“We are?” Enzo asked.
“Yes. You are. This isn’t a date.”
“It isn’t?” Lilian asked.
“No. It’s not. It’s… it’s for charity.”
Enzo smirked.
“Is that what you’ll say when you suck his dick? It’s for charity?”
“Enzo!” both Lilian and I said in unison, but Enzo didn’t seem deterred by our apparent shock. He was entertained by it, if anything.
“God, I hate you sometimes,” I told him.
“I love you too, bestie.” Enzo smiled from ear to ear.
I turned away from him before I punched his pretty little face in and retreated to the bathroom to take one good look at myself before I left the house.
“Gosh, I look awful.”
The dark circles under my eyes. The wrinkles on my forehead that were far too prominent for someone my age. My lips that gave away how long it’d been since I’d been kissed by how dry they were.
I shook my head.
Why the hell was I thinking about kissing all of a sudden?
This wasn’t a real date so there’d be no kissing involved. And that was how I preferred it. I didn’t need to complicate my life any further. It was already complex enough.
“Gosh, wish you were here, hon. You’d tell me what to do,” I whispered.
Though, I wasn’t exactly sure she’d appreciate me going out with another person seeing as she had been my girlfriend. But she was my friend before that. And we were best friends first even when we were together. She always knew what to do. Always. I was always a mess. That was why I’d felt so lost without her. The day Sandra died, I’d lost my companion, my daughter’s mother, and my compass.
It was the only thing that could steer me right.
“Wish me luck.” I sighed, and before I left the bathroom, I sprayed myself with some perfume.
When I returned to the living room, Enzo was there, holding my jacket up.
“You’re gonna be late. Come on,” he said.
And for the first time that evening, my friend was being dramatic. I was cutting it close.
I let him put my jacket on, and just as I was about to go into the bedroom and kiss my Ella goodnight, Lilian stopped me.
“Here, sweetheart. Wear this.” She held out a gold chain with a green crystal at the end that she offered to put on around my neck for me.
“Oh dear. Not another love spell,” I groaned.
Lilian smiled.
“Not a love spell, honey. Just some green aventurine. For confidence. And good luck.”
The last part gave me pause, and I stared at the round green crystal for a moment.
Is that you, babe?
Was she trying to reply to my wish by sending me a message from up above through Lilian?
