21st Century Knight

Chapter 14 Girls in White Dresses

Friday evening found Gabriella lying down on her couch with her knees folded and her phone in her hand. She still didn’t have a dress fancy enough for a wedding and wanted to get one before Brandon grew wise to the fact and bought one worth more than her whole apartment. She searched online since there were a lot more sales there than in stores. She scrolled down the party-wear section, searching for some pastel colors. So far, most of the dresses she had seen were in gaudy saturated colors. She hated those. And she’d rather get over her fear of staining light-colored clothes than go like Lady Red. As she kept scrolling, she got a text.

Hey Gabriella. Whatcha doin? It was Brandon.

Just relaxing on the couch. She definitely didn’t want him to know she was shopping for a low-priced party dress.

Really? With your phone in your hand?

Yeah, I was just playing around on it. He didn’t text back. He called instead. She hesitated for a moment before answering.

"Hey. I thought we were texting," she said.

"I couldn’t tell the tone of your voice from texts."

"Ah."

"So what game are you playing?"

"Playing?"

"You said you were playing."

"Oh right! Er… it’s a puzzle game."

"Which one?" she panicked, wondering what to say. She quickly went to the app store to check for a puzzle game.

"Gabriella? You there?"

"Yeah."

"You’re not really playing a game, are you?" he asked slyly.

"Why would you ask that?" Gabriella asked in fluster.

"Darling, you’re a terrible liar. And I like that about you." She sighed. He just gave another reason why he liked her.

"You okay? I heard you sigh."

"I’m fine."

"You ready for tomorrow?"

"Um, sure."

"Gabriella, you don’t have to be nervous. My parents don’t bite."

"I’m not nervous."

"Uh-huh."

"I got to go; I have some… chores to do."

"Hey, are you hiding something from me?"

"No, not all." Her voice was too high and she took it down a notch.

"Okay then, I’ll pick you up at ten on Sunday."

"That early?"

"My parents' place is about an hour away, without traffic."

"Oh, okay. See you tomorrow then."

"Bye." She hung up first.

Whew. He didn’t find out about the dress, she thought. If he did, he'd surely buy an overpriced one for her himself. Now back to the search.

The next morning, she pulled out her whole wardrobe and laid it on the bed. Some of her clothes fell on the carpeted floor. She was feeling indecisive; she wanted the perfect outfit so she could impress Brandon’s parents, but couldn’t make one. She only had one day to decide what to wear. She also needed a dress for the wedding. At least that was a few days away, buying her a little more time.

She wished she had something suitable without having to go shopping. But it certainly looked like she would have to go because she wasn’t happy with her clothes and the stores would close tomorrow. And she wouldn’t have time; after morning church, Brandon would come and pick her up. She got into some jeggings and a blouse and put on a long rosebud pink coat. The rest of her clothes were heaped on her bed. She’d have a lot of work putting them back when she came back. She went out and caught the bus to her favorite half-priced clothing store.

She browsed around, looking at all the light-colored dresses and tops. She found a pretty pale yellow dress, with a one-sided strap and an asymmetrical cut. But when she tried it on, it was a bit too big and she had to put it back. Feeling discouraged, she kept looking.

She looked at a lace pink dress with cap sleeves and a high collar with a heart-cut neckline. It was very pretty although not wedding-appropriate.

"Would you like to buy this ma’am?" the store assistant asked.

"I’m still looking." Her phone rang at that moment.

"Hello?"

"Gabriella, it’s me."

"Oh hey, Brandon! It’s so funny you called. I was just… thinking about you."

"Where are you? I can hear music going on."

"Oh, ah, that. I’m just listening to some music while – sorting through my clothes," she answered distractedly. The assistant held up a white and gold blouse. Gabriella shook her head.

"Huh what?" she said into the phone.

"I didn’t say anything, Gabriella. You seem distracted."

"Oh, I just… I’ll call you later, okay?"

"Alright, if you're busy I’ll talk to you later. I’ll drop by soon. Bye." She heaved a sigh of relief. Wait, did he say he’d drop by soon? She thought suddenly. She’d have to get home quickly.

"Can I help you find something in particular? A dress or a blouse or skirt?"

"No thanks, could you do me a favor? Keep this on hold for me. I might want it parceled out and sent later."

"Yes ma’am, we will keep it on hold for you." Gabriella thanked the assistant and walked out of the store, heading down the street. The next bus was fifteen minutes away. She couldn’t wait. In that sports car of his, Brandon would race to her apartment lickety-split. She tried hailing a taxi but nothing seemed to stop. Irritated, she had to walk home. It took her twenty-eight minutes by her watch. She was hot and tired by the time she reached her building. She went to the parking lot to see if Brandon’s car was there. Sure enough, it was parked near the elevator, all shiny and noticeable. She went up the elevator.

She expected to see Brandon standing outside her door, but he wasn’t there. She tried to unlock her door with her key and found it unlocked. Slightly worried, she pushed the door open.

"Brandon!" she said in surprise.

"Gabriella. I thought you’d be home." he looked slightly put off.

"However, did you get in? I was sure I locked it."

"You did. I got a spare key from the concierge desk."

"He – he just gave it to you?"

"He knows I’m your boyfriend. He’s seen us come and go out together often. Besides, I think he took pity on me for waiting for you for so long. I knew you were out when I rang the first time."

"You did…" Gabriella bit the inside of her mouth. "When did you get here?"

"About twenty minutes ago. But I came up just a little while back." He got up from the couch and went to her.

"Darling, you look worn out. Did you walk here or something?" he asked, noting her drooping stance.

"Yes, I did. There weren’t any cabs or buses. I didn’t want to wait since you were coming over. So I walked."

"And it didn’t occur to you that your boyfriend could pick you up?" She looked abashed. She didn’t want him to know she had been dress shopping.

"I need to sit. My feet are aching," she said, hoping to ward off the subject. He immediately swung his arm under her knees and behind her back and scooped her off the ground. She gasped in alarm.

"What are you doing? Put me down!"

"I will, in a second." He carried her to the couch and laid her down.

"Next time you go dress shopping, call me, would you? Even if it’s just to drop you off," Brandon said airily.

"How did you know I went dress shopping?" Gabriella's eyes widened in dismay. Brandon pointed to the bedroom.

"Your wardrobe is strewn all over your room. You were hunting for clothes, didn’t find what you wanted, ran out before you’d even put everything back, and returned without buying anything. And I heard that music. It was just a lucky guess that you were in a store somewhere. Doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. That, and I happen to have that app that lets a person find your phone location. I saw yours at a clothes store." She groaned. She had forgotten all about that tell-tale app. She had to do something about that soon.

"Is this what you were trying to hide from me?" he asked, bringing her a glass of water. She drank it in one gulp and put it down.

"Brandon, it’s not like that."

"Then what is it like?" he asked, gazing intently into her eyes, looking for an answer.

"I…" she bit her lip. He pulled it out with his thumb.

"You know every time you do that, it makes me want to kiss you." She lowered her eyes.

"Darling, you’ve been acting strangely lately."

"How do you know that? You don’t know me that well." He withdrew in surprise.

"Gabriella, what do you mean? Isn’t that why we’re dating? So that we can get to know each other better?"

"Yes… but…"

"Did… did I do something wrong? Do you feel... pressured by me?" She remained silent.

"Gabriella, when you never said anything… I didn’t know…" he ran a hand through his hair in worry.

"Do you not want to meet my parents tomorrow? You don’t have to if you don’t want to." He looked expressively into her eyes. She was about to tell him that’s exactly what she wanted but when she saw his eyes she changed her mind. She saw something more than passionate desire and his usual charm; she saw love.

"Brandon, I was just nervous about meeting your parents. I’ll admit that. But… I don’t want to not go." She stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. He held onto her hand and brought it to his lips. "I’m sorry I was acting weird."

"Why were you trying to go shopping so covertly?"

"I didn’t want you to buy me clothes so soon. You already shopped for me a lot and… I was feeling kind of…" she sighed.

"I didn’t get the chance to get you anything and I felt awful. I couldn't afford anything nice enough for you and I didn’t want to take more gifts from you. Also, I wanted to… to impress your parents and didn’t want to look too – shabby." Brandon kissed her forehead.

"Silly Gabriella. My parents can’t wait to meet you, not your outfit. I told you, they'd love you just like I do," he said with a soft chuckle. She furrowed her eyebrows.

"That’s the fourth time."

"What?"

"That you said you… loved me." She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Don’t you like to hear that?"

"No, it’s not that… I just – don’t have the courage to say it back yet." His face fell at her words.

"Brandon, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you like that." She took his hands in her own, wishing her honesty wasn't painful to him. "Please, don’t be mad." She laid her head on his shoulder.

"Gabriella, you’re my girlfriend. I can’t be mad at you." She tried to swallow a lump in her throat. He held her close.

"Brandon? Will you do something for me?" he nodded.

"I want you to stay very still. I want to try something." He immediately stiffened. She leaned forward on him, as he leaned back. She lightly brushed his lips with her fingers. He shut his eyes. She drew her lips close to his. She felt his breath. She gently let her lips touch his. But he didn’t stay still after that. He kissed her back, as fervently as she did. He wrapped his arms around her.

"Brandon," she said softly as she paused to breathe, "I’m in love with you." He searched her eyes to make sure he heard right. She smiled affectionately.

"I’m in love with you too." She felt braver now. She kissed him again.

"I love hearing that." Brandon crooned happily. Gabriella smiled.

"Anytime."

"What made you say it all of a sudden?"

"I do have feelings for you. I just… waited for the right moment to tell you. I needed a little push."

"Did I give you one?"

"No, I… this was long overdue. I can't believe it took me this long." Gabriella felt relieved, glad that Sassie had been right. She couldn't wait to confide in her later.

Brandon held her to himself for a moment, then saw her phone and picked it up.

"Oh, you put a password," he said, trying to unlock it.

"Hmm-mm."

"Four digits… your birthday? I don’t know that yet."

"Nope. Guess again."

"You won’t know my birthday either. Then it must be something personal."

"It is. It’s the day we met," Gabriella said fondly. Brandon's eyes sparkled at that. He typed the digits in.

"Huh, it worked. I think it’s cute that you put that date." She rested on his arm.

"What are you gonna do?" She asked. He went to her photo gallery.

"I guess you didn’t see these." She looked at her phone and saw the selfies they had taken that day at the restaurant.

"Oh, when did you send these?"

"The same night." He selected the picture of them smiling together, his eyes on her face, hers fixed on the camera lens. He made it her social media profile picture.

"Hey! Now everyone will know who I’m dating!"

"So?"

"I was kind of keeping that under wraps."

"Why?"

"Right, like I need to explain to my friends and family that I’m dating a big-time heir who's practically a celebrity."

"You’ll have to tell them sometime."

"I will… eventually." He grinned at her hesitancy. He took another picture of them, the one where he was kissing her cheek and she was smiling happily. He set that as her lock screen wallpaper. He then went to the Play Store and downloaded the friend tracker app. He added his number to it so she could find him whenever she wanted. Finally, he went to her browser app.

"What do you want there?" she asked. She wondered why she didn't feel like taking her phone from him – but for some reason, she felt she could trust him.

"Just checking something… Hmm, you did search online for a dress."

"You found that out? Brandon!" Gabriella reprimanded him. He grinned and closed her phone.

"Here," he said, giving her the phone, "Now you can see us every time you open your phone." He got up.

"So, what are you gonna do about a dress?" he asked.

"Well…"

"Gabriella, please just let me get you one." He looked so earnest.

"I could wear the blue dress…" he groaned.

"You can’t wear that dress again. It’s too redundant."

"Then what am I supposed to do with it? It’s brand new."

"If you really don’t want it, I can return it and get a new one."

"Will they take it back?" Gabriella asked in surprise.

"Sure. It’s only worn once and it’s in perfect condition."

"Okay then, I guess. You can take it back." She complied, though she felt unsure.

"And I'll get you a new one. Finally!"

"You’re glad aren’t you?" Gabriella laughed at his childlike delight. "Fine, I’ll let you buy me a dress. But you have to let me buy you something in return."

"Whatever you like. I don’t mind if it’s a dollar or ten dollars."

"Hey, I can afford more than that!"

"You can take me shopping next week."

"Okay. Now all I have to do is figure out what to wear tomorrow."

"I thought of that. Why not wear the white dress I bought you?"

"Oh, that’s right. I forgot about that."

"So did I solve your problems?"

"Oh stop. But true, my knight kind of did come to my rescue." He gave her a butterfly kiss with his nose in response.