An Hour Ahead

Chapter 14: Finally (Toronto - Day 3 [PART ONE])

"Hey. Ready for our date?" Alex texted.

I walked out of the shower and went to my room, welcomed by my outfit on the bed. I uncoiled the towel from my head and let down my wet hair. I read my text message from Alex, cheesin' extra hard. I slipped on my dark grey tights, pulling it all the way up until it reached my waist. My hair dripped as I put my arms through the straps of my dress. I got it from Madewell. It's the most overpriced store ever. I'm talkin'... worse than Urban Outfitters. It's spaghetti strapped. The dress is a light shade of blue, specked with bits of white. It was tight around the bust, flowy the rest of the way down, but it wasn't too much. I smoothed the dress down. It hung around mid-thigh, a little over the knee. I clasped the necklace I wore everyday, the one with the book locket, around my neck and texted Alex back.

"Oooo, a date, is it? Yeah, I'm getting ready right now. I'm pumped!"

I walked to the bathroom and opened the cabinet under the sink, pulling out the hair dryer. I plugged in the hair-killing machine into the outlet next to the mirror and set the heat on high. I shook strands of hair, putting the air close to the roots, then going to the ends. I heard a faint shout in the background. I swiped the button to "Off" and yelled back at the voice in response.

"Leigh-Ann?" I exclaimed. "Did you call me?"

"Yeah, Case! When are you heading out? Where are you going? Are you ready? Please don't tell me you look ratchet!" she laughed.

"I don't know yet! He is texting me right now. I'll read his response later. I have to get ready first, and NO I do not look like a hot mess!"

"Okay, babe. Hey, step out when you're done, 'kay? I gotta give the final opinion!"

I smiled and went back to drying my thick, brown hair. I kept it down, the ends of my hair waving in different directions. I love messy hairstyles. I don't like looking too over done, unless it's for a preppy dress up event that obligates me to look like a Barbie doll. I tousled my hair through my fingers and went back to my room to put on my cardigan and to reply to Alex's much awaited message.

I put my arms through the sleeves of the tan knit sweater and took one final look in the mirror. I grabbed a pair of light grey knit socks that went up close to my knee. I stepped into my brown leather Madden Girl combat boots and laced them up, rolling the flaps down two inches, buttoning the buttons on the sides. I rolled the socks down too, leveled to the crease where my boots were rolled down to. I looked at my phone and read, "Meet me at Terroni for lunch at 1:30? Here's the address: 57 Adelaide St E Toronto, ON M5C 1K6, Canada. I've got the rest of the day planned out. See you soon?"

"Sounds like a plan :)" I replied.

I galloped to where Leigh-Ann sat in the living room, sitting leisurely on the suede couch, with her MacBook Air resting on her lap. She looked up at me with her golden eyes and smiled. "So where am I taking you, girly?" she asked.

"Here's the place. He said to meet there at 1:30," I said, handing her my phone, unlocked, screen set to the conversation with Alex.

"Mother of.. wow! He's taking you there?!" she yelped, her jaw dropping.

"What?! He said it's for lunch. What's the big deal?" I whispered, raising my eyebrows.

"Oh," she giggled. "Okay, Case. I see you now!" she said, squinting her eyes and thinning her lips into a line. "It's just that he's taking you to a really fancy shmancy place!"

"Is it really? Never thought of it that way," I said, grinning at her comment. I felt pretty darn honored.

"Well it's better than taking you to Tim Horton's for coffee," she boasted.