Chapter 20

Elaina showed up early Saturday morning, getting there in time to make Rob his breakfast. After he finished eating, they retired to the living room with hot drinks in hand, leaving the cleanup for later.

"So," Rob said, after settling on the couch with Elaina under his arm. "Feel like seeing a play tonight?"

Elaina was sitting on the couch with a foot up on the coffee table and her mug of tea cradled between her two hands. She gave him a sidewise glance from the corner of her eye and hummed.

"Tonight, huh? Don't give a girl much time to find the right dress, do you?" She sighed when she saw his baffled look.

"Look, a girl has to have just the right dress for a first date, especially one that involves something swank like a play." This time she rolled her eyes at his bemused expression.

"Okay, I get it. You don't know," she said. "I have some choices at home, but I'm going to need some time to select what I want to wear; or go out to buy it if nothing suits."

"Should I be looking into something for me?" he asked, it finally dawning on him that this might be important to her.

"That charcoal suit you wore to court the other week should do. Wear the black shoes with it, and a white shirt with the grey-on-grey tie. This way I don't have to worry about matching you: grey goes with anything. I'll outshine you anyway."

She smirked at his startled face. He stuck his tongue out at her and she playfully grabbed at it, managing to actually catch it to his consternation. She tugged once and released it, smiling at his hurt expression.

They spent the morning just being together. She announced just before noon that she needed to look into her attire if she wanted to be ready later.

After she left, he went to his closet and dug out the charcoal suit, tearing off the dry-cleaning bag and hanging the suit from the back of the closet door. He pulled out the shoes he was directed to wear and polished them to a bright shine. He checked to be sure he had a pressed white shirt and draped the tie over its collar.

Deciding he still needed to get things done, he gathered his dirty laundry and went about his chores, cleaning up the breakfast dishes when he found them in the sink. He finally left to do his laundry when all else was done.

Several hours later, he was plodding the last few steps to his apartment, lugging the laundry bag over his shoulder, when Doug popped out of his apartment.

"Hey, dude! How they hangin'?" The question still irked him, but he didn't to make an issue of it. This was Doug after all.

Deciding he might as well answer in kind, he said, "Right where I left 'em, Doug. What're you up to these days?" He opened his apartment and invited Doug in.

"Remember that chick Dawn dumped me over?" Rob nodded. "She came back. Man, can that girl..."

"I can just imagine. No pictures, please," Rob groaned, breaking off what promised to become a full-on brag.

Doug shrugged off the interruption and bumped Rob's shoulder with his fist. "I don't see you doing too bad yourself, dude. Moving kinda fast, are ya?"

Rob had no idea what Doug was talking about and said so.

"That red-haired chick from the party, man. Gave her a key already, I see. I saw her going into your pad the other day. Way to go!" He gave Rob another bump.

He smiled wanly at Doug, glad that he didn't have to explain Elaina's magic trick.

"Well, you know. Find a good thing and hang on with both hands."

"That's cool. Kinda glad you got there first. That chick's done you some serious good. You're lookin' real happy these days."

This time Rob's smile spread across his entire face, causing crow's-feet to appear by his eyes.

"You know what, Doug? I am happy, happier than I've been in a long time."

"Well, take it from a guy that knows: don't fuck it up, man. That shit's not good."

Shaking his head, he told Doug he had things to take care of, then he had a date with Elaina.

"Good for you, dude. Go get some." Doug went on his way whistling a bawdy off-key tune.

Elaina came back at a quarter to five, giving her plenty of time to get ready to go out. She was carrying a garment bag over her shoulder, a small satchel with shoes in it over the bag hook. She went straight to the bedroom and hung it next to Rob's suit.

"Do us a favor, sweeting," she said distractedly while she placed a make-up kit Rob hadn't noticed on the dresser. "Make this place light-tight so we don't have to think about it later."

Rob shrugged a shoulder and popped his eyes, thinking it wasn't a bad idea. She waited for him to activate the curtains and get out the cover before shooing him from the room, telling him not to peek. When he got back from placing the shield, he found his suit and accoutrements hanging from the bathroom door. Elaina must have heard him through the door because she called out for him to get dressed and wait in the living room. He did as he was told.

After what seemed like hours, but was in fact about twenty-five minutes, Elaina came out and showed him her outfit. He tried to contain himself but he couldn't, not faced with the vision that confronted him.

"Oh. My. God," he said reverently.

Elaina had chosen a variation on the classic Little Black Dress. Rather than being black, this dress was an emerald green, made of some shimmering fabric that may well have been silk. The slinky sheath had a single wide strap that came over her right shoulder, the fabric passing over her breasts to the left leaving her other shoulder bare, sinking toward her hip before disappearing behind her. The outer curve of her left breast was showing where the dress just missed covering it. Beneath her breasts, the dress tucked in for a form-hugging fit, showing off the pinch of her waist above the flare of her hips.

From there, the material flowed lovingly around her hips with no lines showing through the fabric. That, and her nipples dimpling the fabric let Rob know there was nothing under there except Elaina. Continuing down, the dress ended much closer to heaven than he had expected, displaying her shapely legs. Without actually checking, he was pretty sure her legs were bare, and the silky texture he could see was her gorgeous skin. Her dark green shoes were almost an afterthought by that time, although he could see what the spiked open-toed heels were doing for the definition of her calves.

When he'd about had his fill of her beauty from the front, she spun on her toes, her auburn tresses rippling smoothly, and showed off the back. The strap that ran over her right shoulder dropped straight down her back to the right, ending in a gather at the top of her buttocks. The entirety of her back was exposed to the base of her spine. The gather went across the small of her back, rising slightly to meet with where the left side came around, leaving the dimples above her ass exposed. When she shifted her weight on the heels, the gather flowed, briefly showing cleavage before it settled back in place.

He saluted her properly with the gallant response, his cock so hard it hurt. He wondered if he would have to walk around all night with a limp. He surreptitiously tried to arrange his cock to a more comfortable angle, giving up when Elaina giggled behind her hand at him. He grabbed it firmly, forcing it into submission, sort of.

It was when she dropped her hand that he finally noticed that she had on the most arousing shade of lipstick he'd ever seen. Thinking of how appropriate it was, her lips looked like they had just been dipped in fresh blood. He could see no other make-up, her alabaster skin in his opinion not needing any help. He loved it.

"You, Elaina, are simply the most gorgeous creature of any type on this entire planet," he declared in shock and awe. "I am so proud you want to be with me."

Posing regally, she said, "As well you should be, knave. It is not often that we of pure blood stoop to be seen with villains." She spoiled the effect by giggling helplessly at her own conceit.

"Won't you be cold like that," he wondered aloud.

"It's not like I can feel the cold, but I do have a matching shawl; I don't want to scandalize the biddies totally." She picked up the shawl from the couch where she'd left it and draped it over her shoulders. It hung to cover nearly everything that was otherwise exposed, turning the sexy dress into a demure evening gown. She artfully tugged and flipped the shawl, demonstrating that it could still be used to titillate the casual onlooker.

Rob looked at the time and picked up his jacket, putting it on carefully so as not to crease his shirt or disturb his tie.

"I called ahead for a cab. It should be here soon, so let's get going."

"Rob?" she called with an artless tone in her voice. He turned to see what she wanted. She was turned away from him and had lifted the back of her dress. Her perfect ass cheeks were on display to his appreciative eyes.