The Waitress

27 - The Ball

It wasn't long until the ball arrived, and Lexus had forbidden Kaely from seeing her 'date' until the event had begun, which Kaely thought was ridiculous. It wasn't like she was getting married or anything, although she did smile a little when Lexus referred to Jared as her date. Lexus had eventually agreed to let Leo 'escort her around the room every now and then', as Leo had repeated to Kaely, who just laughed. It was good enough that Lexus was agreeing to a ball in the first place. Neither Eliot nor Dex saw the point in 'dates', so they decided to act as everyone's bodyguards. When Kaely asked how they'd manage to pull that off, Eliot told her that they'd be circling between couples throughout the night, at which point she just sighed. Of course, she hadn't seen Jared all morning, and the event started at five. Oliver was busy helping Genevieve with the 'guest list', but Kaely suspected that they were taking security measures instead. With Richard Campbell still out there, there could be trouble if they weren't careful. So Kaely just let her mother go and hung out with Lexus all day, at least until Allison and Portia got there. When they arrived, Genevieve greeted them and both Lexus and Kaely met up with them. Allison apologised for almost killing them both, and they went about their merry business.

"Kaely, would you hurry up and get out here?" Lexus demanded. "I need you to zip my dress up, its way too damn tight."

"Or maybe you just can't reach," Kaely shot back from the dressing room, slipping into her dress with ease. When she managed to zip it up, she turned around and took a look at herself in the mirror. The dress was stunning; Lexus helped her pick it out, and it was really nice. The long, red gown fitted her body perfectly, with its bodice fitting comfortably around her waist. The neckline of the dress ran along the base of her neck, curving up over her shoulders not in the shape of a turtle-neck, but low enough to cover her shoulders with a rich, velvety red colour. The skirt part lifted outwards at her hips slightly and flowed down gorgeously, hitting the floor to hide her feet. Honestly, Kaely thought Lexus was going over the top with her dress; she thought it was too much. But Lexus liked the red, and insisted that she get it. So, there she was wearing it. The shoes she wore were simple, red and flat. She'd bargained her way out of getting heels, on the fact that she'd be able to run easier in flats.

Kaely left the dressing room and walked over to Lexus, who was struggling with her own dress. It was a two piece, with the top part of the dress rising right up around her neck with its green, swirly-patterned material. It didn't have sleeves, and cut off a little bit below the bust to reveal an inch of skin before it picked back up again above her belly-button. The skirt was lined in the same aqua green around her waist before it dropped into a long black skirt that travelled down and hit the floor with elegance; it wasn't puffy, and didn't come out at the hips like a ball gown (similar to Kaely's), but it was gorgeous nonetheless, and Lexus pulled it off.

"You look flawless," Kaely told her best friend when she finally stood from her bed, and Lexus turned, pouting.

"Speak for yourself," she said. "You look absolutely amazing; Jared's gonna love it," she added with a wink, and Kaely laughed before looking down at herself.

"You don't think it's a bit much?" she asked worriedly, but Lexus stepped in front of her and looked at her, her eyebrows creased up as she smiled.

"Stop freaking out," she ordered. "You look stunning. If anything, we'll be the most underdressed." Kaely sighed, pulling Lexus in for a hug.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

"What are friends for?" Lexus replied, checking the time when she pulled back. "Well, it's go time; our dates should be waiting for us."