Dee pulled open her apartment door and Sam eyebrows rose.
“Is it Halloween?” She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sparkles emanating from the thigh high, glittering silver dress Dee had on. “Why do you look like a disco ball?”
Rather than be offended, Dee merely grinned and pulled Sam into a tastefully furnished living room.
“I look fabulous, don't I?” Dee shut the door and struck a pose, giving Sam a pouting look over her shoulder.
“Yeah, blindingly so.” Sam replied, eyeing the outfit dubiously. She had to admit Dee somehow managed to pull off a look that would have made anyone else look ridiculous. “But please, don't tell me that's what you're wearing to The Monkey, now is it?”
The Monkey was the trendy bar where the girls usually hung out on weekends to catch up on drinks and gossip. The patrons liked to get dressed up for a visit to the bar, Dee's current outfit was sure to attract a lot of attention.
The sort of attention Sam didn't need. Not tonight, when all she wanted to do was to find a quiet corner, have a drink or two and pour out the entire story of Ryan's nefarious kiss to her best friend.
She needed to give vent to the mixed emotions that had plagued her all day. Following another pep talk on the way back to her floor, in the mercifully deserted elevator, she proceeded to bury those feelings under a mountain of paperwork and reviewing the failed Caine project, while jumping nervously every time someone knocked at her door, for fear of having to face Ryan again.
Her luck had turned for the better though, since he'd sensibly steered clear of the office for the day, leaving her to stew in a mess of hurt, worry and anger.
She needed her best friend tonight.
In that outfit however, they would be mobbed by guys trying to hit on Dee the minute they walked through the doors, and little chance of having a heart to heart talk amidst the salivating sea of testosterone.
So much for that.
“Nope.” Her hopes lifted, only to be dashed by Dee's next words.
“But only because we're not going there tonight.” Dee flashed a wide smile, the one she reserved for when she was about to make Sam do something ridiculous. “You remember my friend, Kim?”
“The model you used to work with? Yeah.” Feeling her feet start to ache, Sam crossed to a bright blue sofa and sank down, toeing off the offending footwear. “What about her?”
“She's in town and hit me up. There's a new club opening tonight and we're going to check it out.”
“Oh.” Sam smiled to hide her disappointment. She'd been really looking forward to their girls’ night out. Now, it seemed she would have to go home and endure a sleepless night thinking about the feel of Ryan's fingers on her thighs and…
She slammed the thought away.
“In that case, I'd better be heading home then,” she told Dee, “Have fun tonight.”
Dee glared at her, hands on hips. “What are you talking about? Don't you dare say you're planning to waste a Friday night staying indoors?"
"No, I was going to spend it getting wasted with my bestie." Sam shot back. "But since you're going with Kim, I may as well go home."
"We are getting wasted, doofus," Dee declared, chuckling at her friend's thickness. "You're coming with us. Besides, I need my bestie to play cock block to guys who don't understand the meaning of 'no'."
"Oh," Sam managed a sheepish grin. "Okay, that sounds fun. The club, not the cock block thing."
Not that she wouldn't do it. Dee had a presence that drew men to her like flies to a dead...umm...like bees to honey. Some were persistent enough to ignore her rebuffs and the fact that she was in a serious relationship, and in those cases, Sam intervened, usually playing the no filter friend who constantly announced embarrassing things about her friend.
Like the time she'd loudly reminded Dee about the surgery to remove hemorrhoids. The guy had taken off so fast, he'd nearly tripped.
Sam considered for a moment and looked down at her dress, adequate for a bar, but not so much a nightclub. And with Dee looking like a beacon, Sam's outfit was sadly lacking.
“Do I have time to go home and change? I'm not sure I should wear this.”
Dee laughed and clapped her hands in delight. “Don't be a goose, you can wear something of mine. Go take a shower, while I pick something for you.”
She bounded forward, filled with excited energy and grabbed Sam's hand leading the way to her bedroom.
Taking the speediest shower in history, Sam soon emerged, wrapped in a fluffy blue towel, to find Dee studying a half dozen outfits laid out on the bed.
“Which one do you like?” Her friend cocked her head at Sam, holding up a rose gold sequin midi dress in one hand, and a mint ruched mini dress in the other. “I’m liking the mint, cos I’ve got the perfect shoes to go with it.”
Sam perched on the edge of the vanity seat and eyed the choices, patting her damp hair dry with a towel. “I like the black one.”
Dee eyed the black dress, a simple halter neck and wrinkled her nose. “Too safe.”
“Safe?” Sam repeated, chuckling at her friend's expression. “I like safe.”
“Not tonight, babe.” Dee tossed the mint dress on the bed and wagged a finger in admonishment.
“Tonight, you will dazzle and shine, hopefully meet a guy who gets your lady parts tingling and get laid. Seriously, there must be cobwebs down there, or an overgrown bush. Poor guy might need a cutlass to get through.”
“Oy! I wax down there regularly.”
Dee burst out laughing at her own joke, and after struggling to look affronted, Sam gave up and joined in, buoyed by the mental image Dee's word stirred up.
“I'm just saying,” Dee wiped moisture from the corner of her eye, “When was the last time you indulged in something sinfully exciting? Two years ago?”
Sam felt her face heat. “Umm…”
Dee shot her a puzzled look, then her eyes widened.
“Sameera! What aren't you telling me? Did you have hot, sweaty sex and not tell your only bestie?” She gasped as an idea hit. "With Ryan?"