Celebrations

The first thing the bouncer noticed when the door of the cab opened, was a pair of very shapely legs accented with silver sling back sandal heels. The next thing was the sequined black dress that began at midthigh and molded over curved hips, a taught abdomen and modestly covered her cleavage. A black choker wrapped around her neck with a diamond heart pendant hanging just above her collarbone. Pale blonde hair fell behind her shoulders in loose curls, held off her pretty face by a silver head band. She held a black clutch purse in her right hand, and to his disappointment, sported a platinum diamond engagement ring on her left.

Soraya O'Toole was unaware of the bouncer checking her out from head to toe. Her head was in the clouds as she tipped the cab driver. Two nights ago, on her birthday, her boyfriend of two years, Matt Hardy had proposed. And while they had spent a lot of time privately celebrating, tonight, she wanted to spread the news and celebrate with her girlfriends.

She flashed the bouncer a dazzling smile, as she gave him her name, securing her spot on the VIP list at Club Illusion. He opened the door for her and she entered a world full of flashing lights and a mix of sounds, from the music pumping from the speakers and the noise of the crowd. Climbing the winding staircase up to the VIP area, she was thankfully the noise level dropped a notch and ordered a glass of champagne from the bar up there, while she waited for her girlfriends to arrive.

Candice Michelle Bautista parked Dave's white Hummer H3 around the block from the club and locked it, before exiting the vehicle. As she came around the corner, she too unknowingly caught the Bouncer's attention.

From his vantage point, he saw a tall, slender woman with dark, almost exotic looks. Her athletically curved body was shown off in glittering white. The dress came down to mid-thigh, flowing loosely from the hips, while the bodice of it fit snugly against her torso. Her legs were set off with white heeled sandal heels that had straps that wrapped around her ankles. And again, to his disappointment, she too had a engagement ring on her left hand, accompanied by a wedding band.

"Candice Bautista." She smiled at him. "I think I'm on VIP."

He nodded curtly. "You are," He opened the big metal door for her to enter. "Have a good night."

"Thank you." She called over her shoulder before climbing up the spiral staircase. It only took her a moment before locating Soraya at the bar, who was sipping on a flute of champagne.

"Hey!" Candice made her way over to the blonde and hugged her in greeting. "I got Charlie looking after Aidan. So what's the big news you were so ecstatic over on the phone? It's got to be big if you're drinking champagne!"

"Candy!" Soraya fought the urge to blurt out the news right then and there. "I'm so glad you're here. You're going to want a glass of this too, but I want to wait and tell you why until everyone's here."

"You're the boss." Candice nodded, before looking at the bartender. "I'll have what she's having."

Katie Orton walked in wearing a short black dress that had a thin gold belt around the waist and golden colored heels as she talked with her husband Randy on her cell phone.

"Randy you will be fine taking care of Robby for an hour or two...you have Rachel ask her to help...I can't hear you sweetie over the loud music bye." Katie said before she hung up and put her cell phone back into her purse.

She saw Soraya and Candice then smiled before she went over to them.

"Hey girls." Katie said.

"Katie!" Soraya grinned. "Oh good, you made it! I hope Randy didn't give you a hard time."

"Whatever's up her sleeve, it's big." Candice joked. "We're drinking champagne tonight." She said, passing Katie a flute and ordering another from the bartender.

Katie took the flute from Candice.

"Thank you Candy and of course Randy did, he's afraid of taking care of Robby all by himself." Katie said.

Candice chuckled. "Remind me to tell you a couple of stories about when I left Dave with Aidan all by himself after he was first born." She shook her head. "I swear, they'll do the most daunting things in the ring, but leave them alone with an infant and they're the biggest chickens on the planet."

"Rachel's even there with him and he's still being a big baby. I bet by the end of this night I will have a billion texts from Randy." Katie said with a chuckle.

She looked at Soraya.

"So what's the big news?" Katie asked with a grin.

She bit her lip to keep from squealing. "You know what, I don't think I can wait until Torrie, Steph and Kelly get here," Soraya said. "I'm dying to tell somebody." Sucking a deep breath, she placed her left hand inbetween Katie and Candice so they could see the ring.

Katie's eyes widened and a wide smile appeared on her face as she stared at the ring.

"Oh my god you and Matt are getting married!" Katie yelled with excitement.

"Holy crow!" Candice shrieked. "You're engaged! Matt proposed?!"

Soraya nodded and laughed. "Yes, we're getting married!"

Katie hugged Soraya.

"Yay I finally have a sister...well sister in-law but still. Congratulations!" Katie exclaimed.

"I know, we're officially sisters now!" Soraya giggled. "Thank you. You'll be one of my bridesmaids right? As my soon to be sister, you gotta be."

"I'd be happy to be one of your bridesmaids." Katie said with a smile.

"Great!" Soraya said with excitement. "You too, Candice. You have to be one of my bridesmaids too!"

"Try and stop me!" Candice chuckled. "This is such exciting news! I'm so happy for you."

"When are we going to go shopping?" Katie asked with an excited look on her face.

"Very soon," Soraya told her. "As you know, Matt does not want to wait very long, so I'm going to need some help planning this wedding, and, we need to get you guys dresses and find mine."

"We should go to David's Bridal, that's where I got all the dresses from. Especially my amazing wedding dress." Katie said with a giggle.

"I won't rule out any suggestions, especially stores that supply dresses like the one you wore." Soraya said. "Besides, between you, Candice, Steph and Torrie, I'm sure we can find exactly what I'm looking for. Plus, from what I hear, Kelly and Melina are excellent shoppers too."

Candice snorted out her laughter. "Kelly is a shopping machine, and she has a knack for finding the diamond in the rough. She found my dress completely randomly and it was perfect. And you're right, between our experience as brides before you, we can get you through this with little to no problems."

"Hey girls, sorry I'm late" Kelly told, walking up to where Katie, Candice, adn Soraya were sitting, placing her bad down before she sat down herself, smoothing her hands oer her jeans, which went perfectly with her black laced top.

"And if Matt doesn't want to pay for the dress if it's a lot of money don't worry I have a secret plan that worked when Randy didn't want to buy my dress." Katie said.

Katie looked at Kelly.

"Hey Kelly." Katie said with a smile.