“But…how?” I stammer, baffled, almost wondering if I’m seeing a mirage as I stare up at Kattar’s mother beaming at me brilliantly, her dark eyes radiant with laughter. “I thought you were in San Diego.”

“I know! It was a perfect surprise! I fooled you both, didn’t I? Did you really think I wouldn’t plan anything to celebrate my darling’s 29th birthday?” she cups Kattar’s cheeks in her hands at these words and kisses his face like he’s two years old, “This one must spoil my sweet boy even more than the others. My little prince has set a high standard for his mami, so he won’t be satisfied with her giving him anything simple.”

Not knowing what to say to that, I glance at Kat who is looking at me with an expression I can’t even begin to explain as Mrs. Moon relinquishes his face. Apologetic, worried, embarrassed, scared.

“I texted you,” he mouths.

But what good does that do us now?

It probably would have just made things worse, since I’ve never been able to fake genuine surprise.

Quickly, I slip my phone back into my cardigan pocket - to make an excuse - to do something other than look his mother in the face as I try to process my shock and regain some semblance of composure.

This is irrational, Alicia. You’re not afraid of Mrs. Moon…

But at the same time, there’s a mixture of feelings here that are more complicated than pure fear - that tastes something like legitimate, rational fear.

It’s a worry- a defensiveness - almost bristling - however subtle, that seems to feed itself off the heartsick terror I read in my prince’s expression-

And it’s Disappointment. Heavy, like a dull blow to the chest.

This wasn’t how tonight…was supposed to go…

Though I know I was worried how tonight would turn out - though I wanted more time-

Now that the chance is gone, I know with everything in me that I wanted to do this special night for my Kitty Kat. I wanted to…

But it doesn’t matter now. 

You can’t…say…

Kattar is looking at me, his eyes pleading.

Hush.

I wish there was some way I could explain to Mrs. Moon that I already had something planned, but that might lead to questions. 

And Kattar doesn’t want questions…

So just like that, I watch all of my plans, all that I’ve been working on for the last three weeks fall to pieces and force myself to smile through the disappointment. 

“Everything is set up at my place now and the guests are already waiting, so we have to leave quickly,” Mrs. Moon is saying as she checks a few messages on her cellphone quickly, her bedazzled hands glittering in the waning light of the setting sun. 

“We were just waiting for you, queridita, because I was sure you’d be coming over to see my prince. And you look so stunning! Look at this ensemble. You’re just like a little princess,” Mrs. Moon coos as she spins me around, smoothing my hair and admiring my outfit with as much pride as if I were her own child or her own reflection in the mirror.

And for an instant, all of my doubts dissipate as I find myself basking in the warmth of being adored, unabashedly, and unreservedly.

A painfully familiar feeling, but too far away now…

Until Mrs. Moon glances over her shoulder at Kattar, laughing merrily, her voice like music as she asks him playfully, “Doesn’t she look bewitching, Kitty Kat?”

Kattar’s expression is like stone, and he shrugs mildly, disinterestedly, “She looks fine.”

Mrs. Moon looks back at me and shakes her head with a confiding, sweet smile, “Men. Don’t listen to a word that boy says, mi preciosa. My Kitty Kat always wants to be the center of attention, and he gets sullen when he has to share,” she laughs at that statement, glancing in his direction and he frowns at her which only seems to amuse her more, as she sighs with satisfaction.

“Ah, but he’ll have attention enough when we get to the party. We should get going now, yes? We can’t leave our guests waiting.”

N-

No one will ever accuse me of being brave.

But for some reason, tonight, I manage to muster the guts to hesitate just for a moment, looking up at Mrs. Moon’s beaming face, and asking almost naturally, “Could I give Kattar the present I was going to give him first? It’s kind of fragile, so it would be better not to carry it around as much as possible.”

“Si si. Alright, alright,” Mrs. Moon waves her hand goodnaturedly, “Go ahead, my darling. But let’s be quick.”

Taking a deep breath to push back the disappointment-

I can bring it back out later, when I’m home alone-

-The sadness, the…feelings. I reach into my bag and slip out the little wrapped bottle that I place in Kattar’s hands. He looks at it in confusion, before looking up at me, raising one eyebrow with the silent question.

“Don’t worry about the wrapping paper, just go ahead and open it. I never reuse it anyway.”

I think he hesitates but it’s so hard to tell when he counterfeits his composure so well.

Two milliseconds pass.

Then with a shake of his head, Kattar finds a relatively loose seam and tears the wrapping open, letting the glossy pink paper fall in shreds to the floor. 

But when he sees the bottle in his hands, he’s totally dumbfounded, his eyes getting round in recognition.

“This is…,” he mutters, not even sure what to say.

“It’s the wine from the award ceremony,” I smile, shrugging awkwardly, “Since you didn’t get to try it the first time, I thought we…”

I trail off, stopping myself before I can say anything compromising. But the sadness hits me again in a wave I can hardly suppress. I’m just glad Mrs. Moon’s seems to attribute my expression to all the memories made on that night, not with the memories that we could have made tonight, that we’re never going to.

I can feel Kattar trying not to…

Look like he loves me. And it tears me pieces as he looks up at me with his dark eyes glowing with misery.

“Thank you,” he laughs.

But that’s not what he wanted to say. As his face reddens just the slightest shade-

“I’m sorry,” Kattar mouths.

For what?

For being too scared to say anything.

For his response to his mother saying I look pretty?

Say anything other than ‘sorry.’

That’s just a waste of breath at this point.

“We should get going,” I laugh, cheesing like a heartbroken fairy, “We can’t keep your guests waiting.”

I remember, when me and Andrew used to read fairy stories, how saddened we were to think that some things, like fairies, all beauties magical, could disappear forever if we stopped believing in them.

I cross my fingers and pray that our love - being so much less than magical - will be immune to any such curse.

Announcement Time!

We are back baby! As we near the “Damsel in the Red Dress,” 1 year anniversary it’s time for another DTIYS challenge.

So, in honor of the title of the first book, the theme of this challenge is simple: 

Draw Alicia in a red dress. This dress doesn’t have to fit the description of the red dress in the book, so have fun with it. The only stipulation is that she must be wearing a red dress in the picture.

Now for the rules and other nitty-gritty details:

1. The competition starts today, and ends on Friday the 30th of November, as we’re doing a whole celebration weekend for the novel’s anniversary.

2. The art must be sfw and no AI art.

3. Please keep in mind Alicia’s features (body type, figure, complexion, hair texture etc.) Reference images of her are available below along with a description.

4. You can share your submissions by posting them on IG and tagging me (@leyellethecreator) with the #ditrdanniversarydtiys or by sharing it on the Tapas forum and tagging me (@Leyelle)

Up to two winners will be chosen. These aren’t inherently first and second place, I just don’t want to only be able to pick one if I really like more than one. I had a hard enough time with that the last time XD. Pieces will be judged both on the art itself and also on the design of the dress you give her/create. 

And for the prizes:

The prize is a digital sketch of one of your OCs AND

A cameo of your character in my new comic “Sketchy Business”

All entries will be shared on my instagram, tagging/crediting the creators.

**Alicia’s description:**

Alicia is 4'9, with a small, round face, and a round nose. She has full lips and dark chocolate brown, curly (but not kinky) hair. The texture is similar to loose ringlets (large curls in the 3A-3B hair texture range (Using Cosmopolitan as the point of reference, since nobody seems to be able to agree on anything.) 

Her hair reaches nearly to her knees and she has a cinnamon brown complexion.

She’s slightly chubby which mostly shows in her waist And thighs which are on the thicker side. Her figure is hourglass shaped.

She also has thick, dark eyebrows, very thick eyelashes, and rather large ambery -golden brown eyes.

No, neither of these pictures are of her in a red dress because I didn't want to influence and/or stifle people's creativity: