Antitrust (Completed)

Part 4: The Repose

YOU PEOPLE ARE AMAZING FOR PUTTING UP WITH MY MEDIOCRE WRITING THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Also THANKS FOR HELPING ME REACH 100 TOTAL READS!

Disclaimer: This part will feel like more of a filler chapter, so I apologize for the lack of action in this one, but don’t worry Part 5 is going to be quite stimulating. Enjoy!

                I woke up the next morning with a horrible headache, probably from all the alcohol. As I got ready, I started to reminisce on all the times in college when I had a huge alcohol tolerance, but not anymore. Nowadays, I could barely drink a few glasses of wine without blacking out.

                “Good MORNING sunshine!” Nina greeted me, already completely ready, dressed in Seven for All Mankind jeans, flats, a Banana Republic blouse, and a BCBG jacket, her signature touch. Nina had always been a morning person.

                “Good morning hoe” I replied, as I tried my best to do winged eyeliner. It was Saturday, which obviously meant Nina and I were going shopping. It’s what we did best.

                “How are you feeling?”

                “Uh, fine, why?”

                “Honey, you drank the entire bottle of Chardonnay last night and you look smashed right now. Eyeliner isn’t going to help you, I think we need a spa appointment.”

                My eyes immediately widened as I looked closer into my vanity mirror. Nina was right. I had bags under my eyes and my pupils looked bloodshot.

                “Spa it is then, but brunch first.”

                We went to my favorite brunch place in Toronto, Mildred’s Temple Kitchen. It was pricey, but I wanted to indulge today, especially with hot buttery scones and rosemary bacon. What’s not to love?

                After eating, we went to the Four Seasons spa. You can never go wrong with Four Seasons, especially because it’s more of an urban retreat with European mud masks and a terrace overlooking the Toronto skyline. Following our gold plumping treatments and hot stone massages, we were finally ready to take on the Toronto shopping scene.

                “So, Alisha, where to first?”

                “I really need to drop off that check Nina.”

                “Uh, dude its Saturday, he’s probably not even in the office.”

                “Shit, will I have to go to his condo?”

                “YES, and I’m almost guaranteed he set it up that way” she said, before breaking out into hysterical laughter. I quickly phoned Jay’s secretary, Ada.

                “You’re the Alisha Mahal? Yeah of course you can have his address” Ada said, half breathless.

                Nina called a taxi and soon we were zooming off towards the intersection of Bloor and Yonge Street. Turns out Jay lived in a fancy condo building called the Chaz Yorkville. Not bad at all.

                Momentarily, we arrived under the building. The uniformed doorman opened the car doors as Nina paid for taxi fare. It’s tradition that she pays for taxi fare, and by now I probably owe her a thousand dollars in taxi debt.

                “Alright I’ll meet you down here” Nina said, as she slumped into a modern looking armchair in the lobby, and eyed the handsome young receptionist.

                “You’re not coming?”

                “Are you crazy?” I took that as a no.

                I took the elevator up to the nineteenth floor, and kept saying his room number over and over again in my head. 1925, 1925, got it. Finally, I arrived, and quickly fixed my hair as I rang the doorbell.

                “COMING” I heard Jay say.

                The door opened with a loud screech, and there he was, standing completely shirtless in front of me. His hair was slightly damp and completely tousled, and all he was wearing was a white towel around his waist. He had the chiseled abs of a Greek god, and his skin was a perfect tan color.

                “I, uh, can come back another time” I said anxiously, trying to divert my attention away from his carved chest.

                “Don’t worry about it, it’s totally fine. Come in” Jay said, as he gestured me into his condo.

                It really was a modern, quaint space. Jay had a platform bed just like me, and all the furnishings were grayscale, with pops of color here and there. I was extremely impressed.

                Jay finally broke the silence. “So you have the check?”

                “Yep, here it is” I said, as I handed it over to him.

                “Thanks, and now that that’s out of the way, I had to ask you something.”

                I became nervous very quickly. “Sure.” He was slowly stepping closer to me.

                “My company’s having a large gala tonight and I was wondering if you’d be my date?”

                “Yeah, I’ll, uh, let you know as soon as possible.”

                “Sorry for the short notice, but I was literally invited like two hours ago.” He was clearly hinting at the fact that he wanted me to answer yes or no now.

                “I’ll come, yeah.”

                He smiled a shy grin and simply said “I’ll pick you up at eight.”

                With that, I left, and spilled the entire thing to Nina in the taxi.

                “HOLY SHIT he asked you out again?! Damn this guy’s got guts” Nina exclaimed, and subsequently yelled at the driver to take us to Holt Renfrew to get a new dress for the gala. When in doubt, I always go to Holt Renfrew.

                After hours and hours of searching for the perfect gown, I settled on a flowing sleeveless coral gown by Badgley Mischka. It was absolutely beautiful, and I knew exactly what jewelry I could wear with it.

                Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to make an appointment at DryBar for a blowout, so I had to entrust my hair in the hands of Nina. This was obviously a horrible idea.

                “SIT and let me work magic on you Alisha!”

                “Nina, I swear, this better look good.”

                “You worry too much.” Could she really blame me? My best friend was practically a lunatic.

                After an hour of spraying, combing, teasing, and pinning, I looked into the mirror to see the most elegant updo I had ever seen. My mid-length hair was pulled back into an elegant bun on the side of my head, and on the other side were my bangs, slightly curled.

                “See? I told you I was good with hair.” This was hard to believe considering Nina only did two things with hers: keep it down or put it in a ponytail.

                “Thanks so much babe” I said, wrapping her in a huge hug. Maybe there were benefits to having a crazy best friend.

                “You’re literally going to make his jaws drop when he picks you up.”

                And that was precisely what I intended to do.

Stay tuned for Part 5! :)