A Whole Bunch of Loki's

Business as Usual - Part Three

The shopping trip had been one of the weirdest ones I have experienced in my life, but it was also nice.

Loki was a surprisingly good shopper and took my opinions and taste into account as we searched for the perfect outfit, though he refused to see my final decision and occupied himself instead with hiring a make-up artist and a hair stylist.

This all felt far too extravagant for such a insignificant person such as myself, but for once in my life I was going to try and enjoy getting treated like a celebrity.

Once all was said and done, we grabbed a very small bite to eat; 'There shall be food at the event, best not to stuff ourselves,' Loki had said, then we went our separate ways to prepare for the evening at our homes.

I had an hour to myself, which was when I tried to find time to myself to unwind from the day's sudden turn of events and prepare myself for what was about to happen.

As I suspected they would, they knocked on the door ten minutes early and from there it was a whirlwind of a dress, accessories, make-up and hair spray.

It was strange having people doting on me and controlling how I looked

Being pampered was something I definitely didn't want to get used to, I had never been a particular fan of putting on make-up personally and didn't particularly like the feeling of having it on my face unless it was Halloween, but when I looked into the mirror when all was said and done, I could barely recognise myself.

There was no possible way the woman in the mirror was me, she was elegant and looked amazing compared to my frumpy self.

Staring at my reflection, at this beautiful woman stood before me, made my confidence surge and suddenly I felt ready to face the night.

At least I was until I was led to the car that would take me to the event, then I was a shuddering mass of nerves all over again.

Bunching up the bottom of my dress, I stepped into the back of the car to be greeted by a well-suited Loki.

Although I was used to seeing him in a suit, something about this felt different, he somehow looked better than in any others I had seen.

I put this down to the fact that it was mostly black but had green cuffs and lapels and faint gold pin strips around certain edges that only showed when the clothes caught in the right light.

"You took your time."

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, though it seemed that he was more focused on checking out my make-over than looking at me.

"The car has just pulled up."

"Your point?"

I rolled my eyes and smiled, looking out of the window as the car pulled away and led us through the hectic traffic.

The closer we got, the more my leg bounced as nerves continued to swell, my brain racing through all the things that could go wrong and how many pictures of me there would be out there that I'd never want to see, not even on my deathbed.

Loki didn't take long to tune into my nerves and reached over, resting a hand on my bouncing knee to settle it and give it a squeeze which was accompanied by a reassuring smile.

"Relax, you'll be fine."

"I don't know," I shook my head, "I've never done anything like this before."

"All the more reason to try and enjoy it."

I wanted to retort that it was okay for someone who looked like him to say, someone who probably had never had an ugly day in his life, but for people like me it was different.

I was just an office worker, a mere assistant who helped organise small parts of these events, I wasn't made for glitz and glam and especially wasn't made for the lights that were flashing outside as the car came to a stop.

Staring out the window, I started to shake my head and looked at him in what felt like wild panic.

"I don't think I can do this."

"You can," Loki smiled, giving my knee another squeeze, "you look amazing and everyone will love you."

"Oh please, no one has this far in my life."

"I doubt that's true."

"Yeah, well, welcome to my personal life."

Loki sighed, shaking his head a little.

"I'm sure people have paid attention to you, you just didn't notice."

I looked at him, unsure of how I was meant to respond so instead we stared at each other for a few heartbeats before he pulled away and opened the door.

"I certainly think you're a beautiful young lady," he said before stepping out of the car.

I stared at his back, chewing on my lip and shaking my head slowly as his words gradually sunk in.

"No, you think my make-over is beautiful, not me."