Reality (Linstead AU)

Chapter 9

Saturday night. The date that wasn't a date at the opera. Or was it a date? Jay wasn't sure. What he was sure of was that once and for all he was done letting Erin dictate their encounters. The little games she played with him had to stop. She needed to learn that he was the one in charge.

Checking his appearance in the mirror in his hotel room, he decided that he was as happy with it as he was going to get. He was dressed in a black tuxedo with a white shirt and a black bowtie. He felt like a prick wearing that, but research had led him to discover that it was the appropriate way to dress for attending a high class opera performance such as tonight's.

"Who even goes to a damn opera for entertainment?" he grumbled to himself on the way put out of his room. Erin was the only thing he was looking forward to about the night. Any minute now, he would be meeting her in the lobby for their short car journey to the venue. Erin had made all of the arrangements, which in itself was out of the ordinary for Jay. He had choice but to go with it.

When he got down to the lobby, there was no sign of her. No surprise, he figured. He knew by now that she liked to make an entrance, and she was good at it. Feeling out of place, he stood around waiting, keeping an eye on the elevators. Nearly five minutes went by, then suddenly, there she was.

Jay felt his heart literally skip a beat when he set eyes on her. To his surprise, she looked like something from the 1920s, dressed in a vintage red dress and matching shoes, with her hair in soft curls. The look was completed with bright red lipstick and long black leather gloves that finished above her elbows. He had never seen a sight so beautiful in his life.

"Good evening, Mr Halstead," Erin said with a smile on her face as she approached him, talking in a theatrically posh manner that fitted her appearance.

Regaining his composure, Jay allowed himself to slip into a 1920s acting role for a moment also. He delicately took her right hand and lightly kissed the back of it. "Good evening, Ms Voight. You look beautiful."

Erin giggled, now back to her usual self. "Very good, Jay. I must say, you're capable of better manners than I imagined. And you scrub up very well. Shall we? Our car is waiting outside." She offered her arm to link with his.

"Let's go," Jay said, linking arms. "I like your look a lot. Not what I expected at all, but you've really pulled it off."

"I like dressing like this sometimes. It makes me feel sexy."

"As it should. It suits you," Jay said, looking at her for a moment. Their eyes met, and the tension was there already, at boiling point. It wasn't as simple as a desire to fuck her at this point. Something deep inside him ached to do it. And he could tell that she desired him too, possibly as badly.

"Figured I'd add some leather, since you seem to like it," she said coyly.

"So you're dressing to impress me," Jay remarked, knowing that he had her that time. Sure enough, she immediately started blushing.

"That's not what I meant."

"Maybe not, but it's true. Anyway, seems to me you like the leather a lot more than I do. Not that I'm saying I don't like it."

To change the subject, Erin opened the little clutch she was carrying as they walked out of the hotel. She handed him a ticket to the opera. "Here, that's yours. And there's our car over there."

Jay decided to let her off the hook for now. "Thank you," he said, taking the ticket.

It was only a few minutes later when they were dropped off at the venue. There were a couple of photographers hanging around, wanting pictures of anyone rich and famous who showed up for the night's event. Jay made sure to link arms with Erin again so that they looked like a happy couple in any pictures that might end up online.