Love Me Again

Chapter 33 (Part 2)

I arrived at my home and rushed to get ready. I knew I had about an hour to get ready before I had to start driving to meet France. I got the dress from the back of my car and rushed upstairs to my room.

I walked to my closet and hung up the dress on one of the hooks. Leaving it there for later, I went to the bathroom to take a shower. I shaved and made sure to wash every part of my body.

When I finished, I applied lotion and got dressed in a strapless bra and black underwear. I checked the time on the way to my closet. I saw that it was five; I began to pick up my pace. I still had to change, accessorize, and put on makeup. Then, I had to drive thirty minutes to the restaurant.

I ran into the closet, looking for my dress and quickly found it. I grabbed it from where it hung on the rack and removed it from its hanger. I put it on and like when I was in the store, it fit perfectly.

After the dress was on, I looked for shoes and accessories. I looked through my shoes and found the perfect pair. A pair of strappy black stilettos and I put them on.

Next, I walked to the dresser in the middle of the walk-in closet that held all my jewelry. I searched through the drawers looking to see what would match. I found a pair of dangly long silver earrings, a silver charm bracelet Jay gave me, and a couple of silver rings. I put them all on making sure the backs were on the earrings since I didn't want to lose them.

I left the closet and went to the makeup table in my room. I took out all the makeup I needed and started to apply it. I was going for a black smokey eye effect and red lipstick for a pop of color.

As I did my makeup, I laughed at a memory that popped into my head. It was of France asking me why I was late when he asked me out to dinner with him and his wife. I went off on a rant about how it took me longer to do my makeup than expected. I kept ranting and France just stared at me with a lost look on his face.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who need to put on makeup everywhere they go, including the gym. If I knew I was going to be late I would usually skip the makeup but that day I was being interviewed over dinner. I knew that during the interview there would be a lot of people taking pictures.

I was done quickly thanks to a lot of practice putting on makeup perfectly. I walked to the full-length mirror in my room and stood in front of it. I made sure I looked perfect before I checked again to see if there was anything wrong with my makeup. But thankfully, there wasn't.

I grabbed the purse that I had put on the table, a silver clutch with a black outline. I put my makeup bag in it along with my wallet. I held it as I grabbed my keys not wanting to put them in my bag yet since I still had to get in my car and lock the front door.

I quickly glance at the time on my phone and saw it was five-thirty. I walked to the garage, locking the door behind me. I grabbed the keys to my black Cadillac and got in it driving to the restaurant.

Before I started to drive, I texted France to make sure he was still coming. I got a text almost immediately with his reply saying he was almost there.

I started the car and drove the thirty-minute drive. Or what I thought would be a thirty-minute drive. It turned out to be a forty-minute drive since there was mild traffic.

I arrived ten minutes after six and when I parked the car, I hurried to get out and lock the car. I knew there was no rush since France would understand if I was a little late. I mean it's not like either one of us hasn't been late before. But I hated making France wait, so I continued my rush to get inside.

When I stepped into the restaurant, I was instantly greeted by a waiter. He greeted me kindly with a smile on his face but instead of greeting him back, I just gave him France's last name Salvia and asked where he was.

I immediately felt sorry for my rudeness and apologized. Instead of getting angry at me, he smiled a warm smile and laughed it off. Saying how I must be eager to see him. He told me he knew where Mr. Daniels was and he could escort me to him.

I thanked him and apologized again for my rudeness. We were left in silence as he led me to the back of the restaurant.

I didn't think that was weird. I knew France liked to be in a quieter place when we went out in public. So, I didn't question his choice of seating as the waiter escorted me.

As we walked, I looked around the back to see where France was seated. I glanced around but paused and looked back. I saw a man seated with his back to the door. From where I was, he looked young and he was wearing a suit. It looked like France and we were walking in his direction, so it must be him.

I turned towards the waiter stopping him from walking any farther. I gave him a smile and told him that I could take it from here.

He asked me if I was sure and when I said yes, he turned around and left before I could thank him again. I sighed and continued on my journey. I was a couple of feet from France when he suddenly turned around.

As he turned towards my direction, my smile grew wider as I took a couple more steps, causing me to be about two feet away from the table. He turned around fully and my smile slowly began to fade as the realization came over me, the man I thought was France wasn't France.

It was Blake.