Whimsical Perfection

29. Jitters

"Nothing will come of nothing."
                —Cordelia, King Lear

~♤ ▪︎ ♤ ▪︎ ♤~

Destiny had such strange ways of fucking things up. I normally didn't believe in things like destiny, fate, serendipity, but this situation forced me to think about it. There was no way my life could be this terrible, or I could be this unlucky. No way unless someone up there was purposefully trying to make me lose my cool.

The so-called party, from the moment it was announced, became the talk of the cast. Everywhere they went, whenever they weren't practicing, all that people could talk about, was the damn party. And I, was in an even more difficult situation, since I had to attend a party of a person I slept with, accompanied by someone I almost slept with. I've never been one to get awkward or embarrassed, at least in my career, but I guess everyone has their firsts. And my first story of embarrassment was going to be the best ever.

All week, I couldn't concentrate much on my work, which was again a first, and had to endure hard glares from a certain someone, again. Although, I had no idea why Isaac was pissed with me again, I didn't have much energy left to pick another fight with him, as my overwhelming thoughts were already consuming me whole. But, even in the midst of all this inner and outer pandemonium, I could feel that he wasn't okay. I just hoped that his icy silence had everything to do with me, and nothing to do with his personal problems.

When did I start caring about him so much?

Shaking away all those unimportant thoughts, I went back to business, my mind hardly in it. Somehow, the demanding week came to an end, as Friday afternoon rolled in. Everyone excitedly said goodbye to one another, knowing fully well they were going to meet again in a few hours. I scoffed at their obvious excitement, and locked the door of my office. It was going to be a long night.

On my way home, I seriously considered staying out of the drama and saving myself from potential embarrassment, but even that wasn't possible, when I saw someone leaning against my apartment door.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked her, tired and anxious of what was about to come.

"Oh, why do you think I'm here? To make sure you go to the party." She said.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. I shouldn't have told her about this. Now, she won't let me ghost everyone at the party. Aaliyah followed me into my apartment, and released a happy sigh, one she did every time she came here.

"Why does the feel of this place never get old? It's just so gorgeous I could keep standing here all day, and I wouldn't mind admiring it's beauty." She gushed about my very simple apartment.

It was in a modern style, with minimal colors of white, black and grey, and had a soothing effect on me when I returned from long hours of work. With only the necessities available, I didn't believe in decorating my apartment. Still, the scarce paintings hung on my walls were because of my mom, who thinks I look like a depressed person without them.

"Good for you. Stand here and admire it all day long, while I go inside and sleep." I told her drily, and she was by my side in a split second.

"Don't even dream of sleeping this one out. You have no idea how lucky you are." She exclaimed excitedly before making a beeline for my bedroom.

Yeah, I was really lucky. As if.

I followed her to see that she had already opened the Pandora's box and was rummaging through my stuff quite violently. But it was her old habit, so I didn't mind it one bit, and walked towards the shared bathroom, wanting to pee badly. When I returned after doing my business, I saw that Aaliyah had already picked out a dress.

"How are you so fast at this? It takes me years to finalize my outfit for the day, and you just picked a dress for a party so easily?" I asked her, invariably astonished at this girl's speed.

She shrugged her shoulders, "You should just know the intention of going to a place, wherever it is, and voila, you have a dress ready! And of course, I also know this is not the work of just anyone. It's only me since I work in this field."

It was true. Aaliyah worked as a fashion designer in her dad's company, and she was extremely good at it. She had a keen eye for good quality materials, and her fashion sense sometimes went through the roof. It was fascinating to sometimes hear her rambling about certain styles and how and why they match certain different clothes, and even though I didn't comprehend anything, I wouldn't say a word because her passionate voice was so addictive to hear.

Even now, as I looked at what she had picked out for me, I couldn't really disagree with her logic. It's just that I didn't want to go there wearing this outfit, but I knew if anyone saw me in this tonight, they would have a totally different image of me.

"I know who you are girl, but it's time you amped up your image. Break away from your boring work outfits and let loose for tonight. Let your coworkers know that you're a young girl who knows how to have fun, and stop being in control all the time. You need to lose some control to be able to breathe and have fun. And don't even think about arguing with me on this one."

I nodded quietly, which took her by surprise, but then she clapped excitedly and let me wear the outfit. It was a black corset themed semi sheer dress, with delicate off the shoulder sleeves, and reached mid-thigh. I paired it with six inch black heels and let my hair down. My dark brown hair were now almost reaching my waist, and it was time to cut them again. I'll do that after the party.

Putting on my signature red lipstick, I was ready to go as Aaliyah looked at me one more time in awe and hugged me tightly.

"You go girl, this is the most gorgeous I've ever seen you. Let loose at the party, drink a lot, have fun, and don't forget to bring that hottie home, alright?"

I shook my head at her silly behavior, but smiled nonetheless. She was a ray of sunshine in my otherwise boring and bland life, so I couldn't really complain about her presence.

"And what are you going to do now?" I asked her as I fished out my clutch from underneath the huge pile of clothes.

"What do you think? I'm the lesbian version of you, so I need some drinks tonight after working so hard on you. And if a find a good companion, it's only better," She winked at me before walking out of my room and apartment.

Keeping a steady hand on my heart, I started my car and drove towards my destination. For some odd reason, tonight wasn't giving me good vibes, and I was thoroughly getting jitters as soon as I entered the party and immediately came face to face with Isaac.

I just knew then, judging from his stormy expression, that it was going to be a long, long night.

~♤ ▪︎ ♤ ▪︎ ♤~