Alpha Twins Charming Luna

Chapter 1:  Prepare For The Celebration

I looked out the car window as I traveled down the road, headed for home. It made me wonder what kind of evening I was going to be a part of. I had worked for the same company for five very long, frustrating years. During my time there, I had hoped to amount to something better than second-grade mailroom delivery. Granted, it was a job. It just wasn't my dream job.

I knew how to manage a lot of things, and one thing I was really good at was finances. I remember trying to get a job right after college, and no one was hiring because I didn't have any "real-world" experience at the time. Knowing all of that, my good friend Jules tried to get me on at the company he worked for. He has worked at the same company for nearly a decade now, twice as long as I have.

However, 5 years later, I was still in the mail room, no further in advancing my career than I thought I would be when I first started as a low-level blogger. I like to tell stories about how I saw things, which is why I thought I was successful as a blogger. That's not what my superiors thought about me, though. Being a blogger was never my dream job, but it was something that got my foot in the door. I had no problem saying what was on my mind, only that it was how it was whenever I had it written on paper. To have a conversation in person was a whole other story.

Whenever it came down to it, I could tell somebody what to do about a situation all day long. Then, when it came down to actually speaking my mind at the particular time, open in person, it was like I dropped the ball every time. I don't know why, but it was as if I didn't have a backbone on which to stand to be able to communicate what I really wanted to say. I guess it was a combination of things adding up to that verdict. The fact that I had a hard childhood didn't help the fact that confrontation and I did NOT get along all that well. I knew I needed to make a change. I knew there was more to life than what I had going for me. I just didn't know exactly which road it would lead me down.

As I watched the blocks pass by, I knew I was only a few blocks from my apartment. It was then that I recalled a dream I had regularly had over the past few years. The dream was of a man. One who was very muscular, extremely handsome, and tall to boot. However, whenever I tried to see his face, I couldn't get a clear picture because it was always in a shadow. I could see the outline of his nose, but his eyes, mouth, and the rest of his face were shadowed. As if I couldn't get a clear image of what he looked like.

I do remember seeing the corners of his mouth go up as he smiled at me when he first turned around to see me in my dream. It was at that moment that I felt the skin on my arms tingle as I thought about who this particular man was going to be. Who was he exactly? Was he the one I was meant for? Was he the one I was meant to be with all this time, but due to circumstances, I had never been able to find him?

"We've arrived," the driver said suddenly, pulling me out of my own thoughts.

I looked swiftly at him, then out the window at my surroundings, before I opened the passenger door to exit the vehicle. I was home. I turned and nodded to the driver as I exited the vehicle without saying anything. I closed the door swiftly and stood there for a moment as I watched the car pull away from the curb. Then, I turned around, my mind wandering back to my thoughts as I slowly walked up the steps toward my apartment building. Would I ever meet the man who is meant for me? All of a sudden, I heard something that took me by surprise.

"Karmen!" I heard the voice holler at me. "Karmen up here. Hurry up, you lazy loach, we'll be late!"

I looked up to see Jules hanging out the window, waving down at me from above. He had apparently let himself into my apartment. After yelling at me, he vanished from view into my apartment, closing it completely. 

When I reached the door of my building, I heard the buzz and pulled it open. I waited there, watching for the door to close. Once I heard it click, meaning it was locked, I turned and headed for the elevator. I didn't like walking away from the outside door without first making sure it was locked. One day, one of my neighbors didn't pay attention to her surroundings. A thug followed her into the building. He followed her up to her apartment, where she was later raped, beaten, and then killed. I tried to make sure I wouldn't be the victim of somebody else's punch line and another statistic on the evening news.

I pressed the button outside the elevator, waiting for the doors to open. I wasn't sure why, but I was nervous. As the doors opened, I stepped inside, turning around, and pressed the button for the third floor, my level. Before I knew it, I was at my door. As I reached for the handle, the door was yanked open from the inside. Jules reached forward and grabbed my wrist, yanking me inside my apartment and shutting the door quickly behind me.

"Girl!" He said in an excited, rushed tone. "Hurry up and get ready, or we're going to be late."

"I know, I know," I said, responding to his excitement. "I can't help it. I'm just... lost in thought."

"Are you thinking about that same dream again?" he asked, concerned.

"You know it," I said, sighing as I stood by the front door for a moment. "Five long years, Jules. Five long years, and I'm no closer to what I originally planned for my life. Then these dreams started a few years ago, when I turned 21, and that only added more confusion to everything I'm already dealing with."

"I understand," he said in a caring tone. "However, we can discuss this later, as we must hurry. It's already after 6:00, and we have to be there before 7:00. Get showered swiftly, and I will have a few dress selections laid out on the bed for you to choose from. I want us to look formal, as this is a very special night, after all."

"A very special night for whom?" I added under my breath, sarcastically.

Jules tilted his head slightly as he scowled at me playfully. I took my purse off my shoulder and set it on the side table in the hall by the front door. As I turned to walk toward the bedroom, Jules placed both of his hands on my shoulders, pushing me along. I walked straight into the bathroom from my bedroom, and he closed the door behind me. I had no doubt he was headed directly to my closet to pick out something for me to wear.

I tried to distract myself so I could get ready for my shower. I turned and looked in the bathroom mirror, alone at last, and lost myself in my thoughts again. Well, there's no time like the present. I crossed my arms in front of my stomach and grabbed the opposite hem of my shirt, pulling it swiftly over my head and dropping it on the floor beside me. I looked at my physique in the mirror as my thoughts ran again. I did wish I were a little skinnier. I could stand to lose some poundage.

For example, at my job, there were many more women in better shape than I was, and they seemed to get promotions much more quickly than I did. Was the fact that I wore extra-large clothing the cause of my lack of advancement in my position at my job? Could the fact be that I was not the beauty that everyone else thought I should be the cause of my own demise? Just then, I heard a knock on the bathroom door.

"I don't hear the water running," Jules said from the other side of the door.

"I'm getting undressed, and I'll get in momentarily," I responded, my voice slightly elevated.

I grabbed the hem of my slacks, pulling them down to my ankles so I could step out of them. I swiftly stepped out of my slip-on shoes, stood back up, and looked at myself in the mirror again. Now I was only wearing my bra and panties. At least they matched in color. I reached my hands behind me and unfastened my bra. I looked down, away from the mirror, at the center of my bra, grabbing the material between my big, rounded breasts, I pulled the material down and forward to relieve the girls from being bound up all day. I dropped my bra on top of my pants and shirt, already on the floor. Then I took off my panties and stood there in all my glory.

I chose not to look in the mirror this time, as I didn't want to think about what I looked like naked before the event I was about to attend. I had seen myself many times before, but there was no time for negative thoughts right now. I turned around and got into the shower, making sure the water temperature was perfect and to my liking. I tried to shower as quickly as I could, considering the circumstances.

I soon got out and grabbed a towel hanging on the hook just outside on the wall. With the other towel, I leaned forward and wrapped it around my hair as I twisted it, then threw it back over my head before I stepped out onto the rug on the floor. Before I could make my next move, Jules opened the bathroom door and came right in with his hands on both of his hips, staring right at me.

"Girl, could you take any longer?" He asked with a hint of sarcasm. "It's already after 6:30, and we really need to get going."

"Need I ask how many dress selections you chose?" I asked as I stood there, turning to face him and crossing my arms in front of me.

"I have two pulled out, if you must know," he said, copying my movement, crossing his arms, and swaying his hip to one side. "You really didn't have a whole lot of selections to choose from that I thought would be appropriate for this evening. So to help you out, I decided to pull some out of my overstock in my closet and bring them here."

Jules only lived two doors down from me on the same floor. I had a key to his apartment, and he had a key to mine, just in case the other needed to get in for safety's sake. However, Jules used his key a whole lot more than I ever used mine, as he was always trying to dress me up. In a way, I guess he was trying to help me find a date. Ever since I told him about the dreams I have been having, he's been trying a whole lot harder to make sure I'm up to par when it comes to getting a date.

"Come on, come on..." he said in a hurried tone. "We really need to get going."

I walked out of the bathroom into my room and saw two seemingly short dresses laid out on the bed, wrapped in thin plastic. I looked at one, sleek and black with fine mesh on one side. The other was a deep burgundy with slits halfway up its side. I had never worn dresses this short before, and I didn't want to give the wrong impression either.

"Aren't you concerned that these are too... short?" I asked, a bit concerned, as I walked up to the edge of my bed, trying to get a better look at the options before me.

"No, you'll look amazing," he said as he turned to walk out of the room. "Now hurry!"

With that, he walked out completely, closing the door behind him. I unwrapped each dress and laid them back down. Well, I guess I could go with the black one. The other one is beautiful, but I don't want to take attention away from the main speaker. The black one will help me blend in, as I'm not one to draw attention to myself.

I took my towel off, dropping it on the floor, then walked over to the dresser to grab my single-strap bra. This dress went over one shoulder, so it would make it easier to help hold the girls in place, as a woman of my size is usually considered curvy and has extra curves we had to take into consideration whenever we got dressed in anything fancy.

Finally, I had all my parts properly tucked into this dress. To my surprise, I fit it perfectly. I walked into the bathroom to admire my appearance in the mirror. I had done my hair quickly, so I didn't have to worry about that either. Jules walked up to the bathroom doorway, already decked out and ready to go. He stood there, leaning against the doorway, and he smirked at me playfully. I finished putting on my lip gloss and turned to look at him in the mirror.

"Girl, you're going to kill it tonight," he said as he took a few steps closer to me.

"You think so?" I asked hesitantly.

"You have nothing to worry about," he said as he reached forward, handing me a small black clutch. "The driver will be here any minute. Let's get going."

Before I knew it, we were in the cab on our way to our destination. Jules was sitting beside me in a black tuxedo, sporting a gray eye shadow that complemented the dark gray vest he wore. In a way, my dress complemented his attire, as if we were a couple attending this event together. Technically, we were co-workers, nothing more.

We arrived sooner than I thought we would. The doors of the vehicle were opened for us when the cab pulled up to the entrance of The Ballroom Royalle. There were large spotlights out front, and we both walked up the stairs together. However, I couldn't shake the funny feeling that I was being watched. It was as if the nervous feeling I had felt when I arrived at my apartment was more intense now.

When I reached the top platform, I looked around to see if anyone was looking my way. Jules was still walking beside me, and he didn't seem to be bothered one bit. Maybe it was just my nerves, as I had never attended a celebration like this before. However, I still could not shake the feeling that I was being watched.

"Hey, I am going to get a drink," I told Jules once we were inside the front entrance.

Jules smiled at me intently as he walked away to meet some of the other coworkers he knew. The more I thought about this intense feeling, the more it seemed like my nerves were on overdrive. What could be the reason for all of this? As I reached the bar, I waited to be addressed. That was when I turned to the side and could not believe what I saw. There was a woman in a red dress. The woman was not my concern. My concern was the man she was holding onto. I could not believe it. It was the man from my dreams.