Pink City

PART 1

To Nathalie, my younger sister and best friend

Today is the first day of Lily's new life in the world-renowned Pink City.

I know what you're thinking. Pink City is your average Los Angeles, or perhaps your standard idea of Paris; a place you hoped endlessly to visit one day, but when you ended up arriving, turned out to be just a more urban version of your hometown choked with culture-shocked tourists.

And you would be correct. Among all the famous cities in the world, Pink City seemed the least appealing to her, from images of the landmarks in it to descriptions of it given by friends. So called "Pink" City wasn't even pink, the supposedly-pink buildings were more of a nondescript mauve color. She would've never even considered moving into that three-star apartment splat in the middle of town, were it not for Daphne.

Daphne, Lily's girlfriend for two years now, could make any surrounding around her more beautiful and vibrant in her presence. Daphne was never known for being especially kind, or witty, but she had the type of relationship with Lily that stays as strong as it is due to the six out of the 26 years of Lily's life they've spent together; as friends and now partners; and the fact that out of all the choices Daphne had, she chose to stay with her, a rather unattractive and basic girl who's used to living life the laid-back way. And to Lily it was honoring.

It is currently 7 am in Pink City; which is equivalent to about 5 am in Lily's hometown, and as someone who worked shifts in the late afternoons and slept in until around 9 or 10 am, Lily was not adjusting well at all to the shift in time zones. Had it not been for Daphne's work interview about skin care advertising, Lily could've snuck in an extra hour or two of sleep, but she already knew at this point that the option was far out of line. She sluggishly settled down at the table by the coffeemaker as Daphne anxiously paced up and down the kitchen tiles.

"Crap crap crap, Lily, we're going to be late! My first presentation in the city too! God..." Daphne's cornflower eyes glimmered with apprehension and tiny beads of sweat cornered around the freckles on her face. Her naturally flawless caramel-blonde hair was tousled at the corners, and stray hairs seemed to poke out of her scalp, mildly resembling the quills of a porcupine. She looked like a mess, and although Lily knew that Daphne was a naturally anxious person, she had never seen her in this state of distress before.

"It's going to be ok, Daphne, take a few deep breaths. In for five and out for five"... Lily said, lifting one pinched hand to her forehead and releasing it at her belly, as if to demonstrate the taking of deep breaths. Daphne ignored her suggestions.

"Lily, you don't understand! I was fine doing skin care advertisements in a small, hick-y town like Ferretown, but this is HUGE! I've been invited to work in Pink City to do mass advertising, I'm going to be late, and all the workers in the audience; Do you KNOW how bad my stage fright is? God..."

About a year ago, Daphne had applied to advertise to a small skincare brand native to her city, and given her natural beauty and lack of any blemishes, she got the job on the spot. She did advertisements for body lotion and anti-aging creams for 11 months until at the age of 25, a more industrial and widely known business called Clear Suficry offered her a job after seeing one of her commercials, and wanted her to begin her career as a model in Pink City. Given it was so far away from her home, and how she didn't want to leave anything behind, she probably would've said no, but this was Daphne, someone consumed by superficial beauty and willing to do anything for more attention. As a young child, she always dreamed of appearing on billboards throughout huge cities and starring in every other TV commercial, and an opportunity to fulfill that, especially in a huge city like Pink City, seemed to mean the world to her. So, she packed her bags and moved from grassy fields to lilac streets.