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I rear back as if I’ve been slapped and have to actively stop my mouth from falling open.
A crush? On me?
I turn my head to follow the way Arie just disappeared and see him standing at another table with more bowls. At first, he doesn’t see me, and I can’t see any of the tension or awkward qualities he just had when he was serving us.
It can’t be a crush. Clair must be mistaken. Crushes mean feelings, not just the I want to buy you for sex or control kind, but like the touchy-feely from the heart kind.
I open my mouth to tell Clair I think he must have just been nervous, but before I can turn away, his head snaps up as if he can feel my eyes on him.
The moment our eyes connect, his cheeks once again turn a deep red that I can see from halfway across the restaurant. He fumbles with a bowl and has just enough grip on it to set it down before it can spill all over the place. A small chuckle escapes me before I can stop it, and I instantly slap my hand over my mouth in horror. I don’t want him to think I’m laughing at him.
My concern only lasts a moment, though, because as soon as my laugh leaves my mouth, he turns to face me again, and a small, shy smile lights up his face. He stares at me for a bit longer before giving a slight bow to the table, turning away, and dashing back through the back doors again.
I look at Clair with wide eyes and my hand still over my mouth.
“You see?” She asks, and I have no words again, leaving me only to nod. I’m not sure I have ever been rendered speechless so much in my life as I have been today.
Clair calms herself down and starts eating her food, but I still sit there.
I’m unsure how long I sit there before I finally get my thoughts together enough to ask the question rattling around in my brain.
“Why?” I ask her, only to realize I didn’t give any context. I go to do just that, but she shakes her head at me.
“Why not Jade? I know you might not see it, don’t worry, most girls your age don't, but you, my dear, are beautiful and sweet.” I have to work hard not to cringe away from her compliment. I manage, though just barely.
“Just give it a few days on campus, and you'll see, you will have friends and admirers all over the place.” She tells me as she wiggles her brows at me, I laugh, and I’m not sure if it's because of her brow wiggling or the idea that people might like me, but it still feels good. Spending time with Clair is easy in a way I’m not used to.
I just hope that this can last.
We finish eating, and I don’t even put a dent in my bowl before I feel like I’m going to explode. Arie packs our food in to-go containers and brings out an extra one with more of the crab pad thai, and Clair explains that we are bringing some home for the boys for dinner.
It’s sweet just how often she thinks of them.
“Alright, let's head out and get you some clothes for that party.” She tells me as she grabs the bag of food and drops two hundred dollars on the table. I might not be the best with money, but I feel like that has to be a little more than the meal cost, and if it actually costs that much, I vow never to eat here again. No matter how delicious it might have been.
My face must give away how shocked I am because she explains as I follow Clair back out.
“Aries’ family has always been good to us, so we make sure to be good to them too.” She says like that explains it all, and I mean, I guess I get it a little. She's taking care of the little guy. Kind of like I used to do for the girls.
I don’t know where I expect us to go, maybe back to the mall, really I have no idea. But, what I don’t expect is to end up at a large shop tucked behind a few coffee shops on a strip much like the one we just left. I always pictured clothing stores to be huge, and while this store isn’t small exactly, it doesn’t match what I imagined for some reason.
The sign is lit up above the door and simply reads “Wella’s”. Clair walks in, and the door triggers a sound instead of a chime-like at the salon. This sounds like birds and has me looking around for a moment before I realize what it is.
“Wella dear!” Clair yells through the store from where we stopped just inside the door.
“Oh! Is that my Clair Bear, I hear!? Don’t play with me, girl. It better be!” A high-pitched, eager male voice yells back from somewhere to our left.
Before Clair can respond, a man, Wella, I assume, is pushing his way past one of the many clothing racks in a mad dash attempt to get over to where we are. He stumbles slightly before righting himself. He straightens his clothes and throws the clothing rack a dark look.
Clair looks over at me as we both watch him glare death at an inanimate object, the look in her eyes tells me she thinks this is hilarious, and so far, I can see why.
He turns to face us again, and a huge grin splits his lips as he takes Clair in. “Anywho!” He says as he all but struts up to Clair, waving his hands around as if to brush off the experience. He leans in to kiss one of her cheeks and then the other, before pulling her into a very firm hug that she returns.
I take a moment to look him over. His top is just like a suit jacket, but instead of being black or gray like I’m used to, it's a bright pink that seems reflective. As he moves, it throws little rainbows of light all over the room. He wears it with only one or two buttons done at the bottom to keep it closed but lacks a shirt underneath it, leaving his chest on display. His pants are dark gray skinny jeans with random holes throughout them, and his feet are bare. His hair isn’t long exactly, unlike Spencer’s or Zander’s, but it falls in unruly curls just above his ears and is a deep brown color. He doesn’t have any jewelry on, but he is wearing makeup. The bright pink color on his eyelids matches his jacket perfectly, while the black liner somehow makes his eyes seem more dramatic. His lashes are so long that I assume they are fake. With each blink, they easily touch his eyebrows.
Damn, I wish I could do my makeup like that, or at all.
Wella is thin, probably thinner than I am, but that doesn’t stop his chest from being defined. He seems to be all skin and bones, but the little muscle he does have appears to be well-defined, it’s an odd combination, but it seems to work for him.
