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"Overthinking, Sedona. You'll be fine. It's not like they're the royal family."
She was right. I shouldn't be nervous. They wereonlyZander's parents. His dad wasonlyMr. Severius Zobowski – multimillionaire and software genius. Zander's mom wasonlyDr. Haven Zobowksi, the well-known philanthropist, socialite, and, a super close friend of the First Lady. Yes, I had no reason to be nervous.
The more I thought about it, the more I itched to grab my phone and call Zander to tell him that I couldn't make it. I could tell him that Tanya had contracted a sudden case of malaria. She needed to be quarantined in a place far, far away from San Francisco and she needed me to go with her. Too bad for Tanya, she was going to be my escape goat.
I reached for my phone.
"Don't you dare, missy! Don't you dare cancel on Zander. That poor guy has been looking forward to this for a while now."
It was true. The other night, Zander, Tanya, Nalee, Kieran, and I were playing poker at our apartment; the topic, out-of-the blue, steered towards Zander's parents. I already knew this but the rest of them didn't. It wasn't something that was just brought up. Zander expressed his excitement when he talked about his parents meeting me. He said he couldn't wait to introduce his girlfriend to his parents.
Kieran stifled a laugh because he knew how awkward it was for me. I’ve been unloading on him about my insecurities on meeting Zander's parents before this even came up; but, he just brushed them off. Just as Tanya was telling me now, Kieran saidthat I overthink too much.
Zander's parents were based in San Francisco but they were hardly ever in town. They were always abroad or across the United States with their business and social responsibilities. Zander saw them three times a year the most. Even though they talk or video chat with him often, Zander had briefly mentioned to me that one day, if he had family, he would want to see his children 99% of the time. He said it wasn't always like this. He talked to me about his happy childhood memories with his parents. Things changed when he was in junior high and his dad's business boomed.
I knew he missed them. When he talked about his parents, Isaw the longing in his eyes.
I didn't have the heart to disappoint him so I put my phone backon the side of Tanya's bed.
Tanya primped my hair into soft curls and applied light makeup on my face.
When I looked in the mirror, I saw anupgraded version of myself.
"Wow," I said softly.
"Yeah, wow, honey! You look like a sultry siren - a respectable, sultry siren," Tanya’s eyes met mine in the mirror. She was so proud of her creation. I knew she added the ‘respectable’ bit because of Zander's parents.
She applied plum eyeliner to the inside and outside corners of my eyes, smudged it below my brow bone, played it up with an eggplant eye shadow and finished it off with silver eye shimmer. My eyes looked dewy, fresh, and sultry.
On my cheeks, she lightly brushed rose dust blushto highlight my cheekbones.
Lipstick was not my friend. I felt that it made my lips way fuller than they were. Tanya talked me into putting it on but I stood my ground and my clear shimmer gloss won.
"Honey, I only highlighted what's been there all this time," she said, still smiling.
I went back to my room to finish dressing up. I put on a sleeveless polyester/spandex white, color blocked with black lining on the sides, sheath dress thathit slightly above my knee.
2 1/2 inch strapless stilettos capped off my look.
Tanya opened the doorwhen she heard the doorbell.
I was putting on my diamond, round cut stud earrings, inherited from my mom when I heard Zander asking Tanya.
"She almost ready?"
"Oh loverboy! Why don't you just sit still and wait.She'll be out soon enough."
I heard Zander laugh. Tanya was plain hilarious at times. She got overly boisterous and spouted out a load of inappropriate comments when she was excited.
My wall clock showed 7:45. Our reservations were at 8:30 PM. With traffic being unpredictable, Zander wanted to have enough time to drive15 miles to the restaurant.
I stepped out of the room. I saw him sitting on the sofa and Tanyawas sitting across from him.
When he saw me, he stood up and his eyes went wide.
"Babe, you look beautiful, extra beautiful." his eyes sparkling with admiration.
I took in his navy suit, light blue dress shirt, slightly wet hair and said, "You look really good, too"
