every page matters (chaelisa)

Twenty Minutes or Seven Years

Roseanne looks over her appearance carefully before reaching into the drawer of her vanity for a few more hair pins. She adds them to the low, loosely wrapped bundle of curls that are laying just elegantly above her clavicle and once it feels secure enough but not too tight, she sighs contently. She runs her hands down the front of her one-shoulder gown, the shimmery material feeling a little strange to the touch, and adjusts it one last time.

She's not excited to go to this year's Regal Christmas party, but she couldn't exactly get out of going either, seeing as she is the current editor-in-chief for the magazine. The magazine has had a year filled with more trials and tribulations than it has triumphs, and even though the dramatics have died down now that the year is drawing to a close, Roseanne still feels awfully guilty that they are spending so much money on these extravagant parties that always seem to cut into both their marketing and operations budgets. Especially this particular one because it is the party of the year according to most of New York City's elite.

Once Roseanne is satisfied with the way her hair looks, she softly pads her way through the bedroom and into her closet where in the far left corner holds a very large and impressive rotating shoe carousel. She slowly spins through the shelves until she finds the pair she is looking for. Carefully removing the strappy, metallic, silver and light gold Louboutin sandals from their place on the shelf, she walks to where the full length mirror is on the other end of the closet. She puts them on and studies her reflection. She looks about as flawless as it's going to get, she thinks, as she turns to one side, specifically showing off the side of the gown where there is a slit that comes all the way up, stopping just about mid-thigh. She knew that these shoes would match the dress perfectly and smiles to herself smugly.

~

Lisa has had one hell of a day. She and Irene were up until nearly three in the morning having one of the worst yelling matches they've ever had. They haven't really been able to agree on anything since they moved in together six months ago, and last night's fight was the one that officially ended their relationship. Irene told her she was leaving, and when Lisa woke up to find all of her things gone, and the brunette nowhere to be found, she knew it was truly over between them.

Her best friend, Jisoo, had warned her about rushing things along too quickly with Irene and advised that she should wait until they had been dating for at least a year before moving in together, but as always, she didn't take any of the advice to heart. Whirlwind relationships aren't really her thing, but Irene seemed to be different, or at least she was in the beginning of their budding romance. Now, as she is picking up the remnants of the broken vase that Irene had thrown at her head just hours before, she realizes what a huge mistake this has been.

The apartment is in complete disarray, and as she is looking around once more, she stops to really take in the mess of everything around her. When she finally comes to the realization that Irene is likely not coming back, she runs her hand through her hair and sighs in frustration. Irene was the one that had insisted on this apartment and now that she will be living in it alone, she may have to pick up a few more photography gigs just so she could afford it. Just the thought of having to find more work makes her both apprehensive and irritated, but luckily she has a few contacts in the city that she could talk to that might be able to help her drum up some more work. In fact, she is meeting one of them tonight and it took her a very long time to even convince him to see her with it being Christmas Eve, so she really has to make this worth his time.

~

Roseanne taps the button for the elevator before pulling out her phone from the clutch in her hand. She types a quick message letting her driver know that she is making her way down to the car. As she is putting her phone away, she hears a door shutting from down the hall so she turns to see who it might be. When she sees that it is the brunette that lives in the apartment next door to hers, she grunts softly to herself.