Married To The Mafia

___________________________ . . . || STELLA MARTIN || . I puckered my lips as I gave my whole look a final touch. Standing back, I gave myself a once-over, twirling around in front of the life-size mirror. I was wearing a pink full-sleeved lace dress with pink leaves embroidered all over the gorgeous fabric. To go with it, I had chosen nude heels and my brunette waves were tied up in a messy side bun. I had natural make up on which in my opinion, suited my olive skin perfectly. I look good. I c****d my head and grinned wide. Actually, I look gorgeous! I was going on a date with my boyfriend tonight. Anthony King. He was every woman's dream. Handsome, kind, sweet and so very respectful and just amazing. We had been dating for three months now. I had met him at a fashion show. He was there with his grandmother, Rubina King, the Fashion Critic. Aaaaaaaah. I had a degree in fashion designing and was a pretty good designer, if I say so myself, but I had resigned to writing articles about different fashion styles and trends. It was a sound decision I had made for myself. One which I knew I could change if I ever got bored of it. I took pride in being an independent woman who had complete control over my whole life. I quickly grabbed my clutch, and made sure I had my phone, wallet and pepper spray - My best friend would have my head if I forgot any of it - and walked out to the living room. My two best friends were on the couch, one working on her laptop and the other snuggling with her Great Dane as she watched basketball. "How do I look?" I gave them a spin when I had their attention, grinning, my excitement knowing no bounds. This is how I felt every time Anthony and I went out. I knew it in my heart - He was the one for me. "Um.. Like a cotton candy?" Joanne Lake, my blunt rich best friend and the owner of our apartment, said. She snickered, happy with the lame joke she had cracked. This girl! I narrowed my eyes at her, hands on my hips. Olivia Smith, the Momma figure among us three, threw a pillow at her. "Stop being mean Jo, she doesn't look like a cotton candy. She looks like a pink drink." She said seriously and Joanne nodded like it made more sense. The two of them turned their attention back to me and started laughing while I patiently waited for them to stop guffawing like buffoons and start commenting and criticizing like they are supposed to. Both of them, Olivia and Joanne, were absolute darlings. Though Olivia was sort of more mature and was not one to joke around, when it came to riling me up, the two always joined hands. As for Joanne, she riled everyone up. She had no brakes on her tongue and would say whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. She got in trouble a lot for that. I can imagine how much controversial she would have been if she was in showbiz or politics. The girl just didn't care what others thought. "I love the hair. Loose buns suit you best. And the makeup is on point. I don't like your dress. I don't like pink." Joanne said finally, turning her attention back to the TV, stuffing a handful of cheese popcorn into her mouth. "Same but I like the dress. Are you going somewhere fancy?" Olivia said, keeping her laptop down on the coffee table and stretching her hands. We three exhibited completely different personalities. Olivia was the workaholic and struggled to keep her social and love life intact due to her hectic schedule. It helped that she had the best boyfriend in the world. She was the level-headed among the three of us and took most of the major decisions when it came to something that affected all three of us. She was the person to go to for advice at tough times. I liked to believe that I was the one with the balanced lifestyle. I worked right and I partied right. I was living my life with both my work and love life relaxed and completely intact. I was also the emotional one among the three of us so when you had to talk to someone about what you were going through and needed someone to just listen to you, then I was the go-to person. Then there's Joanne. She had neither a work life nor a social life. And she didn't do love, dates, boyfriends or anything to do with another human being. She became friends with Olivia and me only because she had decided to rent out the rooms in her apartment. I mean, what was she supposed to do with a four-bedroom apartment anyway? At one look, Joanne was a very social person but she was only outgoing initially at a new environment because she tried to familiarize with the place because unknown environment caused her anxiety. You could always go to her for money and food but never for advice. The girl was clueless about the world. I guess it came with being an heiress who never had to lift a finger for anything. "He said it's a surprise." I said, taking a seat on the black bean bag. "He will be here by eight." She looked over at the digital clock on the wall which said 19:47. "I am so glad that I have friends who don't make men wait for them." Joanne said, swatting Wolverine, her three-year-old Great Dane, away when he tried to munch on her popcorn. "Yeah, nobody likes to wait. It just makes them feel that the other person does not prioritize them." Olivia said. Well, she was a Self-care and Relationship advisor at Her Magazine so she knew more about relationships than the other two of us. "Well, I just don't like random strangers staring awkwardly at me, my dog and my living room as they wait for you." Joanne said shrugging, not taking her eyes off the TV. I looked over at Olivia and she rolled her eyes. "You have your pepper spray, right?" Olivia asked as she laid down on the couch, resting her arm over her forehead. "Text me where you both are going when he tells you. I am not very much into the idea of you going out with him without knowing where he's taking you but I guess that's the whole idea of a surprise but yeah, turn on live location sharing just to be safe." It was my turn to roll my eyes. "Livy, we have been dating for three months." "Yeah, people can easily pretend to be nice and all for three months." "He's Rubina King's grandson, not some gangster or molester." "Lot of famous people have criminal parents and children." Olivia pointed out. "What if he is taking you to sell you off at an auction or something, dressed like that?" Did I say sometimes my best friend can go a bit too overboard at times? Joanne scrunched up her nose and turned to her while I looked at her like she was crazy. "Are you writing a Mafia novel? Or have you been reading too much w*****d?" Joanne asked, pointing at Olivia's laptop sitting on the coffee table. "Just saying." Olivia shrugged, grabbing the remote control from the table and putting some movie on. Joanne glared at her. "You are seeing the same match for the seventeenth time woman. I get you liked the match, doesn't mean you watch it over and over again. Don't you get bored of it?" Olivia said. "You like Zach and have been dating and f*****g him for who knows how long! Probably before I was even born." I laughed out loud while Olivia glared at Joanne. "Don't you get bored of him?" Zacharias Odum was Olivia's childhood sweetheart. Their's was a pure pure love. Olivia asked her to shut up and narrowed her eyes at me "What are you laughing at?" I held up my hands in surrender and shrugged, biting my lips to stop myself from laughing anymore. "Just be careful. And call us if something happens." "I bet hundred bucks he's just taking me to a restaurant or something." I rolled my eyes. Joanne raised her hand. "I bet thousand bucks he's going to propose tonight." "SHUT UP!" Both of us yelled. Our Joanne is bizarre. Wolverine stood up from his seat and looked at all three of his housemates like we were annoying him and hopped off the couch, going to his and Joanne's room. "I have a feeling he will. You can pay me when you get back." She said, smiling dumbly. "You mean, you can pay me because he is not going to do any such thing." I rolled my eyes. My Joey has all the money in the world so I don't particularly feel guilty about extorting the amount from her. "They have been dating for only three months." Olivia added. "He's weird." Joanne shrugged. "He's not." I narrowed my eyes at my eccentric best friend. Though Olivia took a neutral stand about me dating Anthony, Joanne had openly declared her dislike for my boyfriend. To his face. According to her, he was too perfect to be true. I agree that at times, even I thought the same. But in the three months that I had known him, he hasn't been anything but good to me. "If he proposes tonight, you have to admit he's weird." "Sure. Because he won't." "Sure." The doorbell rang just then and I picked up my clutch and made my way to the door. As I stepped out, I heard Joanne say to Olivia. "I am going to be two thousand dollars richer by tomorrow." "Hey, don't pull me into this!" Olivia exclaimed. I chuckled as I closed the door and took the hand of the man of my dreams. . . . ______________________________