Shadow

Chapter 29

Two days is forty-eight hours. Forty-eight hours is 2880 minutes. I don't know about most people, but 2880 minutes seems like a shitload of time.

Apparently not.

Currently, we were rushing around trying to get everything ready last minute. The guys were meant to be here in an hour, and we still had a handful of tasks to complete.

You can count on me to keep everything organised.

"Aaliyah!" Fraser called as he blew up balloons to compensate for the ones that we 'accidentally' popped earlier, "Come help with the balloons."

I rolled my eyes and trudged over to him, "It's not my fault you decided that belly-flopping into a tub full of balloons was a good idea."

"Hey, it was fun, okay?"

"Well, then I bet blowing balloons by yourself would be fun as well, right?"

"But I want to share the fun with you."

I picked up a balloon and blew air into it. I hated balloons. Why would you scatter a bunch of sacks of your foul breath around and call them pretty?

I tied the end of the balloon into a knot and pushed it into the tub that Fraser was filling balloons into.

"This is lame, bye."

I walked away from a scowling Fraser, to inspect what everyone else was doing. Fraser invited a bunch of Agents to help out, and considering the fact that they usually walked around with blank expressions, they sure knew how to decorate.

I watched two Agents working together to finish off the cake. It was a three-tier, chocolate cake, covering in pearl-coloured fondant. Flowers made of red-coloured fondant trailed up the cake, giving a minimalist, yet classy look.

I didn't care about keeping everything a 'surprise', because I wasn't doing this for self-satisfaction. Albeit, I would have to say that this was the best party that I'd ever had.

"Li!" My best friend's voice called. I turned around to find her standing at the top of the staircase, "You need to start getting ready! Come here!"

I nodded and followed my best friend in her room. She was already dressed in her pearl-white cocktail dress.

Vivian walked into her closet and came out a few seconds later, "I've got the clothes laid out inside, go and get changed, then I'll do your hair and makeup."

I got up from her bed and walked into the closet, closing the door behind me. I stripped out of my clothes and slipped into the dress that Vivian laid out for me, turning to look into the mirror.

Vivian had chosen a blood-red coloured dress for me to wear. The dress ended halfway down my thighs, a little uncomfortable for my liking, but I could make do. My neck felt empty as the dress supported an off-shoulder look, the straps hanging under my shoulders. I was naturally curvy, but the dress fit closely to my curves, accentuating them.

I slipped my feet into the shoes that Vivian chose, a pair of red wedges, and walked out of the closet. Vivian's mouth hung open when she saw me, and she wiped a dramatic fake tear from her eyes, "I'm such a good bestie."

I rolled my eyes, something I found I'd been doing too frequently nowadays and took a seat in front of Vivian's dresser.

"Alright," She said, "Let's do some charity work."

...

"Tada!" Vivian said, turning my chair around to face the mirror attached to the vanity.

"What the..."