Again «ZM» ✔️

Part Nineteen

Isabelle

   I look through my dresses and find the one that I bought with Lilith. She's looking through my dresses as well, but I don't pay much attention to that. She can even rob me blind and I wouldn't notice.

"Oh my god! Isabelle, you have to wear this!" I hear her whisper. I turn to her. She's holding my red velvet dress that I've never worn. I bought it because Liam liked it and at that time I was head over heels for him. I never got to wear it though. Sad, but I'm grateful.

"Why? I already bought a dress and shoes," I tell her and curiously watch her face to see if she reveals something. She pouts. She really likes it. I squint my eyes a little as I try to imagine it on me with the necklace and shoes.

"Just because! This will look so good on you. This will be a much better look on you for Christmas than the black one!" she makes a point. I look at the dress again and think about it. It might be true. I take it and nod.

"I'll try it on. If I don't like it, I'm not wearing it," I warn her. She nods and waits for me to wear it. Since I'm only in my underwear already, I take the dress off the hanger and step in it. I get it up my body. It's a sleeveless dress that goes down to my knees. Lilith helps me up by zipping it and then I look in the mirror. I look at Lilith to see her reaction. For some reason her eyes are shining as if she's gotten the best birthday gift of all time. "Why do you like it so much? It's just a simple dress," I frown at myself in the mirror. She shakes her head. Simple for me then.

"No, you have to wear this. I swear to my life, you look beautiful and you just need to trust me on this one," she pleads. I sigh. Do I trust her? Yes. Do I want to get Liam's hopes up? No.

"Fine. I'll wear it," I answer and take the red heels that came with. I wear them. Then I look at her. She's already done with her dress, we're just waiting for my hairstylist and makeup artist to come. We both leave my closet and I sit on the bed. Right when someone knocks at the door. Lilith does me the favour and opens the door. Both hairstylist and makeup artist comes in. I'm guessing they came together.

"Hello, miss Miller. How's your day going?" Jenna, the hairstylist greets me. I smile at her and nod.

"Hi. I'm good, thanks. How are you?" I politely answer. She answers the same so I look at Lilith. "Girls, I'll pay a little extra, because you'll have to do her too," I tell them and grin when I see Lilith's face. She gives me a look of threat, but it quickly washes off as she checks out their equipment. It's magnificent, I know. And sterile. They always wash their brushes and literally anything that touches another human.

"Sure," Jenna agrees. After that we begin a conversation about nothing and everything at all. They are very fun to talk to when they're doing my hair and makeup, so I'm happy I have them working for us. For me. My mother pays for other stylists because she thinks mine aren't as good.

   When we're both done, I pay them some extra money and both me and Lilith chill while we're waiting for the ball to start. It's happening in our house, so we don't have to drive anywhere. I stand in front of the mirror and look at myself when somebody knocks and comes in. I look at Liam who appears behind me. He closes the door behind himself and he doesn't even say anything. I see the necklace in his hands. Damn it. The expensive necklace that will be a reminder that I'm his now.

"Mother said it should be me who put it on you. Says she's very thankful to you," he mentions. I give him a smile. He carefully puts it around my neck and clasps it together. Then he looks at me through the mirror. I don't notice at first, but he takes my hand and wraps his arms around my waist as he slips a ring on my finger. "That's for making us engaged," he whispers next to my ear. I nod. He places a kiss under my ear and softly rubs both my arms. "It's a shame you never wore this dress before. It really is beautiful on you," he tells me and leaves. I don't even move or say anything. That is until I see Lilith's confused face. It pains me that she had to see us like this. Warm and cosy. Though, it's rare. We always get in fights before we can get a glimpse of these moments ourselves.

"I bought it for Liam. When we first were together," I explain it for her. Her expression instantly changes. She gets it now, she knows why I wasn't so excited to wear this dress.

"Oh..." she lets out a quiet gasp. I slowly nod and then I turn to her. "Well that only adds men to who will admire you tonight," she grins now. I frown. What is that supposed to mean? She laughs. "You'll get it when we go downstairs." she tells me. I nod. Is she talking about Zayn? I bet she is. There's no one else than just him or Louis by any other chance.

   Both me and Lilith go downstairs to the room made for parties like these where there are quite a lot of people. I notice Liam and Zayn sitting at one of the tables. Immediately heads turn to me and I have to force a smile out of myself. I look at Liam. Our eyes lock. I smile, not really forcing it anymore. Then I look at Zayn. My sweetest loverboy. For a little moment I let myself think of what we could be if we ever got a chance.

"Now, tell me why were you so keen on me wearing this dress?" I ask Lilith. When she doesn't answer right away I look at her. She's grinning. That's not just a grin. It's evil. She knows what she was doing.

"Just because I knew Zayn would be wrapped around your finger when he sees you in this dress," she whispers back, "It's his favorite type of dress," she adds. I giggle. She really made me wear this because of Zayn? How cute. Though, I prefer not to dress up for men. We walk up to Liam and Zayn. Zayn gets up to give me a hug. For a moment I forget that I have to be careful and I hug him tightly, but then I pull away and look at Liam.

"Liam wasn't wrong," Zayn comments, so I look at him curiously, "He said you look breathtaking," he explains. I smile at his compliment. Then I look at Liam and boop his nose. He chuckles and looks away while his cheeks turn slightly pink. Now that's something. We're on good terms today, that's good.

"Ooh, somebody is blushing because of a girl. Mmm," Lilith coos. I laugh because Liam looks at her and shakes his head. Then he looks at me and smiles. I can see a spark in his eye. Last time I saw it was when we were first dating. I'm about to say something, when my mother calls my name. I turn to find her and begin to walk towards her. She looks quite good this time. Her fashion sense isn't the best, but today it's quite... Stylish. More appropriate for nowdays.

"Isabelle! Remember not to mess anything up today, got it? Liam's parents aren't in any need of money, is that what you thought it was about?" she frowns at me. I give her a confused look. "Liam is the one who asked for the contract. They're paying us. So that you would be together with him because he requested so," she tells me. I nod. That explains why Liam's mum looked surprised when I donated the million. Hell, I paid them when they should've been paying us.

"I'm sorry about that million spent. I was on my last nerves and I got out of control," I whisper to her. She nods. And for my surprise, she offers a hug. I accept it. Oh, how I've missed hugging her. Back when we still had good relationship and I was her princess. How nothing could've stood between us. We were that close and yet here we are. Still hugging. After all these years.