Jude Stephens
before.
    It must be the workouts that I’m doing. I had put on
a lot of muscle. Christina returned and when she saw me exclaimed
“Wow! That dress looks amazing on you. I wish I had some booty like
you do. We have the perfect shoes to go with that dress. Hold on
I’ll be right back.”
    I couldn’t believe that someone actually envied one
of my body parts. I felt...sexy. When Christina returned with a
pair of silver high heeled sandals, I didn’t even look at the
price. All I said was, “I’ll take them.” Before leaving this
morning, Onatah gave me a credit card and told me to have fun. I
tried to protest, but she told me I had some inheritance coming to
me from my adoptive “parents”, so I took the credit card. After
paying I noticed the hour was almost up and spotted Mark outside
the shop waiting.
    “ I hope you didn’t have to wait
long,” I said to him.
    “ No.” Eyeing my bag he said
skeptically, “You found a dress in that shop?”
    “ As a matter of fact, I did. It’s
a very lovely dress too. Wait until you see it. You are joining us
for dinner tonight aren’t you?”
    Mark looked uneasy. “Uh, no. I have a date.”
    I was shocked. “With whom?”
    “ Sarah.”
    “ Sarah? Isn’t she a little young
for you?”
    “ No. She is twenty three, and
we’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks now.”
    I don’t know why I was so shocked. I’ve talked to
Sarah several times and knew that she was a nice girl. I liked her.
It was just weird I guess, knowing not that long ago Mark had
confessed feelings for me and now he had a girlfriend.
    Men…they were all alike. When was I going to get it
through my head that to men, women were pretty much
interchangeable? Any woman would do to warm their bed. An image of
Roberto and Annika flickered across my mind before a bright flash
of anger burnt through my veins. I quickly got it under control and
said, “Well, I’m glad for you both. Sarah is a sweet girl.”
    “ Yes she is. She’s coming over to
the mainland with Cheve later, and we’re going to have a real first
date tonight.”
    I was about to invite them to have dinner with Cheve
and I before I realized that they would probably want to be
alone.
    “ That’s great Mark.” And I did
mean it. Mark was a friend and I wanted him happy. I was the one
who was not destined to be happy.
    We ate lunch at a nice little Italian restaurant.
After that we took a walk around the town. Alexandria Bay was a
beautiful seaside village. When I saw a sign advertising a tour of
the famous Boldt castle, I made Mark purchase tickets. The rest of
the day was spent touring the unique castle. In 1900 Millionaire
George Boldt began construction of the 120 room mansion as a gift
to his very much loved wife, Louise. In 1904 Boldt ordered all
construction stopped when his wife passed away. I got teary eyed
when the guide informed us that the castle is now host to hundreds
of weddings annually. I couldn’t help but think of how fitting it
was for love to be the legacy left behind from so great a
passion.
    It was getting close to dusk when Mark said it was
time to meet Sarah and Cheve down at the dock. When we got there, I
was pleased to see that they brought a bigger boat that had a small
cabin. I would at least be able to change into my dress in
privacy.
    When we boarded Sarah came out of the cabin looking
pretty in a blue dress with a black floral pattern around the
scalloped edge. She quickly went over and hugged Mark who seemed
embarrassed at the gesture with me standing there. Sarah saw the
bags in my hands and exclaimed, “Oh did you buy a pretty dress for
tonight? I’ll help you get ready. Cheve went to make sure he got
reservations at a nice restaurant for the two of you.”
    “ That would be great Sarah. Thank
you. Maybe you can help me with my hair. It’s always such a
mess.”
    “ Your hair is beautiful. I wish
mine would curl like yours does.”
    We went below and it was really nice to have a few
minutes of

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