Chapter Thirteen

The red satin dress was flattering. It hugged her figure perfectly; Tash had even joked that it was a couture. Made for Sheenah's body only. Sheenah touched her leg that was revealed by the slit and was glad she had bought the dress the day they had gone shopping. She was also glad that she had agreed to Tash's spa day, the waxing appointment made her legs look shiny. They looked very nice in the dress. Sheenah tried putting on the gold necklace and fumbled with the hook, her hands were slightly clammy and shaky. She was nervous.

"Here let me help you." Lilly offered.

The necklace disappeared between her breasts and Sheenah wondered if the asymmetric cowl neck was a little bit too much. She was already showing leg, the hint of a cleavage seemed like she was doing too much.

"Do you think-?"

"Nah." Lilly cut her off on seeing her face. "We are not questioning ourselves tonight. You look perfect."

She touched her hair then smiled at Lilly whose yellow mermaid gown complimented her skin tone perfectly. Bright colors seemed to have been made for brown girls.

"You guys are done?"

Sheenah got away from the mirror to look at Tash. The short black lace dress was gorgeous. The intricate patterns on the chest area gave subtle hints of skin and Tash didn't seem to mind. The feeling of doing too much definitely hadn't crossed her mind.

"I wish Kendy was here." Sheenah said, putting on her nude heels.

"Yeah." Tash drawled retouching her make up. "She would have looked hot in that dress."

"What dress? The backless one we saw?"

"Yes. Gold always looks good on her."

"Kendy and bare back? I don't think so. She's kind of a conservative you know." Lilly said.

"I would have somehow convinced her. And Sheenah is more conservative and look at her with her leg and titties all out." Tash finished, smacking her lips loudly.

Sheenah gasped before looking at her breasts and exposed leg. The dress was inappropriate, she thought. What would Reigner's mom think of it. Of her! She trailed her hands on her leg again before getting up, having decided to change to something more appropriate. More conservative.

"I was kidding. You look wonderful." Tash said, grabbing her purse. She made her way to the door.

"You think-"

"Not this again Shee. The dress is fine." Lilly said, almost annoyed. "You don't like it?"

"I love it. It's just-"

"There." She interrupted her. "You love it and that's all that matters. You ought not to care so much about what'll people say or think. Now let's go before we are late."

Sheenah glanced at her reflection on the mirror before grabbing her purse and following the other two.

***

As the Uber finally came to a stop infront of a white mansion, Sheenah caught her breath at the beauty of it all. The house had simple lines and plain white finish. It's simplicity made it all the more majestic. There were two concrete pillars at the entrance, a white concrete portico overhead and a palm tree beside the left pillar. It looked like a one storey house but she couldn't be too sure, especially with what seemed like so many blocks and corners and balconies. There was a balcony right above the palm tree and she wondered if Reigner had ever done his drawings there. It looked peaceful and like every artists dream.

"Goodness. This is beautiful." Tash gushed, looking around. The other two nodded absently, too mesmerized to speak.

"Are you ladies going to stand there all night or what?"

The girls turned around to face a smartly dressed Vincent. He had a stolid expression on and Sheenah wondered if that was his signature look. Since she'd met him, a bored expression was what he always wore.

"Hey Vin."

"Lillian." He nodded in response and Lilly glared at him. Besides her mum, Vincent was the only other person who was adamant on calling Lilly by her government name. No amount of threats and glaring from the vet seemed to shake him.

"What's with the formality? You're a butler tonight?"

He smiled at Lilly before his features went back to their normal stolid state. "You ladies should come inside. The party has started already." He stood by the entrance, next to the left pillar, waiting for the girls to enter the house first. Lilly led the group. Vincent greeted the other two; Sheenah and Tash as they passed him.

On arrival inside, the party was well underway. The house's interior was also white and looked pristine even with all the people mingling and laughing and clinking glasses. There was a spiral staircase almost at the center with a shiny and glass looking pillar that had lights attached to it. The lights reflection gave the party a good and soft ambiance.

"This woman has great taste. I'll give her that." Tash said. She grabbed a glass of whatever the server who was passing by her had and gulped it down in one go. "Champagne. Yep. Great taste." She nodded.

"I can tell she loves white. And is clean." Lilly joked. Her eyes wandered around, taking everything in. The space was lovely. She wished her mother had been there to learn a few things. Things like magnificent simplicity. The house was beautiful in it's simplicity, unlike her mom's flashy place which in some sense was gory.

"I'll go find Junior for you." Vincent addressed Sheenah whose eyes had been relentless in their search. "He's here somewhere." He smiled before going, leaving the girls to their own company.

"This whole house, his parents must be loaded. How did you know Shee?"

Sheenah blinked, "huh? Know what?"

"That your guy is a jackpot. Dude's rich."

Sheenah frowned, deeply offended. "Tash I'm not with Reigner for his money. I really don't care about it." Tash opened her mouth to speak but Sheenah wasn't finished. "Please don't say you're joking because it's not funny. I am offended that you would think that of me, even in jest. I may not have grown in wealth like you but I wouldn't use him. I like him, okay? Genuinely."

Sheenah felt hot and wished she had a drink. The servers were however nowhere in sight. She hated confrontations and the itsy bitsy one she had just had with Tash had drained her. Her eyes met Lilly's and the vet shifted from one foot to another, feeling uncomfortable. Sheenah averted her gaze.

"My gorgeous ladies looking all lovely. I thought you wouldn't make-" Reigner read the environment quickly and frowned, his cheeriness evaporating from him. "Are you ladies fine? Everything okay?"

After some hesitation, Tash spoke up. "Yes, everything's fine. Stepped on your girl's foot a little but it's all cleared." She smiled tightly.

Lilly was still shifting on her feet and Tash and Sheenah avoided each other's gaze by all means. Reigner remained confused, and somehow uneasy. The girls had always been tight, at least since he'd met them and whatever had happened between them had obviously caused some friction. He hated how it made Sheenah aggravated.

"Uh, hi Reigner." Lilly finally spoke up. Her usual perkiness was almost nonexistent. Her eyes looked around uneasily until she spotted whatever she was looking for, because they gleamed. "We'll just leave you two love birds alone. Vin is calling!"

All these she said in a hurry while practically dragging Tash away. Reigner hesitated a bit feeling skeptical. Vincent was nowhere in sight; he had left his best friend upstairs in his former room. Sheenah's forehead was glistening with sweat and for whatever reason, she was still fidgeting restlessly. He fully turned to her, "Jaber, hi."

Sheenah smiled. She wasn't sure if it was the pet name, or his rough gruffy voice or the look in his face, but she felt at ease. The softness in his eyes and the smile on his lips did things to her. They gave her peace. They felt like home, a place with zero judgement and no offending jokes. She then frowned.

She was still riled up from her mini confrontation with Tash. She was hurt by her friend.

"Hey what's wrong?"

Sheenah shook her head and managed a smile. She wasn't going to let that small mishap ruin their night. It wasn't that big of a deal anyway.

"Everything's fine. Perfect now that you're here."

"Look at you being cheesy." He smiled, his grip on her waist tightening. His eyes wandered to her figure and then her chest for a moment too long. Sheenah cleared her throat and he blinked rapidly on being caught, before teasing her by deliberately looking at her breasts.

"What is this? You coming for my heart?" He joked.

"It isn't mine yet?"

Reigner laughed heartily and then grinned. He smiled fondly at her and the version of herself that she was revealing gradually. The version that was free and wasn't hiding. The version that had wit and was cheesy. He absolutely loved that side of her.

"You look hot. And the leg-" he looked down at her exposed leg. The slit that started from her upper thigh all the way down made him have carnal thoughts. "That leg is doing things to me. I think I'm a leg man."

"Hmm, that means you wouldn't have any useful input in the boob or ass debate."

"Nope. I'm a leg person." He lightly grabbed her left thigh before slowly trailing his fingers on the rest of her leg. When she shivered, he couldn't help his grin and the blood from rushing to his lower anatomy. "So smooth." He said this more to himself than her. Sheenah felt warmth inside her belly at his words. It was a sensation she hadn't felt for quite a while that it felt foreign, and very gratifying. Reigner finally averted his gaze from her leg and looked at her, his pupils slightly dilated. She smiled snidely, feeling powerful and dominant.

"You're so beautiful." He whispered and with his husky voice, Sheenah almost missed the words. They looked at each other, eyes boring into the other person, trying to speak words that the mouth couldn't. Leaning into each other, Sheenah smelled his cologne and the heady scent was a slice of heaven. She instinctively closed her eyes, taking in the intoxicating smell and waiting for their lips to meet. A throat clearing interrupted their moment.

They both turned abruptly that their heads almost bumped. Sheenah looked down, embarrassed. She tried hiding her now very exposed leg by pulling the slit. It was however useless.

"I have some very esteemed guests here Junior." A smooth and quiet voice said. The tone was not as serious as the words. "I know this is a party but would you at least show some decorum."

Sheenah looked up and saw a woman probably in her fifties. She was beautiful and was dressed in a grey beaded A-line evening gown that flowed. A metallic slim belt cinched her waist, highlighting her figure. Her eyes looked strangely familiar and were trained on Reigner, who was holding in a laugh for reasons Sheenah didn't know.

"Junior." She threatened softly and Sheenah wondered why she was calling him that. The only other person she had heard refer to Reigner as Junior was Vincent.

"Mum you're embarrassing me." He whined then laughed when Sheenah's eyes bulged. He pulled her closer to him.

"Embarrassing you? Weren't you the one on the verge of undressing this poor girl infront of everyone? Thank goodness I stopped you." The woman smiled and Sheenah looked at her, trying to find any resemblance. She did not look anything like Reigner.

"I'm Catherine, the mother to this shameless man." She extended her hand and it was as soft as her voice when Sheenah shook it.

"Abigail Sheenah."

"Aahh. The pretty doctor. I wonder how he managed to get you." She smiled again and looked at her, and her outfit. Sheenah tried appearing confident but was on the verge of squirming. She had not been ready to meet the mom, and worst of all when the mom in question had seen her getting touchy with her son.

"Okay. Enough mom. Have some decorum and stop staring. You'll scare her away. Go attend to your esteemed guests."

"I'll see you around dear." She smiled at Sheenah before going away, ignoring his son. The doctor finally breathed.

"Your-"

"I know, my mom is extra. She's harmless though." Reigner led her to a white couch.

"You said you had a good relationship with her. I didn't know you were that close."

"Yeah, after she left the business operations to dad, she became more available and we just clicked again. We had been close before though, work just got in between. I know it's bad but I am thankful for the sickness, without the kidney disease I don't know if I would have gotten my friend back." Sheenah grabbed his hand and squeezed gently. She wanted to add something but didn't have any. Her experience and knowledge about mothers was quite minimal, almost nonexistent. A sudden wave of sadness and longing hit her and she squeezed Reigner's hand tighter. She really missed Mam Rose.

"You want something to drink?" He asked, his features soft. It almost looked like compassion. Almost felt like he understood her, which was ridiculous since he didn't know about her childhood and upbringing.

"Yeah." She released his hand and hated when the warmth went away.