Falling for Him

First Impressions

I lay in bed unable to sleep as my mind races. I turn and see Allison sleeping soundly on the other side of the bed. As the sun begins to peek out, I get out of bed slowly trying not to wake Allison. I go into the kitchen and make some coffee, I would need it today after not having a wink of sleep. I come to stand in front of the window with the coffee mug in hand and watch the sunrise.

“Good morning Elise” I hear Allison say from somewhere behind me, followed by sounds of stretching and a yawn.

“Good morning” I reply still facing the window, taking in the beautiful sunrise.

“You are free to stay in all day if you wish” I now hear her shuffling about.

“I think I’ll go to work, I need a distraction and work would keep my mind off..” I say as I turn to face where I hear movement and I see her by the coffee maker.

“Things” she looks up and finishes my sentence. I give her a soft smile.

“You should give yourself a break E, you should take time to process all that is happening” her voice now a little uneasy and full of worry. I walk over and take a seat on one of the stools by the island as Allison stands on the opposite side. I let out a deep sigh as I run my forefinger along the rim of the mug.

“I’ll be fine Ali” I look up to meet her gaze and try to muster a reassuring smile. She doesn’t looked convinced as she raises an eyebrow in return.

Allison makes scrambled eggs and toast and places a plate in front of me. I know I don’t have a choice but to eat it as she stands and stares at me and then the plate. She’s just looking out for me. I eat the breakfast to make her happy and we proceed to get ready for the work day ahead. When we arrive at the hospital Allison bids me farewell and says she’ll see me at home later because she has some errands to run after work.

I get to Allison’s place and I run myself a bath. Maybe that will help ease my mind. I step into the warm water filled with bubbles and submerge my body until only my head is above water. I rest my head against a towel on the tub and release a deep sigh as the warmth soothes my muscles. Thoughts of Ben flood my mind as I close my eyes. I see him with his bright and perfect smile as he glanced my way before we met at university. I wasn’t from here in New York and so I didn’t know anyone, besides Allison. We moved out here together from our little island of Anaire, we call home. I remembered our first date at a diner near the school, I remembered hearing his laugh that brought me so much joy because he was so funny. I remembered our first kiss under the stars after he took me to visit the museum. I remembered feeling so in love while being in his arms. A tear leaves my eyes and falls down the side of my face to my ear. A sudden knock at the bathroom door shakes me from my memories and my eyes fly open. I raise my hand out of the water to see my fingers are wrinkled. How long have I been in here? There’s another knock at the door as I step out of the tub and reach for a towel to wrap around my form. I rush to the door and open it.

“What is it Ali?” My voice filled with urgency thinking something is wrong. I see Allison standing with something behind her back as she bites her bottom lips trying to contain her excitement.

“We should start getting ready” she finally says unable to keep quiet any longer.

“For what?” My eyebrow raised at her.

“For the fundraiser duh!” Allison now bouncing up and down unable to keep still. I fold my arms across my chest.

“I’m not going” I state. Allison has a questioned look on her face and I know I have to come up with an excuse.

“I have nothing to wear” I throw my arms up in surrender. Allison smiles as she moves her hands from behind her and her face bears a mischievous smile as she reveals she’s holding shopping bags.

“I knew you would say that” and hands me one of the bags. I sigh as I realize there’s no way out of this. Allison rushes into the bathroom to have a shower. I walk to sit by the table that has a large standing mirror. Allison loves makeup and I expected nothing less. I sit and study my face, my eyes then trail to my hair. If I am indeed going to the fundraiser I should do something with it. I run my fingers through my hair and pull it up into an updo and turn my head from side to side looking at my reflection, I huff out as I let it fall to brush against my shoulders once again. I stare at my reflection not knowing what to do. Allison comes out the bathroom wearing a towel around her and comes to stand behind me. She runs her hands through my hair and our eyes meet in the mirror.

“Let’s do this!” She smiles and I return it. She pulls out a flat iron and plugs it in, while it’s heating up she rummages through her makeup bags and pulls out brushes, eyeshadows, lipstick and some things that I don’t even know what they’re used for. She begins to comb through my hair and flat irons it until it’s bone straight and falls on both sides on my face. She goes through the draws of the table and pulls out nail polish.

“This will look perfect with the dress” she says to herself as she settles for a clear polish with gold speckles in it. Allison drags me out of the chair and into the living room. She plops us down on the chair and rests a pillow in her lap and places my hands on top of it.

“Tonight we have fun and forget about that a**h*le” she says with her head still down painting my nails focusing on the task at hand. She only holds up to tell me it’s time for the toes. I sit still as the polish dries. I turn to see Allison painting her own nails and I smile. I feel at ease for the first time in the last few days.

“Thanks for this Ali” I say to her. She then drags me once again to the table and puts me to sit facing her while she does my makeup and I watch as she’s completely in her element. She turns me to the mirror and I gasp at the sight. I look beautiful. The shimmering eyeshadow danced on my eyelids, the dark green eyeliner brought out my hazel eyes and the red lipstick reminded me of cherries. Allison hands me the bag and nods for me to get dressed. I open the bag and pull out a beautiful emerald silk dress. I step into it and pull it up my frame, I place the tiny straps on my shoulders. I walk over to the mirror in the corner of the room. The dress dips on my chest just enough not to show too much cleavage, it comes to hug my hips and then falls perfectly to my ankles.

“Uh hem” I cough trying to get Allison’s attention. As I turn to see she doing her makeup. She turns to my direction and looks at me from head to toe.

“You look beautiful E” she walks over to me and fixes some of my hair that strayed. She goes to one of the shopping bags and hands me a box. I open it and see these gorgeous gold heeled sandals.

“Put those on” she giggles and goes back to the shopping bags.

“My turn!” She pulls out a white lace dress. Allison steps inside the dress and wiggles it up her body. It hugs her curves and stops above her knees, the thin straps form a X in her back leaving most of her back open. Allison was not one afraid of showing skin. I sit on the bed and lap the heels up my legs, I fall back on my elbows feeling exhausted from all this dressing up. Allison finishes her makeup and lets down her hair that falls down her shoulders and back in big beautiful waves. She pulls out an emerald clutch from yet another shopping bag and throws it at me on the bed followed by lipstick.

“Come on E, we’re going to be late!” As she rushes to the closet and pulls out white heels, she bends over to put them on and I giggle as I remembered our days like this in college.

We take Allison’s car to the hospital. We arrive to a beautifully lit entrance that has a flower arch. We enter the building that seems to have people everywhere. I immediately gasp at the sight of the large beautiful chandelier hanging from the ceiling reflecting lights on its glass pieces. We make our way through the crowd seeing some familiar faces of our colleagues, Allison stops to talk to each of them and I only offer soft smiles. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I nudge her with my elbow.

“I’m going to the bar” I really just wanted to get out of the crowd. She squeezes my hand before letting it go.

“I’ll come find you later” as she give me a gentle nod.

I make my way to the bar, ignoring the looks and calls I receive from some of the men present. I reach the bar and signal for the bartender.

“Can I have a martini?” He goes off right away to make the drink while taking other orders. I glance around behind the bar and manage to capture someone approaching me in the reflection.

“Excuse me miss, forgive me..” the voice behind me begins but I cut it off.

“I’m not interested” I roll my eyes and turn to the direction of the voice. I’m met with piercing ocean blue eyes that feel like their gazing into my soul. I gasp as I take in the beautiful specimen before me. He towers over me, his dark brown hair sits in soft curls brushed back with one curl resting on his forehead, light stubbles cover his jaw and chin. His stance oozes confidence and the navy tailored suit he’s wearing compliments his pale skin and fits him perfectly as his muscular form is on display.

“Excuse me” his voice deep shaking me from my gaze of admiration.

“I couldn’t help myself..” he continues, narrowing his eyes at me as if trying to read my mind with his hands deep in his pockets.

“But you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen” his gaze not once leaving mine. I feel his eyes reeling me in. The bartender comes with my drink and I turn to face the bar again shaking my head to regain my senses. Maybe he wasn’t real? I turn once again and see the piercing blue eyes that are very much real. I open my mouth to speak when suddenly someone grips my arm from behind me.