2 Weeks Later
"I don't think I can do this Chloe" I whisper anxiously as I clench and unclench my fists. My hand were clammy and I felt like I was going to puke. Rubbing my palms anxiously on my dress, I jump when Chloe smacks me on the leg from where she is kneeling on the ground in front of me.
Grumbling at me, she brushes at the fabric I just rubbed. "Christ Becks, this is a custom Zuhair Murad dress. Keep your nervous hands off the appliqué!" I looked down at my ample breasts being held in place by the gorgeous pale sea-foam colored chiffon; chiffon that draped around me in a beautiful Grecian style with a sheer panel of fabric that flowed behind me from one shoulder.
The gauzy number was completely molded to my body due to the cinched in waist, where it then gracefully gave way to a loose fitting waterfall of fabric that clung to my bottom and fell behind me. When Chloe stood up and pulled out a jewelry box, sliding a platinum cuff and earrings out, I gasped. "And you're saying we paid nothing for all of this?"
"Everything except the shoes" she replied, clasping the stunning bright silver cuff on my wrist, where I immediately felt the unfamiliar weight of it. "The designer makes more money having their dress on the red carpet than almost anywhere else; basically you get to wear the outfit for free, and in exchange become a very pretty billboard." I reach up and touch the earrings gently.
I didn't recognize the stunning and elegant woman in front of me. I had lost weight in preparation for the award shows, much to Jared's very vocal displeasure, but I didn't expect him to understand. I hovered right around a size 8 now, smaller than I had ever been as a teenager or adult, and I was happy with myself. I needed to do it for me and not for anyone else, because I felt like I deserved to look good for myself. I didn't understand Jared's frustration considering he regularly kept in shape himself.
My fingers wandered from the cuff on my one wrist, up to the earrings, then to my hair. Chloe's friend had done it in a loose up-do that had small dark strands falling free to feather around my face. My eye makeup was rich and smokey, perfect with the pale nude-pink lipstick I wore. The insecure and frumpy woman who had worked at the hive last year seemed long gone. Under Jared's loving attention and support I had blossomed. But tonight? Well tonight was a whole other can of worms.
My stomach rumbled dangerously and I held a hand to my mouth and burped. "Seriously? That bad?" Chloe asked as she spun me around to face her. Nodding my head at her, my stomach growls again and her eyes widen. "Shit... SHANNON!" She hollers out the door.
Poking his head around the door, he looks between us. "What's up Chloe? Jesus Becks, you look green"
"No shit, Sherlock. Do you have anything strong to drink?" She barks at him.
Shannon looked around, visibly thinking "Umm, I don't know if Jared kept any of my stash..."
Uncovering my mouth, I nod "cupboard above the stove" I say quickly before closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.
As Shannon disappeared, Chloe turned back to me. "I didn't think anxiety was your thing, you were so good about the Christmas party and New Year's Eve."
"It isn't usually, but..." My mind drifted to the hundreds of celebrities that would be at the show tonight, and even more photographers. They would ask me questions and critique me, and I didn't know who would be scarier. I had no idea how I was even going to remember my name, let alone whose dress and jewelry I was wearing.
I feel Chloe take my hand and I open my eyes to look at her. "Hey, just breathe. You won't be there alone and Jared is good at handling the crowds." I nod my head as Shannon comes bouncing back into the room with a bottle of whisky and a glass with ice in it.
