Becoming His Queen

Chapter Six

True to their fashion, all five of them were at my house and had everything set up for me to get ready. They had transformed my den into my own personal hair salon with makeup lining the vanity dresser along with jewelry and mannequin head with a long, curly, black wig sitting on top. Raq met me at the door and stripped me of my purse and keys, pushing me towards the bathroom.

“No time to dawdle,” she said, slamming the door in my face.

I blinked a few times before stripping out of my work clothes. I ran the water as hot as I could before stepping in and letting the water pelt my skin. Banging on the door told me I didn’t have time to stand there and enjoy the heat. I quickly washed and made sure that visible parts were smooth and bare to the touch. I didn’t want anyone to think little of me for having stray leg and arm hair. Thank God I had let Nic talk me into a Brazilian wax last week because if things turn hot and heavy at the end of the night, it would be enjoyable for everyone.

Turned the water off and quickly climbed just as Raq came barging in a flurry. I screeched in surprise, trying to cover myself with my hands. She rolled her eyes as she handed me a towel.

“You ain’t got nothing I haven’t seen or have,” she said, shooing me out of the bathroom.

“Can’t you let me dry myself off properly?” I whined, looking back at her.

“No,” Nal said, grabbing my arm and dragging me into the den. “We need to get you beat from head to toe. There’s no way in hell we’re letting you go out like you usually are to meet with no king.”

“But we still love you,” Jaz said as if to try to soften the blow.

“Thanks,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Enough chitchat, ladies,” Nic clapped. “Time to work some magic.”

The four of them rushed at me, quickly drying and moisturizing my body. Nal shoved the dress and underwear into my arms, telling me to get dressed quickly. I huffed in frustration as I slipped my bra and panties on followed by the dress. Looking the small mirror, I admired my figure in it as it hugged my breasts and gave my ass an extra lift.

“Here, brand new,” Jaz said, handing me a pair of champagne stilettos with rhinestone straps.

“When did you get these?” I asked, using her shoulder to balance myself as I fastened the shoes one at a time around my ankles.

“I had bought these when I was supposed to go on that trip to the Bahamas that got cancelled.”

I stepped back, taking small steps to get my feet used to wearing heels again. I spun around in a circle and smiled.

“Catwalk yourself over here,” Nic said, standing at the vanity with a comb in her hand. “I need to braid your hair down and install this wig.”

They had brought a chair from the dining room and sat at the dresser, like a makeshift salon chair. I sat down to let her work her magic, wincing as she heavy-handedly braided down my curls before slipping the wig cap over my head.

I sat in that chair for maybe an hour or so as she quickly and efficiently glued down the wig and then switched places with Nal who started applying makeup to my face. The two of them gave me a once over before nodding to each other and stepping back. I gasped as I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked nothing like me at all. Nic had styled the wig to flow over my shoulders in soft waves with a swooped bang.

Nal gave me a full natural beauty face, keeping the eyeshadow a light smokey eye with soft lashes. She had lined my lips with a dark liner and covered it with a nice neutral lipstick. Between the two of them, I looked like I had come straight off the runway.

“Holy s**t. You two are amazing at this. I like whole different person,” I said, awestruck by my transformation.

“Pure black girl magic, sweetie,” Nic said confidently, shining her nails on her shirt.

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, Cinderella. Your carriage awaits. We all didn’t take off from work to sit here, watching fawn over yourself,” Raq said.

“Wait, you guys took off?”

I was shocked that they would do that. Then again, I would have faked a family emergency if I knew that one of them was going out to meet their mate. There was no way I was going to sit at home and wait for secondhand knowledge of how things went.

“What time is it?” I asked, realizing I didn’t have my phone on me.

“Enough time that if you leave right now, you’ll be there about ten minutes early,” Jaz said, shoving my phone and wristlet with my keys attached to it.

“Time to roll people. I want to get a good seat,” Nal said.

“You heard the lady. Move! Move! Move!”

We all rushed out the door. The four of them climbed into Raq’s SUV while I slipped into mine. It was just after seven when we left my house and headed for the highway. Miraculously we were able to get there in record time with fifteen minutes to spare. I climbed out of my car and looked around the parking lot. The restaurant was located on the outskirts of the mall, leaving them and other restaurants open in the deserted-looking parking lot. There were cars here and there, but I didn’t see anything stick out amongst the Mercedes, BMW, and Teslas.

“I guess they’re not here yet,” I mused as the others joined me looking around.

“Let’s go inside and wait,” Raq said.

The five of us headed towards Lehja, only slowing down when we saw two burly guys standing guard at the door. We looked at each other nervously as we approached them. Even though the sun was setting, they wore dark sunglasses that hid their eyes from anyone coming close. I stepped forward and smiled at them nervously, but they didn’t move an inch.

The hell’s going on here, I thought, walking inside.

The were people scattered about, eating and talking amongst themselves as if the two guards outside didn’t faze them at all. As I approached the stand, the hostess looked up with a bright smile on her face. She was a young girl with a light almond complexion and dark eyes. She had her long, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing the black uniform of the restaurant: black shirt, pants, and shoes.

“Hello, how can I help you?” she asked.

“Well, I’m supposed to meeting someone here at eight, but I don’t know what name they put the reservation under,” I said.

“I see. Any chance they could have put it under yours?”

“I doubt it, but you can try looking under Trenton.”

She looked down at the tablet that she had at the stand and was scrolling down the list in front of her. Her face lit up as her smile stretched more.

“Miss Trenton, I have your reservations right here. It seems that your companion is already here.”

“Oh.”

I was surprised that they were already here, and it made me feel self-conscious about if I was late.

“If you follow me, I'll take you to your table.”

She stepped from around the stand and started walking towards the farthest section of the restaurant. My heart was pounding away in my chest as I moved farther from the others. I was curious about what he was like or if he would’ve showed up, or if he had sent like a proxy to stand in for him.

Deep breaths, Layla. You got this. One step at a time. He's no different from you. He puts his pants on one leg at a time just like you.

I was trying to keep myself calm and not make a fool out of myself as we moved further down. She stopped in front of a table that sat in a corner away from everyone else. There sitting in the chair, swirling a glass of dark liquor, was the person who was supposed to be my mate. I can honestly say that picture I was looking at earlier didn’t do him any justice. He was much handsomer in person as he wore the exact same outfit that was in the picture.

He gave off an aura of darkness and forbiddances. It almost seemed to cloak him as he sat there. He placed his glass down and looked up at us, piercing me with those dark red eyes.

“Here’s your table, Miss Trenton. Your server will be right with you in a few minutes to take your drink order,” the hostess said, gesturing to the empty seat.

“Thank you,” I nodded.

She quickly left and I stood there staring down at him. He looked me up and down, frowning. My eye twitched slightly as I pulled my chair out.

“Wait,” he said.

His voice was deep and husky, making me shiver at the sound. I froze as he pushed his chair back and stood up, and up. I tilted my head back to look up at him. He had to stand over six feet tall because my five-foot-six self only stood up to his chest in heels.

“Um,” I said hesitantly.

He walked around me and pulled out my chair, gesturing for me to sit down. I sat down awkwardly, letting him push my chair in. I jumped when his fingers trailed against my skin, leaving a hot trail in its wake. He returned to his seat and smiled.

“It’s pleasure to meet you, my mate.”