Love Always Find Its Way

The Surprise

The week went by faster than Alice expected and Leslie had convinced her to celebrate her new job in one of London's hottest pubs.  Alice wanted to put on her wider pajamas, make two bags of popcorn and watch several episodes of her favorite series on her computer, but she knew that if she said that to Leslie, her friend would kill her.

So there she was, in front of the mirror, fighting a battle with the eyeliner.  At nine sharp, the intercom rang and Alice knew it was Leslie waiting for her in the building's lobby.

Hurrying, she took her wallet, keys and petted Venus, that was lying on Alice's bed.

"Warm up the bed for when I arrive, Venus."

Before leaving the apartment, Alice looked at herself in the mirror she had bought the day before, and checked the clothes she had chosen.  A basic black dress with long sleeves and an opening at the back, she wore black pantyhose to protect herself from the cold, shoes with thick heels not to get tired easily and her hair was loose, falling in loose curls over her shoulders.  The auburn color contrasted with the black of the dress.  She was still undecided whether to keep her red lipstick on or not, but the noise of the intercom ringing again made her decide to leave it anyway.

She picked up her usual long black coat and left, locking the door afterwards.  Downstairs, she met and greeted Leslie and her boyfriend, Jean-Pierre, a Frenchman who had gone to London only to study, but after meeting Leslie decided to stay, and considered England his second home already. He and Leslie had been together for seven years now and Alice couldn't think of anyone better for her friend than Jean.

"At last! I thought you had given up."  Complained Leslie hugging Jean and trying to contain her blond hair that flew by the wind.

"I thought about it several times, but you were going to kill, so I'm here."

"Great! You'll love the place. It's very well-attended. They say that even your boss goes there every now and then."  Leslie said, giving Alice a malicious wink.

"Charlie?"  Alice asked, pretending to be teasing to provoke her friend.

"No, Alice! Henry! If Charlie goes to a place like this, Heather kills him!"

Alice just laughed.  She met Heather.  Charlie's family was in England this week on vacation and she stopped by the production company to pick him up for lunch.  Very nice, but it would certainly kill him if he went alone to a place like Leslie described.

Jean-Pierre got them a taxi and the three went to the place Leslie talked about all week.  Alice still wasn't sure what it was, if it was a nightclub, a more upscale pub.  She just followed her friend's 'orders' and there she was.

It didn't take long and they soon arrived at a nightclub.  Just by the facade, Alice knew that she would consume only water.  If it were for free, because if she had to pay, she would think twice.  Walking beside Leslie and Jean, Alice was surprised to find that Leslie handed the bouncer three VIP tickets.  The three received a green bracelet each and the entry was cleared.  Before they finally entered the club, they left their coats with one of the club's employees and Alice took the chance to clarify her doubts.

"Leslie, how did you get these?"  Alice asked worried that her friend had spent so much money on her.

"Relax, I won as a prize for last month's sales. Enjoy it, Liz. You deserve it!"

As they entered the main floor, the variations of lights and the loud sound of the music drowned out any chance of communicating with Leslie or Pierre and she had a hard time following them through the crowd.  She saw when the two went up the stairs that gave access to the VIP area and did the same.  She thought she would find them easier up there.  How wrong was she! It didn't take long and Alice totally lost sight of them.  The VIP area looked more like a maze, and all the noise and the lights that changed colors all the time, was making Alice dizzy.