Pink City

Chapter 5

Lily drove home with Daphne in complete silence that afternoon. Except for the occasional rumbling of Lily's engine and the honking of angry cars choking the Pink City highways desperate to get home from work, not a single word from either Lily or Daphne was spoken.

Though Daphne did wonder about what Lily would say when this had all blown over. Though this was their first argument they've had since they moved to the city, they had experienced many others in the past, and notoriously, Daphne seemed to have an excuse for everything.

Daphne recalled one time around a year ago when Lily tried helping her out after losing a good friend, then bashed Lily for not being a "good support". Later on, she came crying to Lily, begging for forgiveness and saying it was because she was "hungover" from the margaritas she had yesterday during happy hour in the plaza.

And another time, insulting Lily's traits out of anger when she did not receive a call back from her first interview, and Lily nagged her to be positive after noticing her dismay. Daphne didn't mean to hurt Lily as much as she ended up doing, but she seemed to have an excuse for everything she did, and when a person is as close to you as Lily, they're usually the one you tend to lash out at. Albeit the sweet, gentle-looking lady Daphne was on her TV commercials, Daphne was very different in real life. She became belligerent when things did not go her way. Impulsive and spontaneous. And she never owned up to her actions.

Looking back at Lily at the car, Daphne felt a faint urge to apologize for calling her clingy, but based on Lily's sullen expression, she figured it would be better to leave things be for now. Plus, she had bigger issues to worry about. Daphne had heard about a year ago of a washed-up beauty manufacturer by the name of Taylor O'Braidigan, who was relatively successful in her work until implying a year later that there was no such thing as "natural beauty" and everyone had their own flaws which needed to be concealed. As despicable as Taylor's statement was, Daphne could tell why it was true; even the most successful beauty models on television had a few blemishes then and there. Daphne recalled one model from her youth with eczema who did advertisements for moisturizers. She assumed it was to make commercials more relevant to viewers, similar to what Aiko pointed out in the interview.

Aiko Aoki. That was a name Daphne had not heard since senior year in college. About seven years ago when Daphne's scholarship for a professional modeling academy was accepted, she was placed in a dorm room with another passionate modeling student, a free-spirited eighteen year old who had taken an interest in creating more realistic beauty expectations worldwide. Unlike Daphne, Aiko was very talkative and friendly, however Daphne was quite fond of this trait as she found it was harder to start conversations on her own. Albeit their opposing traits, they became fast friends, and within weeks they shared important moments of their lives and secrets with each other. One of the most important things learned throughout their relationship was that Aiko was openly bisexual.

Their first conversation about Aiko's sexuality took place after Daphne had asked about Aiko's computer wallpaper; a tricolored sunset photo that contrasted from pink to blue amid a dark beach. If she had remembered correctly, the conversation started like this;

"Wow, your wallpaper is really pretty; what is it, a belt of venus or something?"

Aiko faintly smiled at Daphne's lack of recognition, and when Daphne started to appear confused, Aiko answered her question.

"Not really; it's a regular sunset photoshopped to match the bi flag".

"Bi flag? What is that?"

"Well", Aiko said, resting a fist on her cheek. "Bi as in bisexual. I like boys and girls. Didn't you know?"

Apparently Daphne didn't. This fact was extremely astonishing to her, as she thought Aiko the last person to be queer. Aiko loved to wear her hair long in curls, wore sundresses whenever she got the chance, and overall took on a very feminine appearance. Plus, having her best friend Lily be the only other queer person she knew at the time, she also wasn't all that used to people coming out to her.