Invitation

The Party

Saturday afternoon came like a thief. Morning slipped by me as I did nothing but lay in bed and completely rethink my choices of going to this party. I don't go out, I barely drink hard liquor, why am I even going? well now it was because of William, I just wanted to see him outside of work for once, and thank god he agreed to come. I open my messages and hit William's number. I typed out the address and time and hit send.

 William: Thank you Josephine, can't wait to see you

Me: get excited! 

Gosh I'm pathetic. Get excited? that's the best I could do? 

around 4pm I started getting ready. I took a shower and shaved my legs, my arms and any exposed space with hair on it. I washed my hair and did a masque to make it soft. once I got out it was 4:30pm. Time was ticking already and I wasn't even close to being ready. I brushed through my hair and left it alone to air dry. because it was so long, it would take at least a good hour to even be close to dry enough to finish out with the blow dryer. I went into my room and sat down at my vanity. I moisturized my face and applied tea tree oil to the spots of acne I could see forming. Please do me some justice skin. I started on my makeup, doing a light layer of tinted moisturizer and concealer under my eyes and stubborn spots. I brushed my eye brows and filled in the missing spots of hair lightly. On my eyes, I did a small dark brown wing, giving it some dimension to my stare. I put mascara on and followed that with some fake lashes to elevate the look. I put shimmer on my cheek bones, nose and lip. I went back into the bathroom and put on lotion to moisturize my freshly shaved skin. I took out my hair dryer and started going to town on my hair. After drying and straightening, it was now 6:30pm. wow. I slipped on my outfit with my heels and took a last look in the mirror. a quick spritz of perfume and I grabbed my purse and phone. 

Once in the car I put in the address, and it showing me my arrival time would be 7:15. good, not too early and not late. if William wasn't there yet, I had at least a few minutes to mentally prepare. 

~~~~~~

'Josephine! Thank god you made it. Holy sh*t do a spin! you are so hot." Lola says. I smiled and gave her a hug. "happy birthday love. look at you! I love the sparkles and everything." she handed me a glass and then left to greet the next person walking in the door. Lola has been my best friend since high school, and today was her 25th birthday. She was one of the most amazing people I had on my side during those years of torture for a teenager, but it was so fun. We always got in trouble with our teachers and parents for talking during class or sneaking out to go to a guys house. and now, her and her fiancé are celebrating her birthday before their wedding next month. I took a sip of the drink I was handed, for it to taste like straight vodka. I coughed and put the glass down. Good lord that was strong. I went into the kitchen and grabbed the spiked punch, poured some in my glass when I heard a familiar voice enter the room. "Lola! I didn't know this was your party! Happy birthday!" I froze. William was here. in the flesh, and my heart was pounding. I took a hard swig of my drink and came around into the living room. William walked towards the kitchen and stops. his eyes caught mine and he just stared at me. my cheeks felt hot and he was absolutely gorgeous. He was in an all black outfit, cargo pants and a t-shirt. I didn't even care that he wasn't dressed up, but it looked so good on him. I smiled and gave a small wave towards his direction. William walked towards me and stopped 3 inches from my face. "Josephine... you look.. absolutely amazing." he smiled, and I saw his cheeks turn a shade of pink. I had never seen him blush before, but I was so glad I did. I touched his arm, "William you look so handsome! Black is a great color on you." I smiled. He pulled me in for a quick hug and took my drink. "this is great, what is it?" he said as I took my drink back. "um that's my drink, but its the spiked pink punch over there on the counter." I pointed and laughed. He smiled at me with his gaze low and mysterious. I could literally rip him apart. I had no idea what was taking over my body or brain besides the alcohol, but I wanted William so bad. 

~~~~~~~~~

"Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Lola, happy birthday to youuuu!! and many more!" We all sang, as Lola blowed out her candles on the cake. William had been standing with me the entire night so far, with plenty of conversation and drinks to go around. I was feeling quite drunk at this moment, to which I knew I had to stop. I grabbed some bread off the kitchen table and took a couple bites. William was watching me and laughed. "are you okay?" he asked me with his hand on my back. "yeah I'm great! I feel a little light headed and I have to get home tonight." I said trying not to lose my balance. my eyes felt heavy, but the bread tasted so good. I kicked off my heels and sat down on the floor. William tried to pull me up but failed when my arms went limp. I laughed. William picked me up bridal style and carried me to the couch. he set me down and went to the kitchen, grabbed some water, bread, fruit and came back to sit down next to me. "hey, drink this and eat." he said handing me the food. I looked at him and took a drink of water. "William." he looked up at me and smiled. "yes Josephine." "William I really am happy that you're here." I said. I felt my eyes closing for longer periods of time as I ate the grapes off the plate. "I'm glad I came too. do you need me to drive you home?" He looked at me concerned, keeping his hand on my thigh. "no no I'll be okay to drive." I brushed him off and took another swig of water. "mm I don't think you will. lets get you sobered up though, you can stay at my house tonight, we'll come get your car tomorrow." I think I was too drunk to even realize what he had just said, but I know he meant it. "thank you, but seriously I'll be fine!" I said with a slur. "oh honey." he laughed and took the plate of food from me, putting it on the side table. "Josephine, you are not driving tonight. You let me know when you want to leave, and we're gone. Okay?" I felt the sternness in his voice as he looked down on me. "Yes sir." I said and laughed. He looked so cute when he was trying to be serious. he shook his head with a smile and got off the couch. I sat there for what felt like eternity, drinking my water and eating bread and grapes. A dinner of champions. 

around 11, I was feeling it. I sobered up some, to where I felt normal. I went to the bathroom and looked at my reflection in the mirror. My face was flushed and hot, with my makeup starting to cake around my eyes. I washed my hands and went back out to the crowd. William was standing by the staircase like he knew I was in the bathroom. "hey Jo. how ya feeling?" he said with concern. "better. I think it's about time to go, everything is starting to cramp." I laughed. William was about 6'3 and his height was definitely overwhelming with him standing over me the way that he was. he looked down at me and nodded. "Okay. grab your stuff and tell Lola we're leaving." I said okay and went into the kitchen where Lola and her Fiancé Eric were. "hey love! I'm going to head out, this was so much fun. thank you for having me. Happy birthday." I said giving her a big hug. "okay! thank you for coming. how are you getting home?" She said with a concerned eye. "William." I said and gave a smile with my cheeks turning pink. Ever since I started working at the hotel, she knew everything about William. she smiled widely and gave me a high five. "please be careful, and tell me everything tomorrow." I nodded with excitement. I said bye to Eric and all the other guests. By the door, William was waiting with my shoes in his hands. "that's where they went! thank you." I giggled and playfully hit William's shoulder. he opened the door and let me go first, with no shoes onto the cold sidewalk. He closed the front door and I felt a warm hand on my lower back. "this way. its the black one." he said. go figure. he must really like black. at his car, he politely opened the passenger door for me. my legs were shaking from being so cold. I got in and rubbed my hands together to create some form of heat. William closed it and got into the drivers seat and looked at me. "you look really good sitting there." he looked me up and down and pulled a hoodie from his back seat. "here, for you to get warm." he smiled and handed me the hoodie. I put it on and buckled up. "thank you for coming, I didn't know if you would actually come." I said, rubbing my legs with the hoodie sleeves. "of course. I actually had fun. but also what other reason would I need to see you outside of work? I'm glad you asked though, because I was trying to find ways to ask you out." I looked down at my hands and smiled without him noticing. does that mean he doesn't have a girlfriend then? how long has he wanted to ask me out? all the questions were filling my brain, but what I couldn't grasp... I was in William's car. He was taking me to his house because he didn't want me to drive home. he took care of me at the party, making sure I ate something to sober up. did he actually feel something for me..?