The Masked Singer

[Chapter Forty One]

Chapter Forty One

"Are you almost done?" the sound of Lucy's cranky voice filters through the bathroom door. My eyes stay trained on the clock on my phone. I'm going to eventually have to leave the bathroom at some point tonight, but that doesn't make me feel any better about the situation.

Since Nathan confirmed Alex's presence at dinner, my stomach has been on edge. I'm so consumed with nerves. All I can think about it the awful scene unfolding if he recognises me without my mask on.

"I'm almost finished," I yell back.

Half way through taking a deep breath, the golden door handle starts jiggling – I internally groan, why is Lucy so impatient?

"Riley, we are running late, you need to come out now," she says in a panicked voice. I nod my head and then realise she can't see me. I undo the lock and rip the door open.

Lucy stands there with a panicked expression on her face. Although it should have worried me equally, I couldn't help but focus on her outfit. She'd chosen a beautiful white dress that hugs her slim figure. The thin material finishes halfway down her thighs, shorter than my dress. Lucy also managed to spend time applying her makeup - something I couldn't be bothered with. Her large eyes are framed with a thin coat of eyeliner. There is a minimal amount of light pink eye shadow which makes her appear soft.

"Let's go." She nods her head and offers her elbow for me to take. I sling mine through and we walk out. Mom and Hannah are standing by the front door already to go. Just like Lucy, their appearances are somewhat perfect and a feeling of doubt sets into my stomach; maybe I should have put more effort into my appearance tonight?

Mom's in the beautiful red dress I brought her. The fabric is thick and hugs her body; it's also got a small v line cut and finishes just above her knees. Her chocolate brown hair has been straightened so it looks like sheets falling around her face. There's a small red flower hair piece clipped into her hair which pushes her hair out of her eyes.

Hannah has taken a bold approach to her look. Her hair is in tight bouncy curls with smoky eye makeup. The top of her dress is a black corset with a netting sort of fabric that puffs out underneath. She's sort of rocking the gothic chick look.

"I feel so normal right now," I whisper to Lucy as I look at Hannah.

"Agreed!" I'm wearing the dress I bought today with a pair of heels that were shoved at the bottom of my case. I hadn't put much effort into my hair or make-up. I'd washed my hair, brushed it and pushed it over my shoulder. I'm fortunate enough to have natural loose curl. I applied mascara and a deep red lipstick since I'll have to re-do my make-up later.

"You look beautiful," my mother says.

"Thank you." I smile.

"We're running late," Lucy everyone.

"Since when did you start caring about our arriving time?" I ask. This girl has never had any sense of time or consideration when it comes to arriving at a place. You could organise to meet up at a particular time and she would be late! What had changed now?

"It's not every day that you get to have dinner with a famous person." She smiles giddily, almost bouncing on her toes, "and I don't want all the time to be wasted in this hotel room," she adds.

"Fine, let's go," I groan.

Lucy races off, dragging me along with her. I have to run to keep up with her fast pace.

"Could you walk any quicker?" I ask, but I soon realise my mistake. As we run around the corner, I briefly catch a glimpse of Hannah and Mom walking this way. At least they aren't too far behind us.