Loving the Necromancer's daughter

Chapter 13

“Arora, you seem to be in better spirits.” Those damn dimples! Why does he have to be such a charmer?

“I didn’t want the furniture to be damaged. If you’ll excuse me, I still have to sort out my bedroom.” She is about to sidestep him when he steps in front of her again.

“I think you’ve worked hard enough for one day. The staff knows what room you picked and what you want in there. I’m sure they can take care of it for you. Come on, I have a surprise for you.”

She is about to say something, then closes her mouth, reminding herself of her plan. Somehow, he knows her purse is still downstairs, and he hands it to her on their way out the front door.

“Giles! Please make sure Miss Paine’s bedroom is prepared for when we return.” Dremon shouts over her shoulder, and she slaps his arm.

“Don’t shout at my staff!”

They walk through the door and the black SUV is waiting with a driver and Stalos holding the door open for her.

“Oh, so it’s your staff now?” Dremon tilts his head before disappearing to the other door, where the driver is holding it open for him.

“That was a slip of the tongue, okay. Just don’t shout at them. They are people with feelings. I don’t like it when they are mistreated.” She plonks her bag on her lap and folds her hands together over her bag.

“The mistress of the house has spoken.” Dremon looks amused, and Stalos actually laughs slightly.

“I would do as she says, sir, a happy wife means a happy life.”

“Hmm…” Dremon looks at her, and she just glares out in front of her.

She wants to laugh, and it takes every part of her not to. Stalos seems to be a bit too familiar with Dremon, and she can sniff out a story where there’s one.

The car pulls out of the driveway, and they drive back to the city.

“Oh, hell no! No more shopping!” She rolls her eyes.

“What? I thought girls like shopping.”

“I don’t!”

“Then it’s a good thing we aren’t going shopping.” He grins at her, and she feels like slapping that smile off his face!

They pull up outside a beauty salon, and she glares at him.

“What the hell is all this about?!”

“I thought you could do with a treat after all the hard work you put into the house today.” The doors open and Stalos holds his hand out to help her.

“I don’t need a make-over!”

“I don’t want you to have one, but you do need to discuss your hair, nails, and make-up for the wedding.” He slides her hand in his and guides her into the salon.

A tall blond woman is standing with her back to the entrance, and it looks as if she’s giving staff instructions. There are no other customers in the shop from what Arora can see.

To her surprise when they walk through the doors the woman turns around, her blond hair flowing around her shoulders, but it’s not a woman… It’s a man.

“Dremon! Darling, welcome, and you must be Arora. Dremon! You didn’t tell me how beautiful she is.”

Arora is speechless… This is clearly a man, but he has long beautiful golden blond hair and is wearing beautifully done make-up, tight skinny jeans around his thin hips, and a blouse that hangs off one shoulder. She can’t tell if his assets are real or fake, but they are definitely there!

“Arora, this is Cherish. She’s, my stylist. Cherish darling, this is Arora Paine, my fiancé.”

Arora is at a loss for words. Does she call her a woman or a man?

“I can see the confusion in your eyes, my dear. I am in the process of changing from a man to a woman. You can refer to me in the female form.” Cherish laughs, making Arora feel a little more comfortable.

She’s never met anyone like Cherish, and she is swept away from Dremon by this amazing bubbly person!

“Dremon, darling, Fabio will take care of you over there. Arora and I are going to leave you with him.” She shouts over her shoulder.

Arora has so many questions, but she is scared that she might sound rude when asking them. Cherish takes her to a seat and a young girl, dressed in a black shirt with black jeans and the salon name printed in luminescent pink on the shirt, brings them some champagne.

“Dremon didn’t tell me much, the brute, but that’s okay.” Cherish turns the chair so Arora can look at them in the mirror in front of her.

“What do you want? We can do anything your heart desires. Dremon said that you are a racer and a bit of a goth.”

“Honestly, I didn’t even know we were coming here.” Arora takes a small sip from the glass, and the bubbles make her sneeze.

“Sorry, my father never allowed me to drink any alcohol.” She puts the glass down on the counter.

Cherish frowns, then goes into a speech about how important champagne is in a girl’s life…

“Just like diamonds. They truly are a girl’s best friend. Let’s start with your hair. Do you want it long, short, coloured?” Cherish is busy playing with Arora’s hair, and Arora feels slightly overwhelmed.

She’s never been in this kind of position. Her hair has always been long, straight, and black. At first, her nanny used to cut it for her once in a while, so it didn’t get too long, then when she retired, Tricia would just cut it in a straight line at her back. Cherish pulls a funny face when she hears the story.

She pulls up a chair and the same young girl comes running with a bunch of files. Inside are ideas of hairstyles and colours. Arora never even thought that most of these were possible.

She doesn’t want anything outrageous, but she would like something different. They decide on a style and colour, and she is taken to the basin. When she comes back, Dremon is sitting on the couch near her chair reading something on his phone.

Cherish starts by cutting her hair into the style they agreed on, but it’s still a long length, they are just thinning it out slightly to make it feel lighter. Then they put in the colouring. Arora notices Dremon look up at them and shake his head at some things Cherish is saying every once in a while.

While they are waiting for something to do with her hair, Cherish takes her to a girl who is sitting behind a table with rows upon rows of nail polish behind her. Cherish plops down on a chair next to them when they pull out another catalogue filled with beautiful designs they can put on her nails.

They decide on a design and the girl starts working on her nails.

With her nails done, and the colour washed out of her hair, she makes her way back to the chair and notices that it’s slowly getting dark outside.

“What time do you close?” She looks at Cherish, who is busy blow-drying her hair.

“Oh, darling, we closed hours ago. Before you arrived. I thought it would be nice to have you all to myself the first time you came here. We are here late, especially for you tonight.” She winks and Arora blushes.

Is Dremon just doing all of this to impress her?

“He really likes you; you know?” Cherish leans in, whispering next to her ear.

Arora watches her work and by the time her hair is done, she almost looks like a completely different person! Her nails are black with pink racing stripes on, and she has to admit that she loves it. It might not be right for a wedding, but she likes it. She chose a more conservative look for her hair, but it’s still something new. She now has a beautiful dark blue shine to it when the light hits her hair.

Cherish turns the chair to do her make-up and when they are finally done, and she turns Arora back to look in the mirror she almost can’t recognize herself. She was worried that she might end up looking like Frankenstein’s bride, but she looks absolutely stunning, even if she has to say so herself.

She realizes that Dremon has disappeared and starts to panic that he might have left her to pay the bill when he walks in dressed in a suit and carrying a dress bag over his shoulder.

“Wow! You look beautiful.” He almost looks as surprised as she felt.

“I bought you this to wear tonight.” He hands her the bag, but Cherish takes it from him and takes her to a back room where she can change.

It’s a plain black cocktail dress that has thin straps over the shoulders with lace hanging off the shoulder. It clings to her body, and she sighs when she looks at her feet and sees her boots.

Grabbing her bag, she walks out of the dressing room to find Cherish clapping her hands together in excitement. This woman is changing her into a barbie doll and for some odd reason, Arora doesn’t mind… At all.

To her surprise, there is a box with a pair of silver high-heeled sandals, and she puts them on before Cherish hands her a little black bag to go with her evening wear. Her things are packed neatly into a small suitcase, and they say their goodbyes.

“Darling, once you are settled at your new home, come and see me, so we can plan everything for your wedding, okay?” Cherish hugs her and pulls away slightly, waiting for Arora to nod.

She gives Dremon a soft kiss on each cheek and waves them off.

Stalos takes the suitcase, putting it in the back of the car while they climb in.

“Did you have fun?” Dremon asks, looking hopeful.

“Yes, thank you.” What else is she going to say? She did have fun! She never saw herself as the kind of girl that would spend her time in a salon, but she enjoyed every minute, and she immediately clicked with Cherish.

It’s sad to think that she won’t see her again, once she escapes. The car pulls away, and they drive to the same restaurant where he asked her to marry him.

“I realized we didn’t have any food in the house yet and thought you could do with a night out.” Dremon smiles when he takes the menu from the waiter.

She rolls her eyes. He is going to order for her again! Then, when he doesn’t say anything, she looks at the menu the waiter hands her. She waits a moment, expecting to hear him place the order when she realizes he is looking at her.

Taking the chance, she orders a cheeseburger and chips and the waiter is about to say something when the manager arrives.

“Mr. Daemonne! What a pleasure to see you again.”

“It’s not. My fiancé wants an off-menu item, and your waiter was just about to tell us that it’s not available.”

“I will make sure she gets what she wants, Sir. I apologize for that.”

The waiter takes Dremon’s order and looks as if he thinks he is about to get fired when he scurries away. Once they are left alone, she glares at Dremon again.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because you ordered that burger on purpose, knowing they don’t serve it, and I want to show you that I will give you whatever your heart desires.” He puts his napkin on his lap and the waiter arrives with the wine.

Arora refuses the wine, and he pours some for Dremon. This is a side of him she’s never seen. He has always been the leather jacket-wearing, bad boy, with a girl hanging from his side!