29 May 2012
Three minutes later, Mollie started to collect her equipment to apply the most creative bit onto my nails. I promised myself I wouldn't look, no matter whether she asked me or not. I secretly enjoyed surprises, and this gave me time to think about what Nate might tell me tonight. Maybe he's booked me a holiday? Or he's got a suite for a weekend that we can stay in? Or perhaps he's bought a car and is planning a road trip for us? All I knew was that whatever was hiding in his luggage had something to do with tonight's surprise.
But I was too relaxed right now to go and look. I trusted him, and I knew it was going to be fantastic. If M thought so, then it must be!
A few minutes later, she says "Right, I'm done" with a sense of pride and excitement.
I look down at my nails and, as promised, they look incredible. She had decorated every nail, in a way that was stunning without being garish or too 'out there': she'd given me exactly what I wanted, exactly as I knew she would.
My index finger was decorated with gold glitter at the top which cascaded down, getting sparser at the bottom. This was the same on all my fingers, apart from on my ring finger, there were ornate orchids painted diagonally across the nail: white with gold centres. The other hand was identical.
After I'd finished admiring them, I looked up at her and kissed her on both cheeks, being careful to not get my nails ruined on her thin caramel cashmere sweater.
"I love them!" I cried, moving towards the lights again that would dry them in record time.
Five minutes later (I stayed in longer to make sure they were bone dry) and after Mollie had touched up her nails, we both settled down in front of our two mirrors, that were side by side. We both arranged our chosen makeup on the black marble counters in front of us, and started to apply moisturiser. As we got our makeup on, I started to realise that Mollie's makeup was turning out to be very similar to mine: understated and natural, but still attractive in a sweet and innocent way. She finished her look with a striking line of gold eyeliner, and I completed mine with black, over my light dusting of mother of pearl eye shadow. Our complexions glowed, but weren't overly made up, so our skin's natural beauty could shine through.
"Dresses then hair?" Mollie asked, looking at her watch. "We've got just over an hour until we need to leave, so I think we should get a move on!"
Just as we were getting up to go and get our dresses, there was a knock on the door. I went to open it, knowing it would be another girl asking to borrow something. As I pulled the door open, still in mid conversation with Mollie, I smiled, my dusty pink lips pressed into the permanent smile that was present whenever Nate was near.
"Oh my god," he said, admiring my makeup "did you do that yourself?" he asked.
"I did yeah, and Mollie did my nails" I said, holding them up so he could see.
"Well you look incredible." he said, kissing my hand. I was still in his shirt from earlier, and my hair was in rollers. I knew I probably didn't look my best, but I knew my makeup was perfect. His lips were kissing up my arm, making me blush. His kisses made it to my shoulder, before changing course up my neck before planting a kiss on my lips. Just as he was moving back in for more, Mollie shouted
"Get off her Cole, you'll ruin her makeup!"
We both laughed, and rested our foreheads together.
"Do you want to come in?" I offered.
"No it's okay, I just wanted to see my beautiful girlfriend before prom. I'd better go and start getting ready, I'll see you later okay?" he said, bringing me in for a hug. I rested my chin on his shoulder and held him closer.
"T, not that I want to ruin this moment, but you really need to get a move on!" I heard Mollie call from inside.
"Go on sweetie, M knows best" he winked, making me giggle.
"Okay" I replied, but I still waited until he was out of sight before shutting the door.
"Young love" Mollie sighed, whilst stepping into her dress. She pulled it up, and swept her long gold hair to the side, before asking me to come and zip her dress up at the back. It was vintage Chanel: a present from her father, and it was floor length and made of a thin jersey material which clung to her figure, making her seem even thinner than she really was. It was low cut at the front and the back, with a halter neck, which tied at the back, sending two lengths of the material trailing down her back to her bottom. It was a rich gold hue, that shimmered in the light, like her makeup did, as she did a 360 spin for me. I hadn't ever seen it on her, but we'd spent many evenings skipping revision to embellish the bust with small diamonds and gold beads. 1,306 we'd sewed on, and they were finally paying off.
"How do I look?" she asked.
I was speechless for a second, then replying: "If anyone ever could look like a million dollars, you'd be that person!"
She moved towards me, and hugged me. She felt smaller in my arms than Nate did, and as we were the same height we could never hug in the same way as Nate and I did. But it was still a warm hug, a hug that thanked me and a hug that was me repeating how beautiful she looked.
I then moved to put my dress on, hoping it would create the same effect.
It was maroon, made of pure silk. The bottom was floaty, but straight cut along my legs, emphasising their length. The top was a simple sweetheart neckline, in ruffled silk (which had taken me hours to perfect) and over the top came a single layer of thin chiffon, which gathered over one shoulder, then snaked down the back of my shoulder and pinned at the bottom. The sash I had created held the shoulder piece, and was made of a white ribbon, about two inches thick. There was small amounts of beading on the shoulder, but the rest of the dress was plain and simple.
I turned and Mollie was speechless, with a single tear welling up in her eye. "You look so stunning." she said, clearly lost for words. "Nate is going to adore this more than anything" she said, hugging me again. We didn't let go for minutes, making the most of this time together.
We finished doing our hair, and slipped on our shoes: which were incredibly similar looking. They were simple four inch heels with a closed toe and a signature red base (which only means one designer: Louboutin!). The only difference was the colour: mine were white satin, which matched the ribbon on my dress, and Mollie's were gold; exactly the same shade as her dress. We looked at our reflection in the mirror, both the same height and build, with different coloured hair cascading in curls down one side of our bodies, dotted with pearls. We both smiled at each other: proud of one another. Mollie put her arm out in front of her, outstretched slightly, gesturing for me to hold it. We linked arms, and she said, defiantly "Until Nate's here, would you let me do the honour of escorting you?"
"Of course Madame," I mocked, one hand on Mollie's arm, and the other admiring the Cartier necklace that was around my neck "Shall we be off?" I said, in my best English accent. We both left and skipped out of our room, locking it as we went.
Love You So: PART THIRTY ONE (Section Two) • Opuss № I