Warmth | ✔️ #wattys2021

41. perspective

The 22nd  morning of August approached slowly. A normal Sunday if you will, slow in itself, dedicated to nothing specific and yet the only dynamic it found was created by the people around. Adeline's birthday wasn't any different.

She woke up around ten, going through her socials, replying to birthday wishes happily and leaving her bed half an hour later. George was up already, wandering around the kitchen in a white shirt, blue striped boxers and ruffled hair. Adeline was still in her sleeping clothes as well, her hair in a bun, her eyes still puffy and a splint still on her foot. 

"Good morning birthday girl!" He said hugging her tightly.

"Morning! What are you making?" She asked, having seen countless ingredients splattered round the kitchen but not being able to pinpoint what it was he was cooking up there.

"Some good old Miso croque madame!" George answered.

"Wow uhm, what's that?" Adeline asked cluelessly.

"You don't know? I thought I would make you something special and it sounds so French...aren't you French?"

"Well a bit yeah, but I've never heard of it before." She laughed. Adeline was grateful for sure, even if she didn't know what she was getting. "But whatever it is I'm sure I'm going to like it!"

"All the rich ladies at the restaurant like it, it's like a runny fried egg on top of a bacon sandwich with a lot of cheese in it!"

"I like everything you just said!"

"Great then! Are you looking forward to tonight?"

"I am, well I am pretty nervous too, to be honest."

"Why is that?"

"I feel like...I don't know it's the fact that I'm moving away I guess. I'm afraid it will ruin not just the night but like my whole life? What if I move, and you all forget about me because I can't be there very often on nights out. And Nora with her pregnancy, wish I could be there for her throughout everything."

"Adeline, that's rubbish. No one is going to forget you and you are sure as hell not going to ruin your whole life with it. Didn't you want a fresh start?"

"You always want it until it's there."

"It's going to be fine! And Nora is taken care of, I'm sure. Hell, stop worrying so much, better eat!" He said and shoved a piece of fried bacon in front of her face.

Her parents, aunts and cousins called her throughout the day, congratulating her of course, with some she didn't talk to in a while and it was nice to catch up. It was a good day.

*

At around five Adeline got ready. She wore a long black spaghetti dress, that was sexy, yet comfortable. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, secured by a lot of hairspray, her makeup classy, yet subtle. 

George drove to the restaurant with her old green car and Adeline was in the passenger seat with her ankle still hurting, it was safer that way. They were on the way to the city center where it was located. 

They were the first ones to arrive and waited on the table in the corner for the others to arrive: Nora and Jim, Ruby and Tom and Jenna. While Jenna started out being a friend of the guys, she also grew closer with the girls in the group and so she thought she would be happy about an invite. At first, she also thought of reaching out to Kate again but weirdly one day she would stop taking her calls and replying to messages.

Half an hour later everyone arrived and ordered drinks. "Thank you so much for coming! Feel free to get what you want everything is on me of course! And as you all know I'm going to move back to Bristol next week, so I also want to thank you for well...being such great friends to me! Cheers!" She said, raising her glass of wine along with her guests and almost tearing up.

"Here, let the beautiful face of mother consumption dry your tears!" Nora said ironically and gave her her present. She gifted her a big, expansive eyeshadow palette, some chocolate and a house plant. "For your new place!" She said. "Thank you so much, love!"

Nora indeed proved to be her best friend, knowing she doesn't like books as a present. Everyone else gifted her one and while she wasn't ungrateful, after all she would read them sooner or later and studied writing too. But Adeline always felt like picking a book should be like falling in love. You go to a bookstore and there are many, many books, so you start reading the prompts, trying to fade out the covers and nothing really fits until one does. You should be obsessed with the characters, should finish it in a week, dedicate all your free time to it and then read it again because you already loved the story before you even read all of it.

The night went by too quickly for her liking. The food was amazing, the friends updated each other on their lives throughout the night and would once in a while be looked at weirdly when they laughed loudly. Of course, she thought of Adam too, in a moment of weakness. Did he even know it was her birthday? Did he even care?

A feeling of not wanting this to end filled her body as she had a whole of fun, and so she asked: "Before we get to drunk, do guys still want to come back to mine, keep on drinking?"

"Hell yea!" George screamed, good thing he wasn't the driver. 

*

It was almost midnight in London and it was safe to say everyone was drunk. After having arrived at Adeline and George's place they started to mix Coke with a good amount of Vodka, which just so happened to show its effect by now.

Nora started telling old anecdotes involving herself and Adeline from when they just started living together and while they were very embarrassing they made the group laugh hysterically, so loudly that the light music that was playing in the back could not be heard anymore.

"...and then Adeline started dancing in the middle of the baking aisle at Tesco's." Nora recalled.

"Oh, shut up! Remember how you literally cried when you found out your favorite flower shop closed?" Adeline asked Nora.
"Oh I remember for sure!" Ruby mumbled. She was in Tom's arms on the couch, they were very touchy throughout the night but it was cute.

"Go ahead then tell that one!" Adeline demanded, wanting sweet revenge after what Nora had told about her.

"So, we were out, we went to this club and on the way back we had to carry her pretty much back home..."

"Not true!" Nora interrupted, of course being the only one who was sober.

"Shut up, you know it is!" Adeline yelled ironically.

"...thank you, Adeline! So, as I was saying, we went home and passed this florist -how was it called?"

"Oleander Bloom" Nora said sadly while everyone else laughed at the name.

"Wait like...Orlando Bloom?" Jenna asked in disbelief with raised eyebrows.

"YES! It was ridiculous!" Adeline said.

"Definitely!"

"Good thing it was closed!" Tom said and laughed along.

"Hey!" Nora said as if it hurt her personally.

"Well, so we walked passed it and saw that the store was empty and Nora just full on starts crying like a baby!"

"I didn't!" She tried to defend herself.

"Yes, you did! And you did not ever buy anything there!" Ruby proclaimed.

"But it was so pretty! I always had to walk past it when I was still in training and they had the most beautiful flowers!" The group kept laughing and just as Jim was trying to defend his girlfriend the door rang.