I took my sweet time dressing up that evening. I wanted to look sophisticated, mature and pretty, VERY pretty. I ransacked through all my clothes trying to find the perfect dress that would befit this momentous reunion, and half an hour gone I still couldn’t make up my mind.
Nick was pacing the living room waiting, impatiently. At a point he offered to help me make up my mind. So he joined me in the bathroom.
“That one, yes, that one.” He indicated at the long black Calvin Klein dress I was holding up. It was one of the clothes I had bought on one of my shopping sprees with AJ. “I always liked that dress, with that nasty slit at the side, work it girl.” He snapped his fingers, playfully.
So I decided to wear the black dress. Nick stood in the doorway of the bathroom watching as I dressed up, intently.
“What’s that chamomile, vanilla scents or something?” He asked, turning his nose up in the air.
“Yes, it’s a body wash, vanilla and peach flavored.” I handed him the bottle.
“He smelled the bottle and shuddered, “Smells so feminine, is it yours?”
“Nope, it’s for…” I almost called out Lance’s name but I held myself back, swallowing hard. “It’s for the guy I’m staying with.”
“That guy must be a wimp of some kind to use this stuff.” He dropped the bottle on the bathroom sink. “So common, common, we’re done, aren’t we?” he urged.
“Nope, I have to do my hair.” I panicked. My hair was in a mess, uncombed and frizzy, like it needed to be conditioned. “Relax, Nicholas, let me put on some mood music for you.” I slotted in a disc into my disc man that was lying on the sink.
A song started to play:
“I don’t care what he does to make you cry/ but I’ll be there to make you smile/ I don’t have fancy cars/ to get to you I’ll walk a thousand miles/
does he leave when you need him the most/do his friends get on your time/baby please if you were my girl/I promise that we’ll never be apart/but my love is all I have to give/without I don’t think I can live/I would give the world to you/but my love is all I have to give…to you/

It was Nick’s voice singing “All I have to Give.”

Nick growled, “Aah, turn it off, please.” He clasped his ears. “The only thing worse than waiting for a woman dress up is having to listen to your own music while she does. Haven’t you heard this song a million times already?”
It was one of their old love songs, “All I Have To Give” from their earlier albums.
He pressed the stop key on the disc man bringing the sweet melodious music to a halt.
“Yeah, I’ve heard it and I want to hear it a million more. I like what it says. What the guys are saying, that is you guys. What were you guys thinking when you wrote those words anyway?” I asked as I brushed my hair in front of the mirror.

“I don’t know. We wanted to sound like we gave a shit, I don’t remember. But you can’t like those words Nikki, they’re too sappy for a girl like you.”

I grinned, nodding my head. He was right, they were too sappy, gushing with sentimental bullshit, I thought. All the men I knew never did an inkling of what those words said, they were too wrapped up in the “wham-bang-thank you ma’am” of quick carefree sex to stop long enough to promise unconditional love. So why did I like the song, perhaps because it was the first song of theirs that Stef played for me when she first got back from their concert. Perhaps, because I had imagined it was AJ saying those words for me? He did sing most of the verses, and at times I had pleaded with him to mutter a word or two from it in bed to me. I don’t know I just couldn’t figure out why I did, but it was a good song nevertheless.

I sprayed some moisturizing conditioner on my hair and brushed it to style then I slipped on the dress. It was a long black dress, fit for a party or a dinner affair. It had a low-cut neckline that showed off your cleavage generously, quartered sleeves, and a long slit at the side that led to a sneak preview of your pant line. I squeezed my self into it while Nick watched, admiring my curvy figure that emerged from it. When I was done, I was given his seal of approval; we locked the room and set off, headed straight to the underground club at the Four Seasons.