Mel stared at Elena blankly.
“How do I put this? You’re important to Vanessa. So if I can help you in any way, she would want me to do so. That’s why I’m giving you my number.”
“Okay.” Mel still wasn’t quite sure what was going on.
“Good. We understand each other.” Elena gave Mel a courteous nod. “I will see you on Saturday.” She walked off down the hall.
Mel rushed back into her apartment and threw the bags down on the bed. She hung the garment bag on the back of the door and drew the zipper down.
“Wow. Wow.” Where the hell was Vanessa taking Mel on Saturday?
Chapter Seventeen
“So Vanessa still hasn’t told you anything about where she’s taking you?” Jess piled Mel’s brown curls on the top of her head. How she’d managed to curl Mel’s hair was a mystery.
“Nope.” Since receiving Vanessa’s cryptic message, Mel had tried to get the information out of Vanessa, with no success. Vanessa had sent her ‘gift delivery’ early in the week, leaving Mel with plenty of time to mull over things. Was this just another of her games?
“Well, it has to be somewhere pretty fancy if it calls for all this.” Jess stuck another hairpin in Mel’s hair.
Mel winced. “She didn’t actually tell me to do my hair an
d makeup. But based on the outfit she gave me, I definitely need to glam up. Thanks for helping me out, by the way. I’m hopeless with this stuff.”
“No problem. You should let me do this more often.” Jess had brought her huge collection of makeup and hair products with her to Mel’s apartment.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Mel said.
Jess placed another pin. “All done.”
Mel stood up and went to look in the mirror.
“No! You have to put the dress on first.”
“Ok, fine. Can you give me a hand?”
Mel slipped out of her robe. If Jess noticed the modest but sexy lingerie Mel was wearing—bought by Vanessa of course—she said nothing. Mel stepped into the dress.
“I still can’t believe she bought you an Elie Saab gown.” Jess said.
“Am I supposed to know who that is?”
“God, Mel, you’re so clueless. Do you even know how much this all cost?”
“Nope. And I don’t want to.” Mel had gotten to the point where she no longer thought about how much money Vanessa was spending on her. She wanted to enjoy Vanessa’s gifts. And she couldn’t when she was thinking about how expensive they were.
Jess tugged the zipper all the way to the top. “There you go.”
“Can I look now?”
“Go ahead.” Jess had a big grin on her face.
When Mel looked in the mirror, she barely recognized the woman standing in front of her. Her hair was piled up on her head in a neat tangle of curls. Her eyes were dark and smoky, and her lips were a lustrous pinkish red. Her dress was breathtaking. The chiffon gown flowed down her shoulders all the way to the floor. The delicate fabric rippled and fluttered with every movement. It was a deep shade of blue that Mel adored. And it fit her perfectly.
“Wow.” Mel twirled around in front of the mirror, something she hadn’t done since she was six.
“You look amazing!” Jess said. “Vanessa is going to lose it when she sees you.”
Mel smiled. She had to admit, she looked pretty hot.