37
“Are you sure I can’t get out of this?” I asked, and I was only half-joking. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to get to know his sister better, but I was also exhausted after a long week of work, and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to keep my energy up long enough to entertain her for a couple of hours.
“I’ll call you in an hour and claim there’s an emergency if you want,” he suggested as he took a sip of his coffee, but I shook my head.
“No, it’s really sweet of her to think of me.” I sighed, slightly hating that I had agreed to this. “I should go.”
“My sister can be a lot. Trust me, I know,” he assured me. “If you need an out, you just call me, and I’ll take care of it.”
“Don’t tempt me,” I warned him, and he grinned and reached into his pocket. He pulled out his bank card and handed it to me.
“You take this, and get anything you want,” he told me. I tried to bat it away.
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” I replied. “I’d feel weird, spending your cash.”
“Get something for the fundraiser,” he suggested. “I was going to get something anyway. Best that you choose something you actually want.”
“Fine.” I took it from him, fully intending to stick to only what I would be able to afford all by myself. “Thank you, Kristo.”
“I’m really just bribing you to keep my sister off my ass.” He grinned, and I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, well, don’t rely on me doing this again,” I warned him. “I’m not exactly good at the girlfriends thing.”
“She’ll teach you,” he replied, and he got to his feet and headed for his room. “I have some work to take care of, but you have a good time today, all right?”
“I’ll try,” I replied, and he made his way into his office and left me to it. I took a deep breath and checked the time. I didn’t have much of a choice but to go out now and head into the void of spending the afternoon with Cleo.
No, now, that was unfair, and I wasn’t going to be that much of a cow about it. She had been so sweet to keep chasing me, determined to get to know her sister-in-law better and spend a whole lot of time with me so we could really be friends. The only thing was, I had never really had time for close friends, never really finding the space in my schedule to do things like go out shopping and spend hours taking a coffee break and gossiping. I would have loved to, but I just never managed it, so I tried my best to pretend it wasn’t a big deal and move on with my life. But now that I had the time and the space to enjoy something like that, I was nervous as hell that I was going to fuck up and blurt out something stupid that would put her off ever inviting me out again.
I headed down outside the apartment, and moments later, a car screeched up in front of me and Cleo stuck her head out the window.
“Jump in,” she called to me with a smile on her face. “I want to get started. We’ve got a lot of shops to hit today.”
I slid in next to her and smiled nervously. She pulled away and turned the radio down so we could talk.
“I’ve been so looking forward to this.” She grinned at me. “I need someone new to go shopping with. Fresh eyes to make sure I’m not dressing like crap!”
“I think I’m going to be the one who needs help,” I admitted. “I need to get a new dress for this fundraiser I have for work soon.”
“Oh, I love shopping for actual events,” she sighed happily. “One of my friends, she was going with her actor boyfriend to this awards show, and we spent about two full days picking up the perfect outfit. It was so much fun.”
“Actor?” I tried not to let the surprise show in my voice. Fuck, this woman had just lived a life so far removed from mine. I guessed it wasn’t that weird for her to fraternize with people who were sweeping out to fancy awards events, but I couldn’t even imagine living that kind of life, not in my wildest dreams.
We arrived at the store, and she strode straight in where the assistant seemed to recognize her.
“Cleo.” She nodded, and then her eyes slid over to me, giving me the once-over, probably trying to assess the kind of cash I had on me. “And this is?”
“Amaya, my sister-in-law.” Cleo took my hand and squeezed it. “We’re here to find her a dress.”
“Oh, very good.” The assistant smiled politely at me. “Do you want me to leave you to it?”
“We’ll let you know if we need help.” Cleo nodded.
I was whisked off among the racks of dresses, the kind of clothes I would stare longingly at on magazine covers and accept that I would never be able to afford in a million years.
I wanted to get something for myself, didn’t want to drop any more of Kristo’s money, but when I took one look at the price tags, I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford so much as a slip here under my own steam.
“Everything’s so expensive.” I gasped as I looked at the tag on a flimsy white number that could have passed for a nightdress.