Trapped In Time

Chapter 4: Beautiful

It had been three days since my dinner with Keith and I still woke up with him on my mind. I climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom. After brushing my teeth, I let my hair out of the loose ponytail I had worn to bed. My hair tumbled down; framing my face. I proceeded to apply my makeup, hoping for a less "tired" look.

I put on the black v-neck and tight pants, and headed downstairs to see what Keith needed me to do today.

"Macen," he pulled me in and kissed me on the cheek. it was the first time he had touched me since dinner. I understood he was trying to keep things professional, but I couldn't say it was much fun. "The clothes you ordered were delivered."

"Oh good!" I had recently gotten my credit card set up and ordered a few things. I grabbed the package and ripped it open. I took out the two pairs of leggings, jeans, sweaters, shirts, camis, a few bras and underwear. There wasn't very much, but it had cost me almost two hundred dollars.

Keith looked around my shoulder, I self consciously covered up the undergarments. "It doesn't look like you ordered much."

I sighed, "It'll have to do."

"Maybe not. I have quite a collection of things left by guests, all clean of course. Why do you look through it, pick out what you like."

"I guess it couldn't hurt. I could use a few more things." I followed him to the closet where he dragged out a box.

"I'll leave you to it. When your done you can wash towels."

Sorting through the box, I found a lot of things that appealed to me. Tight cocktail dresses in multiple colors. Comfy sweaters and cute shirts. Oddly enough, the majority of the stuff was roughly my size. Strange, considering how many people stayed at this hotel. I even found a jumble of shoes I could wear. From elegant heels to simple flats. I was in love.

~~~

I was on my last load of towels when the laundry room door creaked open. Before I had the time to turn, Keith had his arms around me and began to kiss me.

Eventually he pulled away, "Let's do something tonight."

I laughed, "So sudden. Like what?"

"A friend of mine is hosting a party not to far away from here. It's all very classy, dressy clothes, good band." He looked at me, waiting for an answer.

I stalled a little, "Do you ever do anything normal?"

He furrowed his brow, "Normal how?"

I giggled, "I don't know, like go to a club or something?" Truthfully I had never gone to one, or a party for that matter.

He rolled his eyes with disdain, "What could possibly be enjoyable about that? Trust me, you'll like this. Just put on a nice dress, we leave at six."

After curling my hair and putting on a slimming maroon dress, I had some time to kill. The recent entries in mom's diary had been pretty basic; always centered around Angelo. I had noticed that the diary was pretty slim, and I was already halfway through. Her entries were becoming a little more spread out. It was as if she had become busy with her life and didn't have as much time to write in it.

August 28, 1994

I suppose you could say Angelo and I are a "thing". We haven't put a label on it and I doubt we ever will. I met his friends the other day; he has quite a few. They're sweet people, but kind of intimidating. They just seem so put together and knowledgeable. Like they know where their lives are heading; they have no worries. I feel the complete opposite way. Am I supposed to just stay here and marry Angelo? Does he want that? I do, but not like this. I want something substantial and meaningful. Maybe Gran was right; I should have gone to college. She called the other day and I actually had the courage to mention Angelo to her. I could tell she didn't approve, but she didn't say anything. I think she was just so relieved to hear from me.

I quickly skimmed through the next few entries until I found something that caught my attention.

October 19, 1994

Angelo and I slept together for the first time. It was...wow. He's so sweet and loving and I've never felt like this with anyone in my life. It just made all my worries melt away. He has this scar by his heart, crimson red, like a strawberry mark. There was something kind of beautiful about it. I told him I loved him. He had told me before this, but I never said it back. I was too scared. This time he didn't say it though; he whispered something instead. I think it was "so young". I don't know what he meant by it. He's only a couple years older than me. It's just puzzling. I never thought I would be the type of girl who falls head of heels for a boy like this. Sometimes you surprise yourself.

It's crazy how I followed my mom's path, a path that led her to love, and it looked like I was headed that way to. I don't know if I would call what Keith and I had 'love' yet, but it damn sure felt like it. Besides don't people always say when it's the right person, you just know?

A knock interrupted my thoughts. I opened my door to a very handsome Keith. He looked like a character from an old movie, ready to sweep me off my feet.

I followed his eyes as he took me in. For just a moment there was a look of pain in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared. I wasn't sure that I really even saw it.

Before I knew what was happening he grabbed me, kissing me intensely. "Macen, you look beautiful tonight."

Not knowing what to say, I just kissed him harder. After a while we made our way to the elevator. I stared down at my feet, smiling at the black pumps I had found earlier that day.

We reached the lobby and headed for the front doors. I stared in dismay at the pouring rain coming down, causing the grass to be muddy and wet.

"Not to worry!" Keith laughed scooping me up in his arms. He ran to the car, almost falling a number of times. When we were safely in with the heat on I pulled down the mirror to check my makeup. My hair wasn't really curled anymore and my eyeliner was a little smeared. I rolled my eyes, "So much for that."

"Please, you're lovely," Keith implored.

As we drove to the party, I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

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Do you love Keith? I do! Hope you liked!
-cc