Plain Sight

chapter thirty-one

Juliette

—

I haven't put this dress on since I bought it. It's been sitting, hiding in the back of Tom's closet. It's been waiting for me, for this special night.

The ball is tonight.

My nerves are insane, it's too much for my body to be handling right now. I'm not even sure if I can make it through the night.

I'm terrified.

There are so many things that could go wrong tonight. There could be another unexpected attack, and I don't know how Tom will react to my truth.

I want him to understand why I waited for so long. I need him to think about this from my perspective. It's so important to me that he understands this.

I'm not gonna tell him until the end of the ball, I don't want any risk of ruining the night so early on.

So that's it. I've fully decided that I want Tom to know the truth. I can't bring myself to love him if I'm hiding the biggest part of myself. My past. My family. My name. My father.

His rival, the man whom he cannot bare.

I do want Tom and I to have a future together, and this is the only way it'll ever work. The truth always finds a way to come out, I want to be the one to do it, otherwise, it's just gonna be messy.

His soul is intertwined with mine and there's no untangling it. He understands me. I can see that desire when I look in his eyes, it's as simple as that.

I take the dress from the rack, and lay it across the bed. Looking at every small detail on the dress. In the time it's been since I actually looked at it, I almost forgot it's beauty.

I asked Tom to give me some time alone, to get ready in the peaceful atmosphere of being alone.

A soft knock comes from the door, before I walk to it, I throw a blanket over my dress to cover it.

I make my way to the bedroom door, and open it.

"Can I join you? Just us ladies getting ready." Vivian asked me, before I could even respond she opened the door wider to let herself in, as she carried her makeup bag and dress in her arms.

I was going to say yes anyway.

"Have you heard from Mia today?" I say as I lay out my makeup on the counter. Vivian follows me into the bathroom and sets out hers on the other side of the counter, to the left of me.

"Yeah, I called her this morning, she said she will be here at about 7 to get ready with us," she looks at her phone, "so she should be here any minute."

"And we're all going in one car, right? You Mia, and me?" I ask.

She nods, "Mhm, the boys have to leave for the venue earlier to make sure things are in order."

Tom will only first see my dress once I get to the ball, I know he feels like it's torture, me making him wait this long.

All week he's been begging me to just get a look at the dress, he's like an impatient child. It's cute though, seeing him that way. And knowing I'm the only one who gets to see him like that.

The doorbell rings and me and Vivian smile at each other and both make our way down to the foyer to open the door for our sweet girl.

"Finally!! I've been standing here forever, carrying all of this." Mia says, dragging herself inside and putting her stuff in our arms to carry.

"You rang the doorbell like 10 seconds ago Mia," Vivian says, we all know how dramatic Mia likes to be.

I laugh, "Come up to Tom's room, that's where we're getting ready." I say as we begin walking to the stairs.