I shake my head.
“But it was your idea to do all this in the first place. It wouldn’t be fair to just abandon you—”
My buddy raises her finger, shushing me, and her smile is rueful as she says, “You’re not abandoning me. It’s my own fault for getting sick in the first place. It was that awful Mrs. Constantine who leaves her used tissues everywhere. Even though I had a mask and gloves on, I just know those tissues had germs all over them, and I should have worn a double-mask. But listen: I’ll just take a me-day today, okay? Or a me-night, to be more specific. You look amazing in that dress you got, Jo, and it would be criminal for you to stay home.”
I feel myself start to tear up, but I fight them back. This is why I love Ava. The heart of my best friend is so giving and warm in spite of her own misfortune. Even though she’s being held back, she wants me to have fun, and I appreciate that so much about her.
“Thanks, Ava. You looked great in your dress too. I’m sure there’ll be another chance for you to wear it,” I say with a hopeful smile.
She puts her hands on her hips.
“There better be or I will be severely disappointed!”
I giggle and stand up. “Eat some soup, okay? We have some cans of chicken noodle and minestrone in the pantry. Do you want me to warm some up for you?”
She lays back on her bed and waves her arm at me.
“No, I’ll help myself after you leave. Go get ready! You don’t want to be late for this shindig.”
I grin and rush back to the bathroom to finish my hair. My dress is a floor-length, strappy, satin ballgown. It starts black at the top, but it’s ombre and turns from black at the décolletage to grey and finally white at the hem. It also has a plunging illusion neckline which shows off my girls in a way that’s sexy, but not totally taboo. My arms and most of my upper back are exposed by the four dark straps at the back, but fortunately, I’m able to wear a strapless bra underneath. With boobs the size of mine, you can’t go without a bra or risk humiliation. I pull on a pair of sky-high black heels, grab my matching clutch, spritz myself with some body spray, and head to the door.
“I love you, Aves,” I call. “I’ll see you soon!”
“Love you too, Jo,” comes her sinusy voice. “And listen, you better go crazy tonight because I want to hear every juicy detail when you get home. The raunchier the better! Have enough fun for both of us!”
I laugh at that. Ava is so much more daring than me, and she’s gotten up to some crazy shenanigans in the past. But honestly, I’m pretty tame and I doubt anything too wild will happen tonight. Of course, the thought of meeting a handsome billionaire who also looks like a male model would be ideal, but I laugh. Those don’t exist in real life … or do they? The night is young and anything can happen after all.
2
Jolene
* * *
The air is cool against my skin as I step from our apartment building onto the street. In our part of town, the air always smells faintly of MJ, and to be honest, I hardly notice it these days. My heels click and clack against the sidewalk as I head toward the subway. It would be nice to take an Uber, but who am I kidding? I’m a plus-size model who makes ends meet moonlighting as a maid. An Uber is way out of my budget.
Carefully, I descend the stairs to the subway and tap my pass against the card reader. Just in time because the train comes barreling down the tracks, the wind rustling my hair. As I expected, I get a few looks and even a few whistles from the other passengers on the train, but I ignore them. There are weirder things on the NYC subway than a single woman in formal dress.
Thankfully, no one approaches me, and the novelty of my presence quickly wears off. I relax as the train moves along and stare out the window at the darkness passing by. The rumble of the tracks is monotonously soothing, and I put in my earbuds before turning on some music. Despite the dingy, slightly sulfuric scent of the subway car, I feel like Cinderella heading to her first ball. Catching a glimpse of my reflection in the subway window, I see a girl with a secret smile on her face. I press my lips together to keep it hidden but then give in and let out a full-on grin. This is going to be exciting.