Jake and Amanda's engagement party was just as boring as Zoe had thought it would be. The two of them were so... Pretentious. They made sure to mention how expensive their selection of champagne was, how they'd imported caviar from France and cheese from Italy. It was pretty safe to say that she was going to have to spend half a freakin' paycheck buying something off of their registry for the wedding. Not to mention the already absurd amount of money she was spending on a hideous bride's made dress. She, however, found solace in the fact that her best friends had to suffer along with her.
Amanda's bridal party was huge, and Zoe was pretty sure she was trying to win some points in the diversity department. Her bridal party consisted of three white women who were just as blonde as Amanda herself, two black girls, a Latina, and rounded out with three Chinese girls. Now, who did Miranda actually spend her time with? Yep. Heather, Tiffany, and Amber, the blondes.
Lupita, Chastity, and Michelle were really nice, and Zoe loved spending time with them, so she didn't mind the way Amanda walked off with the blonde squad and ignored the six other women in favor of her actual friends. The only reason Zoe actually knew Amanda was through Michael, her boyfriend. Michael and Amanda had worked together for a few years, and Zoe considered her, loosely, a friend.
And, she'd introduced Amanda to Jess and Dana, having invited her along to a few of their girl's nights. All three of them were shocked when the woman had asked them to be in her bridal party. Zoe had agreed and forced the other two to agree to it because she wanted to make Michael happy. Plus, he was one of the groomsmen.
Michael had gone to college with the groom and had actually introduced the couple a few years ago. It made sense for him to be in the wedding, but not Zoe. Well, until she put two and two together and realized that Jake was going to run for office soon, and having his wedding photos full of smiling, diverse faces would help anytime someone pointed at him and said, racist.
At least she had free, expensive champagne. Of course, she couldn't drink very much of it. The reason why was all over Dana's face, who'd definitely taken her fair share of the free booze. The Asian flush was out in spades, and Dana looked like she'd just ran the New York Marathon. Tipsy as she was, she still had her A-game on as she shamelessly flirted with Jason Stone.
Jason, just call me Jason, looked like Superman and Michael Beckham had a baby and dipped it in a Gucci suit that'd been tailored to perfection. He was so hot, it was painful. The thing that made him utterly unbearable, was that he knew just how freakin' hot he was. He kept flashing that little half-smirk down at Dana, and she would giggle and touch his arm before taking another sip of her champagne.
She'd been trying to get into his Calvin Klein's since the moment they'd met, but for some reason, Jason had never actually taken her up on the offer. It was odd, considering how his antics with the opposite gender were very well known.
Zoe definitely wasn't a fan of Jason Stone, and she didn't care who the hell knew it. It was probably the only thing she'd ever had an argument with Michael about. Michael and Jason were best friends, the way she and Jess were. Inseparable, right down to the bone best friends. The ride or die kind. The fight had been early on in their relationship, and it didn't take a genius to realize that if she pushed, Michael would go bros before hoes.
Now, she'd never tell Michael who he couldn't associate with. She trusted the man implicitly and loved him with her entire heart. She'd never try to ruin a friendship he valued so dearly. She didn't see how her sweet Michael and that... Awful Jason could have anything in common, but then again, she absolutely adored Dana, and they were basically oil and water.
Zoe let out a little sigh as she watched Dana titter and flirt while Jason's ego grew a bit bigger with every bat of the woman's eyelashes. She rubbed her neatly manicured nails against the stem of her champagne glass and turned her gaze out towards the rest of the room. Her mood lifted, and her lips curved into a smile the second she saw Michael walking towards her.
Michael didn't have that edge, that undeniably dangerously sexy thing going on that Jason did. Michael was so much more... All American, boy next door. He had baby blue eyes and sandy blonde hair. And a bit of a babyface. He was cute, handsome even, but not drop-dead sexy. She wasn't sure why she was comparing the two men and shook the thought away as Michael stopped right in front of her, an apologetic smile on his face.
"You look so bored, Zoe," Michael said, his hand reaching out to brush away a bit of hair that's fallen out of the bun she'd twisted it into from her forehead. "Bored, but beautiful."
Zoe grinned because damn right she looked good. Jess and Dana had convinced her that they needed to go all out tonight. Because, in typical female petty revenge fashion, they wanted to look better than the future bride. They couldn't upstage someone at their wedding, that was just breaking every girl rule there was. But, no one said anything about upstaging her at her engagement party.
She didn't go little black dress like Dana, that damn thing was so short it made her super model's legs look even longer. She finished it off with cherry red stilettos to give her four more inches in height.
And, she didn't dare go plunging neckline like Jess. The soft yellow dress Jess had on went damn near to her belly button. It was side boob city, and Zoe knew the only reason everyone wasn't staring at her roommate's tits was that she'd helped tape the dress in place so they didn't spill out.
Nope, Zoe went classy. Her dress was midnight blue and flowed right down to the floor in one smooth line that hugged the gentle curves of her body. She wasn't busty, but her ass was round and tight from all the squats and yoga she did. It wasn't just a floor-length, body con dress. It was also completely backless, and there were slits on either side so that when she walked, you got a view of her legs from the top of her thigh right down to her toes in the strappy, sparkly three-inch heels. Her legs were her best feature and were arguably better than even Dana's because Dana hated running and Zoe did a few miles every other morning.
The updo to show off her elegant neck, the perfectly applied makeup to highlight her big eyes and full lips, a silver choker, diamond bracelet, and a few little sparkly clips in her black hair, and she felt like a freaking princess. Or, at least like she was about to walk down a red carpet to go see some dumb award show.
"What can I say, I clean up well," Zoe teased, lifting her champagne glass to her lips and taking a slow sip as she stared at Michael over the edge of her glass. He looked good, too. His suit wasn't Gucci, but it wasn't from Wal-Mart, either.
"I dunno... You look pretty great in yoga pants, too." He replied his voice this soft, warm tone that always sounded so soothing to Zoe.
"God, I'd kill to go home and put on some yoga pants," Zoe said, a little bit of a whine creeping into her voice.
Michael laughed. "Yeah, I bet. Afterward, we can go get some-" Before he could get the words out, Jake, the man who had the pleasure of becoming Amanda's husband, tossed an arm around Michael's shoulders.
"Come on, dude, I need to introduce you to Amanda's dad. He works at L.L.Adams, we can pick his brain," Jake said, and Zoe sighed as she saw Michael's eyes light up. He was such a finance nerd.
