Reunited

Althaia

“Thaia!” I heard Cara call out as she suddenly showed up and headed towards me with a wide smile on her face.

“Cara!” I squealed, matching her excitement as I quickly handed my drink to back Michael, not caring that it spilled a bit, and walked as fast as I could in my heels and embraced her with a tight hug. It had been so long since I last saw her, which truly sucked because we were like two inseparable sisters.

“Oh my God, I have missed you so much. It really is not the same without you.” She hugged me tighter into her tiny frame.

“I know.” I chuckled. “I’ve missed you too!” I stepped back, holding her hands as I looked her over.

“Cara, you look amazing!” I stared in awe at her gorgeous dress. A gorgeous, long flowy rose-colored strapless gown with a corset-like top with silver detailing that cinched her waist, making her already full breasts even bigger. Her raven hair was tied up with a few pieces framing her face, and her makeup was flawless, making her hazel eyes pop.

She looked absolutely breathtaking.

“Mom really outdid herself with this dress. It’s more than I could ever imagine.” She winked slyly, and I dropped my jaw.

“I didn’t know you asked mom to make you a dress!” I squinted my eyes at her.

My mother was a designer and made drop-dead gorgeous gowns. When we moved, she opened her own little shop, and it blew up in no time. Eventually, we had to expand and now it was a well-known high-end boutique.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want you to know because I wanted it to be a surprise, and -” Cara put her hand over her heart and held my hand. “I love you so much, but you fucking suck at keeping something like that a secret.” She said, smiling innocently.

I was about to say something, but she was right, so I shut my mouth. I was the type of person who would get you a gift and within the next few minutes I would send a text saying ‘guess what I just got you!’ Case in point, she already knew what I got her for her engagement. I literally took a picture of the champagne glasses and sent her a text message that said ‘OMG, these are so cute! I’m getting them for you’ and sent her the picture.

“Fair enough.” I muttered.

“But damn, look at you! That dress is so hot on you. Who are you getting your titties out for, huh?” Cara put her hands on her hips and wiggled her brows at me. Typical of Cara, always got something dirty on her mind.

“No one.” I rolled my eyes. “My tits are more covered up than yours.” I pointed out.

“True, but I have a man now that I need to impress, so he knows what awaits him, if you know what I mean.” She winked, making me laugh.

“Speaking of man…” I muttered while glancing around to make sure no one was within earshot. “Are you absolutely sure you want to do this, Cara? You can always, I don’t know, run away? You know I’ll come with you.” I said in all seriousness. If she wanted to leave the country, I would drop everything and go with her. She means the world to me. I would do whatever I could to keep her safe.

“You know I can’t do that. He will hunt me down and definitely kill me if I ever thought about running away.” She gave me a sad smile. “Besides, anything will be better than living with my father. I just have to get away. I need to breathe.” She sighed. As much as I hated to admit it, it was true.

Her father was an absolute abusive maniac. If she did something and he found it inappropriate, he would hit her. One time her father came back home from God knows where, intoxicated from both alcohol and cocaine, and almost beat her to death. Somehow, he gained a tiny bit of his senses back and stopped before it was too late.

I hoped one day someone would give him the same treatment.

Amen.

“This is my way out of here.” Cara reassured me.

“As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.” I gave a small smile and pulled her into another hug.

“Are you done catching up? I’m feeling all lonely here by myself.” Michael wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pouted his lips. “Isn’t this awesome? The trio has finally reunited at last!” He beamed with excitement, and I just shook my head at him in amusement and removed his arm from my shoulders. I did not spend that much time getting ready for him to get my hair into a tangled mess.

“Come, let me introduce you to my soon-to-be husband.” Cara gestured at a group of men puffing cigars and drinking whatever their choice of poison was. But what caught me off guard was that they were already staring at us.

Definitely nothing intimidating about that.

Not at all.

“Have fun with that.” Michael mumbled, eyeing the men with a blank stare.

“Are you not coming with us? Didn’t you just say that you were lonely standing by yourself?” I gave him a teasing look.

“Yeah, but I’m not that lonely. See ya!” He took off before we could say anything else.

“Let’s go.” Cara held my hand and together we made our way toward the group of men who were observing our every move.

For some reason it felt dangerous, and I wondered why.