Page 4 of Forever Mine

“Love you, baby.”

“Love you, Mommy.Muah!” The kissing sound melted my heart and reminded me why I stuck with my well-paying, but sometimes hectic job. Angel deserved everything I could afford and much more. I’d do anything to be home, but that wasn’t the case and now wasn’t the time to fall into a funk.

The bedside clock told me I didn't have all evening, so I sent off a WhatsApp message to my good friend, Rita, to let her know I was okay.

Almost immediately, she responded with a winking emoticon and the advice to ‘get lucky’. We both knew that was next to impossible, so I ignored that advice and threw the phone on the bed.

Within a few minutes, I was in and out of the shower stall. Then, I stood before the mirror applying makeup with a light hand. Most of the time, I used eyeliner and lipstick only and that’s what I chose to do this evening.

My hair liked doing its own thing, but I tamed it with a brush, hairpins, and some gel. When I finished, my arms ached a little but the smooth bun I createdwas worth the extra effort. The eyeliner lent my almond-shaped eyes a bit of mystery and made them appear bigger. The blood-red lipstick and my upswept hair made me look elegant. My only disappointment was my eyebrows that my stylist had threaded with too much enthusiasm. They were now thinner than I liked, but were still presentable.

I shimmied into my dress and slippedintomy shoes before going back to the mirror. The rhinestones at the neckline of my dress complemented the diamond studs winking in my ears. The earrings were a birthday gift from my ex-husband.

After spritzing perfume on my pulse points, I rang Joey’s room. He and Pete were ready to meet me downstairs.

I picked up my purse and stuck my phone, room key, and lipstick inside it. With a final head-to-toe scan in the mirror, I was out the door and ready to face the evening. The elevator reached the ground floor after only a couple of stops on the way down.

My charges were waiting for me a few feet from the stall.Joey, tall and dark, and Pete, who was light-skinned and plump, greeted and then reassured me they were ready for the evening’s activities. Both of them wore dark pants with dress shirts and stood at attention, trying to act older than their twenty years. They were the best of the crop of students sent to us through a government training institution. Joey and Pete enjoyed learning, which made them good candidates to attend this workshop.

On our way to the room assigned for the reception, I listened to Joey’s story about a run-in between an older woman and the flight attendant on their way to Miami.

When we stood in the ballroom, a young brunette greeted me with a warm smile. While she checked our names on her list and explained that full registration was scheduled for the following morning, I scanned the area.

My gaze landed on the man I’d dubbed Blue Eyes, and I did a double take. I would have guessed he’d be out of place in this gathering, but I was wrong.

He caught me looking at him and cocked one eyebrow before I could look away. I wasn’t about to act like he’d bowled me over, so I allowed a smile to steal across my lips.

That got his attention, and he leaned away from the wall where he’d been lounging and moved toward me.

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