Liquid Courage

Night 019

I don’t want to remember what happened. Because until now, I still feel horrible. I feel like I failed as Cesca’s friend.

We don’t really know if that gossip was true. I can’t imagine Cesca being in a mental facility, that’s just cruel. My friend is fine, she just made a mistake. That’s what I want to believe in.

   And I don’t want to think that it did happen because I wouldn’t want her to suffer like that. We were good friends.

My phone suddenly buzzed so I reached out to the coffee table to get it. The frown in my face was replaced with a smile when I saw Ly’s name.

9:34 PM
From: Ly
Hey, giraffe! Where are you?

9:36 PM
  To: Ly
I’m in my unit, toddler. Drink your milk now or Tita will get mad.

I laughed out loud after sending that message. I’m sure Ly’s nostrils will flare as soon as she read that message. Minutes passed and my phone buzzed again.

9:40 PM
From: Ly
Whatever, giraffe. I’m drinking my cocktail now so you better hurry here at Artesian. And no, I won’t take no for an answer.

9:41 PM
To: Ly
Cocktail? You’re still weak, toddler. See you in twenty.

It took me ten minutes to finally fix myself. This one should be on the record ‘cause before, I usually take an hour to get ready whenever we have a nighout. I still can’t believe I managed to do my make-up in five minutes.

Good thing, I already took a bath when I got home earlier so my hair was already blow-dried.

A mini black dress paired with silver slingback shoes is my outfit for tonight. The dress is just plain black, what I love about it is the little details at the back—it has an X string.

Glancing at the mirror, I’m pretty satisfied with the outcome of my smoky eyes and red lipstick. Seeing myself dressed like this felt a little uncomfortable.

I’m no longer used to seeing myself so dressed. My style drastically changed since I can no longer afford all those designer clothes. When our family went bankrupt, I had to sell half of my designer outfits, three fourths of my luxurious bags and even my most prized shoes.

  Others may think I am overreacting but seeing my walk-in closet with lots of spaces now…it saddens me every now and then.

I was so used to living in luxury.

But now, I’m fine with simple. At first it was so hard for me to adjust, I just can’t believe it happened so fast. It came to a point that I don’t wanna go out because I feel like they’re looking at me, judging my normal clothes and pitying me.

In months, I accepted my situation. I can breathe more with comfy clothes. But of course, I couldn’t wear my pajamas to a night club.

Artesian was just seven minutes away from my building. I wanted to just walk or ride a jeepney because my allowance is no longer that huge unlike before. But because I’m wearing a short and tight clothing, I decided to take a cab.

I sighed. The drinks are expensive too. I’ll just do overtime tomorrow at work.

There is no entrance fee at Artesian but they are very strict so not anyone can just barge inside. I’m lucky the bouncers remembered me and with my mini black dress, I don’t look out of place. And yes, I did go here countless of times before.

Ly texted me that they are at the second floor so I made my way on the stairs. There are tables on the sides and the huge dancefloor is in the middle. Artesian was packed at the moment so it was kinda hard for me to walk fast because there are lots of people dancing.