"Once Upon Stilettos" - читать интересную книгу автора (Swendson Shanna)

With the opportunity to dress me, Gemma quickly forgot about discussing my co-workers. She picked out a simple black dress with an embroidered cardigan that fell within my budget. But she hadn t had the last word.  Those red shoes would go with this outfit, she said as we left the cash register.

 I swear, what is it with you and those shoes? You d think they had you mesmerized. I ve spent enough on this outfit as it is, and the black shoes I already own will do fine. Now home!

а

Several hours later, I was dressed in my new outfit, my hair and makeup were done, and my roommates were getting on my nerves.  You don t have to wait around, you know, I told them.  You ve already met Ethan, and I don t need anyone to help pin on my corsage and take our picture together.

 I wonder if there s any film in my camera, Gemma mused.

 No! Geeze, you act like me going on a date is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

 With you, it almost is, Marcia, my other roommate, said from her position on the couch.

 I ve been on dates recently, I protested.

 Yeah, but this is the first time I can remember in a very long time that you ve been on a second date with the same guy, Marcia replied.

She was right. After I went out with a guy once, he seldom wanted to see me again. Most of the time, it was because I was too normal, too boring, too girl-next-door, too much like a sister. That had changed lately, though. Now they were more likely to think I was too weird, and they d be right. Take my last blind date, where a strange man appeared in the restaurant and serenaded me during dinner while claiming that I d saved him from a lifetime as a frog. Really, all I d done was rescue him from an illusion that made him think he was a frog. When he wasn t stalking me, he was an okay guy, and now he was dating Marcia. Gemma s boyfriend, Philip, was the one who really used to be a frog, but I had nothing to do with disenchanting him. I was only there when it happened.

Most of that crazy stuff wasn t my fault at all, since I can t actually do magic, but my job means I m around a lot of weird things that I can t explain to normal people without them thinking I need to be medicated. It was tough living a double life where I couldn t talk to my closest friends about the things I saw or what happened at the office. It was kind of like being a spy, I guess, only a lot less glamorous.

Then there was Ethan. On our last date I d discovered his magical immunity, then a couple of guys from work had shown up to test him by making increasingly outlandish stuff happen in the middle of the restaurant until he was forced to admit that he was seeing things, and that had dragged him into my crazy world when MSI recruited him. He d asked me out again, anyway, even after he d been involved in an all-out magical battle. It was the first step toward having a real boyfriend. But that would be more likely if he didn t have to run the roommate gauntlet when he came to pick me up.

 I don t suppose you two could find somewhere you have to be, oh, right about now, I said.

 You re trying to get rid of us? Gemma asked.

 That, or you hide in the bedroom when he gets here.

 You re no fun.

 I don t want to make him feel awkward, and since he and Marcia were set up that time and didn t hit it off&  I let my voice trail off with the hint.

Marcia slammed her book shut.  Let s go get some coffee, she said. Gemma was still protesting as Marcia dragged her out the door.

That left me alone to wait nervously. I paced our tiny living room as I counted down the minutes until Ethan was due. All I wanted was a relatively normal date. Boring would be perfectly fine with me. Was that too much to ask? In my life, it usually was.

A knock on my front door startled me. I d been expecting to hear the buzzer from the front door downstairs. I opened the door to see Ethan standing there, looking veryGQ in a sweater, jacket, and slacks.  Hi, how did you get in? I asked.

 I hit the wrong button by mistake, and your neighbor buzzed me in. You look great, by the way.

 Thanks. I felt oddly flustered, more nervous than I had been before my very first date back in high school when my entire family hid in the kitchen while I greeted the guy.  Let me get my purse.

I locked my apartment, then we went down the stairs. I had to hang onto the railing, my legs felt so watery with pre-date jitters. On the landing below my floor, a door opened and a grizzled head stuck out.  You could be more courteous to your neighbors, you know, the person said.  All that pacing in those heels click, click, click. And then he has to go and push the wrong button.

 Sorry about that, Mrs. Jacobs, I said, feeling my face turn beet red. Great, now I sounded like a lousy neighbor, and Ethan knew I was nervous about the date.

When we made it outside, he said with a grin,  She seems charming.