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“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said. “Ever. Keep it, I don’t care, just don’t tell me about it.” I pulled my face in a frown at her words and the weird vibe that followed them.
I opened my mouth to press, but Gabby quickly said, “I need to go. If I leave now I can spend an hour with Levi. Nikolai covers for me. Levi said he was going to make me grilled cheese.” Her cheek quirked slightly, betraying the happiness she was feeling. “I’ve always wanted to try it.” I frowned for a split second, still wanting to know what Nikolai got out of the arrangement, but pushed the bad thoughts from my mind.
“You should have left a long time ago,” I said.
“Are you going to be okay?” she asked as we hugged goodbye. I nearly scoffed—was I going to be okay?—but whatever had bothered Gabby about the journal, she had buried beneath the earth.
“I’ll be fine,” I said into her shoulder as she squeezed me into another hug. We disentangled and I sat down on the blankets just as the door closed. I probably should have opened the journal and read more, used the last bit of freedom I had, but my eyes were focused on something to the right of it.
The flask.
Gabby had left it behind.
I waited a few moments, hands dancing in my lap, for her to come back for it. When she didn’t, I picked it up. It was cool and smooth in my hand and I looked into the dark opening. No alcohol was one of Beast’s stupid rules. Don’t swear, don’t leave without permission, and don’t drink. The aroma singed my nostrils, but I wanted to drink anyway. It would be another way to say fuck you without actually saying it. I put it to my lips and tilted the burnished metal up. 1…2…3….4… I coughed.
It tasted awful.
My eyes watered.
What the hell was in that? People actually liked that shit? I leaned against the wall, waiting for something to happen. To be honest, I’d never really been drunk before, so I wasn’t sure what I was waiting for.
“Princess,” I muttered, picking up the bright pink paper. “Of course they went with pink.” I rolled my eyes, setting it back down. My teeth tingled and I opened my mouth as if that would help. Gabby’s words scrolled through my brain as if on projection, and I wondered what Beast would do if he found me drunk.
There was a knock at the door and I jumped. I watched, waiting for someone to enter. I knew it was just Nikolai, but my blood rushed through my ears in a loud whoosh.
Nikolai entered, carrying a dress bag, and I suddenly felt very confident. I wanted to ask him all the questions on my mind. What do you want from me? From Gabby? Why did you put this stupid flyer on my tray? What are you after?
Instead I stayed put, watching him.
Feeling a little fuzzy.
Without any words exchanged, Nikolai hung up the dress. He came over, picked up the flask, put it on the tray with the tea—minus the flyer now stashed in my journal—and left. I stared after him a moment, wondering. It couldn’t possibly be what Gabby thought. With another loud exhale, I went and unzipped the dress bag.
Beast clearly had something planned for me.
This dress could take me to the red carpet, but considering Beast, it could also take me to takeout. There was no lingerie, and I knew what that meant. As I tried to slide the dress on, I stumbled and fell over. I gave up and decided the only way I was getting into the fucking thing was by sitting on the bed and doing it one foot at a time.
Once it was on, I studied myself in the mirror, running a hand down my hip. Thousands of pale, rose gold sequins made up the dress, so many of them that it shimmered on its own. It was sleek, hugging every curve. The back fell in a cowl neck and the necklace went straight across my collarbone. The only coverage I had on my arms were small cap sleeves, so I assumed that was what the black satin gloves were for.
I had to imagine what Beast had planned for me didn’t include being outside. Even if I wore the gloves, I would freeze.
I wondered what Levi and Gabby were doing. In my mind they were eating grilled cheese and sitting in comfy clothes on an even comfier couch. It was dark outside, so maybe the lamp was on, a warm yellow, or maybe it was off, and only the glow of the TV lit the space. And they would cuddle under the blankets not because it was cold, but because they wanted to be close.
She was wearing his t-shirt and sweatpants and they were watching silly TV shows and laughing. They would kiss and they would love each other, but he would ask her first. If she said no, they would go back to laughing and eating food.
They probably even had hot chocolate.
I wiped a stray tear from my eye, patting down the material on my abdomen.
I really hoped that was what Levi and Gabby were doing.
“Ishn’t it too cold to eat on the roof?” Oh shit, had I just slurred my words? He didn’t respond, as usual, and gripped my gloved hand; if he’d noticed my slurring, he didn’t let me know. I’d never been on the roof, didn’t even know it was an option. Just a short thirty minutes after I’d dressed, the Beast had returned and informed me of our destination. I’ll admit, a part of me was thrilled.
How fucking stupid.
We stepped into the elevator and he pressed the uppermost button.
“Wow,” I said on an exhale as the elevator opened. It’s like a real date, I thought. From every angle the city sparkled. The jutting skyscrapers reminded me of stacks of glitter. Even though the city drowned out the stars, it didn’t matter, because above us lights hung on strings, twinkling, and in the center of it all was a round table covered with a pristine white tablecloth to match the snow. A single black rose jutted out of a clear, skinny vase.
