he's hoping that he's lucky enough to get all of these sinners to come to his love's prayer meeting. And if he does get all of these people to the prayer meeting, he'll win her love back!"
When I met Dacey's eyes, she blinked at me blankly. "I probably need more context than that," she started slowly. Then, quickly, she held up a hand. "Nope, I'll be fine without a long-ass explanation. So the point is that I'm gambling with fate right now to get what my heart wants."
I nodded vigorously.
And that was the scene that greeted Dom when he stepped in my bedroom, looking more confused than anything. He blinked a couple times, gingerly surveying his surroundings. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he said, closing the door behind him.
It was strange that everything I was just about to say to Dacey died down in my throat immediately. Now that Dom was standing in some proper light, I recognized that he looked absolutely breathtaking with his dark eyes glinting and hair slicked back, like I mattered to him enough that he made an effort to look presentable. I licked my suddenly dry lips, feeling a little fainter than usual.
"Nope, not at all," Dacey said brightly. "Well, what am I supposed to do?"
During my meeting with Dom and Cara, we'd agreed on the steps and who was supposed to carry them out. Dom and I had taken care of the first step, which was to set up the dinner. By now, Cara would have finished the second step, which was to lay out the take-out food on the kitchen counter for the two of them to help themselves. In the third step, Dom and I split up to take care of the couple. And now, Dom was to tell Dacey exactly what to expect and what to do.
"I told Carter that you had a couple questions about his college," Dom said. When he caught Dacey's protesting look, he shrugged sheepishly. "I don't know; I'm sorry. I mean, that's all I know that you two have in common so far."
Dom looked like he wanted to add something else, but after sending a nervous Dacey a second look, he clamped his mouth shut. And in that moment, I realized that I'd never wanted to hug him so much before. (With Carter, the very mention of Dacey sent him the jitters.)
"Don't blame Dom," I muttered to Dacey, elbowing her side.
Dacey exhaled. "All right. Then what?"
"You'll both come downstairs separately to find what we've set up for you," Dom continued. "And then you'll have dinner." He waved a hand vaguely. "And then you can do whatever you want."
"Wait." Dacey blinked. "That's it?"
I shrugged. "Did you expect us to pull off something like a television stunt? I mean, I might be a rich kid, but I'm broke."
Dacey rolled her eyes at me. "You're just lazy," she said. Then she turned back to Dom. "Seriously, though, am I missing something?"
"We were thinking that Cara could stay to be your waitress or something," Dom mused, putting a hand on his chin, "but then we realized that Carter would do just fine." He shrugged and looked at me, his dark eyes glinting. "Your brother might be oblivious, but he certainly isn't dumb."
"Also," I cut in, "whenever he sees food, he'll automatically assume that it's for him. Since there'll be two places set at the table, he can just assume that you're welcome to the food as well, and from then on, you can take care of your own fate." I took a breath. "Good God, I'm so done with you already."
Dacey didn't bother answering. After a moment of silence in which Dom stood there awkwardly and Dacey and I sat there, looking anywhere but at each other, she stood up and walked over to my bedroom door. Thank goodness. She turned back and looked at the two of us. "Thank you, guys," she said. She paused, opening her mouth with a little twinkle in her blue eyes like she was going to say something more, but the she shut it.
And with that, Dacey was gone.
I didn't know it would be that easy to get rid of her.
Dom and I exchanged a quick glance before heading out behind her. We skipped down the stairs and rushed around the corner to peek at the lovebirds before we'd have to leave as planned. Besides, Cara would be waiting for the two of us outside.
And it looked like everything was going on fantastically-the perfect "accidental" meeting (although Carter had, at first, gingerly taken a step back from Dacey and looked a little like he was going to be eaten by bears), the greeting (in which Dacey dove a little too enthusiastically), and so on. Well, everything was happening as perfectly as it could happen for a couple like Carter and Dacey. After an awkward second of looking useless, Carter handed to Dacey a plate, shrugging and looking like he'd made some off-handed comment about the strange lighting situation. (I really did hope they didn't turn the lights on. Perhaps Dacey would at least have the decency to stop Carter if he tried.) Right then, they both turned their backs on us and headed for the food on the counter.
Dom and I turned our heads to meet eyes.
The moment was electric. I tried to remind myself that this was my best friend's moment; this was the time she was going to go after what her heart wanted. But I couldn't help but go after what mine wanted, and I bit my lip, smiling as I looked up into Dom's dark eyes.
"Good job, partner," I whispered. (Dacey and Carter weren't supposed to hear us.)
Dom's smile grew. "Well," he whispered back, "for my first matchmaking experience, this wasn't too bad. It could have been way worse."
I elbowed him lightly. "And you could have had much more unpleasant coworkers."
He shook his head at me. "You're full of yourself today, aren't you?"
I shrugged.
We both stood there uselessly for a few moments before we had the good sense to move a little farther away so that the couple wouldn't catch sight of us. There seemed to be a pregnant pause in the air, like one of us had something to say that he or she didn't know how to say. What was I supposed to say other than "thank you"? What was I supposed to do?
And before I could see any sign of it coming, Dom swept me up in a tight hug, placing his head on my shoulder. His warmth... I took in a faint breath through my mouth, feeling my cheeks light up. It wouldn't matter-it was too dark anyway. But Cara was waiting for us, and we had so many other things to finalize...
I soon forgot all about that when Dom's arms around me tightened, and I wrapped my arms around his neck.
We'd be all right.
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Hi everyone! How are you guys?
Anyway, now that it's getting colder and steadily moving away from summer (where Dom and Lottie and Dacey and Cara still reside), I'm starting to miss summer break a lot. But again, don't we all? Dom and Lottie's antics while setting up Dacey and Carter never fail to amuse me though, and I hope you felt the same way as well! Do you think Carter and Dacey will last? (I'll never state it definitively in this book, but you can think what you want.) Any other thoughts?
As for Luck Be a Lady, it's honestly one of the best songs in the musical since it's ridden with clever metaphors, and the dancing scene (in the sewer, remember, where the gamblers are rolling the dice, if you were wondering) is absolutely fantastic. It's fun to see dances from both the ladies (Adelaide and her company) and the men (this scene).
[If you can see the external link, it's another version of the song from the 1992 Broadway production.)
Lottie should have recapped the meaning of this scene at some point, but I'll repeat it: Sky Masterson, who has promised Sarah that he will bring two dozen sinners to the mission so that it wouldn't shut down (due to inactivity), is making a bet with the gamblers. If Sky wins, those gamblers will all attend the midnight prayer meeting at the mission; if not, he'll pay them each one thousand dollars. In this song, he's asking "Luck", personified as a lady, to be nice to him so he can win the gamblers' "souls".
That was super long, so I'm going to log off now. The date for the next update will be in my bio as usual, and thank you for reading!
Anne xo