Page 15 of Desperate Haste
“You know I will. And you know what else I think?”
“What’s that?”
“I think one day soon you’ll be coming to weekly game nights too.” There’s an air to her voice that sends a shiver down my spine. I could say things with Malcolm were one and done all I want but the truth is he’s been seeping into my mind far more than my other one night flings. The way his eyes felt on my body as I sat across from Jason. How the image of his strong arms flashed across my eyes as I played with myself. The sound of his voice as he promised me he’d be the best I ever had. None of my other one night stands had that kind of impact on me before, but he did.
“Don’t be silly, darling, you know that’s not how I roll,” I say into the phone before hanging up and throwing myself back into work.
* * *
I’m sittingat the vanity in my bedroom getting ready when I hear the front door being unlocked followed by the sound of my best friend walking in.
“Honey, I’m home!” she calls out as she enters what used to be our condo. She tried giving me back her key once she had moved out but I refused. This space is just as much hers as it is mine even if she doesn’t live here anymore.
“I’m in here,” I call back, swiping a fluffy makeup brush over my cheek. My makeup is half done and I still need to slip into my costume. Looking at the clock, we have about an hour before we need to leave to head to the bar.
“I brought friends.” Hearing Bailey’s voice in my doorway gets me to turn around on the stool I’m perched on and I find not one but two other girls standing behind her. One is Magnolia who I’ve met in passing before and heard about from Bailey. The other girl is new to me.
“Hey, Ophelia, this is my friend, Margaret. I hope it’s okay that she tags along.” Magnolia waves a hand towards her friend who is just as small as she is but has ashy blonde hair. If you didn’t know any better, you would think they were sisters.
“Not at all, the more the merrier.” I smile at everyone and stand from my stool before following them out to the living room that’s just off the kitchen.
“Wine, anyone?” I offer, pulling a bottle of white out of the fridge.
“Me, please,” Bailey answers with a grin. Magnolia and Marget both nod and I pour us all a glass. “What are you dressing up as, Ophie?”
I smile at the nickname and look up at her through freshly mascara-coated lashes and a sly expression. “Catwoman.”
“Ohhh, sexy. I love it. Very you.” She takes a sip of her wine and sets it down on the counter. “Hank and I are going as Danny and Sandy fromGrease. He looks so cute, I helped him get ready before coming here. Didn’t really wanna leave once he slipped on the leather jacket, if you know what I mean.” She giggles before taking another sip of her wine. Magnolia and Margaret laugh too.
“Kolbi took very little convincing to dress up tonight but I think he also feels bad for me so he’s willing to do anything to make me happy,” Magnolia confesses with a half smile. Margaret, who is clearly her best friend, leans over and rests her head on her shoulder.
“You okay, sweetie?” Bailey asks, standing next to me on one side of the bar. She and I are facing Margaret and Magnolia who are perched on the stools on the opposite side of the counter.
“Yeah, it’s just hard, you know? My parents, for all their faults, are still my parents and I still love them. I just wish things hadn’t ended like they did.”
“Maybe they’ll come around. It’s still so fresh, you know?” Bailey, always the optimist, tries.
“Yeah, maybe. Probably not though. You don’t know them like I do. When they make up their minds, they commit and I don’t think there’s any talking them out of this one.”
I’d heard how Magnolia’s parents had cut her off after choosing to love Hank’s best friend, Kolbi, over some man they expected her to marry. After Bailey told me about how they cut her off and sold her condo out from under her, I had nothing but respect for her for sticking to her guns. She has a bigger pair of balls than a majority of the men I’d taken home with me over the years. But from the way her face pauses and she blinks hard, I can tell she’s trying not to cry. Hoping to lighten the mood, I clink my glass with hers.
“To new beginnings and fresh starts. And to looking hot as fuck on Halloween and making silly men fall at our feet.”
“Now that’s something I can get behind,” Margaret agrees and we all laugh.
Over the next hour, we all change and put together our costumes. Bailey slips into her leather pants and bodysuit while Magnolia changes into an all black outfit crafted by leather pants, a leather jacket, and pair of heeled Louboutin boots that I would seriously consider celibacy to own. Her and Kolbi are going as Mr. and Mrs. Smith, hence the all black ensemble. Margaret slips into a white bodysuit and skirt, pairing her outfit with a sailors’ hat before tying a navy blue scarf around her neck.
“I’m manifesting my own man in uniform.” She winks and Bailey’s joyful laugh fills the condo like it has so many times before.
As we’re walking out, I grab a small, black leather purse from my closet and start to put my essentials in it.
“What the heck can you even carry in that thing, Ophie? It’s so small.” Bailey slips into a pair of red heels to complete her outfit from the couch and has her eyes casted towards where I am in my bedroom. I toss the last remaining things into the bag and place it in the crook of my arm before meeting the group in the living room.
“It might be small but it carries everything a lady needs,” I explain, talking into the bag as I do. “A tampon, because you never know. A travel sized deodorant, because no one wants to stink. Some cash and a credit card. My keys and lipstick. And, of course, a condom.” I pull out the contraception and hold it out for everyone to see and I have to hold myself back from bursting into a fit of laughter. Magnolia and Margaret look horrified while Bailey doesn’t look surprised in the least.
“You just carry condoms around with you?” Margaret asks in a whisper as if God himself will hear us talking about premarital sex.
“Of course I do. The last thing you wanna carry home from a good time is an STD or worse, the seed of a man you hardly know. I always like to make sure I have my own form of protection just in case he’s an idiot and isn’t prepared.” I wink at my two new friends as Bailey shakes her head at me.
