arrive in a limo. Dani had really gone all out for me, renting us the limo to pick us up at Wacker and deposit us back at the end of the night. I felt like a celebrity.
After dousing ourselves in perfume, rechecking our hair and makeup one last time and making sure we had everything we could need crammed into our tiny clutches, we declared ourselves ready and headed out the door. As we stepped outside, the wind hit us and we all linked arms and tried to huddle together, walking as fast as we could in our heels to our awaiting limo. The driver got out and opened the door for us, and we hurriedly ducked inside to get away from the wind.
“Holy shit, this is a nice limo,” Carmen declared once we were all inside. “And what is this? Yes! Anyone up for a bit of bubbly?” She waved the champagne bottle in the air like she had just scored a personal victory.
“I can open that for you, miss,” our limo driver said, producing a corkscrew from a small tray next to where champagne glasses stood at attention. He popped the bottle and some champagne sprayed out, making me understand why he wanted to do it instead of us getting his limo drenched.
We eagerly held out our glasses as he poured champagne in each cup. “Thank you so much! What is your name, good sir?” Emma asked, taking a sip and licking her lips. “This is amazing.”
“My name is Tony. If you need anything else, just let me know and I’ll be glad to accommodate you.” With a tip of his cap, Tony disappeared around the front and back behind the wheel.
“Dang, I could get used to this,” Carmen said, settling back in the plush seat and knocking back another drink. “They’re really going all out for you, Alex. Lucky bitch.”
I snuck a glance at Lila, who was looking at me. Yeah, so lucky. This was probably just another “don’t-talk” tactic employed by Kevin. Butter me up, make me feel special, put me in the spotlight in front of my friends. Anyone from the outside looking in would be totally confused if I quit my job. I had it made at Blissful.
“Emma, I just have to know more about this guy. Please, more details!” Hannah said, causing the rest of us to laugh. “What? What’s so funny?” she asked, confusion on her innocent little face.
“It’s just so fun to see how you’ve changed since becoming a girlfriend. Before Peter, you rarely wanted to know about our men. Barely asked about them. But now, you ask questions and you seem into what we have to say about them. It’s weird. But in an awesome way.” Lila filled in the blanks for Hannah.
“Yeah. You were all about school and studying and that was about it. Peter has definitely relaxed you. It’s a good look for you, Hannie.” I smiled at my friend, my soon-to-be new roommate. “It’s nice to see you like this.”
“Geez, was I just awful before? You guys make it sound like I never had any fun before Peter!” Hannah took a small sip of her champagne, looking around at us.
“Well, lovely, you never wanted to come out with us, barely took a drink of anything because you always had more studying to do, rarely participated in our shopping events or movie nights. We love you either way, but this Hannah is definitely more...approachable,” Emma said.
“And we’ve been able to call you Hardcore Hannah more in the last few months than we have in years!” Carmen pitched in.
“Huh. Well, I guess that’s a good thing then. To me!” Hannah held up her champagne glass, and we clinked our glasses before dissolving into a fit of giggles. We spent the rest of the limo ride to the party chatting about boys–– the good boys, the bad boys, the ones in between. The boys Lila might meet in LA and the ones she would bring home for us to meet.
It wasn’t long before we were pulling up to Tango. Tony came around to the side and helped us out, one by one. I was last–– emphatically told so by Lila–– and reached for Tony’s hand once it was my turn. I carefully slid out of the limo and placed my heels on the cement, popping up and out without flashing any of my business.
“Happy Birthday!” I heard a shout before confetti rained down on me, blinding my vision.
“What the hell?”