Chapter 26: In which she turns it into a home.
"Incoming." Tina's voice was low, spoken in a hushed whisper.
"Roger that. Proceed to Plan B." I answered and clicked the off button on my airpods.
Now if you're thinking that aliens just invaded Planet Earth and we're under attack by some otherworldly evil force and that I'm commanding a squadron of novice pilots to defend us....then you're completely right.
The alien (named Nathan Synclair) had just reached the office (Planet Earth) and I, Savannah Tresscot (Commander) am trying to organize a Thanksgiving apocalyptic party (otherworldly evil force), which is apocalyptic because it can either end up a huge success or with Nathan turning into a zombie and eating the entire team alive, with Tina, Roan and Beth (novice squadron pilots) becoming the casualties. Just that simple. Not!
"Beth! Pumpkin! Chocolate chips!"
"Ready!"
"Roan," I spoke again through the airpods. "Did you find the candles? And don't forget the lights? Oh! And don't forget the muffin liners!"
"On it!"
"Tina," another call, thanks to Siri. "You're bringing the wine right?"
"Already have it in my bunker."
"Good. See you soon." Click. "Beth! Get the turkey out of the fridge or it won't thaw! And the baking tray! The focaccia dough is ready! And the pie plate too, just finished the pumpkin pie batter! See the one with biscuit crumbs at the bottom?" I needed extra hands! The two I have are about to fall off.
"Yes! Found them! Bringing!" Beth was juggling a bunch of pots and pans on both hands and she managed to bring them all to the counter without dropping any.
"Whoa!"
Me and Beth both turned to the new voice that joined our conversation, found her standing at the door with two huge packs in each hand.
"Who are you?" Beth asked the same time as I yelled, "NIKKI!"
"Hello to you too, girls," Nikki smirked at Beth then looked at me. Her mouth fell open. "Were you out in the typhoon all night? Girl, you look horrible!"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I said with a frown. “You weren’t picture perfect either when I called you this morning.”
“Oh, honey!” Nikki dramatically flipped her hair behind her shoulders. “If you only knew.”
“Not that I care,” I said with a smirk of my own. "But for your kind information, I was very warm and cozy last night as well, with a candle light dinner, champagne, dark chocolate cake, Nate and a very, very warm bed."
"Ewwww! I so didn't need to hear that!" She fake gagged and then held out her hands with the packs in them. "Here! I got souvenirs!"
"Souvenirs? Where did you go to? Sarcastic town?"
"Ha. Ha." She glared at me while I tried to keep on my utmost serious face. "FYI, I had been to Pleasure Cave for the past few days, getting down and sweaty with a hunk of my own."
She laughed at my horrified shudder and yelled out a 'serves you right' and then we were both laughing at how silly we were being and hugged each other, with a smiling Beth finishing off my pumpkin pie in the oven.
"Anyways, here you go. These are for the party." She handed me the bags.
"What's in he-Oh My God! Pumpkin vases! Ah! Little pumpkin fairy lights! And God! Are those red and orange candles! God Nikki, how did you know? I've been looking everywhere for these!"
"Well, I didn't," she answered with a shrug. "I thought that since you're organizing a Thanksgiving dinner at such a short notice, all the goodies would have already been sold out and you'd be left with the boring stuff. So I, being the great friend that I am, bought these beforehand."
"Thanks Nikki," I told her genuinely. "For everything. Will you help me decorate?"
"Sure." She smiled. "I'll have to go back home to dress up for later but I still have five hours at hand."
I looked at her clothes instinctively and found her dressed in a white sweater and blue jeans, her red hair was down in soft waves. Nikki was naturally beautiful no matter what she wore so I didn’t see the point in her changing at all. "Sure.” I shrugged. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.
"Dude! Stop checking me out and get going! We have a party to arrange!" Nikki joked. And then we were off to working our butts off.
After five hours, the house was decorated in festive colors, the food was...almost ready and we were all dead tired. There were pumpkin fairy lights, artificial fall coloured leaves, pumpkin lanterns hanging from the ceiling, red and golden and orange scented candles in little glasses, and beautiful flowers in pumpkin shaped vases on the side tables, dinner table and pretty much any decorate-able surfaces. The food was ready and already lined up, except the Turkey, which still had an hour to go in the oven. There weren't any decorations outside the door in fear of discovery but we were able to decorate the inside pretty well. The place looked picture perfect, if I say so myself.
"See you soon honey, bye!" I waved off Beth as she walked into the elevator. She was the last person to leave as Nikki left first and then Tina came by for a second to drop off Roan’s purchase as well as the wine.
Nikki will be bringing her boyfriend today, I'm excited to meet the guy who has been handling her for years. It's a pretty hard job. Roan was bringing Nate home and he was sure there would be a lot of traffic tonight. Specifically since it's thanksgiving. Nathan hadn't forgotten about today but usually on this day, from the day his parents and elder brother died, he's been staying in the office till late, all by himself, sometimes with Tina to help him.
And if you ask me if I'm worried that Nate and Tina might be doing something other than work, then let me remind you that Mrs. Moore loves her husband, who I'll also be meeting today.
I went into the bathroom and filled up the tub with some aromatic bath oils that Nate had already stacked up for me, and turned the tap to hot, so I can relax my muscles as much as possible before the party begins. I was really tired and would’ve loved a nap but I had put my heart and soul into this party and I was doing it for Nate.
After a long, hot shower, I went to rummage through my closet for a dress, since Nate had stacked it with everything I ever need, for my entire lifetime. Maybe it was his guilt at having bullied me during high school without knowing my condition or maybe it was because he wanted me to have all the best things in the world, but since yesterday, he’s been constantly showering me with gifts. He had brought home a bunch of stuff last night, from dresses to food and anything a girl could possibly need. We then had a wonderful candle light dinner and made love all night.
The right thing for me would have been to say no to the gifts and tell him to stop, which I had, but truth be told, this was the first time in my life that someone was doing things for me. After my brother was taken away and my father cut all ties with us, emotionally and financially, me and my mom had barely been scraping by. We lived off of used clothes from charities and my mom had to work day and night to help me for my education. And after my mom was diagnosed with cancer, I had to be taken to foster care where my life got worse because no one wanted to adopt an older child. So Nate bringing me things made me feel worthy of love; love that I had been denied for a long time.
Now, looking at a closet filled with brand new clothes, I couldn’t help the butterflies that fluttered in my stomach and the ache in my heart. Putting all negative emotions aside, I kept on shifting and rejecting several short dresses, my hands skimmed over the softest silk I'd ever had the courage to touch and then I stopped; shuffled back and pulled out what seemed to me like the most beautiful pink dress I'd ever seen in my life.
It was a deep pink, not the bright florescent kind, but a shade between pink and rust red. It had only one shoulder strap with a sweetheart neckline, fitting till the hips and then flared out into a flowing skirt that swirled around my ankles. It was perfect.
I picked up a set of matching panties since it already had a built-in bra and paired it with a few pearl pins that belonged to my mom. I was able to bring them before I left home. I twisted my hair up into a fancy bun and put the bobby pins in; did my make up lightly with matching rust coloured lipstick and eye shadow, that too in record time.
Lastly, I put the dress on and looked at myself in the mirror. It's strange how a simple dress can make you look so different. I couldn't even recognize myself right now and I couldn’t wait for Nate to see me.
The bell rang unexpectedly, making me halt as I was about to take the turkey out of the oven. My cell phone rang at the same time. I picked it up first since it was near me and answered the call, while heading to the door.
"Boss just left. Sorry Savannah, we couldn't delay any longer." Came Tina's worried voice.
"It's okay, I think the first guest just arrived. How fast can you get ready?" I asked as I reached the door.
"Thirty minutes max. My house is nearby."
"Ok, see you soon." I ended the call and opened the door. Beth and her husband stood outside, along with Mr. Johnson and his wife, who were the head of the management and legal team. Smiling gratefully, I welcomed them inside and got the drinks started.
Half an hour later, almost everyone had arrived, Nikki and her boyfriend Lyric Claymore, the guy who owned the biggest car dealership in town and was a gorgeous blonde haired, blue eyed hunk; and of course there was Roan’s wife and daughter and lastly, Tina and her husband. It was a fairly small party for a company of such size, but this was all we needed and it felt like home. Now…we wait.