ADRIANA
“What do you mean you’re not going?” Willow’s hands are planted firmly on her hips, and she is not happy.
“Exactly what I said, Will. It’s a bad idea. It was a bad idea when I said I would, and it’s a bad idea now.” Adriana busies herself pouring out about her eighteenth cup of coffee of the day, as if she weren’t jittery enough.
“No way, uh-uh.” Willow waggles her finger at her. “There’s no way that I pulled a sickie at work to find you the perfect dress for tonight…one that will make all the men drool…for you to decide you’re suddenly not going. Besides, what’s Grayson supposed to do without a date?”
“I’m not his date! I was just supposed to be going as a friend.” Adriana waves Willow’s comments away.
“Well, dumping him at the last minute doesn’t seem like something a very good friend would do.” Willow crosses her arms and waits, knowing exactly how to play on Adriana’s over-developed sense of responsibility.
“What am I supposed to do, Will?” Adriana collapses onto the couch like a sack of potatoes. “How can I go out there and pretend that I’m okay with being his friend when I can’t stop thinking about him?” She shakes her head as if to jolt him out of her mind. “I should never have gone on that stupid date.”
“Oh, come on. It wasn’t that bad.” The uncertainty in Willow’s voice is clear.
“Not that bad? By the time the server had brought our drinks I’d already compiled a check-list of all the ways the good doctor wasn’t anything like Grayson!” Adriana hugs the cushion to her as if it might provide some comfort.
Willow sighs deeply and collapses on the couch next to Adriana staring at the bright yellow wall. “You know I think he was an asshole for the way he treated you the other night. But the guy cares about you. It’s plain for anyone with two eyes in their head to see, apart from you apparently. You told me he tried to explain why he ran off in the middle of the night, aren’t you the least bit curious to let him?”
Adriana can feel Willow’s eyes boring into her brain and covers her face with the cushion. “I hate it when you’re right,” she says miserably.
“Don’t hate the player, babe, hate the game.” Willow uses her best west-side gangster rapper voice, and they both explode into fits of laughter. When they’ve calmed down and Adriana has finally removed the cushion from her face, Willow gives her friend an expectant look. “So, is Cinderella going to the ball or what?”
“Well, it would be a shame to waste such a beautiful dress…” Adriana smiles. Willow had always had an eye for clothes, but she had really outdone herself this time. The dress that she had found Adriana couldn’t have been more perfect. It fit her like a glove, as if it were made for her. The deep green of the material brought out the color of her eyes and it skimmed over her figure, hugging her in all the right places. She wasn’t going to lie, she felt like a million dollars in the dress, which wasn’t all that far away from what it had cost her. She thinks ruefully about the credit card bill that’s going to land in her mailbox imminently.
Willow’s excitement pierces through Adriana’s post-purchase guilt. “Yey! It’s makeover time!” She leaps up, clapping her hands like a seal. “But first, I think you need to relax a little, Adrie. And I know just the thing!” Willow snaps her fingers heading straight for the liquor cabinet in the kitchen.
“Uh-uh, Will, falling flat on my face in front of everyone isn’t on my list of things to do tonight.” Adriana adds that thought to the catalogue of reasons why she’s so nervous about tonight.
“One margarita isn’t going to push you over the edge, Adrie. Now go jump in the shower, and I’ll make the drinks. It’s like the old days, making cocktails and getting ready to go out.” Willow looks all nostalgic and not a little wistful all of a sudden.
“You alright, Will?” Adriana looks at her friend, concerned.
“I was just thinking…” She trails off and Adriana is pretty sure she detects a hint of a blush, something that seems completely foreign on Willow’s face.
“About Tommy?” Adriana smiles knowingly.
Willow turns around so that Adriana can’t see her face. “I’m not wasting my time on someone who can’t tell the difference between a bimbo and the real deal. Besides, you said yourself, I don’t date younger guys.” She tosses her hair like a horse.
“Methinks you protest too much.” Adriana ducks as the dishcloth that Willow has thrown goes sailing over her head. “All I’m saying is that if you really like him then do something about it. I’ve never known you to be shy when it comes to going after what you want.”
“Sometimes it’s not quite that simple, Adrie. Besides, not all of us find our soulmates when we’re sixteen.” Willow gives her friend a meaningful look.
“Seriously, if you use the ‘s’ word again Will…You know I don’t believe in that stuff.” Adriana heads towards the bathroom to start getting herself ready, with all her debating she’s left herself with precious little time.
“Just because you don’t believe in it, doesn’t mean it isn’t true.” Willow doesn’t give Adriana a chance to reply before she puts the blender on, drowning out any possible response.