Page 84 of Something Blue

She waltzes into my room like it’s her own.“You aren’t even close to ready.” She shakes her head, looking me up and down where I’m standing in a towel, fresh out of the shower.

“I almost cancelled three times already.” I sigh, throwing my hands in the air in frustration.

“Idiot.” She mutters, walking over to the closet, tugging it open and searching through my dresses. “Oh, wow, this is new.” She says holding up a deep blue sequin dress.

“Celso got it for me.” I sigh. “It was one gift he had sent over here.”

“Well, if there is one thing I can say about my brother it’s that he has good taste.” She tosses the dress onto the bed and searches through my shoes, selecting gold stilettos.

“Um. No.” I shake my head at the shoes. She rolls her eyes.

“These?” She holds up a pair of red bottom black strappy stilettos. I nod.

“Ok. Well, hurry.” She waves her hand over the clothes and heads into my bathroom to find a hairbrush.

I slip into the dress and Dalila comes out and grabs my shoulders, turning my back to her and starting to tug my hair up into a messy, wild, loose bun high on my head.

I don’t know what all the worry was about.

We walk out of my room at eight on the dot.

Sitting at the restaurant I relax. I really didn’t want to come out. I changed my mind so many times and grappled between forcing myself to go and cancelling and climbing into bed. Never mind being late - if Dalila hadn’t rocked up when she did I would have messaged her and said no.

“Girl, you need to talk to me. You’ve been way too quiet for way too long and it’s not good for you.” Dalila says, pouring me a glass of white wine. She’s already ordered salmon for us with vegetables and baby roast potatoes on the side.

“I’m so lost.” I shrug. “Most of the time I don’t even understand what’s going on in my head so how can I explain it to someone else.” I chew at the inside of my cheek, uncomfortable and not wanting to cry in public.

Dalila tilts her head to the side. “Ok, so you found out some crazy stuff he did in the past right? And youleft.”

I nod.

“And now - are you happy you left but angry with him? Are you scared he’s going to do something to you - because if he hurts you I swear I will?—”

“No. No it’s not like that.” I mutter.

Dalila picks up her wine and sips it while she watches me thoughtfully.

“Neve, the thing is that with whatever happened - we can all have our own opinions, but you are the only one who knows what happened between you two - and you are the only one who knows what you want at the end of the day.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, knotting my brows.

“I mean - you should follow your heart. Trust your heart. And no matter what I say or what your brother says - or even what my brother says - you should do what makes you happy.”

“I thought you didn’t want me anywhere near Celso.”

She grins.

“So, youdowant to be with him still?” she says, drawing attention to my obvious statement. A confession I hadn’t realized I’d made.

My mouth drops open. “Um, I didn’t say that exactly?—”

“If you fell in love with that idiot - well that’s your own stupidity.” Dalila giggles. “Ok, no, but in all seriousness, Neve. I want you to be happy. With Celso or without Celso. I want you to be happy.”

Her saying that is a massive weight being lifted off my shoulders.

I have her blessing either way. I can walk away and hurt her brother, or I can go back to him - and she will still accept me as her friend.

“Ok, let’s not talk about this anymore. I want to have some fun tonight and relax.”

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