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“Tsk. And you wonder why you can’t keep a man. Tsk.”
I hated that noise she always made. I took a deep breath so I wouldn’t snap at her. “I was cleaning and found the note you left.” I held up the piece of paper. “You said there was a package for me?”
She closed the door.
“Naomi?” What the hell? I knocked on the door again.
“You can add patience to the list,” she said as she opened up the door again. “I had to unlock the door. Tsk.”
Growing up in the suburbs meant no chain locks. When someone stopped by, we welcomed them in and offered them tea and crumpets. Well, maybe not exactly, but we were friendlier than this. “Sorry, Naomi.”
“Your rent is due soon. Are you going to be late again?”
“No. I won’t be. Actually, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about. The heater in my apartment seems to shut off every night and…”
“It’s already on my list.”
I bit the inside of my lip. “I know, Naomi, but it’s been on your list since November. The winter will be over before…”
“Your problem isn’t any more important than anyone else’s.”
“But it’s freezing up there.”
“It’s a New York winter. You’ll get used to it.” She grabbed a package off the floor and shoved it into my arms.
“Maybe my rent can be a little less then, since I’m saving money on heat?”
She squinted her eyes as if she was just really seeing me for the first time. “I’ll think about it,” she said and slammed the door in my face.
I’d take her thinking about it. If I was going to freeze to death, at least I could save a little bit of money in the process. I looked down at the box in my hands. It was wrapped in brown paper and there was a silky green ribbon around it. There was no address anywhere on the package. My name was just scrawled on the side. And it looked like Naomi’s handwriting.
Had Mason hand delivered this? That would mean that he had seen my apartment building and met Naomi. I knew I was financially beneath him. But he hadn’t written me off after seeing where I lived. He had still left the package. Maybe he didn’t care about stuff like that. I still felt a little embarrassed though. He lived in a freaking hotel. And I lived here.
I opened up the door to my apartment. At least it was clean now. I put the package down on my bed and stared at it. What on earth was in there? Mason and I still barely knew each other. Maybe it was a hangover kit or something.
No. He had sent me this before I had even drunk texted him. Which meant he had been thinking about me since our lunch date. And not just thinking about me, but buying me something. I had wanted him to come up last night. I had been pretty surprised that he hadn’t said yes. But it made me like him even more. He was respectful. He thought I was too drunk to make that decision. But I wasn’t. And I remembered every part of our conversation last night.
I sat down on my bed and untied the green ribbon. I pushed it out of the way and ripped the brown paper. There was a white box with a small envelope on top of it. I opened up the envelope and pulled out the card.
Bee,
I’ll be picking you up at 7. I can’t wait to see you again.
-Mason
P.S. I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch today. You’re rubbing off on me.
I ran my finger across his words. I liked that he never asked. There was no uncertainty on his part. He wanted to see me, so he was going to see me. Every time we talked I liked him more and more. I couldn’t deny the fact that I had a huge crush on him. That was the best way to put it, because for some reason it felt like I could never really have him. He was out of my league. But it made me want him even more.
I looked back down at the package. Had he sent me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Or maybe something for our date? I slowly lifted off the lid and pushed aside the tissue paper.
Oh my God. I picked up the dress and stood up so that I could see the whole thing. It was a deep red, mermaid style dress with a plunging neckline. It was simple but elegant at the same time. So elegant. He hadn’t just been thinking about me, he had been buying me the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. It was like something one of the contestants from Miss America would wear. There was something different about the fabric of this dress. I wanted to say it was almost heavy, but that didn’t explain it right. It wasn’t like other dresses I had. It was well made. The fabric was luxurious. And somehow it looked like it might fit me. Mason was a good guesser.
7 o’clock. I grabbed my phone and looked down at the time. I still had a few hours. But I somehow needed to look worthy of this dress. I laid it down on my bed and ran into the bathroom.
* * *
I took the last of the hot curlers out of my hair and ran my fingers through the curls to loosen them. My makeup and hair were done. Now I just needed to see if the dress fit me.
