MADMAN'S ARMS

4

( 🎶 Sh-Boom - The Chords )

I put on a tight, powder-blue dress ending by my knees and put my blonde hair up in a curly, volumized hairstyle. Dolores and Vincent would be at my place by any minute as the clock had already passed seven. I was so excited for tonight and to finally get to hang out with my friends again.

As soon as I was done putting some blush on my already pink cheeks, I heard a knock on the door. I smiled at myself in the mirror before I left my bathroom to enter the hallway and open the door for my friends.

They both met me in a hug and congratulated me one more time on the job. They even brought me flowers. White, blood-stained tulips, the ones they both knew I loved the most. I was so happy about having these people in my life, they meant so much to me.

After a little bit of chatting, we left my apartment and began our walk down the streets of London. The fresh air of July was wonderful, and the beautiful coloured pink and orange sky was a perfect view during our walk down to the restaurant.

About fifteen minutes later we reached my favorite place, Quo Vadis and we passed through the double glass doors. The waiter led us to our table and handed us the menus. I was already starving and longing for the delicious food that was about to be served.

After a great dinner and a couple of cocktails, we left Quo Vadis and headed our way to Hammersmith Palais, one of the crowded clubs in London. I noticed that Dolores and Vincent were already a little bit drunk due to their never-ending talking, and I laughed at them as they discussed something they wouldn't agree with. As I spotted the line of people outside the entrance of the club, I found a familiar face in the crowd.

It was Donald, the friendly guard from the institution. I waved at him as we made eye contact, and he smiled and made a gesture with his hand telling me to come over to him. I told my friends to follow me and they traced right after me like they were my two children.

Donald met me in a hug and it felt a little bit awkward for the reason that I only met this man once before, in a professional way for that matter. I could sense in his breath that he had been drinking so I figured he was probably just comfortable in his state of mind.

"I heard you got the job, congratulations!" He said with a much louder voice than necessary. I just smiled kindly at him and nodded my head before I answered him.

"News spreads fast over there I see? But thank you. I'm very excited, I have my first day already on Monday,"

I looked behind me to see if my childish friends were still there, and indeed, they stood there in silence, both of them looking confused. I gave out a little laughter at what I had just seen my friends like before I began to speak again.

"Sorry, this is my friends, Dolores and Vincent," The three of them shook hands while I continued.

"And this is Donald, he's the guardsman I met the other day at the institution, after my interview,"

"Hope you'll protect her from all the maniacs then," Dolores muttered inappropriately before she started to giggle. I hit her arm and rolled my eyes at her. She was even drunker than I first thought.

Hearing her say something like that made me uncomfortable. It was my profession she spoke about and the patients were sick. They couldn't help their mental conditions and Donald probably agreed with me due to his choice of work. But to save the awkward situation, Donald just laughed at Dolores.

"To be honest, I won't complain about seeing this beautiful woman passing by me every day," Donald's words were flattering and I felt my cheeks heat up by them. I smiled at him and he winked back at me with his eye. Was he flirting with me?

"Well, just keep your hands to yourself," Dolores then hissed while looking deep into the tall, muscular man's brown eyes. I laughed at her again before I grabbed her by the arm and began to walk away, then I turned my head over my shoulder to look at Donald one last time.

"It was nice meeting you again, Donald. See you on Monday!"

Vincent and I walked with our drunk friend between us. I looked at him and grinned, and he did the same as he saw my expression of annoyance.

Why did Dolores have to embarrass me in front of one of my new colleagues? I knew she didn't mean to do it but I still got a little bit ashamed. Luckily, it was obvious that Donald himself had been drinking, and he actually tried to compliment me the second time we met, so I figured that he and Dolores were even after all.

After a couple of minutes in the long line, Dolores got herself together and we succeeded our way into the club. The music was playing loud and the floor was crowded with dancing, dressed-up people who had been drinking more than a sensible amount of alcohol. In the company of my two best friends, we began to dance to the music with one hand up in the air and a drink in the other.

I loved the three of us together. We always laughed so much in each other's company and I enjoyed the thoughts of how our similar personalities were a perfect match from the second we spoke with each other for the first time.

I had known Vincent since we started stage three, he was the new guy in class and I was always the girl who cared for everyone and wanted everybody to feel included, so I immediately began to speak with him, and ever since that moment, we had been close friends.

Then when we went into stage five together, Dolores was one of the girls in our class. She didn't really even look at me or Vincent in the beginning since she already had so many friends, but eventually, when we were split into groups by the teacher, it didn't take long until the three of us were impossible to separate.

Due to my family situation, people began to distance themselves from me because they were afraid that I was different. But Vincent always stayed by my side even after my mother killed herself.

As we started the fifth key stage, I wanted a new start where nobody knew who I was or where I came from, but even when the people in my class eventually got to know about my past, they didn't leave me out. Which made my insecure sixteen-year-old self quite confident back then.