The Game - Chapter Three

Chapter Three

"How many times are we going to have to do this before you get it right?" Leon asked angrily. I cringed.

"I'm sorry." He threw up his hands in frustration and gritted his teeth.

"See? That's what I'm talking about. Stop apologizing!" Taking a few steps away, he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at me. "Now, we're going to try this again. Get it right this time." I nodded, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth and casting my eyes toward the ground as he stared at me. He cleared his throat, and I looked up into his eyes, trying not to fiddle with the hem of my shirt. "Where did we meet?" I swallowed.

"On the beach during a party."

"Right. How long have we been together?"

"Six months."

"Right again. What's your occupation?"

"I'm a student, and I work part-time at Starbucks." He nodded.

"Good." Walking across his room, he motioned for me to come, and I followed him into the bathroom. "You finally got that right. Now all you have to do is work on your facial expression." Having said that, he pulled me in front of the mirror, standing behind me. Nodding toward the mirror in indication, he said, "Your reflection should be completely blank. Make it that way."

I frowned at first, then struggled to make my face as blank as possible. After a moment, Leon grunted, and I looked at him again. "You can't do it, can you?" I shook my head. He sighed, his warm breath fanning across the top of my head, then he leaned forward, placing his face next to mine and his hands on the sink on either side of me. "Fine. Since you seem to function better when you're pretending, pretend that the face in the mirror isn't mine. Pretend you're looking at a girl you don't like but are forced to put up with." I nodded.

It was easy enough thinking of Melanie Jackson's face, but superimposing it over Leon's was just as hard as trying to look apathetic had been. It took me a few moments, but when I finally got it, Leon had more or less faded away. In his place was Melanie Linda Jackson, a girl I had had to put up with in high school just because she was my best friend's sister. I imagined that she was talking to me, and my face automatically settled into a look of polite interest, though I really only wanted her to shut up.

"See? Not that hard." As soon as Leon spoke, the illusion faded, and I looked at him again. Unsurprisingly, his face was a stoic mask, and he straightened after a moment. "Now all you have to do is look like that tonight and you'll do fine." I nodded, wincing as he reminded me of the reason we had been doing this for the past three hours. "Go put on something presentable; we're going to go buy you a dress. You've got... five minutes." I nodded again, then left.

Once back in my room, I sighed loudly, running a hand through my hair as I padded over to my closet and randomly pulled out an outfit. I changed semi-quickly, deciding to leave my hair down only because I didn't have the time to put it up how I liked it. Walking into the bathroom, I applied a thin layer of eyeliner and a little lip gloss, grabbing my purse on my way out of the room. As soon as I had shut the door behind me, I looked up to see Leon coming down the hall. He stopped about a foot away, looked at me for a minute, then nodded and walked past me, not having to tell me to 'come on'.

Twenty minutes later, he was opening the car door for me, his fingers lacing through mine as he locked the doors and started to pull me toward a little boutique called Mademoiselle's.  A little bell dinged over our heads as he opened the door, and almost before we could step fully into the store, a petite girl with blonde hair was walking towards us, smiling. Her nametag read Pamela.

"Hello and welcome to Mademoiselle's. What can I help you with today?" Her eyes swept quickly over me, then went to Leon and stayed there, bright as diamonds. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"We're looking for a formal dress that she can wear to a party tonight. Do you have something?" Pamela smiled, then nodded and motioned for us to follow her.

"Of course. Our formal dresses are right over here."

Walking through a sea of elegant dresses was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Then again, that was probably because Leon was holding my hand as though he were afraid I would run back outside and steal his car. Eventually, after weaving our way through the racks and racks of silk and chiffon and lace, we stopped at a door, which Pamela opened. Leon ushered me through, then spoke a few hushed words to the assistant. I caught a disappointed look flicker through her eyes, then she nodded and smiled, leaving us alone. Leon turned to me after he was sure she was gone, waving a hand around the small room.

"Well don't just stand there. Go pick something out." Without waiting to see if I moved, he turned away from me and stalked off. I sighed and went in the opposite direction.

After ten minutes, I hadn't found anything I liked. Every dress that looked to be decent enough in the front was completely open in the back, and if the dips weren't low enough to be ghastly, the color of the dress was hideous. I groaned in frustration after picking up something that I hoped would be fine and finding it to be barely long enough to cover my knees.

"What?" I showed Leon the dress without turning around, then placed it back in its spot. He made a noise, and after I shifted through the rack in front of me for a few more moments, I twirled around to find him still standing there. I opened my mouth, and then his face was gone. Now my mouth hung open out of shock.

The halter-top dress was absolutely stunning, colored a pure white. Leon looked at me over the hangar, then handed me the dress, jerking his head in the direction of the fitting rooms, which I had seen when we'd first walked into the room. Without a word, I began walking off in that direction, hearing him follow behind me. As I entered a stall, I heard him plop down into a chair, then I closed the door, placing the dress on the offered hook before staring at it. After a moment, I remembered that Leon was waiting for me, then quickly stripped down, removing the dress from the hangar and slipping it on.

The fabric felt like Heaven on my skin. The dress fit me like it had been made specifically for me, hugging my body until it reached my hips, where it belled out just enough so that it fell gracefully to the floor. Looking at myself in the mirror, I set my face to the expression I had worked so hard on, surprised that I did it without having to think of Melanie.

"It doesn't take that long to try on a dress, babe." I sucked in a breath, then exited the fitting room, walking out to see that Pamela had joined Leon and was standing quite close, talking to him in a low voice. I almost laughed out loud at the polite look on his face, knowing he was faking it, then cleared my throat, causing both of them to look at me. Pamela's expression quickly  changed from flirtatious to business-like, and she eyed me critically. Leon motioned for me to come closer and I took a few steps toward him, slipping my hand into his as he twirled me slowly.

"Like it?" I asked, biting my lip and pretending to be nervous about what he was going to say. He made a noise, then stepped back and swept his gaze over me, as though he were really thinking about it. Suddenly, he turned to Pamela.

"What do you think?" The woman observed me again, then nodded.

"I think it fits her perfectly," she said cheerily, her face lighting up as she smiled. Leon turned back to me, nodding.

"This one it is then," he murmured. "Alright go change and let's go. We still have to go get my tux." I nodded and stepped away from him, allowing my hand to slip slowly out of his. Back in the fitting room, I took the dress off reluctantly, my only motivation being that I would get to put it on again later that night. When I stepped out of the fitting room, Leon was standing with his hands in his pockets, Pamela no where in sight. His vivid azure eyes were blank again, and he said nothing before turning and walking away. Once more, he didn't have to tell me to follow him.

We stepped out of the room and I followed Leon to the cashier's counter, where Pamela was waiting, a smile on her face. I gently draped the dress over the counter, and the girl found the tag, scanning it quickly. "$1059.73," she said. I tried not to fall over from shock; that was more than my college books had cost! Leon, however, was unfazed. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out his credit card, and a few minutes later, we were walking out of the boutique with a garment bag draped over his arm.

"I can't believe you paid for that," I mumbled to him as he popped the trunk and laid the dress carefully inside. He shrugged one shoulder, unlocking the doors before climbing inside. I followed.

"Why not? You are my girlfriend, right?" I tried not to scoff, then buckled my seatbelt and stared out of the window while Leon turned on the radio, programming the station to light jazz.

A little while later, after navigating through the almost overcrowded streets, Leon parked in front of a store called Tuxes by Marvelli. I let out a small sigh. "Sounds expensive," I mumbled as I rounded the car and slipped my hand into Leon's. He chuckled.

"That's because it is." I rolled my eyes, then he pulled me into the shop, where a few people were milling about. It seemed that we hadn't even had time to breathe in the smell of the shop before a small, bald man wearing a black suit appeared out of nowhere, a large smile  plastered on his face.

"Hello there! Welcome to Tuxes by Marvelli. My name is Angelo and I'll be helping you out today." As he finished speaking, he looked from Leon to me, then back again. "Now, what is it that you're looking for?" Leon's voice was cool when he spoke, and it sent chills up my spine, oddly. I forced back the frown that was threatening to appear, swallowing and looking around the shop. After my gaze swept over the entirety of the sunny room, Leon tugged lightly on my hand, nodding when I looked at him; the man was walking off. I trailed after Leon as he followed the man, and we walked straight to the back of the store, into a fitting area, where there was a three sided mirror, a stool in front of it. Leon let go of my hand, nodding toward a few chairs lined against a wall.

"Sit there. Don't move." I smiled despite the hard tone of his voice, nodding and walking over to the nearest seat, plopping into it and watching as Leon disappeared into one of the fitting rooms. After a moment, the little man hurried over to the door, a mass of black fabric draped over his arm. I realized that it was a suit, and I caught a glimpse of Leon's bare chest as he opened the door, taking the suit and glancing in my direction before he went back into the room. I swallowed and looked down at my hands, feeling a blush creep up into my cheeks.

"Brooke!" I jumped, then,

"Yeah?"

"Come here a minute, please." I cringed lightly, then stood and made my way over to Leon's door, standing while I waited for him to speak. I was forced to step back as the door suddenly swung open, and I found myself staring at Leon's well sculpted stomach. With some difficulty, I raised my eyes to his face, forcing myself to remain calm, not embarrassed. There was slight amusement in the depths of his eyes, but instead of commenting, he said, "Go out and find me a red shirt." I swallowed, nodded, and turned, although not until after my eyes swept over his torso once more, causing my cheeks to redden considerably. His barely audible chuckle didn't help the situation, and I was well out of the fitting area by the time my cheeks returned to their normal color.

I found my way to the shirts, and, realizing that Leon hadn't told me what size he needed, turned to go back, only to collide with a hard surface. I stumbled back, and a hand gripped my arm, keeping me from falling, holding on until I regained my balance. Upon doing so, I looked up into kind gray eyes, and stammered,

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to - " The handsome man cut me off, smiling.

"It's alright. No harm done." He let go of my arm, shoving his hands instead into his pockets, the smile still in place. "I hope you aren't, um, shopping for yourself," he murmured, eyes twinkling in a teasing manner. I smiled and shook my head.

"No I'm here with my boyfriend," I answered, surprised at how easily the lie escaped my lips. "He's in the fitting room and sent me to get him a shirt, but he didn't tell me what size he needed. I was going to go ask when I bumped into you." A little of the light had died out of the man's eyes at the word "boyfriend", and I had to force myself not to seem so flattered by it..

"Well I can help you with that, if you want. That way, you won't have to walk all the way back there and then all the way back here." I smiled, then nodded.

"Yeah, thanks." He stepped around me, and I followed him to the shelves.

"The name's Devon, by the way." I glanced at him as I shuffled through the packages of shirts, smiling.

"Brooke."

For the next few moments, there was no sound except for the rustling of plastic, and I sighed after five minutes. "This isn't helping, huh?" Devon asked. I shook my head.

"Not at all." He chuckled, and I couldn't help but stare in his almost silver eyes as he looked at me across the shelves.

"Do you have any idea what size he might wear? A guess, maybe?" I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth, chewing lightly as I thought. My eyes wandered over his own body, and as I looked back to his face, I nodded towards him in indication.

"Yours." He nodded after a moment, smiling, then he rummaged around for a moment longer before settling on a package, holding it up.

"This the color?" I nodded, and he walked around the shelf, standing in front of me while handing me the shirt. "There you are." I smiled up at him, opening my mouth to say thanks. However, the clearing of a throat alerted me, and I looked over, swearing that my face paled at the sight of Leon standing a few feet away, leaning against a shelf. I swallowed and resisted the urge to step away from Devon, knowing that it would make me look guilty.

"I wondered what was taking you so long," Leon mumbled, his eyes going from my face to Devon's. "She's taken," he remarked, his voice coolly detached. Devon raised both his hands in the air, a gesture of surrender. Without waiting to see if he was going to say something, Leon looked at me, his eyes hard and cold. "Come on." I nodded quickly and shuffled over to him, wincing slightly as he gripped my upper arm, pulling me back toward the fitting area. In a low voice, one only meant for my ears, he growled, "Don't you dare talk to anyone else while we're here. Do you understand me?" I nodded quickly, the grip on my arm getting painfully tight.

Leon sad nothing more, and, practically throwing me into the chair I had been seated in earlier, snatched the shirt from my hands, looking at it before scoffing. "This is too small," he remarked, a thread of amusement in his voice. As if on cue, Angelo appeared - from the woodwork, it seemed - and inquired if there was anything we needed. Leon nodded, requested the correct shirt, then hissed another warning at me before going back into the fitting room. I clasped my hands in my lap and stared at them, the slight stinging in my arm preventing me from looking up until Leon emerged, grabbed my hand, and dragged me out of the shop.

Devon was gone.