Page 16 of So This Is Love

“Or we could not and I can keep watching my show,” I reply.

“Please, it’ll be fun! And we haven’t gone out together in forever.”

“You know what’s also fun, staying warm in my bed and watching my show.”

“Ha ha,” Zara replies, sarcastically. “This is like your fiftieth rewatch of this show, it will be here tomorrow.”

“Where do you even want to go?”

“Tristan invited me to the soft opening of his lounge tonight and told me to bring a friend.”

I lay back against my pillows and sigh. “I don’t even have anything to wear.”

“Liar, I can think of at least four outfits that you can wear. So next excuse.”

Zara looks at me with raised eyebrows and crosses her arms, waiting for my next rebuttal. But I don’t have one because she’s right, we haven’t gone out together in a while. I have been so wrapped up with work and then the holidays and more workbecauseof the holidays. Maybe a night out is what I need.

“Fine, I'll go.”

“Perfect!”

Zara climbs out of my bed and goes over to my closet, shuffling through my hangers.

“What are we thinking? Skirt? Dress? Oooo this is cute.”

Zara holds up a silver mini dress.

“If you’re forcing me to go out, I at least want to wear pants. It’s cold as hell outside.”

“Force is such a negative word,” Z replies. “I’m helping you get out of the house to have some fun.”

Zara keeps going through my clothes until she pulls out another hanger with a pair of black leather pants that I’ve never worn. She takes them off the hanger and tosses them on the bed next to me. “Here, pants.”

I groan again because I really don’t want to go but I stand up, leaving the warmth and coziness of my bed behind. I walk to my bathroom, turning on the light as I enter. My hair has been pulled up into a bun on the top of my head all day. I pull the scrunchie from my hair and let my curls fall loose down my back.

Zara’s bathroom has always been our unofficial get ready together place so I grab my makeup bag and hair products to go in there. When we moved into this place, we decided she could have the primary bedroom and ensuite so her bathroom is slightly bigger with way more counter space. Zara follows me into the bathroom and connects her phone to the speaker, selecting a playlist to hype us up while we do our hair and makeup.

Getting ready does lift my mood. Singing along to songs I love with my best friend while making myself feel pretty will always do it for me. Even when my eyeliner decides to look like cousins on their daddy’s side instead of sisters. With one last swipe of lip gloss, I step back from the mirror satisfied with my look. My makeup is light, mainly concealer and a soft eyeshadow look. My curls are refreshed and I just leave my hair down. It's been a few days since wash day so I have all the volume but I’m not mad at it. I pack my things back up to take them back to my own room. Zara is still working on her hair, adding more gel to try to get her short, platinum blonde hair to lay flat in finger waves. She bleached it our freshman year of college and has been platinum blonde ever since, a color that suits her well.

In my room, I put all my products away and change into my outfit for the night. I do wear the leather pants and pair it with a white corset top and strappy heels that I will for sure regret by the end of the night. I walk out of my room and see Zara pulling out two shot glasses to go along with the bottle of liquor from our bar cart that she’s already placed on the counter. In college, Zara and I would always pregame with at least one shot, a ritual that we have continued on even now.

She pours up for both of us and slides mine towards me. We raise our glasses to each other, clinking them together before we down them, the burn of the alcohol causing me to cringe as it goes down.

Zara puts her heels on and while we wait for the ride share we ordered we take pictures together. Some on our phones and some with my polaroid until we’re both satisfied. My phone pings with the notification that our driver is approaching.

“One more for the road?” Zara asks, eyebrows raised.

Fuck it, why not.

I pick up my abandoned shot glass for her to fill up again.

“Yesss,” Zara replies, pouring us up again.

We take the shots quickly and then grab our things to head out the door.

***

There’s a small line outside of Oasis when we step out of our rideshare but Zara doesn’t pay it any mind and walks directly up to security at the door and I follow behind her. I can hear some slight mumbles from some upset people in line but I don’t pay them any mind. The guy at the door hands IDs back to two girls and steps aside to let them in the building and then turns his attention to us.

---