Lucy looked, nosily.
Erica’s girlfriend was in work clothes, in a dark skirt and white shirt, and had her hair up in a fairly elaborate updo. She was pretty, Lucy thought. She was really pretty, in a way that caused Lucy a nasty little pang of something that she didn’t especially like being there in herself. Erica’s girlfriend was pretty, and she seemed well-dressed too. Her clothes were nicely cut, and flattered her, and she had stylish jewellery on, earrings and a necklace, and she had neatly-polished fingernails, as well.
She actually had perfect nails, Lucy saw. The polish was dark, dark enough that Lucy could see it clearly even from inside the house, and see that it wasn’t chipped or scratched or peeling, the way Lucy’s usually was. It was properly-done polish, smooth polish that hadn’t been smudged when it was still slightly wet the way Lucy’s usually had.
Lucy’s nails usually looked quite ratty. She was too impatient to ever do them well. Her nails usually didn’t look smooth, because she could never just sit still and wait for polish to completely dry, and usually started doing things like typing again too soon. Lucy’s polish was rough, but Erica’s girlfriend’s looked completely smooth. It was smooth, and a much darker shade of polish than Lucy ever wore, too, since Lucy needed light colours to hide the chips she forgot to fix, chips she usually had, most of the time, because she fairly consistently only seemed to think about her nails the day after she probably ought to have.
Lucy felt miserable. She didn’t know why she cared, but she did. She looked at Erica’s girlfriend’s hands, dismayed, wishing those nails hadn’t been so nice, and then she looked down at her own.
She looked down almost guilty, almost embarrassed, knowing already what she’d see. She glanced, knowing she probably shouldn’t, because after the seawater and beach sand and just not caring about her appearance for a week, her nails looked really awful, a lot worse than usual.
They were chipped and scratched and one was broken and a little torn.
Lucy’s nails were scruffy, and always a little tatty, and Erica’s girlfriend’s nails were perfect. Erica’s girlfriend had perfect, tidy fingernails, and that seemed, somehow, to just fit everything in Lucy’s life, right then.
Of course Erica wanted this woman, Lucy thought. Of course Erica wouldn’t want Lucy. Not when Lucy couldn’t even keep her hands looking nice, let alone manage to organize anything else in her life.
YOU ARE READING
Losing Everything
RomanceLucy loses everything that matters to her, her partner and job and business and all her money. She loses everything, and in doing so she reconnects with an old friend, Erica, and begins to fall for her instead. And as she does, she realizes that e...
