Reality Bites - Wattys 2018 Shortlist

Chapter 83 - Naughty Naughty Boy!

"Are you OK Rose? You look like you just saw a ghost" Lissa queried looking concerned as I stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Not a ghost. Tasha Ozera. I can't swear to it, but it looked like her in a taxi just then."

Baba, Mom, and Pavel had just caught up with us.

"Baba? I think Tasha Ozera is in town. I thought I just saw her in a cab?"

His eyes narrowed, and he gave Pavel a look. Pavel's phone was out of his pocket before Baba had shifted his eyes back to mine.

"Well if she is, there's no reason to suspect it has anything to do with you. A lot of people come to Court, sweetheart. Pavel's checking now, but if she is here, you'll not need to see or be bothered by her."

I nodded uncertainly. It was dark, so chances are it wasn't even her. Or it could have been another Ozera – there were enough of them around, and there was a strong familial resemblance.

"Come on Rose – let's get you some killer shoes!" Lissa cajoled, trying to take my mind off things.

We entered the first shoe store, and I was drawn to a display cabinet on one side. My perfect shoes were in there! They were a deep red satin, pretty much the same shade as my dress, and they were at least five inches high. I'd danced easily in four-inch heels with Dimitri, so I was sure I could manage the extra inch. The front of the shoes had a pretty red and gold embellishment. It was a flower – arguably a rose – but given my aversion to anything rose related I chose to think of it as a camellia.

They were the prettiest shoes I'd ever seen, and I was determined to try them on.

"And they're your shoes!" Lissa enthused, seeing me slip my feet into the impossibly high heels. "They'll look amazing with your dress – and you want to be as tall as you can beside you know who," Lissa finished, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

I smiled thinking about Dimitri. When we'd first talked Graduation dance, he said he was going to stand against the wall in typical Guardian pose. I'd carried on for hours refusing to go if he wasn't going to at least dance with me. After almost three hours of cajoling, he'd agreed to dance with me as often as he could. It had been a small victory but a happy one nonetheless. I'd hoped I'd be able to work him around to my way of thinking – coming as my date. But he'd been adamant. His idea was we'd keep up the Guardian/charge idea until we were on the plane to Europe and then we'd finally be openly a couple.

Still, at least he'd agreed to dance with me – and since his were the only arms I wanted to be in, I wanted the highest possible heels. I was modeling the heels for Mom and Lissa when Baba saw me in them and smiled.

"Will you be able to dance in those?" he asked.

"I'll be fine Baba. I only plan to dance with you, Christian, Adrian, and Dimitri" I explained. "And you'll all be able to hold me up if I trip. I might sway from side to side with Eddie – but he's a hopeless dancer so I won't risk anything beyond that!"

I didn't look at the price when I put the shoes on the counter to purchase them, but even I raised my eyebrows when I saw the price they rang up at. Baba seemed completely unperturbed as he dropped down his credit card, telling the attendant not to finalize the sale, yet, as the other ladies in the party might also select shoes. And moments later that happened. Lissa found the most delicious shoes to match her dress!

Lower than mine, at around three and a half inches high, they were strappy silver heels with gorgeous jeweled ankle straps. With the transparent nature of the bottom of Lissa's dress, the sparkles from her shoes would be periodically evident through the semi-opaque fabric. It would subtly draw attention to her long, slim legs. She and Christian didn't have the height difference of Dimitri and I – so she didn't need the hugely high heels that I did. But they were superb, and she needed to have them.