Purpose

Cupid's Feast

Mallory had spent two hours in her family's bathroom getting ready. She tried to remember that this was no big deal, he probably does this all the time. But there was a special feeling there, one that she had never had before, not even with her ex. 

"Mallory!" Shrieked Sammael, as he pounded on the bathroom door. "Hurry up in there! I've thrown a piece of your clothing out the window for every minute you've been in there!"

"WHAT?!" Screamed Mallory. Her obnoxious little brother had done it again. Did he want to ruin her chances with Destiny? Didn't he care about her at all? Her excitement for the dinner that night controlled her like a marionette, the strings were attached to her body and her heart, and Cupid was gleefully pulling them. Was Cupid doing the same to Justin?

No, she thought. I have to stay focused... on getting my brother back.

"Raaaaah" she screamed, tearing out of the bathroom. Sammael giggled as he tossed one of her shoes into the jacuzzi beneath their balcony. "Fine," Mallory said playfully, laughing a little. "Then I break your video game." She snapped his Game Boy in half. He laughed until he nearly fell off the bed, and so did she. Nothing really seemed so important now, material things like shoes and Game Boys were nothing compared to the gravity of the dinner she would have that night. She felt like she was floating. 

Her parents came into the room from theirs through the adjoining door, cautiously. "You kids okay?" asked their mom.

"We're fine mom," said Mallory sweetly. "But I need all new clothes."

Mallory's mom couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. "You kids sure are a dynamic duo, eh? But hearts of gold." She pinched Sammael's cheek, and he tried to bite her wrist. She laughed again.

"Mom, can we go shopping now? I really need a new outfit." Mallory gave her the big doe eyes for a moment, then stopped. She needed to save that for tonight.

"Of course, sweetie. Anything to say to your sister, Sammael?" 

"Nope," said Sammael, unwrapping another lollipop. 

"Oh you silly," said Mallory's mother, rolling her eyes. "Boys will be boys, eh?"

"Let's go!" Mallory said, pulling her mother out the door.

After Mallory and her mother had bought a whole new wardrobe's worth of clothing, she chose her favorite new outfit- a tight black leather top and white jeans- she locked herself in the bathroom again. Her parents would not leave her alone, peppering her with questions that she either couldn't or didn't want to answer. Justin was still a mystery to her, and she saw him as an elegant leather-bound mystery novel that has been hidden away for so long, and now she might open up. And even when she started reading, she would learn things slowly, and all of these clues embedded inside him will add up to one conclusion...

But what?

Finally, it was 7:30, and Mallory had officially spent four hours in the bathroom. She tried not to let her hopes get up, and she repeated to herself, It's no big deal, it's no big deal, it's no big deal. It was her anthem that night, and she chanted it silently as she left her hotel room and made her way down to the restaurant at the hotel. 

It's no big deal, it's no big deal, it's no big deal, it's no big deal, it's no-

And that's when she saw him. He stood outside the restaurant wearing khakis and a button-down shirt, holding a single rose in his hand. When he saw her, his face cracked into a smile, which he quickly tried to conceal. Mallory's chant stopped, and suddenly all she could think was it's everything. 

She blushed shyly, and made her way up to him, walking a little bit faster than before. 

"Hi," she said. Before, it seemed like all of her insecurities were heavy blocks of salt, weighing her down and making everything seem bitter. But his eyes... those eyes were an ocean, and all of her worries dissolved into it, and everything seemed smaller and less important next to those eyes.