Dear Adelaide

Chapter Twelve: Liquor and Loss

Adelaide

Abby is in my bathroom finishing her make-up when I leave to answer the door. We have been getting ready for two hours now, and Lisa is just arriving. When I open the door, Lisa rushes in apologizing for her lateness.

"Selene needed to get something across town to complete her outfit. Then she needed her hair done. I was getting dragged everywhere without my permission, Adelaide," she whines.

I roll my eyes and lead her to the bathroom, where Abby has just started cleaning up.

"No need," I say, "She needs to do her make-up too. This is Lisa, your date's sister,"

I watch them greet each other. We all decided to do a greek theme as costumes. Lisa and Selene are Achilles and Patroclus, Abby is Hera, and I am Persephone. I step into my room to change into my black and deep red dress. It has a slit all the way to my hip and flows down to the floor. To match the aesthetic, I have a sheer black scarf to wear as a toga-type accessory. My make-up consists of smokey eyes and dark red lipstick, all to show the dark side of the goddess of the underworld.

I hear a knock on the door from my bedroom, but Lisa shouts that she will answer it. I hear conversations and then the door closes.

Then I hear someone knocking. My dress is half on with the zipper halfway up.

"Who is it?" I ask looking into the mirror that reflects the bedroom door.

"It's James," 

I reluctantly walk to the door but pause when my hand meets the door knob.
I feel the sting of the fact that he hasn't made a move. He hasn't asked me to be his date.
I take a breath and open the door a bit.

"Yes?" I ask, "What is it? I'm in the middle of changing,"

I can't help but admire how gorgeous he looks. He has his own version of slutty nurse going on, with scrubs that hug his body and a V-shaped neckline that shows off his chest. A stethoscope hangs uselessly around his neck.

"James! Leave her alone, she is trying to get ready," Lisa interrupts, pushing him away.

He puts his hands up in surrender and rolls his eyes before walking off into the living room. Lisa comes into my room to help zip me up. I slip into my Louboutins completely satisfied with the way everything came through.

"Wow, you look amazing, Adelaide," Lisa says, putting on her golden helmet, "Seriously,"

"Thank you," I reach and fix her arm link, "You and Selene are going to look so cute together,"

I glance at myself in the mirror and decide to remove the scarf. The straps to the dress are thin and the front dips a bit low. The exposure should ensure some response, I hope.

We step out into the living room, arms looped around each other. I didn't realize that everyone was there, but my attention was caught too quickly by Abby and Silas who are sitting on the couch lost in a conversation.

Silas meets my eyes like he felt my gaze.
His hair is slick back, a contrast to his usual disheveled hairstyle. His skin is pale, and dark circles under his eyes are emphasized by makeup. A drip of red is painted on the corner of his mouth and on the tip of his fake fangs. The top three buttons of his crisp black shirt are open with Abby's hand resting on his chest.

"Oh, shit," Cash says getting up, breaking me away from the sight ahead of me. He walks over to me to grab my hand, "You look stunning,"

"What about me?" Lisa says, taking my hand out of his, "Don't I look stunning?"

He scrunches his face, "Selene, get this gremlin out of my face, please,"

On cue, Selene comes over and kisses the top of Lisa's helmet, whispering a compliment. Cash gags just to ruin their mood then winks at me. Whatever he says gets interrupted when James walks over.