Author's Note: This chapter completes my arc for this series. In all honesty, I used this story series to do a bit of writing exploration and try out some new things. Some aspects I liked, and others I didn't, but I'm overall proud with how it turned out. I realize that this story differs a bit from my other works, with a focus more on the fun side rather than realistic. But I hope everyone still enjoys it!
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"Yumiko! Wake up!" I heard Usagi say loudly while she shook my body.
"What?" I said sleepily and clutched the bedsheets around me even tighter.
"Our flight was canceled today! Some sort of plane issue. We aren't leaving until tomorrow!"
"That's nice," I murmured, barely awake.
"Ugh, ok, fine, I'll let you sleep more. You're the worst in the mornings. I'm going to get breakfast," Usagi said with a sigh.
"Uh-huh," I responded and nestled my head deeper against the pillow.
I vaguely heard my best friend leave the room and I quickly slipped back asleep. I woke up again later and I sprang up in my bed in a state of shock. I looked over at the clock and saw that it was late morning already. I panicked at first, wondering if I overslept for work when I finally remembered the conversation I had with Usagi when I was still half-asleep. I groaned and reached over to grab my phone where I saw the email from work about being rebooked for tomorrow. I laid back in my bed and breathed a sigh of relief. Immediately, I started to wonder if I should text Tyler when I suddenly heard the door open to our room.
Usagi bounced inside and once she saw that I was awake, she practically yelled in excitement, "Oh my god, you won't believe who I ran into at breakfast."
"Who?"
"Tyler! That guy from the plane yesterday! Can you believe it? He's actually staying in this hotel!" she said eagerly.
"Ohh...what? Really? Wow...that's umm..." I stammered a response, trying to act like I didn't know about it but also being careful in case Tyler said something to her.
"So, of course, I sat down and chatted with him. You know me, I couldn't help but flirt with him too," she said gleefully.
"Yeah..." I said in a measured tone while I felt my jealousy spike.
"So after some playful conversation, I mentioned you were rooming with me, and guess what?"
"What?"
"He invited us to some sort of party at the hotel later today!"
"A party?" I said confused.
"Yep, some sort of cocktail party for his conference. Do you know he's a professor? Anyways, I told him that we were totally down to go," she said excitedly.
"Usagi..."
"No, nuh-uh. No trying to talk out of it. We are going. You gotta see him again, he looks even hotter dressed up."
"Yeah...I bet," I said with a soft smile, still trying to play coy, before continuing, "But how can we go to the party? It's not like either of us packed any dresses."
"I know, which is why we are going to go out and go shopping!"
"But..."
"No but's! I already planned out our day. We're going to go to the mall, find some cute dresses for tonight, and then hit up the spa to pampered before we meet up with him."
"Ok, ok, fine," I said, knowing it wasn't worth arguing with her when she got this excited over something.
"Great, now get up and get ready!"
Sighing softly, I slowly got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom to begin my morning routine. Since I showered with Tyler yesterday before going to bed, I only needed to brush, fix my hair, and clean my face. I really wanted to message him about what he and Usagi talked about, so I grabbed my phone and opened a chat message with him.
'Hey Tyler, it's Yumiko. I heard you saw Usagi this morning and invited us to a party?'
I put the phone down and continued to clean myself up when I saw him reply quickly, 'Hello beautiful! Yes, she was very playful and charming. When I heard you would still be here another day, I couldn't resist inviting you both.'
I smiled to myself and replied, 'Aww, that's so sweet. Thanks! I'm very excited to see you again.'
'Me too. What are you going to be doing before the party?'
"We need to buy some dresses and then Usagi wants us to go to the spa. What about you?'
While continuing to get myself ready, I kept looking for a reply from him but he seemed to disappear. I wondered if he was busy with his conference and figured he would message me back when he was free. Once I was done cleaning myself up, I put on my last set of lacey underwear before grabbing some casual clothes to wear. When I told my best friend that I was ready to leave, she practically bounced off the bed she was resting on. She had an infectious, glowing smile that even made me grin as we walked out of the room.
Getting to the elevators, we arrived down at the lobby and after grabbing a taxi, we arrived at a huge mall that was near our hotel. We walked around at first to see all of the different stores and while I would have gotten a dress from any of them, Usagi was very particular. She was incessant that we needed to find the right kind of dress for tonight. Finally spotting a store that piqued her interest, we walked in. I had to admit, the dresses here did seem very cute.
While Usagi was able to quickly find a bunch of dresses that she liked, I had a more difficult time. She followed me around frustrated as I constantly found something I didn't like about each dress. Ultimately, she started to suggest different dresses for me, and I kept giving withering critiques. After a painstakingly long time, I finally found a few that I was willing to try on and we entered separate dressing rooms.
Before taking off my clothes, I noticed a text from Tyler that read, 'This conference is so boring. Maybe a pic from you would help me get through it?'
Reading his text sharpened my arousal, especially when I re-read it. After some internal handwringing on what I should do, I decided there was nothing wrong with sending him a picture. Brushing my hair with my hands, I extended out my phone to find the best angle of my face. Giving him what I thought was a cute smile, I took the picture and I was satisfied when I reviewed it on my phone. Uploading it to him, I set my phone back down and started to take off my clothes.
Once I was only in my lacey underwear, I heard my phone ding and when I checked it, I saw a message from him that read, "Damn, you are so pretty. What about sending another pic that shows off how sexy you are though?'
His last text made me blush to myself. My heart started to beat quickly and I found myself getting hot. Oh god, what should I do? I never took a picture like that before. Flustered, I tried to calm myself down. I told myself that this was entirely fine. This was what girls do all the time to flirt with their boyfriends, right? Ok, I was alone in the changing room; I could totally do this.
Holding the phone out in front of me again, I angled it in such a way that both my face and my bra-clad breasts were visible in the photo. I tried to make a seductive face, but no matter what I tried, I didn't like how I looked. Eventually, I stared into the camera while biting my lip and took the picture. Reviewing it afterward, my eyes widened at how sexy I looked. I couldn't believe how he was able to get me to act so slutty, but I couldn't deny how exhilarating it felt.
Sending the picture to him, I added a text that said, 'Do you miss my sexy Asian body?'
My heart was pounding in my chest and I was surprised at how bold I was acting. I wanted to know if he found my picture sexy, but I was too nervous to just stare at my phone and wait for his response. Putting it down, I grabbed one of the dresses I picked out and tried it on. Yep, I immediately hated it. Seeing how it looked on me, I didn't even know why I picked it out to begin with. Quickly trying on the others, I rapidly found out that I didn't like any of them. I sighed in dismay. This was why I sometimes hated shopping.
Putting my casual clothes back on, I walked out of the dressing room, went to stand in front of Usagi's, and said, "Are you done yet?"
"What? You tried them all on already?" she replied surprised.
"Yeah, I didn't like any of them," I said in a disappointed voice.
"Well, come in here and give me your opinion on mine."
"I don't know...multiple people aren't supposed to be in the same room and-"
"Oh my god Yumiko," I heard her exclaim before her door quickly opened and my eyes widened as she grabbed my hand.
She pulled me into her room and after closing the door again, she said, "This room is so big that it can easily fit both of us. Now, what do you think?"