Dress Code - Dare To Wear Dress - Chapter 10

 OTHER CHAPTERS |  ALL STORY LIST

I stood in front of the mirror, teetering on my brand new strappy high-heeled sandals, watching the skirt of my new dress flare out as I twisted back and forth, my new dangly earrings flashing light as they slid next to my neck. 

Soft pastel pink on my lips and nails and I avoided going dramatic with my eye makeup; I flashed smiles and kisses to myself in the mirror. I giggled to myself as I realized just how much of a girl I was becoming. 

I looked at the clock. It was almost six and Dylan would be at my door shortly. Something told me he wouldn’t be early, but he also wouldn’t be more than five minutes late. 

I picked up the new purse I’d bought from the kitchen counter and rummaged through the contents I’d placed inside less than half an hour before. Yep, the lipstick, cell phone, tissues, compact, breath mints, and tampons had not walked out of the purse. 

And yes, I said tampons, with an ‘S’. You never know when someone would ask if they could borrow one. 

One minute past six, I heard footsteps on the stairs leading to my apartment. I swallowed audibly and stopped breathing. 

This was nuts, I thought to myself, both about being nervous and about going on a date with a guy, for crying out loud. Maybe I shouldn’t answer the door?

Before the steps reached the top level, I heard Jerry’s door to his apartment open. There’s only my and Jerry’s apartments at the terminus of the stairs. 

Through the door and slightly muffled, Jerry said, “Hi-dee. Let me guess… you’re here to pick up Heather, right?” The footsteps continued to the landing and stopped. I heard Dylan’s voice say with a tinge of annoyance, “Um, yes.” I started looking through the door’s peephole. 

“She mentioned this morning she had plans for the evening,” said Jerry. 

“So, I just used my powers of deduction to deduce you are her plan.” 

“Very clever,” said Dylan politely. “I thought so. The flowers you’re carrying helped, too. The name’s Jerry. I’m Heather’s neighbor,” Jerry said. “Hello, Jerry. 

I used my powers of deduction to figure that out when you came out that apartment next to Heather. I’m Dylan.” 

“Nice to meet you, Dylan. Any friend of Heather’s is a friend of mine, hey?” Jerry said trying to hide the tone in his voice indicating he didn’t like Dylan. 

“Well, I was just on my way out to meet a girl. Ever try Zoosk? No? Well, see ya.” I heard footsteps going down the stairs a few steps and then stopped. In a serious, quiet voice, Jerry said, “Take care of Heather. She’s a very special girl.” Dylan smiled, “Yes she is and I will.” If I knew how to dispose of the body, I’d kill Jerry. 

There was a pause of several seconds, which seemed to stretch forever before there was a knock on my door. I hesitated a few more seconds, as I didn’t want Dylan to think I was standing there by the door listening to him talk to Jerry. 

I opened the door to see Dylan standing on the landing, holding a pretty bouquet of flowers, wearing an earnest expression on his face, and dressed in a nice shirt, sport jacket, and slacks. 

“Dylan! Hi,” I said, hoping I wasn’t sounding nervous. While this technically wasn’t my first outing with a man, this was totally different, as I was flying solo without Jennifer to be my wingman. The last guy was a total dick that I didn’t care anything about. 

Did I care anything about Dylan? I was totally nervous though, as this was my first real date with a guy. I was mentally conflicted as one part of me hoped he would enjoy the date and like me, and the other part was screaming loudly in my head that this was insanity as I was only posing as a woman, and never in my life had I ever gave a thought to liking men. I stepped out of the doorway and gestured, “Won’t you come in?” 

Dylan stepped into my apartment and smiled broadly, “Thank you. 

I have to say, Heather. You look absolutely lovely this evening. Here, I brought these for you.” He presented the flowers he was holding to me. I took the flowers. Nobody had ever given me flowers before. 

I wasn’t sure what to do or say, “Oh! Thank you! They’re so pretty! You look very nice as well.” I sniffed the flowers and actually enjoyed the soft fragrance. 

I’ve smelled flowers before and never really could smell anything. “Let me put these in water.” That’s when I realized I had no vases in the house. 

A real woman would have vases and potted plants and such around her home. I opened my cupboard and pulled out a mason jar I usually used as a large glass. As I was filling the jar with water and trying to make the flowers stand up in it, Dylan said, “Sorry I’m a little late. 

I ran into your next-door neighbor. Jerry is it?” My face flushed with irritation at Jerry, “Yes. Don’t mind him. He’s an idiot.”

 “He seems to care about you though,” said Dylan.

 “None of my business really, but do you two have a relationship?” 

“No!” I almost shouted. 

“No. There’s absolutely nothing between us. He’s asked me out a few times, but no, I’ve never gone out with him.” I’m not counting the times Harry went with him to go bowling or bar hopping a few times. 

As he glanced around my apartment and nervously brushed the front of his jacket with the palms of his hands, Dylan said, “Well, like I said, it’s none of my business. I was just curious as he seemed very interested in you and bothered by me.” Starting to get a bit peeved, I said, “Don’t worry about it! He’s just my annoying neighbor.” 

Dylan put his hands up in a defensive manner, “I believe you! He just made me nervous.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit the button to light up the screen momentarily. He said while still looking at his phone, “We should probably go to catch the next showing.” 

I smiled at him picked up my purse and retrieved my apartment keys from the countertop, “Let’s go!” I locked my apartment door and we both headed down the stairs towards Dylan’s Audi. 

As we descended the stairs, I watched my feet so I wouldn’t misstep with these heels on. I glanced up and stopped for a brief moment. 

I didn’t say anything to Dylan, but I was greatly disturbed to see Jerry’s car parked on the far side of the parking lot with Jerry sitting in it. I sighed and shook my head. Jerry had definitely moved into that area known as creepy. 

 Dylan picked us out a pair of seats near the center of the theater towards the front but at a comfortable distance from the screen. 

He held my soda and popcorn as I tucked my dress under me and I sat down. He then seated himself. 

He turned to me and asked, “Is this okay?” I smiled pleasantly to him as I thought that it was a little late to ask, “Yes, this is fine.” Dylan nodded, “This is supposed to be a really good flick. It’s gotten good reviews.” 

“I love Nathan Allen movies,” I said honestly. It was his latest romantic comedy. 

I like them because they have a lot of action and are usually pretty funny. 

Dylan nodded again, “I usually get a kick out of his films, but yeah, women just love Nathan Allen. 

I read though that he was dating an underage girl and getting some flak for that. That’d be bad if it’s true.” 

As the theater darkened and the previews began, I agreed, “I saw that too. I’m sure it’s just a rumor, though she does look young in her pictures.” 

Except for one “I really want to see that one” comment from Dylan, we watched the previews in silence. 

About ten minutes into the film, his hand just casually drifted over to my knee. I just as casually picked it up and moved it to the arm of the seat. 

During one particularly funny scene, Dylan laughed and patted my leg. 

At one point, I felt so stupid. During a particularly emotional scene where the hero couldn’t save one of the female character’s lives, I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I pulled a tissue from my purse to pat away the tears so my makeup wouldn’t streak. 

Dylan noticed and slid his arm around my shoulder in a comforting way. 

I didn’t push it away this time. The theater was getting a little cold anyway. 

  As we exited the theater and headed back to Dylan’s car, Dylan slid his arm about my waist as if it was meant to be there. 

I really didn’t know if I should be letting him touch me this much on a first date or not. I decided not to fight it. 

“That was a good flick,” said Dylan, smiling. “One of Nathan Allen’s better movies, I think. How about you?”

 “I enjoyed it,” I said, glancing over at Dylan. “I did think it was cheap to make you think that one girl died only to have her show up later after miraculously surviving that fall.” Dylan laughed, “Yeah, the movies like to jerk your emotions around these days. 

Hey, are you hungry? I know this great Italian place not far from here.” I smiled, “Sure. That sounds really good.”

Dylan maneuvered his Audi skillfully through traffic to get up on I-75. We accelerated into the left-most lane and smoothly and quietly began passing every car. I glanced over at the instruments, “Dylan, I’m not the kind of girl who’s impressed with fast cars. I just want to get there in one piece.” Dylan chuckled, “Oh, this is the way I always drive. If it bothers you, I’ll back off a bit.” 

“Please,” I said with a sigh. I like to drive fast too, but it’s different when you’re the passenger. It goes double when you’re a guy in a dress. 

Dylan backed off the accelerator a bit and glided his car into one of the inner lanes. A few minutes later he was taking the Spring Creek exit. “Ever had a New York pizza?” asked Dylan. 

“Pizza Hut,” I said. “I mean, pizza’s pizza, right?” Wagging his finger at me, Dylan said, “Silly girl. Get ready for a treat then. This place has the next best pizza to actually going to New York.” 

After battling some traffic, Dylan pulled his car into the parking lot of someplace named Café Roma. As we got out of the car, Dylan said, “They don’t have the greatest ambiance here, but the food is pretty good.” 

He took my hand and led me to the entrance. It was an odd feeling to have a guy take my hand and then lead me as he would a child to the entrance. 

I didn’t try to disengage my hand, as I’m sure I was getting the same treatment as any other woman he’s taken on dates. I have to admit that I felt a tinge of disappointment at not going to some romantic, intimate little bistro. 

At least it wasn’t Taco Bell, which was where I’d probably have taken myself out on a date. Which I guess explains a lot… 

“Yeah, it’s a hole-in-the-wall and I wouldn’t normally take someone here on a first date, but I feel like we’ve known each other for years. I’m that comfortable with you,” Dylan said. I looked around and I have to say I wasn’t exactly impressed. Funny that I’d never heard of this place. 

I must drive past it all the time. “I’ll order for us. Is pepperoni okay?” asked Dylan. I just nodded.

As we waited for the pizza, Dylan said, “So, how do you like working at Xantek? I’ve heard they’re pretty demanding there.” I smiled, “Well, yes. They do expect a lot out of you. I like it so far and the pay isn’t too bad.” Dylan nodded. He said, “Ms. Hoden has a lot of good things to say about you, and she was quite excited when I said you might be one of our mentors.” “I haven’t had a chance to ask my boss, yet!” I protested. 

Dylan gave a wry smile and advised, “Ms. Hoden called me on my way to your apartment to tell me that she’d talked to your boss today and that she was more than happy to say you could be a mentor.”

 “I’ll have to thank her,” I said pleasantly. That bitch! She did that just to annoy me! There was a short pause, so I asked, “So, Dylan. 

You know what I do. I doubt that you’re a professional mentor, so what does Dylan Donavan do for a living?” Leaning back in his seat, Dylan told me, “Dylan Donovan is a petroleum engineer at X-ess Energy Systems in the bustling metropolis of Allen.” 

I nodded, “I actually considered Allen or Frisco when I moved up here because it’s so expensive here in Plano, but I decided I wanted to be closer to work. So you do drilling and stuff?” 

Dylan shook his head, “Nah. We’re just a branch of the engineering group. Production headquarters is in Midland. I’m sure this is terribly exciting for you.” Laughing I said, “Hey, I grew up in Wink. 

So just about anything else is exciting.” “Cool,” Dylan said. “I’ve actually been there. I wanted to go to the Roy Orbison museum, but they were closed.” About that time the pizza arrived. This was definitely not a pizza from Pizza Hut. Or even Papa John’s. 

Dylan smiled as he lifted a cheesy slice and said, “Now this is a real pizza!” I took a bite and had to put the slice down, “Oh! That’s hot.”

Dylan laughed, “Well duh! It just came out of the oven!” I took another, smaller, more dainty bite and said honestly, “This is good. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat a frozen pizza again.” 

While we ate, we engaged in small talk about our jobs and what we hoped for, embarrassing moments in college, and the stupidity of petty office politics. As we chatted, I became aware of just how comfortable I was becoming with Dylan. He laughed at my stupid jokes and I laughed at his. Just as Jennifer had warned, he was very charming, sweet, and likable. 

And when he reached across the table to take my hand and massage the back of my hand with his thumb, I didn’t try to pull away or stop him from stroking it. Dylan glanced at the clock, “Ah crap! I should probably take you home. I have to get up early tomorrow. I have to work this Sunday.” 

“Well that sucks,” was my sophisticated answer. 

 Not much was said on the drive back to my apartment. Mostly neutral comments about either the movie we saw or dinner. 

I was just glad this date was finally coming to an end. Not that I didn’t enjoy the movie or the dinner, or even Dylan’s company. I liked him. I was totally charmed by him. 

And if I was an actual woman, I’m sure I’d be hoping to see more of him. But I’m not a woman. In a few months, I hope to be finished with the IOTEK project and then I’ll quit my job and go back to being… being what? Back to Harry? 

I’ve only been Heather for a few weeks, and I can’t believe how much richer my life has become. Would I even like going back to being Harry?

 Did I ever really like being Harry? It didn’t matter. I couldn’t remain being Heather. She was a lie. She started off as a stupid office bet, but now she’s a lie. A lie to Ms. Hoden, a lie to Jerry, a lie to my co-workers who see me only as Heather now, and especially a lie to Dylan. 

“Heather?” said Dylan. “Are you okay? We’re here.”

“Hmm? Oh. Sorry. I was lost in thought,” I said honestly. I didn’t realize Dylan had spoken to me, as we had arrived in the parking lot of my apartment complex. Before I could say anything else, Dylan said, “I’ll walk you to your door.” We both got out of his Audi and I looked around the parking lot. 

I saw Jerry’s car and sighed. I hoped against hope he wouldn’t come out and pester us. 

I looked up at his apartment and it was dark. Maybe he’d gone to bed already. Or maybe he was looking through his blinds at us. 

Dylan had his arm loosely at my waist as we approached the stairs. As the stairs are too narrow to allow for walking in pairs, he dropped in behind me as we climbed the few steps to my apartment. When we got to my door, I held out my hand and said, “I had a great time tonight, Dylan.” 

Dylan smiled and took the fingers of my offered hand and said, “I had a wonderful time, Heather, with a wonderful woman. You’re witty, charming, intelligent and very beautiful. There’s something very special about you that I can’t put my finger on.” 

I could feel my cheeks flush, “Thank you. I…” Dylan suddenly didn’t seem so sophisticated and a woman’s man. 

He seemed nervous for a moment as he glanced down to his feet for a moment, then back up to my eyes, and said, “I really want to see you again, Heather. I’d love to go out again sometime.” He put me on the spot. 

What was I going to say? In this moment, I could hardly tell him to get lost. I said, “Sure. I’d love to.”

 He smiled and seemed to hesitate for a moment and then while still holding the fingers of my hand he suddenly leaned in towards me and kissed me. It was so sudden I couldn’t really react. 

His kiss was soft and tender and lasted only a moment before he pulled away. I just stood there in shock. I’d just been kissed by a man. 

He leaned in again and pressed his lips gently against mine once more, this time putting his hand behind my head to hold me. The kiss lasted only a few moments longer than the first, but I didn’t try to pull away. I didn’t have a sudden desire to rinse my mouth with gasoline. Instead, I closed my eyes and reached up to touch his hair. 

My eyes were still closed as he pulled away. I just stood there, feeling very odd. I felt his hand touch my cheek and I slowly, almost dreamily opened my eyes. In soft tones, Dylan said, “Good night, Heather.” He turned and made his way down the steps. Before he got too far down the stairs, I brought myself to finally say, “Good night, Dylan.” 

I watched him go to his car. He looked back towards me and gave a small wave and then entered his car.

 I watched him drive away. I know I was standing there with a dopey expression. 

I brought my fingers up to my lips. He kissed me. I was just kissed by a guy and I didn’t hate it. 

Have I gone insane? I turned to my door and fumbled with the lock a few moments before finally opening it.

 I dropped my purse on the kitchen table, kicked off my heels and plopped down on the couch, and just stared blankly at the turned-off television. On a sudden impulse, I picked up the phone and punched in Jennifer’s number. “Hello?” said Jennifer with a tinge of annoyance in her voice. 

“Hey, Jenn,” I said, “is this a bad time?” Jennifer hesitated a moment before answering, “Um, no. It’s okay. 

How did your date go?” I heard the sound of a male grumbling on her side of the call. I took a deep breath and said, “That’s why I’m calling. I thought you’d want to know.”

 “I do,” Jennifer seemed sincere. “Is everything okay? 

You seem bothered. Did Dylan try anything?” I shook my head uselessly like she could see me, “No. He was a perfect gentleman. 

Everything went really well, but there’s a problem.” Jennifer tried to understand, “Okay. Now I’m confused.

 Apparently, Dylan wasn’t a jerk and tried to get you out of your panties like I was afraid of and the date went well. So what’s the problem?”

I swallowed audibly and told her, “Jenn… I think I’ve fallen in love.”