Revitalize

chapter three: goodbye beauty sleep

chapter 3 ↠ Natalia

All that I was craving during my hangover, was a refresher from Starbucks. I decided that it was a perfect day to drop five dollars on a drink that I would finish in less than 10 minutes. 

The apartment was silent once I arrived back home. Violet was still out shopping. She would not be home for at least thirty to forty minutes. I took this time alone as the perfect opportunity to clean up around the apartment. Cleaning helped me feel at ease. I was still feeling a little wonky due to my hangover. 

I vacuumed, put the clean dishes that were inside the dishwasher away, and cleaned off the countertops and table in the kitchen. By the time I finished doing this, it was 1 o'clock. Violet should be getting home soon. 

Since it was Saturday, I decided to get a head start on my homework so that I would not have to cram it all in tomorrow. With that being said, I made my way to my room, grabbed my laptop, and plopped down on my bed. 

When Violet arrived home roughly twenty minutes later, I heard her ask, "Tali? Are you here?" I got up from my spot on my bed and began walking towards the main room.

"Yes," I called out to her. As I entered the room, I saw her sitting on the couch with two gift bags in her lap.

"Perfect," Violet smiled. She motioned for me to take a seat next to her on the couch. I did so.

"What are these?" I wondered, pointing a finger at the two bags. She glanced down at them and grinned.

"I went out and got you a belated birthday gift," she stated. She handed me the bigger of the two bags and continued, "Open this one first." I grabbed it and stuck my hand in. Instantly, I felt lace and knew exactly what it was, but I pulled it out to confirm my suspicions.

"Seriously? Lingerie?" I asked. Violet broke out in a fit.

When her laughter finally died down she said, "I had already gotten your gift, so I decided to go shopping for myself because why not? And then in Victoria's Secret I saw this-" she pointed to the lingerie, "and I couldn't resist the urge to buy it for you. It's even in one of your favorite colors, even though white is technically not a color." I mean, the last part was true, but it was a waste of money. I will never wear it and will never be given the opportunity to anyway.

Violet then handed me the smaller of the bags and I slowly opened it, afraid that it would be something sexual. Possibly a sex toy. However, when I reached my hand inside, I felt a hard box. I pulled it out of the bag and realized that it was a long jewelry box. Violet had great taste, at least with jewelry, so my excitement increased as I began to open the box. Inside, there was a silver necklace with my name written in script. It was beautiful.

"Oh my gosh, I love it," I gushed.

"I knew you would," Violet beamed. She then took the necklace from me and clipped it into place on my neck. I looked down at it when she finished and smiled.

"You are the sweetest, Vi, even though you bought me an extremely revealing lingerie set," I laughed. Maybe I'll wear it someday. Probably to bed if I am feeling lonely.

Just kidding.

"Happy belated twenty-first birthday, Natalia." Violet leaned forward and hugged me.

———

Cameron

I was at home in my apartment, watching TV when my cellphone rang. I picked it up from where it was on the coffee table and noticed that it was Liam who was calling me. I hit accept and paused my movie.