Invisible String

Chapter 10 - Call It What You Want

Alex moved into his apartment after a week and had a lot to do around New York for the following weeks, but we went on dates as often as we could. In between, we texted and talked on the phone a lot. He'd sleep at my place once in a while, and I'd sleep at his, too. He was right; we were making it work. Being closer to each other made it much easier, though.

As the weeks passed, the big event that I'd been dreading drew closer and closer. Until eventually, it was the day of the Grammy's. We woke around seven, dressed quickly, then barely caught our flight to Los Angeles. We arrived at LAX around two and only had a few hours to get ready before we had to be at the Staples Center.

We primped in separate rooms of our hotel suite, and because I'd been drinking since the flight, I had a nice buzz going that was keeping my nerves at bay.

After an hour of fine-tuning, I stepped nervously out of the bedroom and into the hallway. Alex was at the end of it, roses in his hand, and dressed in an incredibly sexy black suit with a jade button-up underneath. He leaned against an end table and as he watched me approach, a grin spread across his face.

I moved slowly in an attempt not to trip over the dress or my own two feet. By the time I made it to Alex, he had placed the roses on a nearby table and reached for my hands.

"You look stunning." He beamed as he grabbed me and pulled me towards him. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and I placed my own on his sides. "Unbelievably so."

"Thank you." I smiled back at him.

He'd bought me another dress, trying to take away some of my worries. It was beautiful, just like the other one he'd gotten me. But this one was a strapless, red satin floor-length dress, with a diamond-encrusted flower off-center under my breasts. It wasn't the most comfortable of dresses, it was too tight on my ribs, and the slit almost reached my crotch, which bothered me to no end, but I did look good. He was right about that. Especially since it was accented by the gorgeous and expensive jewelry he'd also given me.

"You don't think it's too much?" I asked sheepishly.

"No, you'll be the most beautiful woman there. It's nowhere near too much." He brushed a loose strand of hair out of my face and kissed me passionately. My hair was short and straight enough that I didn't have to do anything with it, and I think that might have been to Alex's advantage because he grabbed onto it as he kissed me and backed me up against the hallway wall.

"Alex, my make up," I breathed against his cheek as he kissed down my neck.

"I won't mess it up." He smiled, crimson already spread across his lips.

"You already did!" I turned and scurried into the bathroom, awkwardly. My lipstick had spread from my lips to around them. It took me nearly ten minutes to get it back to the way it was supposed to look. Lipstick is not meant to be worn when there's kissing involved.

I walked out of the bathroom with a washcloth in hand and went straight to Alex and began wiping down his mouth carefully without a word said between us. He sat patiently, and when I finished, I turned my cheek near his mouth, and he kissed it.

"That's how this night is going to go?" he asked as he lightly touched the side of my neck. "I'm going to want to kiss you again, Hannah."

My eyes squinted at him as I attempted to think of a solution to our messy problem. "What would you suggest?"

"Don't wear lipstick."

"I have to. Women don't go to the Grammy's without makeup on."

"That seems like a major step back for women's rights," he said, smirking."Besides, I didn't say don't wear makeup. I would just prefer that you don't wear lipstick. Put on lip-gloss or something easy to apply and in some color that won't make a mess of both our faces."