In the Life of a Rose

November 24, 2022

In the Life of a Rose...

Lilith's place was the opposite of mine. I had neutral colors while she had a yellow couch. Luckily, it was comfortable.

"Aren't you supposed to be getting ready?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'm going all out again. The last party we went to, the news headlines were raving on the Joker outfit. I want that again."

"That's because you're a Leo," she muttered.

I finished eating my bowl of cereal and went to my room. There, I glued down a dark red wig and blow-dried before straightening it so that it went down my my back. I did my makeup, light and brown, before sliding in my dress. It was a black shimmery, long, with sleeves, that fit my body perfectly. There was a long slit on the left leg and deep neckline that revealed my under-boob and collarbone tattoos. In the openness of my chest, black beads were fixed on my skin and I made sure to put some highlight on.

I slid on red-bottoms and grabbed a purse. As I was leaving my room, I remembered to get the red-black, laced mask that covered my eyes because the new theme was a masquerade party.

Stepping out of my room, I found Lilith in a royal blue gown, waiting for me. She even wore a crown like a princess and she slipped on a black eye mask. We then got into the car and I texted David that we were leaving.

When we arrived at the hidden mansion, the entire house had been flipped from wild lights to the dim yellow ones. There was a chandelier that hung from the ceiling on entry and the staircase had a red runway going down it.

The flooring was actually a Mediterranean-style marble that I could see in the broad light. There was even classical music playing in the distance as men in white and black passed around champagne. The guests weren't in costumes but in elegant gowns and suits and their masks that hid everyone's faces.

I spotted David and I pulled Lilith along. She had met him a few times before and knew of our history so it wasn't too bad. She just gave him a warm smile before he leaned in a kissed me on the cheek with his hand going around my waist. We weren't dating again but I had a feeling we were stirring in that direction.

"Oh my gosh, Thea!" the English woman exclaimed. I turned my head to see Lily James in a gold gown come towards me and we hugged. "It's so good to see you again."

"You too," I smiled. "This is Lilith and David."

"It's nice to meet you."

"You too," Lilith said.

"Hey," David exhaled. "I'll go grab us something to drink." He then disappeared.

The three of us sat on a velvet couch, watching as everyone strolled in chattering. I looked around the corner to find people dancing and when my gaze lifted to the balcony, I saw a man with a full-faced gold mask with the left eye covered in black.

He had a glass of champagne in his hand and the other was stuffed in the pocket of his black pants. He was wearing the same thing the servers were wearing: black pants and a white jacket suit, even the masks were the same. My breath hitched when he made direct eye contact with me as he came down the stairs. He was on his way towards us but he diverted his path when David returned, balancing four glasses in his hands.

"Thank you," Lilith said.

"This one's cider," he told me and gladly smiled, taking the glass to sip.

"I saw you looking at him," Lily leaned over to say. "That's the host."

"Do you know his name?"

"Only Mr. Gatsby," she winked, making me chuckle.