Please, Miss (GirlxGirl) ✔️

39 | dinner

                 The following two days were spent traipsing through shopping centres buying food to fill my fridge, a handful of decent outfits for work, and a couple of things to dot around my apartment. I chatted to my family back in Florida, spoke to Megan and Clarice on the phone, and tried to occupy myself with trashy reality shows on television. Ultimately though, I couldn't get the underlying anxiety in my stomach to fizzle out, and considering I was meeting Alex in less than three hours, it was heightened more so than ever.

We'd decided on a small restaurant around fifteen minutes from my apartment, and we'd agreed to meet at seven.

Sat at my dressing table staring at my reflection in the mirror, I sighed. I had purple rings beneath my eyes, probably caused by my jet-lag-induced sleep disturbances. I wanted to look my best tonight, maybe not just for her sake, but for mine. I felt the urge to prove to her that I'd made it in the world, that I hadn't turned out to be some nobody with a meaningless life. I wanted to look perfect.

I spent time and care on my makeup, creating a smokey golden eyeshadow look with glossy lips. I curled my hair so it fell bouncily down my back in a mixture of auburn and chestnut waves. When I'd finally finished, I stood in front of my wardrobe for what felt like an eternity, just eyeing every outfit I owned and willing something amazing to jump out at me. I tried on seven different options before deciding on the eighth, a spaghetti-strap black dress with a split running down the side from my mid-thigh to my knee. The neckline showed off my cleavage in a way that was elegant and sophisticated, but also a little bit slutty. Perfect, I thought. I pulled on a pair of suede black stilettos, and glanced at myself in the mirror one final time. I was a bundle of nerves, but I was ready to go.

"Just relax, Evie," Clarice assured me at the end of the phone. "It'll be fine as long as you don't ruin things by being a dick."

"Great, I'll try to remember that," I tutted with a roll of my eyes. "Thanks a bunch."

"Just pretend that you're meeting with, like, Megan. I mean, sure it's been three years, but I doubt things have changed that much."

I lifted my wrist, checking the time on my silver watch. "Right, okay. I'd better go, but I'll text you and Meg later and let you know how it went, alright?"

"Good luck, don't fuck it up!"

I hung up, shoving my phone into my black purse and heading out of my apartment. Nerves fluttered through my stomach as I headed down the lift and outside into my car. The drive there wasn't much easier, and I had to keep reminding myself to breathe slowly to as not have a complete panic attack.

I pulled into the parking lot, looking around for her orange Mini Cooper. I couldn't even be certain she still had that car, but nevertheless, I couldn't see it, and my shoulders relaxed slightly.

I took a final deep breath before stepping out the car into the breezy night, heading slowly towards the entrance doors, clutching onto my purse for dear life.

"Hello," I was greeted by a woman at the doors. "Have you booked?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it should be under the name Luis. Table for two?"

"Wonderful, right this way," she said, leading me through the restaurant to a table in the corner. "Is this okay for you?"

"Sure, thanks," I nodded with a smile, sitting down and sighing. Alex wasn't here yet, which gave me some time to breathe. "Can I have a large white wine please?" I said to the lady, but suddenly my thoughts went into overdrive. Would Alex think I was rude for ordering without her? I didn't want to decide what she wanted in case she didn't like it, but I didn't want to seem like I hadn't bothered to get her one... "Actually, make that two please," I finally decided.