Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

Chapter Sixteen
Hallie
I haven’t decided what to wear to this date I don’t even want to go on, but there’s a knock on the
door around 5:30 that eliminates the need to.
I’m not expecting any packages, but when I peek out the peephole to see who it is, I see Hollis
with a dress bag and another stack of boxes. This time he has a woman with him, someone with dark
curly hair and skin darker than his. She’s wearing an orange and brown outfit with stiletto heels and
has several bangle bracelets dangling from her slim wrist.
I frown, then unlock the door and ease it open.
“Date preparations,” Hollis informs me before I’ve even asked, barging right in with the woman
following behind him.
“Um…”
I follow him through my apartment (which he seems to know his way around pretty well,
considering I’ve never shown him around) and the woman heads for my bathroom where she begins to
unpack the bag she brought with her.
When Hollis comes out of my bedroom empty-handed, I ask, “What is going on?”
“Monique is going to help you get ready for your date tonight.” He checks in on Monique to make
sure she has everything she needs, then he starts to leave. Before he does, he doubles back to tell me,
“And, just in case you were considering it, there’s no point trying to appeal to her for any sort of help.
She knows where you’re going tonight, and not only will she not believe you, she’ll think you’re an
absolute moron.”
My eyes widen and my jaw goes slack, but Hollis just leaves, telling me he will see me a little
later.
Monique seems upbeat as she takes out all her beautifying tools. She starts talking about how
excited I must be and how lucky I am. She tells me her last date was eating Ray’s Pizza on a park
bench, and it gets me thinking about the last date I went on—a real one, not one I was coerced into.
Jackson and his friends were going to see an indie movie some girl he knew had a part in. He
invited me to come along, and we stopped for sushi on the way there. I don’t like sushi. I’d told him
that before, but he must have forgotten.
I wonder what Calvin has planned for our final date.
It feels sordid to call it that, but I guess it’s what I agreed to.
Monique styles my hair and does my makeup, then escorts me to my bedroom to unpack my stuff.