The Bet

Chapter 24

Natalie's POV

"Tell me why I'm doing this?" Michelle as she walked besides me.

"Coz I'm your girlfriend and you love me." I responded. It was Saturday and luckily, Michelle was not on call so I asked her to accompany me in shopping.

"Yeah yeah..." She replied defeatedly. "Do you really have to go on saturday?" She asked, referring to the charity event.

"Unfortunately, yes. My father basically ordered me to attend. It was rare of him to do that."

"I'll just wait for you then. You'll go directly to my place? Or shall I wait in yours?"

"You know I like your place better."

"That's the one thing I can't understand from you. How can you like my crappy apartment from your cozy penthouse?"

Her apartment was small but it wasn't crappy. It was full of personal belongings and pictures of her important persons. "It's not crappy. It's home." She personally painted the walls and bought the furnitures one by one from her cop salary.

My place was one of my parent's assets. They loved to buy penthouse in every places. It was big and decorated by other people. It was empty and cold. Maybe I should follow Nick's footstep and get a smaller one.

"Natalie!" I turned around and saw Tin and Jane. "Getting a dress for the ball?"

"Unfortunately!" I replied. "Same goes for you too I assume?"

Looking at their bags, they must have shopped a lot. "Yep! But we needed to buy two since we also had the school's party." She explained further. "Anyways... Will you be seeing Nick soon?" I nodded since I plan to bring her the tux that I bought. Knowing her, she'll do everything in the last minute.

"Great!" Jane exclaimed when I nodded. "Can you give this to her?" I raised a brow at the dress. "It's for Emilia. She requested me to buy for her. And can you keep this a secret from Em?" I then nodded again. "Thanks! You're the best!"

They both left hand in hand. I smirked at the sight. Finally!

Looking at the dress and thinking about the school's ball, I believe I will need to buy another set of tux for my good for nothing sister to match Emilia's dress.

Nicole's POV

After a few more hours playing in the pool, we were all exhausted. Maddy kept swimming until she just literally fell asleep. It was quite a sight.

"She quite handy huh." I commented as I carried the small girl while Em carried the floaters and other stuff.

"Yes and she really enjoyed herself. Thank you."

"You can thank me with kiss later." I teased and she blushed. She bowed down to hide her face but it was too late, the change of coloration in her face was very much obvious. "And I'm not kidding." I deadpanned, "This little girl interrupted our moment and I'll be getting my kiss later." If it was possible to blush further, then she did.

When we reached our unit, I wasn't surprised to see some guests. It became my sister's habit to pop up in my unit. "Hello sis. What brings you here?" It was then that I noticed that she wasn't alone. "Hello Michelle... or can I call you Mitch?"

"Mitch is fine." I nodded.

"We brought some Chinese food." Natalie said. "And I'm here to bring you your tux. I knew you'll wait up to the last minute in order to buy one and this event's very important to our parents. Father literally ordered me to drag you."

"Yeah... Yeah.. Thanks sis." Given a choice, I rather stay here with Em and Maddy than go to that stupid event. "I'll make sure to attend that stupid ball."

"Don't kill the messenger. I rather do something else than kiss ass with those people."

I didn't even noticed that Emilia disappeared. She must have cleaned Maddy up so she can tuck her to bed.

"I'll just go wash up. Make yourself comfortable."

"I'll plate the food. Come out when you're done and here." She gave me a bag. "It's from Jane. You should already know the content." I uttered a thanks before retreating to my room.

After I completed my shower, I took out the package from Jane and it revealed a midnight blue long backless gown. It was elegant yet simple. There were a little silver linings and designs. It was perfect. Also included was a pair of shoes. Jane and Tin really did it.

Hanging at the back of my bedroom door were two sets of tux with a post it attached. It was Natalie's hand writing. The first tux was for the charity event while the second was for the school ball. I noticed that she matched my tux to Emilia's dress. I smiled gratefully at her. She's really the best sister anyone could asked for... Except the teasing.

Emilia's POV

The sound of laughter echoed the room as I exited our bedroom. In the dining hall, the three were seated at the island table. "Hey Em, you're just in time, come on let's eat."

I took a seat and we began eating. There were harmless teasing between the the sisters but nothing offending. It was fun. I laughed a lot. Mitch was a very funny person. She shared stories about her time as a patrol officer and how she became a detective. Nick was so focused on her story that she barely touched her food.

"So then... Even with a broken shoulder, I tackled the 200lbs sob to the ground." Mitch boasted. "That's my first day on the job."

"How did you decided to be a cop?" Nick inquired. She was really into her stories.

"I have always loved mysteries and helping people... So I chose this profession." She answered, however, I noticed that she hesitated first before she answered to it made me think that there's a deeper reason behind her chosen profession.

"Cool! I love crime shows! Maybe I'll be a cop too."

"Oh no you don't! Don't you dare little sister." Natalie interrupted. "You can't leave the family business to me? It's too big for me to handle alone!"

"You can do it sis!" She challenged. I'm sure the ending of this friendly banter won't end good so I changed the topic.

"Any one wanted a dessert? I made an ,egg pudding with caramel syrup." I stood up to get the dessert from the fridge.

After dessert and coffee, the two left. Nick offered to wash the dishes while I clean up the left overs. When we were done, she asked me to follow her to her room.

"Emilia... This is for you..." She handed,, me the gown.

"What's this for?"

"For the school's ball. I knew that was what's holding you back... So I got you one. Please accept it."

"It's too much..."

"Think of it as a thanks giving gift. Emilia... You and Maddy gave life to my boring existence. This gown was nothing compared to joy that you two brought in my life. So please accept it." She begged. My heart melted and her words compelled me to accept the gift.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

I don't know what possessed me but the next thing I knew, I was cupping her face and leaning in for a kiss.