Page 26 of Second Chances
Handing her now empty glass to the one bartender, Beth walked out of the room, noticing the staff had moved the mask table right inside the entrance now that the birthday banner had been hung. Now, it was time to head back to Darcy’s where the real work would begin.
She still thought it ridiculous that her whole body warmed at the thought of seeing him tonight. Even though she knew he wasn't at the apartment yet, her heart still picked up the pace as the cab pulled up to the Plaza and she haphazardly gathered all her bags and made her way up to the penthouse.
Just breathe, Beth. There’s nothing to worry about; everything is under control for tonight.
You can handle Darcy.
The phrases repeated loudly, over and over in her head as she closed the door into the perfectly silent apartment. Setting her purse on the entry table, she took her laptop bag and the Rent-the-Runway box into the bedroom with her. It wasn’t unusual for her to feel anxious before an event; she was OCD about her job and always had lingering concerns, in spite of her many lists, that she had forgotten something. Beth tried to tell herself all week that this time was no different, but it was; she hadn’t been herself at work lately and it reflected in her performance. Tonight, was her first event since Phil had come to talk to her and she wanted to show him as much as herself that she hadn’t lost anything by agreeing to try this relationship with Darcy. She finally admitted to herself that on top of that work stress, the anxiety of being with Darcy in public, as a couple, was a giant unknown for her and she really didn’t do well with the unknown; it tormented her need to be in control of the situation - which, of course, only added to her anxiety.
Pulling her laptop out, she opened it and set it on the bed, pulling up a new browser window and typing in Pandora.Music can fix anything.Ok, maybe it wouldn’t fix her anxiety but it would help to divert her focus onto the task at hand which was making herself look presentable. She clicked on ‘Taylor Swift Radio’ and turned the volume up, letting “Shake It Off” play enthusiastically from the speakers.
Turning her attention to the package containing her dress for the evening, she unzipped the garment bag.
Moment of truth.
Pulling out the dress from the plastic, she held the hanger up in front of her inspecting her choice and then up against her assessing the length. Even though it wasn’t on, Beth knew the dress was going to look incredible. Laying it gently on the bed, she went into the bathroom to start her hair and make-up, wishing Jane were here to help her.
She pulled out her curling iron, but decided against the added frustration of trying to get her hair to cooperate in loose curls tonight. Thinking about it further, the high neck of the dress seemed to cater better to her hair being pulled up rather than being let down. Grabbing her phone, she opened up Pinterest and searched for ‘formal upstyle hair.’ Scrolling down the results, she skimmed over a majority of pins that were just too intricate and way beyond her skill level. Glancing at the time, she saw that it was almost five o’clock.
Two hours. Shit.
Taking another deep breath, she kept scrolling, stopping as a simple, high, sock-bun caught her eye.
Seems simple enough…
Tapping on the pin, Beth read through the instructions on the website, deciding that it seemed like something she could handle. Grabbing an older sock from her drawer, she cut off the toe portion and loosely rolled it up into a donut shape. Brushing her hair, she flipped her head over and brushed her hair smoothly into a ponytail sitting high on her head. Checking in the mirror to make sure there were no bumps or any missing pieces of hair, she pulled her ponytail through her sock donut and smoothed the hair down over all sides. Quickly securing it with another hair tie, she made sure none of the sock was showing through before tucking the ends of her hair underneath the bun with a few bobby pins. Using her phone, she examined her work from all angles, making sure that it looked good.
Never quite as good as on Pinterest, but close enough.
Switching gears, she grabbed her travel makeup bag from in the closet and googled a simple smokey-eye tutorial. Following the YouTube directions, Beth quickly did her makeup, humming along to the LoCash song playing on her computer. She took a quick selfie and texted it to Jane, asking her if she looked ok.
~You look great, Beth! Can’t wait to see it with your dress.
Jane’s response made her smile. She knew Jane wouldn’t tell her if it looked bad, unless itreallylooked bad.
-Thanks, still wish you were here to help me.
~I would have come over, or you could have stopped here. You did a great job though, you don’t need me!
- Thanks, sis. I’ll send you a pic of my dress later.
~Ok! Good luck! Have a good night!
- Actually, did you know that Caro is going to be at my event tonight?
~Oh, no. I didn’t know she knew Renée.
- Me neither. She emailed me earlier and said that she would see me later. I was surprised she didn’t say something earlier.
~Yeah, that is interesting. Maybe she just got the invite or just decided that she could make it.
- Yeah, maybe. Ok, gotta run - talk to you later!
It was five-twenty and still no sign of Darcy. She knew that he was going to be working late but some part of her had hoped that he would be back a little bit before they had to leave. As if he knew that her thoughts had drifted to him again, her phone buzzed with a new message from ‘Mr. Intolerable,’ ironically just as Luke Bryan’s “Hard to Love” came on Pandora.
Isn’t that the truth,Beth thought to herself as she slid open the message. She also should probably change his name in her phone but she just couldn’t help that the nickname had turned from one of hostility into an endearment.
-Running late. Sorry. See you soon, gorgeous.
