AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I smile and look at the dress once more. I feel like a fairy-tale princess, and my biggest fear is for it to be taken away, or worse, to be back in the nightmare that was my life.
* * *
As promised, Reid knocks on the bedroom door at six in the evening. I open it, ready to go. My mom said she was staying in her room to relax and would see me later.
All the pampering got to her, and I have to thank the man staring at me right now. I'm speechless while I take in how good he looks wearing another tux with a red rose in his pocket jacket and a red silk bow tie.
"Hi," I say.
He visibly swallows, while his eyes slowly travel from my toes up to my face.
"You look stunning."
A blush creeps up my cheeks. “You look very handsome, and I love the red."
He pulls a little black box from behind his back, and my eyes widen when I see a red corsage. He takes it out and holds it in his hand.
"Red is the color of presence and absence. Life and death. And most importantly, love and passion."
My heart somersaults inside my chest when he slips it on, and I smile. He holds out his arm, and I slide mine through, my cheeks hurting from constantly smiling.
"Thank you."
"Happy Birthday, Jesse."
The elevator dings once it reaches the penthouse floor. We enter and I can’t stop smiling on the way down. We reach the hotel's ballroom when the elevator doors open, and I gasp.
There is a sign above the entrance that readsWelcome to Prom. My mother is standing in a beautiful high-necked dress, waving at me. I blink back the tears that well up in my eyes.
"Jesse Sharpe, will you do me the honor of accompanying me to prom?"
I nod. "Yes,” I say with tears in my eyes.
"Please don't cry."
I fan my face, trying not to ruin my makeup. "I'm so sorry. I just never thought I would…" I trail off.
There are black and red balloons replicating the arch you see in a typical high school prom. A photo booth is next to the entrance, and a photographer is waiting for us to approach.
"Oh my God, Jess. You look beautiful," my mother beams.
"So do you, Mom."
Reid poses with me in the picture, and I smile like a schoolgirl. My mother dabs her eyes because she got her picture, and I got mine.
"Thank you," I whisper when we face each other.
He slides loose hair away from my face. "No, thank you. We both get what we want. A prom with the person you imagined you would go with."
The doors are opened by his hotel staff, who are all wearing tuxedos, and I feel like I'm dreaming. Chandeliers are in the center of the ballroom, and tables are to the left, with everything decorated in black and red. The theme is beloved. Red punch that looks like blood is inside a bowl in the center at a buffet table with hors d'oeuvres. Couples are dancing, and they look like high school students.
I lean close and whisper, "Who are these people?"
"Not all of us were able to go to prom,” he says, while looking around the ballroom full of different people, all wearing formal clothing. “These are some of the staffs’ teenagers and their boyfriends and girlfriends.
"It's perfect."
"You're perfect," he says.
