Runaway Read Free Page B

though? Surely you don’t think it’s going to take this long to make me presentable?” I laughed, but knowing her she probably did think that.
    “I figured we would get some dinner and maybe a few drinks first, make a whole evening of it,” her eyes glittered dangerously.
    “Ok, but it still seems like overkill to be at it this early.”
    “Daphne, it’s three o’clock in the afternoon,” she laughed.
    “Holy cow!” I exclaimed and picked up my phone, which showed me the same thing, three fifteen to be exact. I couldn’t believe I had slept in that long, no wonder my bladder had been bursting. “Stop laughing you jackal, I remember when you lost a whole day sleeping, then woke up freaked out that you’d missed a whole day of work.”
    “Oh my gosh! I remember that!” she roared with laughter.
    “You better, you still owe me for covering your ass,” I laughed along with her, nearly spilling the coffee I was pouring.
    “Well I’m making it up to you now! Just LOOK at this dress I found! It will go perfect with your strawberry blonde hair and big, blue eyes!” she exclaimed.
    “You’re blonde too buddy,” I pointed out.
    “I’m a bottle blonde, not like you, lucky,” she rolled her eyes.
    “Yeah well that CEO didn’t think so, he actually asked me to dye my hair for him!” Honestly though, I would have rather had something exciting, like a fiery red. I tried to dye it once but Carolyn had stopped me at the last second like I was committing murder.
    “Screw him, that male chauvinist pig!” Carolyn exclaimed angrily.
    “Nice word usage,” I winked making her smile. No reason to relive the over-the-phone-bitch-fest we’d had the night before while I pounded black cherry wine in the bath.
    “Yeah well this guy was hitting me up online and I wanted something really witty to respond with. Google is a girl’s best friend.”
     
    A few hours later she had me dressed; make up applied, and hair tamed. I tried several of the dresses she had brought but settled for the lesser of all the evils. It was a little black number, the top was a heart shaped corset, the skirt was cut short, there would be no bending over in this, and I added my own heels and the birthday jacket.
    I softened a bit after looking in the mirror; she really was a beauty wonder woman. My skin looked flawless, my eyes looked smoky, she had pinned my hair into seductive little curls, and my now ruby lips popped with color. It bought a lot of focus to my mouth and I tried on a coy little half smile, enjoying the effect of it on my reflection. I looked like a whole different girl.
    “Hot mama!” Carolyn cat called me and I did a little spin to show off the effects of her labor. She looked even sexier, if that was possible. She had gone bright to my dark, wearing a pink dress similar in style to mine, except her skirt had small slits up each side and she choose to let her hair be wild and free.
    “Back at ya foxy,” I winked. I felt rather free in these clothes, like how a performer transforms into a character when they get ready for a show and steps into a costume. Tonight, I was going to be a character and pretend I was this confident, sexy woman who led an exciting life with a string of lovers, instead of the girl who sold cat products to old woman and spends her weekends with wine in a lonely tub.
    “You ready for this birthday girl?” Carolyn asked with a wink.
    “Ready,” I said with as much confidence as I could muster, and followed her out the door.
                 
    We arrived at the fairgrounds , located just outside of the city in a normally huge, empty field. However, they had transformed the muddy wasteland into a city of twinkling lights. The main gate was a huge archway covered in little yellow blubs like fireflies. A man in a purple top hat took our tickets and directed us to the center, massive tent. Being late this was the only one open and people were streaming inside to find seats.
    Carolyn pulled me