#9: I’ll Give Him An Ass Whooping

Ava:

Within hours of doing our hair, makeup and nails, I’d almost forgotten all about my issues. Amelia and I laughed at everything, and it was so much fun to bond over doing such girly activities, which was something I’d missed a lot.

By the time the makeup person was done and my hair had been styled to perfection, there seemed to be a deathly silence in the room. The makeup artist was staring at me, and so was Amelia, but I couldn’t tell if the looks on their faces were looks of amazement or disappointment.

“That bastard Scott doesn’t deserve you at all,” Amelia said, shaking her head with an angry look on her face.

I panicked. What was she talking about? Was my makeup bad? Was she implying that I looked weird because Scott had already drained me and there was nothing left to salvage?

“It’s official. I just outdid myself. You’re the new face of my brand,” the makeup artist said.

Unable to stand the suspense, I got up from the chair and hurried to look at myself in the mirror. The face of someone I didn’t recognize stared back at me. She was gorgeous.

I looked…breathtaking. My hair had been styled in some complicated updo that brought out my cheekbones and made me look more like a bride than an uninvited guest to some event I hadn’t been to before, and the makeup which wasn’t a lot, framed my face and made me look like some top model.

I couldn’t stop staring at my reflection. I didn’t even know that I was capable of ever looking this good.

“B*tch, don’t start crying and ruin your makeup,” Amelia said with a smirk, coming up behind me. “I’ll kill you and then everyone would have to admire it in a casket. Got it?”

I chuckled. I’d missed Amelia’s crass way of putting things.

“You look so beautiful, Ava,” she said, seriously this time. “I mean it. Thanks for letting us do this. I really hope this isn’t a one time thing.”

“Thanks for not giving up on me,” I responded, meaning it.

“Okay. I was serious though. Don’t get sentimental on me. If you ruin your makeup…”

We both laughed.

When it was about thirty minutes to the event, my heart began to beat. I imagined a million ways it could go wrong and I could embarrass myself even further. The way I was stressed, one would think it was an event about me and I was under so much pressure not to mess up.

In some way though, I had reason to be nervous. I had once been among the crowd of important people and my family had been invited countless times to such events. After my father’s arrest which had gone really viral, a lot of people had ostracized my family. We no longer got invited to anything and people we’d once hung out with avoided us when we met in public.

When people avoided us, it was basically a dream come through. It got way worse sometimes. As my dad had been the major finance manager in the state, almost all the old money, wealthy individuals had their personal and company’s finances under him. These people who’d been wronged by my dad and who genuinely believed he still had their money stacked up somewhere pending his release, hassled my mom and I any chance they got.

When they realized lawsuits couldn’t get to us since fortunately, my mom and I didn’t have any tight ties to the company and all the assets we had had all been seized, they resorted to physical means to get at us. From dousing our house with toilet paper to sending us hate mail and even attacking us in public.

“Our ride is here,” Amelia announced, getting up.

My palms were clammy. Amelia had informed me that her cousin and another friend of hers would be going with us, but although she’d assured me that they were both excited to meet me and weren’t rude or anything, I still couldn’t get myself to calm down.

“So this is Ava,” Amelia introduced me while I smiled awkwardly debating within myself whether to stand or remain sitting.

“Ava this is my cousin, Chantel, and her partner Leila.”

I finally decided to stand and I stretched my hand toward them. They didn’t shake me right away, which made me wish I hadn’t even stretched out my trembling hand in the first place.

“Hi,” I murmured, retracting my arm. “Nice to meet you.”

Chantel and Leila had a look on their faces I couldn’t quite place. They were studying me like they were trying to figure out something. I swallowed afraid they might remember one embarrassing memory from the past. Ava said they’d both been abroad for years, but still, their actions made it difficult for me to be convinced.

“Leila,” Chantel finally said, her eyes glued to me.

“Yeah?” Leila who had the same look on her face replied.

“It’s over. I’ve found the woman of my dreams. I hope you understand.”

My eyes widened. What the heck was going on? Now the word ‘partners’ made sense to me. But what?

“Not if I get her first,” Leila responded, before the three of them began to laugh.

I took in a deep breath and relaxed as well, having made sense of the whole thing. They were just complimenting me.

“Thank you,” I said, still smiling.

“Everyone is going to lose it at this party,” Chantel said, coming up to me and smoothening my dress.

“Amelia says you’re married but your husband is a douche and I totally believe her,” Leila said, smoothening my hair. “You’re going to meet a lot of wealthy handsome reasonable men at this party and you must mingle. I’ll make sure of it myself.”

“I just want to see this husband of yours and give him an ass-whooping,” Chantel cut in while Leila nodded in agreement.

They smoothened all loose ends in my hair, outfit and makeup, like it was the most natural thing in the world. I shot Amelia an amused look and she shrugged, giving me a smile that said ‘sorry for not filling you in sooner’.

Minutes later, we were in Chantel’s Mercedes on our way to the party/ball. I felt way less nervous as I could feel the new confidence which I’d previously lost creeping back in. Leila and Chantel talking all the time made me loosen up a lot. I felt very comfortable and no longer out of place. All of a sudden, I was no longer afraid of seeing the people who’d insulted me and vandalized my home years ago. If anyone should feel out of place, it was them.

“This is it,” Leila sang as we got out of the car.

My mouth hung open. This wasn’t just a ball. It was more like ‘the event of the decade’. There were hundreds of photographers stationed everywhere, ready to take pictures of the guests like they were some celebrities. There was a red carpet which was manned by uniformed muscular men who only let people whose names were on the list get in.

I swallowed, wondering if my name was actually there. I hadn’t been invited exclusively and for such an event, I doubted being a plus one was a thing. Sure I had Amelia and no matter what, I knew she’d pull strings to get me in somehow, but I didn’t want to embarrass myself before then. Not when there were this many people, and over a thousand cameras to record everything.

Before I could ask however, she was already pulling me toward them as Chantel chattered about something I couldn’t quite pay attention to.

My nervousness turned into a frown when I noticed the last two people I ever planned to see.