The Price of Revenge

16. An Unexpected Party

The next few days and weeks passed by in the usual way that days and weeks tend to do. I started to get settled into my routine of working at the coffee shop. I was becoming more friendly with the customers, and learning how to ignore the lecherous behaviour of Joe. I was also spending more time with Lucas, as he would come over for coffee a lot more often while he was working in the club.

Lucas seemed to be planning something, but at that point I didn't know what. It wasn't until the end of next week before I found out what he had been doing. But at the moment he was just slightly annoying me by asking a load of random questions.

My apartment looked great now. The stuff I had ordered from IKEA had been delivered, and then Jay and Maria had come around to help me build it all. Or probably more accurate would be to say that Jay built all the furniture, while I helped by taking out the trash and running to get him coffee. But either way, it was past midnight by the time everything was finished.

I had moved in properly the Friday after that. It was weird being on my own for the first time. The place was so quiet, I kept expecting to hear the sound of someone else, but there was no one. I also realised that I really needed to learn how to cook properly. I needed to eat proper food, and I couldn't just live on take out forever.

The next Friday was my 18th birthday. A huge occasion that nearly passed by unnoticed by anyone else. Although my granny did phone me at 4am as she had got the time difference the wrong way around (again).

When I got to the coffee shop, I hadn't told Joe or any of the regular customers that it was my birthday, so it went like any other normal day. The only other person I had told was Lucas, though he hadn't mentioned it since I told him I didn't want to celebrate my birthday in a strip club.

It was just after lunch time when Lucas came into the shop to get a coffee. He was carrying a bottle in one hand, and was holding a helium balloon in the other. It was a large pink one, with the number 21 written on it. He smiled when he saw me, then walked around the back of the counter and gave me a hug.

"Happy birthday," said Lucas, as he handed me the balloon.

"Thanks," I said, blushing awkwardly. I hadn't wanted to make a big deal of my birthday. Especially as I wasn't really turning 21 like Lucas thought.

"And the champagne we can drink later, if you wanted to come around to my place?" Lucas asked.

"Err, yeah. Okay," I said.

I hadn't been to Lucas's house yet, so I was curious to see it. Though, I was also nervous about going there, as it would also mean meeting his parents for the first time too.

"I'll send Tony to pick you up later," said Lucas. "Just wear something nice."

"Why?" I asked. Was he saying there was something wrong with my normal clothes?

"Oh, umm, no reason," said Lucas. "I just thought it would be fun to dress up."

"Oh, okay," I said.

He had a point there, dressing up was fun, whatever the excuse. Though annoyingly, he hadn't given me any advanced warning, so I didn't have time to go dress shopping. I would just have to make do with the others I had already.

There was a nice dress I had brought two years ago for my father's 40th birthday that could work. It had been just after we had moved to New York. My mum had booked a table at a fancy restaurant, and my dad had taken me shopping for a new dress.

The dress I had brought looked really good. It was an A-line dress that was a really dark blue, almost black in colour. It had a low cut v in the front, and came in tightly around my stomach, before flowing out to just above my knees.