Eloïse sauntered into the kitchen, mesmerized by the sweet scent of vanilla-flavored pancakes, where she met her mum was serenely flipping through the pages of a magazine in front of a cup of coffee as always.
"Good morning, mum," she kissed her mum and drove straight to the fridge, plucked out a bottle of fresh milk, and returned to the island. "Any updates on the show?"
"Nothing worth the worry." She shut her magazine portraying a fishy grin that made Eloïse want to join her friends back in bed.
The latter who had begun developing a nauseating feeling of paranoia focused her attention on anything else but her mum with a grimace yet a flush.
Zaphrina hummed in one of her many subversive tunes, "What's his name? How's he? Did he ask you out?" She attacked.
"Jesus, mum! I didn't even attempt to open my lips."
"You didn't have to, your face said it all. Come on, sweetheart," Zaphrina nearly squealed.
Again, Eloïse grimaced.
Heaven knew how much she wanted to spend more time with Craig but it was rather unfortunate that she loose track of him after Marila had cut her cake. She had embarked on searching for him with the pretense of going to the restroom just to return to the concrete bench to see it was void of human presence.
With a beaten-up countenance, Eloïse didn't feel like being a part of the party anymore. After all, the most essential part of it had been done so she left the party with the excuse of a sudden sickness.
"His name is Craig," she mixed her cereals, "he's good looking," she shrugged, "and no, he didn't ask me out."
"When are you bringing him home? There are some delicious recipes I'll love him to bite."
Eloise dramatically rolled her eyes, "to cut the story short and burst your bubble, I didn't see him again during the rest of the party." She took in a spoonful of cereal interiorly jubilating to have shut down her mum from the unwanted topic.
As expected, the woman's agitated stance slumped.
Bethany barged in and walked past the duo straight to the microwave to help herself with some pancakes.
"We didn't sleep on the same bed, did we?" Zaphrina switched to stern mode referring to her younger daughter.
"Sorry, mum," she dished herself half a dozen, "I didn't want to interrupt your conversation. Good morning."
"Food flooded brain. How are you going to be a catch?"
"Hey, don't start with me, Eloïse. Besides, I never told you I wanted to be a catch."
"Stop you two. It's too early for drama." Zaphrina's phone rang, "hum. It's your dad. I guess he wants to find out if you got home safely."
"Tell him you found me wasted beneath Hudson bridge."
Zaphrina replied to the call and walked out of sight.
"Heard Mr. Cinderella disappeared before twelve. I bet he'd had enough of you stammering." Bethany laughed uncontrollably.
"Not funny, brat. What did mum say about eavesdropping?"
"Nothing."
Eloïse was ready for a food fight until Zaphrina walked in, "uh-uh, girls, you won't like it if I repeat myself."
Bethany stuck her tongue out to her sister.
"Good morning, everyone." Marila and Bennie walked in on the scene. "Smells good in here," the latter sniffed.
"Help yourselves with some pancakes, hun. Eloïse was just telling me about the party. I'm glad it was successful," Zaphrina started.
"Yes, Mrs. Woods. I had some friends come over from Cali. It was more than I imagined."
That made Eloïse want to ask her about Craig. If she still had a bit of a link to him but on second thought, she bid out. It was going to be another men lecture and whatnot.
"You must have a sea of friends," Zaphrina innocently smiled. "Tell me, do you happen to catch up with all of them or know all of them? by name, by face, and all that."
Eloïse choked on a poorly masticated cereal.
"Not all," Marila poured syrup on her pancake, "but a good number of them."
Zaphrina nodded seriously. All Eloïse wished was to dot out or have her mum and sister dot out. When Nathan added, she excused herself to leave the table, reached her room, and messaged her friends to join her.
"What's up with you?" Marila asked the hyperventilating Eloïse, "you look like you're going to pass out any moment soon."
"Where's Bennie?"
"She wouldn't leave until she finishes her meal. You know how she is when it comes to food."
"What else did mum ask while I was gone?"
"If I was enjoying the food." Marila looked perplexed.
"Is that all?"
"You were gone for just a minute. What's wrong with you?"
Bennie walked in and Eloïse couldn't help but ask a similar question.
"If I saw you with someone," she deadpanned.
"Ha! And your reply was..." Eloïse narrowed her eyes into slits.
"Yes. Why?"
"Hum. Your mum is just as worried as we all are, huh? Hold on."
Eloïse said nothing. She just chewed on her inner cheek contemplating how she could slip out of the bubbling volcano of her friends and mum.
"Guess what? I'm in for that shopping we talked about last week. I'll shower first."
"Wait, wait Eloïse, wait a fucking minute," Marila's eyes widened as she approached the latter, "what is this I'm hearing? You were with someone? Yesterday? A boy for that matter?"
"Alone," Bennie nonchalantly added while she manipulated her phone. "Seated on a bench."
"And you didn't tell me? Why?"
"Let me shower first?" She gnashed her teeth behind her fake smile.
"There's enough time for that, sweetheart. Right now, all I want is to know about this 'someone'."
"There's absolutely nothing to know because nothing eventful happened or was discussed."
"Girl, you know this is no joking matter, you're nineteen and you need a manteen in your life. It's about time! Come on, tell me the 'nothing eventful' I'm all ears."
Eloïse sighed and plopped on the bed where she told them the little she and Craig talked about.
"Hmm. If he was in my party, it should definitely be someone I know. But the name doesn't ring the bell. Urgh why??" Marila ruffled her hair. "The description is trying to do something though. Bennie are you sure you couldn't identify him?"
"Told you, it was pitch black out there and they were in such a distance."
"Really, Marila there's nothing worth working your brain up about."
Marila stood up from the bed and began pacing with her index finger on her chin like a detective pondering on a murder scene, "was he specific on the dating site? Because I got three."
"No," Eloïse felt like a victim of circumstance.
"Craig Donnelly, Craig Donnelly hmm...did he give you the name he uses on the site?"
"No."
"Tough case," she said.
"Marila I said you should n--"
"Whether it's been three years or ten or twenty that we've lastly been in touch, I'll get you this boy before I leave New York. Ha! I just got an idea."
She rushed for her tablet and began punching.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going through my one-second acquaintances on each site. If he said we were friends then I must probably have our chats still lingering. There are only two or three people I've told about my real birth date," she kept scrolling. "But neither of them is called Craig."
And that is how they spent the whole day searching for Craig Donnelly from one site to another. Unfortunately, there was no result linked to the Craig she got to meet that night.
Marila laid flat on the bed in defeat, "had I known you were with a boy that night I would've stopped Bennie from interceding," she almost cried. "What a nightmare."
"You don't call twenty-five-year-olds 'boys', do you?" Bennie asked.
"Who cares? Even if he were a daddy the most important thing is he's got the necessary content down there." Marila brooded.
"Twenty-five was just a rough guess, Bennie."
"I'm hungry," Bennie confessed after they had declined lunch twice.
"Hold on," Marila suddenly jerked her upper body off the bed, causing Eloïse to roll her eyes. There was never going to be an end to this. "You mentioned he follows your mum on all her social media sites, didn't you? What if we--"
"Uh uh, Marila, we're not going to involve my mom in this in any way." Eloïse set on following Bennie downstairs. Her belly rumbled so bad in addition to the captivating aroma which had spread in the entire house.
"I was just thinking we--"
"No."
"Hear me out fi--"
"Noo."
"Say what you want but you're going to talk to him again before I leave," Marila screamed from upstairs.
"Him? Who is him?" Marley asked as he walked out of his study.
So far looked good. Backstage was as busy as a beehive with professional hairstylists and makeup artists scrambling from left to right. Eloïse whose curiosity peeked, sneaked out of the fuss for a little spy stroll. She leaped with joy when, during her scan, Leonard LeBeau an executive from one of the renowned department boutiques in New York came in sight. He had the front row together with his associates. Her eyes scanned again from behind the curtains and she could see some of her favorite stylists. She mentally noted to have their autographs immediately after the show. There too she spotted Lupita Nyong'o and Coco Jones. Eloïse began to hyperventilate again. One would think it was her first time but of course it was since the last year an exam came along the way, two years ago, the invited celebrities didn't show up. "Eloïse," her mother called from backstage, "we need you here, please. Winnie's skirt needs a little adjustment and Edward's trousers too." "Ahh, I'm so happy ever
"What are you doing here?" "Craig as in Craig from the birthday?" Her mum asked, appalled. "Uh...meet my mum," Eloïse casually introduced. "Zaphrina Woods," Zaphrina gleefully extended her hand which the young boy kissed its back instead of shaking it. "Oh." "It is an honor to finally meet you in person, Mrs. Woods," Zaphrina barely tilted her head with questioning brows. "I am Craig Donnelly, nothing but an ordinary devotee of yours." "A fan? How incredible." He singly nodded with gentleness then diverted a placid gaze to Jeremy. "What happened?" Zaphrina and Eloïse's eyes fluctuated from one man to the other, bewildered.Jeremy lowered his head remorsefully. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Mrs. Woods. My cousin here messed up a good fraction of the show and I'm immensely ashamed," he shot Jeremy a deadly stare, "My pleas of being extra careful and alerted, considering how important this show is to you, unfortunately, was water on a duck's back." "Your cousin," Zaphrina's b
She looked quaint in all her glory,Modest, absolute yet peppy.Twice in sight and all I'm gone,Will I ever see her again when all this is done?An instant I wish,To see thy imperfections nearest,An instant I wish,I could heed thy voice, dearest. Confess my name once and down the hill I shall tumble.Confess my name once and down my heart shall stumble. "Hmm. Still fantasizing, eh?" The voice startled the young boy inducing him to shut his biro in his journal to offer his entire attention to his friend. "She's not your league, Greene, even in the dream world," The chunky man consoled in his usual way with a light tap on the blonde-haired boy's shoulders. "Here, I got something to eat." He dropped an opaque plastic bag of laminated loaf on the tattered three-legged mite-eaten study table. The young boy stared at the loaf as if it had offended him in his previous life. "Don't stare at it that way," he plopped on a mouse deformed sofa with a heavy huff. "If anything, give it than
Marila posed into a straight face statue on Eloïse's bed, her legs yoga folded and said nothing. They'd all returned home after a partially good stroke not so good show: at least she's had the opportunity to see Craig again and talked to him longer than their first, contrarily, she'd missed the exhibit of her second haute couture after improperly digesting the prior. And not to forget, she'd missed encountering Leo, Mary Mcbourne, and the celebrities. What a drastic loss. Hopefully they showed up in the days to come. "You're getting annoying with this, Marila." Eloïse, while on the vanity mirror, unclipped her leaf filigree earrings and carefully placed it in her jewelry box. "He's not that...straightfaced." She made a face before releasing the last word. After deserting her father, who had driven them home and thought she had wasted so much time than necessary for a lady in the restroom, her friends had their eyes bulging out like a scroll and Marila won't stop asking her repeated
It was the last day of the fashion week, Eloïse, fortunately, got to meet Coco again and had an autograph. Unfortunately, she didn't get to see Lupita but at least other celebrities showed up though she wasn't much into them like Bennie and Marila were. In the course of the event, Eloïse had been neck-stretching into the crowd hoping to see Craig, hoping he'd not left, hoping something held him back but all hopes shattered at his absence. Sometimes, she'd been tempted to go to the electrical district but ended up biting back from it. Her opinion or query wasn't going to change a thing. Nonetheless, Eloïse's heart was like parceled granulated sugar since her mum informed her a day ago that Leonard called to have a dialogue about her haute couture, and tomorrow she'll be meeting him. Her head screamed with joy. Her dream of becoming a renowned fashion designer was a step away. The sad thing about the day was her friends left at dusk. They'd planned on visiting
Eloïse froze. She scanned for an ounce of prank on her friends faces but there was none. They could be mistaken. The only person she knew Marila to have a problem with his facial expressions was Craig and she knew him not to be in town since the previous day. "Who is it?" She quizzed with uncertainty, flickering her gaze from sterling grey to bluish-green eyes. "Hello, Ladies." She heard a familiar yet shocking nectareous melody that led to a charming demeanor in a body-clinging tee on a pair of three-quarter leg Bermuda cargo shorts. It was her first time to see him in casuals, he looked wonderfully dashing. In his grip was an opaque white biodegradable plastic bag. His lips twitched to a barely noticeable side smile. Eloïse's breathe stuck midway through her trachea with her eyes, widened like saucers. "Hi, Craig," her friends responded in unison. "I...uh...thought you left." "Thought I would. Unfortunately, circumstances didn't let me." Marila pretentiously cleared her throa
She filled her friends in after dinner as it was her unpaid job to do so. Out of prying ears, they chatted away but not without Eloïse assisting in assembling her friend's luggage which wasn't easy considering Marila's sea of outfits. It overflowed to the extent of Eloïse offering an extra suitcase for the remainder. They had barely four hours to their flight and the trio wanted to make it as memorable as they could. "When's our Cali cruise?" Marila asked. "You are the working class here, you tell us." Eloïse retorted. "Well, I suggest the first two weeks of summer." "Finn and I planned on hiking the Havasupai fall during the first week, so..." "The next two weeks then. Good?" Bennie zipped her suitcase. "Good." "Good for me too. Not like I have anything doing of my life anyway. Oh my, I envy you, Bennie. I heard the Havasupai falls are gorgeous." "Heard so too. Finn is the reason I'm visiting it. Said he's been there o
Eloïse entirely understood the puffiness of her eyes as she stared at her reflection on a roughly hand-cleaned portion of the vaporized mirror. She had spent close to an hour talking with Ace, another one fantasizing about the audition, and half of the next hour chopped by the tension of the meeting with Leonard LeBeau all of which left her with basically one and a half hours of sleep until her alarm went off.The meeting was scheduled at nine leaving her with barely fifty minutes. Her phone buzzed. Still situated in the comfortable corner of a pastel pink single sofa near her bed where she had flung it the previous night, Eloïse rounded up the application of gloss on her puckered lips before reaching the noisy gadget. "Hey, good morning, Bennie," she used the opportunity to widely spread open the curtains and windows. "How was the journey?" "Safe until now that I found fake ass roaches in my dresses," She calmly said. "With a cutely written supposedly thr