In another life

9

Once we got into the hall we started to set up which didn't take long. Just a few tables and chairs. The bouncy castle hire arrived and the man put it up and left.

Elsie is loving it already, she ran right into it the second I finished painting her face. Which didn't actually go too bad, I found some images to copy off of and she's happy. Izzy didn't want anything fancy so I gave her little flowers on the side of her eye and glitter.

"Okay, all done" she looks in the mirror and smiles,
"I love it, thanks mum"
"It looks great" Mia chimes in,
"Do you want some too?" I ask,
"Oh I'm okay"
"Come on Mia it's fun!" Elsie shouts from the bouncy castle,
"Glitter or bouncy castle?" I ask trying and failing to hold in my laugh and she sits down in front of me,
"I'm just getting some glitter sweetheart" she shouts back to Elsie.

"Okay, what would you like?"
"The same as you" I just have some glitter on each side going from my eyebrow to my cheek. I nod and gently brush some of her away and clip it up.

"What colour would you like?" I ask as I gently brush it onto her skin,
"Blue please" as I'm tapping the glitter on I catch her eyes and she smiles,
"Okay" I lean back to make sure it looks perfect, "now close your eyes" she does so and I blow slightly to brush away the access glitter, "and done"
"Thank you sweetheart"
"No problem. People should be here soon, I should sort out that food"
"I'll help"

Soon enough there are plenty of kids running about and a few parents that decided to stay. I'm in the kitchen with Mia when the door opens and Jason walks in with a woman,
"Hey Char, sorry we're late. This is Maddison" she's pretty.
"Hi, it's lovely to meet you. This is Mia"
"Hi"

...

The party is coming to an end and most of the kids have gone home now. We sang happy birthday and Elsie blew out her candles on her cake, Jason played some games with the kids and I painted a few more faces. The kids loved the bouncy castle too. Honestly, I think it was a big success.

There are two girls left apart from mine. Grace and Sofia. Their mum Emma called me to say she was running a bit late but It works out perfectly because Grace is in the same class as Izzy and then Elsie and Sofia are best friends.

Tonight the girls are going back with Jason. This weeks schedule has been kind of muddled up with Elsie's birthday but I get them back Monday and everything will go back to normal.

"Mummy!" I look over at the door and Emma walks in,
"Hey I'm so sorry I'm late"
"It's alright the girls loved a bit of extra time"
"I don't want Sofia to go yet!" Elsie crossed her arms and huffs,
"You'll see each other at school"
"We will arrange a playdate one day, okay?" Emma suggests,
"Yay!" The girls squeal together.

They say goodbye to their friends and Elsie sits on one of the chairs
"So have you had a good day sweetie?"
"The best! Can I open some presents now?"
"You can when you get home, let's just finish up here first"
"If you want to go back I can handle the rest here" I suggest,
"Are you sure?"
"Of course, the guy for the bouncy castle will be here any minute and we just need to put the rest of the chairs away and sweep up that confetti. Mia and I've got it"

I say goodbye to the girls and Mia and I pack the rest away. The guy comes to take the bouncy castle and the owner of the hall comes to collect the keys.

...

Mia and I decided to stop for some real food before we went home and now it was nearly six.

She invited me over to hers and I've never actually been here before. Her house is big and very nice. I knew she had money but I didn't expect this.

"Your house is beautiful"
"Thank you sweetheart. It's been a little abandoned as I've been over seas for quite some time" she leads me into the kitchen, it's big and mostly white and grey like the rest of her house.

"Thank you for helping out today"
"No problem, I loved it"
"I appreciate it" she walks over to the fridge, "would you like a drink?"
"Sure" She smirks and takes out two bottles of wine. Ohhh. That kind of drink. Of course. Well, it is Saturday and I have a child free weekend,
"Red or white?"

Mia and I moved into the living room and let's just say one drink may have turned into three. Spotify was playing on her speaker and we talked. I never really had nights like this before. I mean I've been out of course but very rarely. I've only known Mia for a week but I feel like we've just clicked. Being with her is different from being with my other friends. She is crazy and reckless but so sweet and the girls adore her. I just can't believe how close we've gotten over only a few days.

"Oh my god I love this song!" Mia stands from the sofa and starts dancing. See, she's crazy! She comes over to where I'm sat and grabs my hands to pull me up
"Dance with me!"
"You're so drunk!" Being with Mia is unpredictable, you never know what she'll come out with. But it's fun. She is like a breath of fresh air from my usual life. Not that I don't like my life, but sometimes it feels like I'm stuck in the same everyday cycle. And being with Mia is different, like I was free of all the responsibilities and pressure. Kind of like I was a teenager again.

I mean never in my life did I think I would be dancing with a woman I've known for a week in her living room and drinking fancy, most likely expensive, wine. That doesn't sound like me at all, but it's fun and fresh and honestly, I couldn't be happier.

Mia takes one of my hands and spins me around. I laugh but stumble a little and her hands move to my waist to stabilise me.
"Thank you" I laugh
"No problem sweetheart" I try to step back but this drink is really hitting me and I fall the other way right onto Mia
"I'm so sorry" I lean back and she's laughing, her hands haven't moved from my waist so I can stand properly "this is why I don't drink"

Wow I must be really tipsy because if feels as though the room is spinning around us and Mia is getting closer and closer and-