'Glad you could make it.'

Zachary stood up from his table.

As we approached his table, his eyes landed on Jonny's first.

Despite my dislike, my cheeks heated up at the way his bright blue eyes looked so inviting.

He turned to me, his eyes widening in shock.

* * *

A little red dress can work wonders.

I hadn't tried to go all out by choice, but since I wanted to make a good impression and look nice in front of my boyfriend on one of our nights out, I decided to wear a red dress.

I'd been worried about looking too dressy for an informal dinner. I'd tried to ask Zachary if there was a dress code by text, but, infuriatingly he'd responded with: birthday suit ;)

He was utterly useless.

Just as I was about to choose the Winnie the Pooh dress I'd worn before in the shop just to wind him up, I got a ping on my phone as a text message promptly arrived.

If that's out of the question, the Pooh dress will do nicely. :) - Z

There went my original idea out of the window (although it was good to know that my quirky dress style was somewhat appreciated by two guys). Instead, I'd called Louisa to ask her expert opinion; she was usually good with fashion. Unlike me, she had an eye for the details. She squealed with delight at the prospect of helping her best friend - who through no fault of her own was woefully lacking in the style stakes - decide on what to wear for a big night out with her boyfriend and frenemy.

Happily, Louisa had rushed over in less than twenty minutes (she lived a half a dozen bus stops away from me), and so began the hunt for the perfect outfit. With enviable speed, Louisa the stylist eyed the items of clothing in my wardrobe, tutting at some unfortunate pieces which I'd picked up on sale and other odd bits and pieces.

'Candy, I am so disappointed in you,' she was saying as she moved the hangers to one side.

'Why?'

'You should always try to clear out your wardrobe twice a year at least. It stops you collecting hideous pieces like this,' Louisa grabbed one of my T-shirts which featured the Powerpuff girls proudly posing. It was cute — that's why I'd got it.

'I can't help it, Lou,' I said, hurt that she was putting it in the a garbage bag that I hadn't noticed until then, 'what are you doing—' I tried to protest.

Louisa shushed me with a look. 'No buts, girl. I'm doing you a favour.'

I rolled my eyes at her.

'You always say that when we go clothes shopping...' I said darkly.

'Candy...' Louisa narrowed her eyes, before we both broke into smiles, used to each others mannerisms. 'I can go... and leave you to wear this.' She pointed at a light pink dress with ruffles and tiny delicate roses leading down from the bodice to the waist and skirt. I had been thinking about wearing that particular dress, but now that I realised that Louisa didn't approve I was doubting my choice.

'What's wrong with that dress? It's pretty.' I was slightly offended by her assessment.

Louisa motioned me to come over and stand in front of the mirror; she held the dress up to my body and, after looking at my reflection, sighed. 'You're right. It is pretty. I'm just not sure it's the right sort of look you should be going for when dining out with your boyfriend and, your rich, but wicked frenemy.'

'Um...' I was puzzled by her reasoning.

'I just think you should go for the unexpected, that's all,' she continued, her eyes wide with excitement. 'Malone is used to seeing you in cutesy, sugar-and-spice-all-things-nice type outfits and you were saying to me earlier how pissed off you were at him offering your dad such an irresistible deal. So...'

I still had no clue what she was leading to. Luckily, Louisa seemed to read my mind (as all good friends should be able to). 'You should wear something that says classy, understated, tasteful, but sexy as a sort of 'fuck you' to him for being such a sly dickhead,' Louisa exclaimed, a mischievous glint in her eye. 'Of course, I'm happy for your dad, but I'm upset that Malone is interfering in your life, especially when you told him that you have a boyfriend.'

'Yeah, yeah, that's true,' I muttered, warming to her idea. I looked up though when I realised something, 'but I haven't got anything that fits your description in my war—'

'Hold it! What's this beauty?' Louisa pulled out a dress from the wardrobe still hung in it's plastic wrapper. She was gazing at it in awe, and so was I, because I realised that it was so not like me. It was a silky slip with delicate straps attached to the sweetheart neckline. A deep burgundy red.

'I think my mum got it for one of dad's sisters weddings last year. I never wore it because I thought it might show a bit too much cleavage,' I shrugged.

Louisa whistled as she looked at the dress. Avoiding my protests, she gave the dress to me and ordered me to take my clothes off and put it on. Dutifully, I followed her instructions not really enthused about the dress. When Louisa had her mind set on something, it was very difficult to persuade her otherwise. As soon as I felt the tantalising brush of silk against my skin, I knew that this dress would feel and look outstanding on me. Louisa was looking at me in the mirror like a proud mother. I didn't have to worry about the dress looking cheap; it fitted like a glove and highlighted my hourglass figure to perfection. It nipped in at my waist, making it look tinier if that was even possible.

'You look like Juliet,' Louisa smiled, 'Jonny's Romeo.'

'Who's Zachary then? Tybalt?' I joked, as I slung on the nude high-heels she gave me.

'Exactly,' she said, looking me dead in the eyes. 'Malone will regret ever crossing you and Jonny.

Give him a taste of his own medicine for me, Candy. He thinks he's so smart...'

It was times like this I realised how lucky I was to have Louisa as my best friend. And personal stylist. She was solid.

* * *

Zachary's mouth fell open, keen eyes swept down my figure, and then he blinked rapidly as though gathering himself.

'I-I-well, I almost didn't recognise you, Candy bear.' He rubbed his lips.

I stared at him, a bit lost for words, unsure whether to smile at what sounded like a compliment...

Jonny coughed and wrapped his arm around me protectively. 'Sorry to break it to you, but I'm not going anywhere soon.'

I averted my eyes, wishing I was somewhere else, yet a small part of me was secretly thrilled Zachary had lost some of the confidence and composure he had in spades.

'Of course. Shall we get down to business?'

Zachary's smile was cool, one that would make most people feel small — not Jonny, whose grip tightened around my shoulder.

'Let's.' Jonny didn't miss a beat.

Zachary perfunctorily inclined his hand to the seats opposite us.

Jonny made sure to take the seat opposite Zachary; to my relief, I sat beside my boyfriend.

Zachary must have read our exchanged glances because a sly smile hovered around his face as he observed us. 'Don't worry. None of that... tonight.' He winked at me.

Apart from Jonny's staring a little to hard at Zachary — a warning perhaps — he didn't react. In fact, he merely laughed in his face.

'How many girls have you taken here, then?' He reached out for the menu.

Zachary looked a little over his head, it was a painting of a buxom nude in the neo-classical style. She was languidly gazing back at us.

'Fifty. Sixty. One hundred,' he laughed dismissively, glancing down at his own menu, before looking back at us. 'Does it really matter?'

We didn't really have an answer to give to that, so we said nothing, and ordered our food instead when the waiter came.