Untitled Story

Chapter Two

"Jesus, are you ready yet?" Lucia shouts from her place on my bed, where she sits ready and waiting to get to the bar.

"Would you just give patience a try, at least once in your life? You were the one who said to look sexy, do you want me looking anything less than that?" I retort from my bathroom, slipping into my skin-tight, red dress.

"Obviously not!"

"Well then," I plump up my hair while I respond. "Give me a minute."

I add the finishing touches to my makeup and check that everything is as it should be. I went with the sophisticated and elegant look, rather than slutty - which is I'm sure what Lucia is expecting. Stepping out of the bathroom, I notice Luce on her phone in exactly the same position as I left her in. Wandering around the room, I gather the things I might need for the night - phone, purse, lipstick - and start placing them in my small bag.

"Damn girl!" I turn to face my best friend and watch as her eyes trail over my body. "I told you to look sexy, not single."

"Just because I'm married, doesn't mean that the definition of sexy has changed to 'anything without a sweater'."

She simply shrugs her shoulders. "I'm just saying, you're going to be fighting the men off you tonight."

I continue getting my things together, ignoring her last comment, when I receive a text.

'Happy birthday babe, I'm sorry I couldn't be there with you, but I'll make it up to you when I get back. Hope you're having a good day x'

"Who's that?" I hear from behind me.

Noticing that my face holds a frown, I correct it before turning to Luce. "It's Tony. He was wishing me for my birthday."

"Does he realise that it's the evening now?" This causes me to frown.

"It might be the time difference, he's in Texas." I stare at my phone trying to convince myself of that. It's not that I'm particularly fond of birthdays but considering this is the first time I've actually heard from him since he left a few days ago, it stings a bit.

"Babe," Lucia gets up and walks towards me, placing her hand on my forearm. "The time difference is an hour." She shows me a sympathetic smile. "But let's forget about this for now and have some fun."

She takes my purse from me and places my phone in the bag, picking her bag up as she walks out my room into the hallway. Grabbing my heels, I follow her into the living room, taking a seat on the sofa so I can put them on.

"You know, you didn't have to come all the way here to get ready, the bar is right by your apartment." I state to the brunette waiting for me near the door.

She looks up from her phone. "If you thought I was going to let you get ready alone on your birthday, you don't know me at all."

She manages to bring a smile to my face. "I'm just saying, you didn't have to come out of your way."

"Stop it! I love you and I want to be with you on your birthday. Now hurry up, I'm bored."

"I'm coming woman!"

After a relatively short cab ride, we pull up to the bar and I hear the music pumping before I even open the door. Stepping out the seat, I take in the atmosphere of the surrounding area, and I'm immediately filled with excitement. There's a queue to get in that goes around the block, filled with buzzing chatter. The brick building has a few neon lights across the facade, slightly hidden by the two bouncers standing either side of the door.

Lucia disregards the line and heads straight towards the bouncers. "Luce, what are you doing?" I tug on her arm gently.

"Birthday girls don't queue." Her eyes are stern, leaving no room for doubt, before she turns forward and plants the sexiest look she can manage on her face.