Surprise
By Cynthia
Chapter one
 
Cyn left the car lot all excited about her new purchase. She couldn't 
wait to show her fellow sisters. They were going to meet for lunch 
and do some shopping before everyone got together later.

She punched in Bruce's cell number. "Hello?"

"Hey Hunny. I'm about to go meet up with Gena, Ana, Helo and 
Stephanie. I just have to show them my new car. They are going to 
flip. Then we're going to grab a bite. After that we'll be tearing up 
the town, looking for clothes for tonight. We simply have to look 
great for you guys tonight."

"Sweetheart, you always look great. But have a good time with 
everyone and tell them hello from me. And you be careful in that car. 
I know how you can be when you get excited and I don't want to see 
you lying in a hospital bed from driving too fast."

"I promise. I'll slow down. We have plans tonight and I don't want to 
miss everything. So I'll call you when we are about ready to go 
tonight. Luv ya."

"I love you too. Now slow down."

"Yes sir." Cyn blew a few kisses into the phone and hung up. She 
smiled a huge smile as she drove on down the highway. Between her new 
car and her evening plans, this was shaping up into a great day.

*******************

"Wow! Will you look at that ride? Where did you get that," Stephanie 
asked as Ana and Gena gave a whistle. 

"So you like? Bruce gave it to me for our anniversary. He knew my old 
thing was about to hit the 100,000 mark, so he carried me to the lot 
last night and told me to go today and pick out anything I wanted."

"That's a great gift. But what made you get an Aston Martin?"

"Bruce and I were watching that New Bond movie a few weeks ago and he 
loved that car, so when I saw it, I knew that was the one. That way, 
Bruce can enjoy driving it too."

"Isn't that a limited edition car," Star asked.

"Yeah. I think they only made like 1,500 or something." Gena answered 
before Cyn could.

"Can I drive," Helo asked, just itching to get behind that car. Maybe 
she could convince Eric to buy one and she could drive his.

"Let me get a feel for the car and then sure. I don't mind you 
testing it out. It handles perfectly and the cost really wasn't that 
bad. And if any of the rest of you want to give it a run, just let me 
know. If I can't trust my sisters with my new ride, who can I trust?"

The girls all laughed. "Let's pile in and hit the stores. I need a 
caffeine boost bad." Gena said as she opened the passenger door.

After everyone was situated, the group headed out to Rodeo Drive. 
Money would be no object tonight because they had to look wonderful. 
The guys had been very specific about the girls looking their very 
best. They had even turned over their credit cards and gave them 
carte blanche to spend whatever they needed to spend. Gena had almost 
choked when Gene told her to go to Rodeo and buy the most expensive 
thing she could find. This must really be a special night or Gene had 
been captured and replaced by aliens.

**********************

"Okay all. Cynthia just told me she was picking up the girls and they 
were going to shop. Are you all sure they have no clue about tonight?"

"Gena only knows that tonight is important. She tried to get it out 
of me what we were doing tonight, but she finally gave up when she 
realized I was not opening my mouth."

What about Steph and Ana and Helo? Do they suspect anything at all?"

Eric shook his head no. "Helo doesn't have a clue. She just thinks we 
are going to a formal party. She is going to be in for a big 
surprise."

"Ana is mad at me right now," Ace answered. She almost threatened to 
stay home tonight if I didn't tell her something. That woman has a 
nasty temper if you lie to her. So I told her it was a surprise 
anniversary party for Bruce and Cynthia. I knew she wouldn't tell Cyn 
anything and it was enough to get her to go along and not be mad any 
more. She really will be surprised when she finds out what tonight is 
really about."

"Steph tried to sniff out the information, but she didn't succeed. I 
tell you one thing though. It's hard to keep a secret from a 
journalist. She can sniff out a story a hundred miles away." The 
others laughed at Paul. 

The men looked on as the caterers were working on the ballroom in 
preparation for the party tonight. The men had already worked out the 
evening's schedule. They would take the ladies to dinner. Afterwards, 
they would come to the hotel and party with the girls. Around 11, 
they would make sure the girls were all together in front of the room 
as the guys gave them the biggest surprise they would ever receive.

******************

After grabbing a bite to eat and a stop at Starbucks, the girls went 
in search of their perfect gowns for the evening. Two hours had gone 
by before the girls were ready to head back home. All they needed to 
do now was to make a quick stop to pick up Bruce's anniversary gift 
and then they could all settle in and start getting ready for the 
evening.

Cyn knew Helo wanted to test run the car, so she let her drive to the 
jeweler's. "This car is awesome. It handles perfectly. Eric has just 
got to get one of these so I can drive it everywhere." Helo pulled 
the car into the parking lot and shut the motor off. "Here's the 
keys. Thanks for letting me run it for a while."

"No problem." Cyn held up the keys. "Do any of you want to test drive 
after we get through here?" Ana, Gena and Steph shook their heads no. 
They preferred riding so they could enjoy the wind in their faces and 
hair. "Okay then. I'm gonna pick up Bruce's gift and we can get home. 
I'm so excited about going out tonight. It's been so long since we've 
all gone out to dinner together."

**********************

The road was very curvy, but that didn't stop Cyn from running the 
car at a high speed. She wanted to see how the car would handle the 
curves. The girls were all chatting and laughing til they heard a big 
thud and Cyn began to swerve. She hit the brakes and came to a stop 
on the side of the road. Cyn turned to the others. "Are you all okay?"

"What the hell was that?" Gena asked. The others looked at each 
other, noticeably shaken. 

"I don't know. Perhaps you hit an animal or something," Ana 
said. "Let's go back and take a look."

"I hope the car isn't damaged." Helo jumped out and walked around to 
the front of the car. She noticed a big clump of black feathers still 
attached to the grill. "Uh, I think we hit a really big bird," she 
said as she held up a few of the bird's feathers.

"Oh shit," exclaimed Steph. "I wonder if it survived."

"From the looks of the feathers in Helo's hand, I would say no." Gena 
just shook her head. The women walked over to a big object in the 
road. They saw the bird had not survived.

"Is that a crow," asked Steph. 

"I think it's a pigeon, but I can't really tell from what is left 
there," Ana answered as she looked at the remains.

"What about a blackbird," Gena asked. "You know, like in the Beatles 
song?"

"Actually girls, it's a raven. You know, as in the Poe story? You can 
tell by the beak and feathers." Helo pointed to the bird.

"Should have known the Vet would know," Cyn said. She was still 
shaking at the thought of hitting the bird. She wasn't a big animal 
lover at all, but she still didn't like to think that she was 
responsible for taking out a life.

"OH well. Guess we better get what's left of this thing off the road 
and get home." Gena found a big stick on the side of the road and 
pushed the bird into the grass that lined the side of the road. Once 
the girls covered the body with rocks and sticks as a makeshift 
burial, they crawled back in the car. But this time, Cyn drove a 
little slower. She had already damaged the car grill with bird 
remains and she wanted to get it home before anything else happened.

****************************

"What happened to your new car?" Bruce saw the remnants of black 
feathers protruding from the grill, along with a couple of minor 
dings.

"This really huge raven flew out in front of my car and I couldn't 
miss it. It scared me and the other girls to death. I'm sorry I 
damaged my beautiful gift the first day. I'll make sure the shop 
fixes it tomorrow."

"Don't worry about the dings. I'm just glad you and the others are 
okay. Are you positive it was a raven?"

"That's what Helo said. But you know I have no clue about animals. As 
far as I know, it had wings and claws and a beak. It was just a bird 
to me, nothing more."

"Well Helo would know since she is a veterinarian. Maybe I ought to 
get you a big horn that warns the birds away from your car."

"HA HA HA. You're so funny. But I am glad you are making jokes about 
this. I was so afraid you would be upset. I was kind of afraid to let 
you know I hit a bird."

"You should never be afraid to tell me anything. It's just a car. It 
can be repaired and we can forget this has happened. So why don't you 
give me a kiss and head upstairs to get ready? We don't have much 
time before the car gets here." 

**************************

"WOW. You look great." Gene couldn't take his eyes off of Gena as she 
descended the stairs. She was wearing a blood red sequined gown with 
matching satin pumps. Her hair was upswept in a French Curl with 
small rubies pinned in various positions all over her head. She wore 
a matching ruby and diamond necklace and earring set. 

Gene noticed the anklet he had given Gena. He had asked her one time 
why she didn't wear it more often and she told him that it was for 
special occasions. She didn't want to risk damaging it with casual 
wear. Gene pulled his beautiful woman into a deep kiss that sent 
chills down Gena's spine.

Gena always loved the way Gene made her feel when they kissed. But 
she pulled away. "You look good too, but I don't want us to start 
something right now. We have to go and it wouldn't look good for us 
to be late and mussed. But I promise tonight when we get home, I 
fully intend for us to pick up where we just left off."

Gene had a pouty look on his face. Gena knew he was just playing but 
that pout of his always made her turn to jelly. She straightened up 
and kept telling herself to wait til later. "Oh you devil. Just wait 
til tonight. I'll make you think about pouting at me. You know what 
that does."

"I know. Why do you think I did it? But you're right. We can't be 
late. But you just looked so damn good coming down those stairs, I 
couldn't help myself." Gene took Gena by the arm and escorted her to 
their waiting car. Tonight they would ride in the limo because it 
would hold everyone and they wouldn't have to worry about Valet 
parking.

****************************

"Paul, the car is here. Aren't you ready yet? Sheesh. I only thought 
I primped tonight." 

"Here I am. Just had to make sure I was worthy enough to be seen in 
pubic with the most beautiful woman in the world tonight." Paul 
caressed Stephanie's face as he stopped to take a look at her.

Stephanie was beautiful in her dark pink silk dress with diamond 
studded shoulder straps and neckline. Her long red hair hung gently 
down her back with a few tendrils softly enveloping her face. Paul 
would have sworn to everyone that she was glowing as he looked at 
Steph standing in front of him waiting to leave. "You are so 
beautiful tonight. I want to remember you just like this." Paul 
gently kissed Stephanie so as not to muss her makeup. 

"You look pretty great yourself in that black Armani. It's a shame we 
don't get this dressed up more often. We make a stunning couple. "

"Yes we do. Everyone will be envious of us tonight. And if the other 
girls look half as good as you do right now, we will have to hire 
someone to knock all of the men away from you all."

"Well I might have to say the same thing about you men. I can't wait 
to see what you all have planned tonight. Now come on before Gene has 
a stroke waiting on us. The driver has already blown the horn again 
and I just know it's because Gene is ready to go." Paul placed 
Stephanie's wrap around her shoulders and followed her to the car.

*****************

Helo and Eric were waiting when the car pulled up. "Hey man. It's 
about time. You're late." Eric laughed as the driver opened the door 
and Gene peeked out.

"Don't blame me. Blame Stanley here. He couldn't keep his face out of 
the mirror."

"Hey. We weren't that late. You only had the horn blown twice. I was 
busy admiring my beautiful woman here tonight." 

Eric took a look at Gena and Steph and decided it was worth the wait. 
Not only were they looking gorgeous, so was Helo. "Looks like we're 
going to be surrounded by some very gorgeous women tonight. Gene I 
hope you have that stage sword with you because you may have to do 
some fancy fire blowing if anyone tries to separate us from these 
women."

Helo laughed at Eric, but she couldn't help but notice that Eric was 
serious. He was in his Knight mode, which meant he would take anyone 
down who came near her. His antics did wonders for her ego sometimes. 
It was so wonderful to know that she had such a gallant protector.

As they settled into the limo and everyone was headed to pick up Ana 
and Ace and Bruce and Cyn, Eric couldn't help but stare at Helo and 
think about his first impressions of her earlier in the evening. She 
had almost taken his breath away when he saw her. The emerald green 
dress with matching jewelry made her eyes sparkle. And the scent of 
her perfume was enough to knock any man to his knees. He often times 
wondered what he had done to deserve such a wonderful woman. As his 
thoughts continued to think about how lucky he was to have Helo in 
his life, the car came to a stop in front of Ana's home. 

*******************

"Keep your eyes closed. I don't want you to see me til I am ready." 
Ana knew that if she didn't tell Ace again, he would be peeking 
around the corner trying to catch a glimpse of her. "Okay now. Are 
your eyes closed?"

"Yes. They're closed. Will you please hurry? You know I want to see 
what you bought today." 

"Okay. You can open your eyes now." Ana stood before Ace in a 
shimmering midnight blue floor length gown. Ace's eyes immediately 
went to the hint of thigh that was peeking from beyond the high slit 
in the gown.

"What are you trying to do to me? Don't you know that you looking 
that good is not good for my heart? I could die of a heart attack and 
it would be all your fault." Ace feigned a heart attack and fell over 
onto the bed.
"Oh get up. You're going to ruin your suit before we can even get in 
the car. And we want to look nice for Bruce and Cynthia's party."

Ace smiled at Ana. "Yeah we wanna look nice for Bruce and Cyn's 
party." In the back of his mind he thought about what a big surprise 
Ana and the others were in for tonight. "Let's go. I think I heard 
the car pull up.

*******************

"I'm glad I left my stuff here last night," Cyn called from beyond 
the bathroom door. "I am running so late, I would hat to hold 
everyone up by having to go to my place to get ready and make 
everyone have to go to two places to pick us up."

"I don't think it would have been a problem because I would have just 
told the guys to meet me at your place, but I'm happy you stayed here 
last night. It's nice to wake up next to you in the morning."

"I love waking up next to you too. Besides, I don't think I could 
find a better toe warmer." Bruce laughed at Cyn's comment. "I should 
be ready in another minute. I just have to plaster my hair and I'll 
be ready."

"Oh no. Please don't fog up my bathroom again. I swear you must 
really love that hairspray. I think I'm going to have a vent 
installed in there that will suck the fumes away. And if you aren't 
careful, you just might single handedly deplete the ozone."

"You're so funny. But I use a lot of hairspray to hold this mop on my 
head. I have so much of it, it takes a lot of hairspray just to hold 
the style. But I could always cut it all off."

"No you don't. I like your hair long just like it is. I'll live with 
the hairspray." Bruce finished putting on his jacket. "Have you used 
the whole can yet?"

"I swear I am going to put you on a comedy stage one day," Cyn 
laughed. "You are just too funny. But I'm ready whenever you are."

"Well come on. I want to see that new dress of yours." Bruce let out 
a low whistle as Cyn exited the bathroom. "It was worth the wait." 
Bruce walked over and gave Cyn a quick kiss. "Maybe we should 
celebrate anniversaries more often." Bruce kept looking at Cyn with 
an evil grin.

"That would be nice. I could think of many different ways we could 
celebrate an anniversary," Cyn said with an evil grin of her own.

Before Bruce and Cyn could say anything else, they heard the horn 
blow. "Looks like they are all here. Let's go. I can't wait to see 
what you guys have planned tonight." Bruce grabbed Cyn's wrap and put 
it around her shoulders before heading to the limo.
Part II

"Happy Anniversary you two," Gena exclaimed. "It's hard to believe 
you have been together for two years now. It seems like yesterday 
that you two met."

"Thanks. I know it's hard to believe two years has passed, but I feel 
like we just met yesterday." Cyn wrapped her arms around Bruce. "It's 
always something new every day and we just don't seem to realize we 
have been a couple for two years now." Bruce turned and gave Cyn a 
quick kiss.

"Oh stop it you two. Just because it's your anniversary doesn't mean 
we want to see you two getting all gushy." 

"Oh Eric. You be quiet. I think it's cute that they can be so lovey 
dovey after this long." Helo smacked Eric playfully on his arm as she 
cuddled closer.

"So Cyn. Bruce told us you girls had an accident today." Paul looked 
to Cyn.

"Yeah. We were testing out my new car when this big huge bird flew 
out of nowhere and I hit it. Fortunately there wasn't much damage to 
the car minus a few small dings, but the bird bit the dust. I hate it 
had to die, but it really should have been paying attention to what 
it was doing."

"No kidding. You girls can be very dangerous with heavy machinery." 
Gene laughed as the others joined in.

"Well that's enough about mutilated birds. We have better things to 
think about tonight," Ana said with a gleam in her eyes. She had no 
idea that she was going to receive a surprise herself. 

The limo pulled up in front of the restaurant. A few people stopped 
to see who was going to emerge from the long black stretch. The 
driver stepped out and walked around to the passenger rear door. As 
each couple emerged, more people gathered around. People couldn't 
help but recognize the members of the rock band Kiss. Their faces had 
been plastered all over everything for so many years that all of the 
members were national icons. The guys waved at the growing crowd as 
they escorted their ladies into the restaurant.

The maitre d' led the small group to a private dining room in the 
back. Everything was ready for the anniversary dinner being held for 
Bruce and Cynthia. It was always nice when everyone could get 
together, but tonight was special. Tonight they would all dine on the 
very best food and the drinkers would enjoy the best champagne the 
restaurant had to offer. When dinner was finished, the guys would 
then take the ladies to their awaited surprise.

"So, how are you ladies enjoying your dinner," Gene asked? Each of 
the ladies gave a positive answer. The men knew that was a good sign. 
They wanted to make all of the women as happy as they could get 
before the big surprise.