Sweet Harmonies (38 page)

Karina snorted, “You thought wrong.”

“
Come on, Kar!” Sam wheedled, “We went
to all this trouble just to do something fun for you! We gathered
all this stuff together!”

Karina shook her head, “Thanks for the
thought girls, but I'm afraid you wasted your time.”
Lauren, however, took a different tactic. She didn't wheedle or beg
or guilt. She merely took Karina's hand and began to lead her up
the stairs, as if her cooperation were a foregone conclusion.

“
Come on,” Lauren said in a tone that
was straightforward, but not without compassion, “It's time to
rejoin the human race.”

--- ~ ---

What a difference an hour makes, Karina
thought, as she looked at herself and her friends, lined up along
her generous bathroom mirror, with makeup and hair products spread
out on every available surface. They were laughing and talking as
they did their hair and makeup in extravagant styles, and it was
honestly the most fun Karina had had in a while. She felt happy,
really and truly happy, here with her friends. She smiled to
herself. She was lucky to have such amazing women in her life,
women that cared for her so deeply that they would go to all this
trouble just to pull her out of a funk.

“
Come on, let's try on our dresses!”
Amanda called, and they hurried into Karina's bedroom. Amanda,
Lauren, and Sam started unpacking their garment bags, and Karina
ducked into her closet.

A moment later, Karina emerged wearing a
flowing chiffon gown in midnight black, sparkling crystals adorning
the front, resembling nothing so much as diamonds on black velvet
or stars in a midnight sky.

Amanda had donned a short, fire-engine red
number that looked fabulous against her springy blonde curls and
which matched the cherry red lipstick she had applied to her kewpie
doll mouth.

Sam had chosen a silken sheath in the most
brilliant emerald green satin that Karina had ever seen. Her auburn
hair burned rich and bright against the luxurious fabric, and
Karina thought that she had never seen Sam looking so lovely.

Lauren, in high strappy sandals, towered over
the three of them, wearing a light and ethereal goddess-style gown
in royal blue, with delicate gold chain accenting it.

Karina let out a low wolf whistle.

“
Dang, girls, but we are hott! Not just
one-T hot. Two-t hott!” she exclaimed, and the rest
agreed.

They were still in the process of
lightheartedly congratulating each other on their two-t hott-ness
when the doorbell rang.

“
Give Me A Break!” Karina exclaimed,
“Who could that be, now?”

“
I'll get it!” Amanda yelled behind her
as she tore off toward the stairs.

Karina looked at the other two, puzzled, “Did
she seem like she was hiding something to you two?”

They shook their heads, not quite making eye
contact.

Karina's eyes narrowed, “Why do you think she
took off out of here so fast? With her wearing that red color, it
was almost like I could see flames trailing after her.”

The other two just shrugged, making a big
show of straightening up their garment bags and rezipping them.

Karina was just about to ask another question
when she heard Amanda's voice call up the stairs, “Come on, you
guys! They're here!”

Before Karina could stop them, they slithered
past her and were headed down the stairs. Karina sighed. There was
nothing to do but go downstairs and investigate for herself.

She caught up to Sam and Lauren by the time
they all reached the top of the stairs and trailed them down. In
the entryway, she saw Justin, Jake and Eric standing there, all in
tuxes.

She sighed, feeling a sharp pain stab through
her chest, culminating in a sick, grabbing sensation in her gut. It
was nice of them to arrange some sort of formal get-together to
cheer her up, but was she really going to be the only one going
stag? Would that sort of defeat the purpose of the evening, which
was to cheer her up and make her feel like losing Ryan was LESS of
a big deal than it actually was?

This would just serve to draw attention to
her pain!

Still, they were her friends and they had
obviously gone to quite a bit of trouble to make her feel better.
She was determined to put on a brave face, to keep her pain from
leaking through into her voice or her face, and to express nothing
to the rest of the Fabulous Four except for profuse thanks for all
their hard work, and their caring.

Amanda was already standing with Justin, who
had his arms wrapped around her, and when Lauren and Sam stepped
from the stairs into the entryway they crossed to Eric and Jake,
giving them quick kisses on their cheeks in greeting.

Karina stood in the entryway, alone, making a
concerted, conscious effort to keep the genial smile pasted firmly
on her face.

“
Karina, you didn't think we forgot
you, did you?” said Amanda, her voice high and tight with
anticipation.

“
Oh, that's OK, don't worry about it,”
Karina said, wanting nothing more than to downplay her
relationship-less-ness and move the attention on to something
else.

“
We don't have to worry about it,”
Amanda said slyly, “because we would never forget you!”

With that, Karina turned and saw a very
dashing Ryan come through her front door, decked out in a tux, hair
slicked into place, and carrying a clear plastic clamshell
container with the most beautiful orchid....was that a corsage? She
couldn't tell.

Karina looked into his handsome face and felt
overwhelmed. Dumbstruck. Was it possible that she could have
forgotten how handsome he was in the just-slightly-over-a-week
since they had seen each other? Because she could swear that the
jolts his physical beauty was sending through every inch of her
body right now were ten times stronger than they'd ever been
before. It was like he was so good looking that it actually,
physically SHOCKED her!

“
Ryan,” she breathed. She knew she was
probably as pale as a ghost. She had felt the blood leave her face.
And now, she couldn't think of anything to say, beyond just his
name. Which she had barely managed to whisper. Yeah. He must be
re-visiting any charitable thoughts he ever had about my IQ, she
chided herself. Yet, for the life of her, she couldn't pull herself
out of this Ryan-induced trance. She just stared.

Ryan crossed to her, a giant smile on his
face, and set her at ease immediately by leaning down and giving
her a long, lingering kiss. It was wonderful, she realized, because
it struck exactly the right balance between hot and sweet, between
passion and affection. Just like Ryan himself did.

As Ryan pulled back, Karina barely registered
the whistles and cheers of the other people in the room, so focused
was she on Ryan's eyes, and the fact that she was back in his arms.
She was floating on a cloud. She was home.

Ryan stepped back from her and said, “I have
a question, for you, Karina Blackstone. Will you go to prom with
me?”

Karina laughed, uncertain what he meant,
“What?”

He grinned at her, “Tell you what...can you
just trust me enough to say that you'll go? I know the last
surprise didn't work out, but I want to prove to you that I have it
in me to make you happy.”

Karina's face split into a wide smile, “Yes,
of course! Let's go!”

She grabbed her keys off of the front hall
table and dropped them into her clutch. The group filed out the
front door, and Karina saw a stretch SUV limousine waiting for
them.

“
This is amazing!” she enthused, but if
she were honest with herself, she had to admit that almost any sort
of activity would have seemed beyond incredible while basking in
the glow of having reunited with Ryan.

The group piled into the SUV limo, marveling
at all the amenities, and spent a fun trip down the mountain,
toasting with champagne, talking and laughing.

Karina was still enjoying the easy
camaraderie of the limo even as it pulled to a stop.

“
That was quick!” she exclaimed, “Where
are we?”

One by one, each of the eight climbed out and
onto the sidewalk, Karina and Ryan bringing up the rear. When she
stepped down, Ryan holding her hand to assist her, she realized
that they were all standing outside the high school.

“
What in the world?” Karina inquired,
completely baffled at this point.

“
Come on,” Ryan said with a smile,
holding out his hand to her, “Trust, remember?”

She returned his smile and put her hand into
his, allowing herself to be led up the wide walkway that led up to
the school.

When the group came to the wide double doors
that led to the gym, Karina said, “Now, come on, guys...I really
think we're all a bit overdressed to attend a basketball game!”

Ryan just smiled mysteriously and opened the
doors.

Karina walked into the cavernous space,
mesmerized.

Streamers were hung all over the walls and
bleachers, balloons floated near the ceiling, and the lights were
dim. Someone had installed a disco ball and it was spinning,
casting multicolored lights festively over the crowd of close to
100 townspeople, all dressed in their prom finery.

A DJ was spinning slow jams, and couples were
out on the dance floor, leaning against each other and swaying.

As Karina's eyes adjusted to the dim lighting
and she began to take in more details, she noticed that there was a
table set up with refreshments, and in the corner, a station for
getting prom pictures taken.

And, over in the other corner, as if to
complete the scene, was Kyle Austen Reed, making the rounds and
greeting people like a politician on a whistle-stop tour. He caught
her eye and swept over to the group.

“
Karina!” he exclaimed when he reached
her, “Isn't this the most magical thing you've ever seen? A prom!
For adults! How whimsical! What will this town think of
next?”

With that, he was off in a flash, pressing
the flesh and basking in the overflowing adoration.

Karina turned to Ryan, emotion shining in her
sparkling dark eyes.

“
It IS magical!” she insisted
fervently, “Did you do this? Did you do this for me?”

He smiled gently, brushing her hair from her
cheek.

“
Not alone. Your friends
helped.”

She turned to them, “You guys! I can't
believe this!”

“
It was completely Ryan's idea,” Amanda
assured him, “He remembered you saying that you hadn't gotten to go
to prom in high school, and thought that it was high time that that
should be remedied.”

Karina threw her arms around Ryan's neck and
kissed him hard, not even caring that she was smearing her
lipstick. It was worth it.

As the whole group wandered further into the
room, Karina said, “How did you possibly get the word out to all of
these people without me finding out about it. In a town this size?
Are you kidding me? That's a huge accomplishment!”

“
Yeah,” Lauren said dryly, “That part
probably would have been a lot harder if you'd come any closer to
venturing into town this week than just wearing a mopey path
between your bed and your kitchen.”

Karina smiled wryly, “Touche.”

Sam did a little hop of happiness as she
clapped her hands together and said, “Enough talking, let's
dance!”

Karina laughed a little and said, “I could
get behind that idea. Hey, Ryan, I know this isn't a Sadie Hawkins
dance or anything, but would it be too forward if I asked if I
could have this dance?”

Ryan smiled a sexy, smoldering grin and said
softly, “You can have pretty much anything you want.”

As Karina and Ryan slow danced, Karina said,
“So, I guess all the times you called me, you weren't planning on
breaking up with me, then?”

Ryan shook his head, “No way! I thought you
were pissed at ME because of the Lake Tahoe disaster. I was trying
to make amends. But most of all I just wanted to make sure you were
ok.”

Karina sighed and laid her head on Ryan's
shoulder, “Wow that could have been easily solved with one
conversation. That's my fault. I shouldn't have avoided your calls
just because I didn't want to hear what you had to say. That's a
bad LA habit I'm going to have to drop.”

“
That’s a really good idea because,”
Ryan insisted, “not being able to talk to you was torture! I don't
know if I can go through that again. And besides, if I need to pull
another grand gesture out of my ass, who knows if the high school
gym will be free that week?”

Karina laughed, “Point taken.”

They swayed for a while in contented silence,
merely enjoying one another's presence, the music, and the fact
that they were back on good terms.

Finally, Ryan said, “So, Karina?”

“
Hmmm....” she murmured.

“
I hate to bring up what could
potentially be a mood killer, but Henry has come by three or four
times to ask me about it...”

She looked at him, “OK, what is it?”

“
Well, you remember back in the wave of
excitement over having just played on stage at the Town Follies? We
did something without really thinking it through
first...”

She smiled wickedly, recalling their office
antics later that evening.

“
Oh, I remember,” she said, infusing
every bit of naughtiness she could into those three words, “And I
disagree about not having thought it through. It was about the only
thing I COULD think about for the weeks leading up to it...”
Ryan laughed huskily, “Not that, smartass. Although, I admit, I
like where your heads at. I'm talking about when we agreed to play
again at the Winter Festival.”