"Uhh, this one looks beautiful," Stephanie said. She was holding a red dress in her hands.
"I am tired Steph," Astra complained. She wondered how her friend had so much energy when she had a child in her, one the size of a watermelon.
"Just this one, I can feel it, this is the one," Stephanie said. Astra wanted to point out that she had said that before and then changed her mind after, but she knew that there was no need arguing with Stephanie.
She sighed and she went into the dress room and put on the dress. Astra loved the feel of the material on her skin, it was very comfortable.
"Help me with the zip," Astra said to Stephanie who zipped her in. It was a perfect fit.
"Let me see it, turn around," Steph said and Astra smiled and turned around. She felt like a princess in the dress. It minimized the size of her bump and at some angles, it did not look like she was pregnant. It was off shouldered and covered her chest, it was free from below her breasts and the hem was not of the same length, she loved it. But then, she needed Steph to love it too. Astra smiled at her friend and held her breath.
"It is perfect," Stephanie said and Astra shouted.
"Thank God! We should go home," Astra said and Stephanie chuckled.
"We do not have much time until the date, you still have to do your hair and makeup. My saloon is not so far from here," Stephanie suggested and Astra glared at her friend.
After paying for the clothes, Stephanie got her self a dress and they went on to a hair saloon. If Astra was left to her own devices, she would have used her curler to style her hair, but Stephanie just had to be over the top. Astra did her hair and then her makeup professionally, before she went back home to dress.
"You will tell me all about it tomorrow. I will call you, not too early though, a little late so that you would have enough time to rest from the long night," Steph said. She was wiggling her eyebrows. Astra glared at her friend.
"Nothing of the sort is happening. We will have our date and Nicholas will drive me home, simple," Astra said even if she did hope that Nicholas would not be as uptight as he was the previous night, a kiss or two will not hurt and they don't all have to be on her lips.
"Whatever you say. You look beautiful, Nicholas will be blown away. I should get going now," Stephanie said to Astra and she blushed. Her hair was falling over her back in curls and her dress looked even more beautiful with the make up and hair. She wore a pair of low heels because her legs had already started swelling and she carried a gold clutch.
"Thank you, love. I really appreciate all you do Stephanie," Astra said snd then Steph smiled before she left.
Astra sat down on her chair in her house for about ten minutes before Nicholas knocked on her door. Astra was a bit frustrated from the nerves and was not in a good mood when he came.
"You are late," Astra said to him as she opened the door. She was met with Nicholas looking handsome in a tuxedo and holding a bouquet of yellow roses, the type that she loved. All her former annoyance seemed to disappear.
"You look magnificent Astra," Nicholas said and entered into her house. He was short of words at a point when he saw her, and the words that came out when he finally said something made her heart skip a beat.
"Thank you, you look handsome yourself," Astra said, she was still blushing. Nicholas handed her the flowers and she took them from him and smelt them.
"They smell wonderful, thank you," Astra said.
"I will put these in some water," Astra said and went into her kitchen to find a vase for the flowers. She then put them in some water.
"We should get going," Astra said when she was done. She was not sure that she could stay in the house with him for much longer without trying to kiss him or doing something equally as odd.
"I have a gift for you," Nicholas said and then brought out a little velvet box from his pocket. Astra opened her eyes and gazed at the box as Nicholas opened it.
It was a necklace. It was silver and had a tear drop of diamond as a a a a a a a a a a locket. It was simple but yet it was very beautiful.
"Oh my God Nicholas, it is beautiful," Astra said as she gazed at the necklace.
"Turn around," Nicholas said to Astra and she did. She held her breath as he placed the necklace over her neck. The closeness between them seemed to increase as she felt p breath at her neck. Astra could feel the electricity between the two of them. The years and the betrayal between them did not ruin their chemistry.
"I am done," Nicholas said and she turned around to look at him.
"You look very beautiful," Nicholas said as she turned around and he looked at her. His eyes looked dazed as he reached out and touched her stomach.
"I cannot wait for her to get here," Nicholas said again and Astra smiled.
"We should get to dinner before she gets here," Astra said with a laugh.
"We should get going," Nicholas said and offered her his arm. Astra took it and they both walked out of the building together. He came with a driver so he just opened the door for her and they both entered into the car. The drive was short and they got to the restaurant in record time.
"The place is nice," Astra said. It was an upscale restaurant what she had expected, but it still pleased her that he put effort into their date.
"It is a pleasure," Nicholas replied and they were both taken to their seats. Astra sat down with Nicholas and it occurred to her that she was nervous. Anyone who saw the both of them, especially with her pregnancy would assume that they were a married couple on a night out. They would not imagine that they were divorced, friends. That they had been through so much including a mentally deranged man that wanted to separate them.
"What are we supposed to talk about? It is a first date but you know almost everything about me," Astra said. It felt like they were living a farce. They had been through too much to just be sitting and having dinner.
"Well I do not know everything, I do not know what happened those five years that we were not together, and even before then. I knew you Astra, but I can not say that I knew everything about you. The same goes for me. Astra nodded as she considered what happened to them, how fast their relationship had progressed before then. She was not sure she wanted to start talking about the five years that they were not together then, it would only put her in a bad mood. But then again, she figured that they were good parts about those five years that they went through a lot together too.
"After I left your place, I went to meet my parents, they were furious that I was no longer with you, it seemed like the pictures had reached there before I did. Back then, I thought that they had talked to you and they heard your part of the story and simply refused to listen to mine," Astra said. She thought of everything differently now that she knew the truth, but that did not make her heart stop aching, she was still hurt.