Victoria hadn't wasted any time in getting me into the dress that she had picked out, the same dress that she had sworn would just blow Lee's mind when he saw it!

As soon as we had entered the shop, she had basically bulldozed two other women out of the way in an attempt to make sure that they didn't try to snatch up the dress she had picked out for themselves.

So now, here I was, standing inside the small dressing room of the boutique down the street from our workplace, studying my reflection in the mirror. I let my fingers linger around the waistline of the dress, seeing just how snug it fit. The dress was long, so long that it fell right to the floor, and then stopped. The bottom part of the dress opened up slightly, revealing a small slit that ran down the front that was only noticeable when I started to walk. The top was strapless, leaving my shoulders bare.

I thought for a moment as I looked at the way the red dress sat against my skin. I liked it..a lot.

"So, can I see?" Victoria's voice said from outside the door, snapping me from my haze. I slowly opened the door, letting her get a full look at the dress on me. She squealed happily.

"I absolutely love it! Lee's going to freak." She declared, clapping her hands together. "Okay, go ahead and take it off so we can pay for it and then go and find you some shoes to match." She ordered. I shut the door behind me, removing the dress and sliding back on my old clothes.

After Victoria and I had paid for the dress and picked out a short pair of nude heels, we headed back to her car. As we got in, she glanced down at her phone and groaned. "Goodness, I didn't realize how late it was." She sighed, "Are you ready for me to drop you back off at your place?" She questioned and I nodded.

"Yeah, that'd be fine."

Thirty minutes later we had arrived at my place. I thanked her for the ride and headed up to my apartment, doing a double take my apartment came into clear view.

"Uh, mom," I stated dumbly as I rounded the corner of my apartment, stopping just at the end of the staircase as my eyes took in the woman standing in front of my apartment door, a brown purse hanging from her arm and a bag of candy in her hand. "What are you doing here?" I asked surprised. It wasn't that I didn't want to see her, it was just that I hadn't exactly expected her. I looked around, noticing that she was alone, and I frowned. "Are you by yourself? Where's dad?"

She glanced up at me and smiled. "Hey, honey," she said, pulling me into a hug. "Your dad and I are going to a convention in the next town over, and well, we thought we'd stop by for a couple of hours to check up on you." She replied, "Your dad just left a few minutes ago to go and grab some dinner for us. I told him I'd just wait here since it probably wouldn't take too long. I hope we aren't intruding or anything."

I shook my head, stepping around her to unlock the door and let her in. "Of course not, I just wasn't expecting to see you guys. How's everything been going with work?"

"You know, same ole same ole. Tell me about you. How's work going?" She asked, sitting down on the couch. I closed the door behind me.

"It's going good." I said vaguely. "Just been helping the boss get things ready for the upcoming Christmas party in a few weeks." I told her as I took off my shoes and walked back around to the living room to sit next to her on the couch.

"How's Victoria?" She questioned.

"She's great. I actually just got back from shopping with here." I replied. She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, really? What were you two shopping for?"

"There's this Christmas party coming up next week, and she was helping me find a dress." I explained.

"So that's what was in the bag." My mom grinned, "So-"

"So?" I waited for her to finish.

She nudged my shoulder. "So, do you have a date for this upcoming party?"

I sighed. "I feel like if I lie you'll just find out anyway."

She smiled. "Really? You're dating, Simone? Since when, and who is this guy, and why haven't-"

I stopped her. "Mom, relax. I just started dating the guy, I still feel like it's a little too early for me to be trying to introduce him to my parents. He'd probably run off."

My mom laughed. "Whatever. If anything, he'd feel right at home. Your dad would probably spend more time with him than you."

"You're probably right." I agreed, "But now just isn't the time. I'll introduce him to everyone later, okay?"

My mom waved her hand. "Yeah, Yeah. I won't tell anyone else about you dating." I smiled at her gratefully and gave her a hug.

"Thanks, mom." I replied.

"You owe me." She said.

I rolled my eyes. "I'll buy you two bags of twizzlers and we'll call it even. "

She thought about my offer for a moment before nodding. "Deal."

"Knock, Knock." A deep voice said from outside the door. I instantly knew who it was and smiled.

"Dad, the door's unlocked. You can come in!" I shouted.

A second later, a tall dark skinned man with a bald head walked through the door carrying two brown bags, most likely filled with food. When his dark eyes connected with mine, he smiled. "There's my girl." He grinned, "How've you been, lady?"

I stood up and helped him with one of the bags, giving him a hug. "I've been great. How's life been on your side?"

He shrugged. "Same ole, same ole." He replied, sounding a lot like my mom.

"I thought I told you to stop stealing my catch phrases." My mom said.

My dad sat the food down on the kitchen table. "And I thought I told you to stop eating all of that candy." He retorted, sticking his tongue out.

"Oh, you're such a big baby."

"and you're married to this big baby." He said back childishly.

I laughed. "You guys really need to grow up." I joked, and my dad looked hurt.

"What? Your mom started it. She always starts it."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I'm finishing it." I told him, setting the food down on the table. "Now what did you bring us?" I asked.

He grinned. "Just some pulled pork sandwiches from that barbecue joint a few blocks over." He replied, pulling the items out of the bag. My mom grabbed a sandwich and began eating as my dad followed. "So what's been up with you honey? We haven't seen you in awhile." He began.

"Well, I've just been working. In fact-" I started, getting ready to tell him about the upcoming Christmas party when my doorbell rang. I frowned for a moment. "Who could that be?" I whispered to myself as I stood up from my seat and headed for the door. When I reached it, I cracked it open slightly to see Lee standing there, grinning down at me with a sheepish look on his face.

"Hey," he greeted awkwardly.

I stood in front of the door, trying to block him from my parents view. "Um, hey, what are you doing here?" I asked, surprised.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I had a meeting with my manager earlier and we ended up ending sooner than I thought, and well, I figured I'd drop by for a little bit..if you aren't busy or anything." He added quickly.

I bit the bottom of my lip. I couldn't just turn him away, and hiding him from my parents wouldn't do any good. I let out a breath of air, dropping my shoulders slightly. "No, it's fine. I'm not busy, it's just-"

"Honey, who's at the door?" My mom called after a few minutes.

I glanced up at him to see his questioning eyes as I shrugged sheepishly. "My parents are here."