The Lucky Doberman

Chapter 47: A Pretty Nickname and a Puppy

I sat on Nikki's bed next to her while eating ice cream and surrounded by snack cakes she'd brought in. We were watching a movie together that she thought would cheer me up because it's supposed to be really funny.

"It's my fault, isn't it?" I asked her.
She looked at me.
"I should've known better." I sniffed.
"No, Lucky, it's not your fault. Sometimes men are just assholes." She hugged me.

She called me Lucky. That's how I know she really feels bad for me.

"He told me just thirty minutes earlier that he wasn't sleeping with her anymore..." I cried.
"I know. I'm so sorry..." she said and rubbed my back.

I sniffed. "I have to see him tomorrow."
"No, just don't go in. I doubt he'll fire you. He knows what he did."
I just nodded and wiped my tears. We were all supposed to get fitted for the wedding but I hadn't made the reservation yet anyway. I don't think I'd be able to handle watching him make out with another woman then going to help find clothes for their wedding the next day.
I had Josh's dinner party to get ready for anyway, so it didn't matter.

~~~

I woke up this morning and sludged around wrapped in my blanket.
I didn't feel like making any extravagant breakfast. I sat down with a bowl of cereal.

I knew I'd woken up later than usual and grabbed my phone to check the time. It was 12:35pm. I basically cried myself into a coma.
When I looked down at my phone's notifications, I saw five missed calls all from the same person.
I didn't get a text from him saying he was here earlier this morning, so I guess he got the hint that I wasn't going into work today.

I saw that a voicemail was left and I clicked on it.

Nikki walked into the kitchen. "Good morning. How do you feel?"
"Bad..." I replied.
The voicemail began.

"Lucky, I know what I said, but it's not what it looks like, bella. Call me back." he stated.

"Bella?" Nikki asked.
I sniffed. "I looked it up after the first time he said it because I knew he hadn't just forgotten my name. But I'd heard it before in Italian. It means pretty." I explained.
"I wanna say that's sweet, but we're mad at him right now, so I'll hold off on that."
I snickered and continued trying to hold down my tears.
"Do you need anything? Maybe you wanna go to the mall or something?"
"Yea...I need a dress for tonight anyway." I agreed.
"Okay, I'll go get dressed and we can go."
I nodded.

I continued eating my cereal, but I pressed play on the voicemail again.

"Lucky, I know what I said, but it's not what it looks like, bella. Call me back."

How could it not be what it looked like? What other way is there to interpret a woman in his lap making out with him? The same woman that he said he wasn't interested in and promised he wouldn't be intimate with anymore.
And I believed him.
Which was stupid of me.
I should've known.
He doesn't even like talking to me. I was just used for sex.
I'm too naïve.

I rinsed out my bowl then went to my room and got dressed to go to the mall with Nikki.

"Do you know what color we're going for?" she asked on our way.
"No, not really."
"I guess we'll see when we get there."

My phone rang.
I rolled my eyes thinking it would be Marco.

I looked at my phone and it was actually a pleasant surprise.

"Hi, dad." I greeted.
"Hey, bastard. Where ya goin'?"
"To the mall with Nikki."
"Hi, Mr. Ricci!" Nikki greeted.
"Hey there, Nik, how ya doin'?"
"I'm okay."
"Good good. Lucky," he called me.
"Yes?"
"Ya mother is about to call you in about an hour or so to snitch on me."
"Why? What'd you do?"
He looked away from the camera like he was thinking.

Then it was lowered and I saw a puppy in his hand.
"AWWWW!!!" I exclaimed.
"Shhhhh!!!!" he stated and lifted the camera back up.
"Mom's gonna ground you. You know she's afraid of dogs."
"Yea, well she's gotta get over it."
"Where'd you get her?"
"She's a gift from a buddy of mine. His dog had puppies."
I noticed he kept looking around the house quickly like he was on edge.
"Dad, why do you keep glancing around like that?"
"Cause the woman's a ninja. She just pops up outta nowhere and I don't want her sneakin' up on me."
I laughed at him.
"What're you goin' to the mall for?"
"I need a dress."
"For what?"
"A dinner party."
"Where?"
"A law firm?"
"A law firm? Lucky, you ain't no lawyer, why're you goin' to a law firm dinner party?" he questioned.
I shrugged. "Josh invited me."
"JOSH?" My dad yelled.
"Yes..."
"Wait...Josh, Josh?" Nikki asked.
I hadn't told her what the dress was for either.
"Yes..." I nodded.
"Zoe, what the hell?!" she asked.
"It's only as friends!" I told them both.

"I don't care about friends, the last time I heard that asshole's name, you were cryin' in your room for a week!" my dad stated.

My dad doesn't even know why me and Josh broke up, but if I told him, he'd probably get arrested for battery within the next week.

"But we're not dating. I tell him constantly it's not a date. I'm just going because his coworkers are bringing plus one's and he didn't want to seem alone. That's all."
"Zoe..." Nikki called.
"Ya mother know about this?" my dad asked.
"Um...I don't know..."
I heard him groan.

"Well you call me if anything happens. I'll sick Shelby on 'im," he said and lifted the puppy to the camera. "She's a guard dog."
"Dad, she's a golden retriever."
"She's a Rottweiler at heart. What's the matter with you?"
I laughed at him.

We all heard the front door open.

"Aw shit." my dad sighed.
I laughed harder.
"Vinny, what is that?" my mom asked.
"It's a phone." my dad answered.
"Not that! The four legged animal in your arm!"
"This?" he asked.
"Yes!"
"It's a Shelby."

It was silent and both me and Nikki were snickering.

"Where's my belt?" my mom asked and I laughed.
"You can't whoop me!" my dad shouted.
She didn't respond.
"She's about to whoop me." he realized quietly and I snickered.
"Good luck." I wished him.
"If you don't hear from me, you know what happened."
"Fight back. I wanna see Shelby the next time I visit you guys."
"I'll try. I love you."
"I love you too."
"VINNY!" my mother called.
"I'M NOT RETURNIN' THE DOG!" he shouted then hung up.
I think my parents are the funniest people I know.

"How much fun is it having two culturally different parents in one household?" Nikki asked.
"The food makes it worth it." I stated.
She laughed.

Nikki is Thai so we have a fun time talking about our different experiences in our households.

We arrived at the mall and found a parking spot.

"So your dad doesn't know what Josh did?" she asked as we walked to the entrance.
"No. And I don't plan on telling him ever. I'm fine and I'm over it. I'd like to think he changed. He hasn't tried anything so far."
"Well then let's hope you're right."

She pulled me into one shop that was known for dresses.

"I think you should do red."
"Is red too sexy? Remember I don't want him to think it's a date."
"Yea, but I don't think men think that hard about colors."
"Maybe..."
"Let's just check some of them out. Nothing bright. I don't think bright colors fit a dinner party."
"Right." I agreed.
"What time is the party?"
"He said 7. So he'll probably pick me up around 6:30. It's 1:45 right now so we only have like two and a half hours because I need an hour to get ready. But if you include the ride back home which is like twenty minutes then we only have like an hour and forty five minutes."
She blinked at me.
"I just wanna make sure I'm on time." I shrugged.
"Yea, I'll pretend like I gathered all of that."
She pulled me off with her to examine the dresses.