Two: Lucy

With a bottle of expensive champagne and her lines rehearsed, Lucy walked through the front door of her mother’s condo. Everything was quiet. She took her shoes off and walked down the marble steps into the living room. From there she was staring straight out over the city. The entire wall in front of her was nothing but windows. She could see lights and buildings. It was overwhelming at that height, looking down on everyone. She could understand why her mother loved the view so much, but she couldn’t help hating it. Lucy put the champagne down with a clink on the black marble counter along with her hand bag and called out, “Mother? Are you here?”

There was no response. Lucy walked around the kitchen island and pulled a cork screw from the drawer. She set it down beside the bottle and headed towards the bathroom. There was a mess of make-up and dresses spread around. Lucy couldn’t resist walking in and running her fingers over the silk. She stopped to look at herself in the mirror. The blue 50s styled dress with the white polka-dots that she wore was childish next to the lavish selections her mother had discarded for the evening, deemed unworthy of enough glamour for the nights festivities. The fabric of her dress suddenly felt cheap and lack luster. She turned to look at her self from behind, arching forward trying to see the notches of her spine. Facing her self in the mirror again she unzipped the dress and let it fall to the ground. After pushed through the dozen dresses she found a Jovani dress that she couldn’t ignore. It was a small cocktail dress with strapless black bust which had a crystal, star shape broach at the point of the V-cut. The rest of the dress with a powder-rose colour. It was puffy, just the way she liked it. She felt gorgeous in the dress. The black, almond toe heels she’d wore would be a perfect match, as would her black hand bag. She smiled to herself as she sat into the chair in front of the mirror.

Lucy took off her make-up and pulled her white-blonde hair into a messy pony tail. The platinum strands fell around her face, giving her cheek bones a gaunt look. She told herself that was the way it would stay all night. Her fingers ran over her cheek bones as she decided it was time for a drink. Dancing into the kitchen, Lucy grabbed the bottle and pulled out the cork. Out of respect for her mother’s place, she took a champagne flute from the cupboard and headed back into the bathroom. Filling one glass right to the brim, she thought about what her mother would say if she came home now to find her make-upless in a Jovani dress that cost more than Lucy’s monthly rent. She tried to think of smooth things to say, but she came up with nothing so she swallowed the entire contents of the flute and set it back down. From then on Lucy drank straight from the bottle.

She applied thick lines of black eyeliner and smudged it with her pinky finger. She swept a glittery silver across her eye lids and pulled it out toward her temple. She used a shade between the black and gray to finish up the look. It made her feel like a runway model. Her mother would have been so proud of her, if only she had been there like she promised she would be. Another couple mouthfuls of champagne later and Lucy was clicking her iPod into her mother’s speakers and dancing to a remix of Telepopmusik’s Ghost Girl. The champagne encouraged her to turn off all the lights in the apartment and dance in front of the windows for everyone in the city. She felt so pretty in the dark. She closed her eyes and spun around in the darkness, knowing that the entire city was in front of her, but no one could see her.

When Mia texted her asking if she needed a ride to Parker’s party, Lucy wanted to say no. Instead, she wanted to stay in her mother’s condo all night, alone. She wanted to dance to the music that she loved, not that of some snotty DJ. She wanted to stay where she was and drink her expensive alcohol without being afraid some fifteen year old off the street would steal it from her.

But then she remembered Stella. Stella was home after almost a year. Coming back wouldn’t be easy for her and Lucy didn’t want her to be alone. Especially with Mia attending the party. She picked up the phone and dialed Mia’s number.

“Hello, Mia?”

“Obviously. What up, Lucy?” Mia’s voice a complete contrast of her own. Instead of high and light, Mia’s voice could be mistaken for that of a man if heard in passing. She had a rough, smoky sound to her voice.

“I had a thought,” Lucy stopped, almost afraid of what Mia would say, “so please hear me out.”

“Do you need a ride?” Mia asked, ignoring what Lucy was saying, “I’m in your neighbourhood. I had to pick up some pot from those girls your mom told me were stocked. Good people.”

“I’m at my mother’s now,” Lucy told her.

“I’m not heading in that direction. I need to drop off the vehicle with the parental unit before I hear them bitch about it for a week, you know how it is,” Mia laughed. Truth was, they both knew Lucy knew nothing about it. Lucy tried to laugh, but instead said, “Stay in with me tonight.”

Mia’s laughter came through the phone so loud that Lucy had to pull it away from her ear. The giggles continued when Mia said, “You’re cute, Lucy. Get your little British ass over to Parker’s soon, okay? Don’t be late for the ball drop. If I can’t find anyone else, we’re making out at midnight, alright? Don’t let me down.”

“Mia, please,” Lucy said. There was no longer a way to hide the stress in her voice.

“Listen, I know where you’re going with this,” Mia told her. The rumbling noise in the background stopped and after a moment the car door slammed.

“You do?” Lucy was pretty sure that she didn’t.

“No, really I do. I ran into Parker today. He told me everything.”

“About what?” Lucy asked, just making sure that she wasn’t the one to spill the beans.

“About Stella. I know she’s back in town. I know that’s why you don’t want me to go. And I know that I’m going to be seeing a lot of her,” Mia said. Her voice was angry now. It was a tone that terrified Lucy.

“Mia, don’t do it. Don’t go. Just stay home with me,” Lucy was begging.

“Listen, Lu, I love ya and all, but I’m going to this party and if Stella Watson happens to get in my way I’ll deal with it, alright?” Mia didn’t wait to hear Lucy’s response before hanging up the phone.

Dialing Micah’s number, Lucy paced back and fourth impatiently for him to pick up. The sweet, calming way he said ‘allo caused her to stop. She sighed with relief and said, “baby, come get me” with urgency in her voice.