Of Ginger & Spice

R&N: Montparnasse, Topaz, Louboutin...Love

50: R&N: Montparnasse, Topaz, Louboutin...Love

9 pm, New York Luxury Apartment, Tory's Bedroom

The two newest arrivals to the Valensi family were indicated by the bundles in Macy and Harry's arms. "My family," Tory had written. Indeed.

5:43 am, Three Days Later, New York Luxury Apartment, Master Bedroom

The melody of an original Melanija Paradis song gently floated upward to the lofty master bedroom, where it was immediately detected by Abigael's sharp ears as she sprang upright in bed, jolted out of her slumber. Removing her silken sleeping mask, she stared around in the darkness for several prolonged seconds. Preternaturally a light sleeper, she had only become more so after the sudden arrival of Tory, her little firebrand of a pixie, and her accompanying antics and escapades. As Abigael's eyes slowly adjusted, she glanced over her shoulder in Mel's direction, as if to say, do you hear the music too? Only to find an empty space and a tiny envelope. Curious, she opened it:

Meet me for a sunrise dance in ten minutes. -M

Abigael stifled a yawn, then another, her eyebrows raised. What could be the meaning of this? She couldn't remember the last time they had time for such frivolity—but perhaps that was the point of this sunrise dance, to become better acquainted with each other once more, especially after becoming first-time parents to a high-energy child.

5:45 am, New York Luxury Apartment, Master Bedroom

She checked her timepiece. Eight minutes until the event. Abigael hurriedly stumbled to her dress closet, reaching for the nearest piece of clothing she could find, a royal blue Kiki de Montparnasse plush asymmetric paneled velvet and silk-chiffon dress from Net-a-Porter.

Glancing at the bottom of the adjoining shoe rack, Abigael grabbed her Silver Iriza Christian Louboutins, her precious-yet-durable metallic, scintillating, sparkling leather high heel shoes. Custom-made in Italy in an aesthetically pleasing d'Orsay profile, they had artfully-crafted pointed toes and matched just about every article of clothing she had, whether it was casual, chic, or ballroom—important especially now as she often found herself chasing Tory down the condo's countless hallways, or through Eataly in New York City's Flatiron District (after she made the mistake of giving Tory a slice of Nutella "pizza" for dessert—thick Italian oven-baked bread slathered in warm chocolate hazelnut spread and garnished with marshmallows and mint leaves). Never again. It was then she realized the amplified impact sugar had on a child's rapidly fast-acting metabolism.

5:48 am, New York Luxury Apartment, Master Bedroom

Austere black onyx or multi-tonal blue topaz? Abigael regarded the two distinct bracelets with a critical eye. She'd never been summoned before her girlfriend at 5:53 in the morning for a sunrise reverie before, so she knew she had to make this count. Maybe then, she thought to herself, there would be more dances of this sort, in secret, between the shadows of dusk and dawn. She plucked the topaz bracelet and clasped it around her left wrist, its ocean grey-blue and pale sky-blue hues glittering from the light pouring through beneath the towering bedroom door.

5:50 am, New York Luxury Apartment, Stairway

Breathe, she admonished herself furiously, gathering her skirts in one arm, holding the stair railing in her other hand, as she made her way down the stairs to the living room where her Cricket was waiting. Why were her hands shaking so? Why was her heart racing as if it were powered by a surge of Astrape and Bronte's lightening? It was most curious to her that of every life experience she had to date, including fighting off nefarious forces and negotiating amongst the worst of them (to the death, oftentimes), that her hands would be trembling at the thought of approaching her dearly beloved before the sun's very rising.