[///ON HOLD///] Animal House (Rendezvous #2)

Chapter 9

“Nora!” Mrs. Mills gasped her name in incredulity.

Nora just finished smacking her lips after applying light pink lipstick before she whipped her head around to stare with wide eyes at the elder woman standing by the bedroom door. Mrs. Mills looked as if she just saw a ghost.

“What is it?”

“You are not thinking of going to the party looking like that, are you?”

She blinked at Mrs. Mills’ words before she looked at herself in the mirror once more. “What’s wrong with how I look?”

Nora wore the dress she bought during the night she went shopping with Declan, along with the accessories. Gold earrings encrusted with pink jewels hung from her ears and she wore loose golden bracelets as well. On her dresser was a champagne colored clutch, similar to the shade of her dress.

Her makeup consisted of pink lipstick, black eyeliner, mascara, and a light dusting of blush. As for her hair, Nora decided to wrap it up into a neat, tight bun and wore it higher than usual. Her appearance fit a charity dinner, but apparently, Mrs. Mills thought otherwise.

“You’re finally going out to a party, but all you’ve done is put on a dress!”

“Ouch Mrs. Mills,” Nora chuckled in amusement. “I’ve put on more makeup than usual. Aren’t you going to give me credit?”

“But those horrid glasses are blocking that beautiful face of yours!”

Nora accentuated her glasses by pushing them up the bridge of her nose. “Well, I can’t rightfully see without them, Mrs. Mills.”

“You have contacts,” she said firmly. “You should wear them to the party.”

“But they irritate my eyes if I wear them for too long. And I’m going to a charity dinner, not a party.”

“Hmph,” Mrs. Mills grunted. “I see no difference.  And you wear your hair that way every day! You should let it down for tonight.”

“It’s just going to get in my way,” Nora reasoned.

“You should show off your hair since you still have a full head of it!”

“What are you talking about Mrs. Mills? You have plenty of hair yourself.”

“But I’m graying. You on the other hand, still have your natural color.” The elder woman walked to where Nora was and lightly patted the perfect bun atop her head. “How many pins do you have in here?”

“I lost count,” Nora admitted. “But that doesn’t matter. It looks nice, right?”

Mrs. Mills sighed. “It’d look much better if you let it down.”

“She looks fine. It’s not like she’s trying to impress anybody.”

Nora and Mrs. Mills turned to look over their shoulders at Ace—who had Denora in his arms—and Dane.

“Besides,” Dane continued, “who knows what sort of people will be there?”

“Are you sure we can’t go too?” Ace asked.

“Yes, I’m sure. You two are staying home and that’s final.” Nora stood up and spun once for her brothers. “So? How does your big sister look?”

“Meh,” Dane shrugged. “Like usual.” Ace shrugged as well and nodded in agreement.

Mrs. Mills shot Nora a look. “You see? Even your brothers think so.”

Nora simply laughed as she walked to her brothers and took Denora into her arms. “At least you think Mommy looks pretty, right Denora?”

Denora didn’t answer and simply stared at her mother’s earrings with interest. Her blank face was so cute, Nora couldn’t help but knock their foreheads lightly together and snuggle their noses. Denora reached up and cupped Nora’s cheeks with her small hands—as if returning her affection—before she pushed her mother away and continued to stare at her earrings with sparkling eyes.