Cousin, Best Friend, and Stylist

It was finally the day that Violet was supposed to go on her first date with Ryan. 

That morning, she woke up quite early. But instead of getting ready, Violet ended up rolling on the mattress lazily.

It was not until Sarah showed up that Violet reluctantly woke up and got ready.

She was not looking forward to this date and did not think that she needed to work hard to look pretty.

After spending an appropriate time in the bathroom, Violet stepped out again and smiled. "Okay, how do I look?" She twirled around in front of her cousin as she waited for her to comment.

Sarah put down the phone in her hand and gave Violet a lookover. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the outfit that Violet had put on.

Violet was dressed in a black slack and a white blouse with a horizontal striped pattern.

"You're going out in that?" Sarah chuckled. "Honey, you look like you're going for a job interview."

"I don't care." Violet scoffed. "It's not like I'm going to make an impression on anyone."

Sarah gasped. "I care. As your cousin, best friend, and stylist, I forbid you from going out without any fashion sense!"

"What about my fashion sense?" Violet said, laughing. "I like simple things. My mom reminded me not to show up with my usual jeans and T-shirt. I think this is good enough."

Sarah clicked her tongue. "You're not dressing for the occasion." She marched towards Violet's wardrobe and rummaged through it. It did not take her a long time to pull out a blue skater dress for Violet. "Put this on," Sarah instructed.

Violet inspected the blue, thigh-length skater dress. There were some small, lilac embroidery patterns on the hem of the skirt. "I can't wear this. It's too short! God! Where did you find this? It's been a while since I saw this dress."

Sarah folded her arms across her chest. "Why not? I thought you could dress up and let that guy fall for you. Then, we can have him pay the money to you and you could get out of the situation."

"Eww…Don't be disgusting. I have no intention to seduce him. And don't forget that we have a deal that we have to pay a penalty for seducing."

Sarah laughed. "Relax. I wasn't nearly finished. She continued poking around the wardrobe. She pulled out tight-fitting jeans and tossed them to Violet. "Put this on too."

Violet obediently put on the clothes that Sarah had picked up for her and twirled.

"A little bit of touch-ups here and there and you're ready to go," Sarah said as she tapped her chin. "Sit down, please."

Violet sat down half-heartedly. "What are you going to do next?" She looked up and saw that Sarah was switching on a straightening iron from the dressing table. "Oh no. I don't think that is necessary. I don't have time for that."

"Oh, come on. This will only take seconds." Sarah said with a sigh. "And stop complaining. Look straight ahead. I can't do my job properly when you keep turning your head around."

"Fine. I'll let you twirl with my hair in any way you want, but please be quick. I didn't want to get lectured by that moron." Violet obediently sat straight and let Sarah work on her hair.

"What are you planning for today?" Sarah asked.

Violet shrugged. "Nothing much. We're planning on going to the Square and splitting our way. I'll do my thing, and he'll do his. Then, we're going to meet again at four, and that's it."

"But what if your parents ask anything about it?" Sarah asked as she laid down the iron on the dressing table.

"We're just going to make something up so that we'll have a matching story for our parents before we head home."

Sarah twirled Violet around and clipped on a small flower-beaded brooch on her dress. "That's good. What are you going to do while you're waiting for that date to end?"

"I don't know," Violet admitted. "I'll be thinking about watching some movies. It's not that I'll always get the chance to watch movies by myself. I'm going to take this opportunity to relax and enjoy. "

"I could accompany you."

"It's alright. I wanted to go alone." Violet was sure that Sarah should be busy with her practice as well.

Sarah took a white hair band with a small ribbon from the dressing table and slid it on Violet's hair. "There you go. Almost perfect," Sarah said giving her an approving nod.

Violet raised a brow. "Not perfect? But almost?"

"Let's not make that moron misunderstand and accuse you for trying to seduce him when you showed up too prettily on this date."

Violet laughed. "Thank you, Sarah." She glanced at the clock and started panicking. "I'm going now. I'll see you tomorrow in the morning, alright?" She gave a quick peck on her cousin's cheek and grabbed her purse. Then, she walked down the stairs and found her father sitting in the living room reading browsing through some paperwork.

James looked up and smiled at his daughter. "Hello, sunshine. You looked really pretty today."

Violet gave him a half-hearted smile. "Thanks."

"Ryan's hasn't arrived yet, has he?" James asked.

Violet shook her head softly and sat across her father when he motioned her to.

James set his papers aside and leaned forward. He took a good look at his daughter's face and smiled. "How is your relationship with Ryan going on?" He asked.

Violet fidgeted. She didn't know how she should answer her father. She hated lying. But, she can't tell him the truth either. Her father would be really disappointed in her and that was the last thing she wanted. "It's okay, I guess. It's bearable."

James pursed his lips as he was reminded of the agreement that his wife had found in their daughter's wardrobe.

"Are you still mad at me because I threatened to pull my money from your bakery if you didn't go for this arrangement with Ryan?" James asked.

"No," Violet closed her eyes and sighed. "I can never get mad at you, Dad. You know I can't."

She did not understand the reason her father wanted her to marry Ryan. However, Violet knew that her father would not do anything to hurt her.

James smiled. "You know that I love you, right?" 

Violet nodded slowly. "I know."

"Ryan is a good kid," James said.

"Yes." Violet hesitated, noticing that her father was still hoping that she would marry the person he chose for her. "But Dad, I don't think that he's the one for me. I don't think that anything will happen between us."

"I know that the two of you agreed to date each other for a month. Why don't you use this chance to get to know him better? Only then may you decide if he's the one."

"Dad. I just didn't want you guys to get your hopes up."

"I only want the best for you. As a parent, I wouldn't make a decision when I knew that it would be bad for my children," James reasoned. He paused and watched his daughter's reaction. "But, if you can't treat him like your boyfriend, or someone you date, maybe you can be friends with him first. Spend time with him and see where it will take you."