Heart Of A Star

Chapter Eight - Natalie

Rachel was following me around as I prepared for my dinner date with Ray-Ray. She claimed final veto on my wardrobe, hair and makeup, which was nothing new. Every article of clothing that I held up for her inspection received the same reaction, a shameless shake of her head, until I was finally through everything that I had packed, and not one potential outfit.

"I see you in black this evening." She decided, opening the closet where she had unpacked everything she had in tow the second we had opened the door to our room. She flipped through a few hangers before producing the perfect Ruched black dress, which I had never seen her wear. Then I saw that it still had the tags on it.

"Happy Birthday!" She exclaimed, holding the dress up in front of me.

I tried to ignore the triple digits on the tag, but did happen notice that it was exactly my size. I eyed her suspiciously, but snatched the hanger from her hand. Moments later, I was making my grand appearance, twirling in front of her.

The dress fit perfectly, I had to hand it to her, she knew me well. And indicative of a Rachel-induced outfit, there was plenty of visual cleavage, and more leg than I might have shown on my own. There was also quite a bit of my back exposed, which made me slightly chilly in the air-conditioned room. But I felt like a diva in my new dress, and slid in front of the mirror so that she could work her magic with my hair and makeup selections.

By the time Ray-Ray knocked on our door at eight sharp, I was ready to pose for the cover of Vogue magazine. I hadn't looked this good since high school prom, when Rachel helped me prepare for my date with Jay Stowing. And even I had to admit; I looked much better now than I did then in my purple Jessica McClintock gown that Rachel had decided to also purchase, in a much shorter version.

Standing just inside the doorway of our hotel room, Ray-Ray only managed a whistle when I twirled for him. When I came full-circle, he extended a single long-stem red rose, which I smiled and took. "There aren't words." He said, not once taking his eyes off of me. He was dressed black dress pants and a neatly pressed sea-blue button down and matching silk blue tie. His hair was gelled and the instant I was close enough to him, I caught the musky-sweet scent of a new cologne. It had me wanting to get closer, to put my head on his shoulder and draw in this new, exciting scent.

The Irish in me had my ears burning instantly, forgetting for a moment that this was Ray-Ray, and not my high school prom date. Yet the feeling was there, that off-set jitter in my stomach, a mix of wonder and uncertainty about where the night would take us. Our eyes met briefly, and for an instant we held each other's gaze, and I found myself having to look away, afraid that he'd see that subtle nervousness that was starting to take over.

"You know," Rachel broke the tension, "I don't recall getting a fancy dinner out of my twenty-first birthday."

Ray-Ray's eyes snapped over to hers momentarily. "I did so take you out for your birthday. And I'm hurt that you forgot."

Rachel scowled at him. "You took me to Applebee's Ray-Ray."

He raised his eyebrows; "You were dating Dustin McCoy. It was his job, not mine, to wine and dine you."

He held out his elbow for me to take, and as I did, I turned and glanced at her over my shoulder. "Don't wait up." I joked, as we headed out into the hallway. I made sure to take in a deep breath as the door closed behind us, just in case the open air of the night faded his cologne.

Worthington's was much more than I had expected. The restaurant sat in the center of town, at the top of a building that stood twenty-seven floors high, with rooftop dining overlooking the beautiful city of Dallas. The mere beauty of it took my breath away, and I couldn't help being mesmerized by the view. I couldn't wait until the sun went down so that we could enjoy the city lights.