𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝

26 - Date not date

~𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔.~

-𝑮𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑭𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒕

******
Evening came faster than it had ever come in all of Stacey's years on earth. She hoped that Dylan wasn't taking her to a restaurant because after the sumptuous grilled chicken she had eaten at lunch, then the candied sweet potatoes and chicken & stuffing casserole she consumed minutes ago, she was stuffed to the brim.

A smile crept onto her lips when she recalled the look on everyone's face after Denzel had announced it was time to eat right after Dylan had shocked her with his proposal or whatever he did downstairs. She was already on her way to drop her gifts upstairs, when she noticed Wickham struggling to move up. Before Emma noticed, she had moved to help him and offered him a smile, along with her present for him.

Wickham's eyes had widened at her proximity before he shrugged his hands off. The Bluetooth speaker she had bought —complete with a radio, she was sure was going to make him happy. He reminded her of her mum and how she always complained about the silence. She won't have given him if Emma hadn't mentioned he wore a hearing aid that worked whenever it suited it.

Clearing his throat, he had collected the gift and given her a brisk nod. While she watched him stagger toward the dining, a strange feeling swirling in her heart, she realized that she, Stacey Blasi, just helped up an old man and was smiling after doing it.

Shaking her head, she had decided that whatever this house was filled with was kindness and it was influencing her. Which was why as she followed after Wickham, the gift she had bought for another family bouncing in her coat, her smile had brightened when she spotted the recipient.

She couldn't believe she had crouched in front of Mirabelle who was ambling at her dad's side as the rest set the dining table. She could still recall the conversation and Mirabelle's reaction vividly when she had dug out the gift from the pockets of her coat.

"Is that a Rubik's Cube and a-"

"Science novel written by Roger Launius, yes." Stacey had nodded, guaging the girl's reaction to her last minute gifts. "I figured the cube could keep you busy and you might read the novel one day and who knows?" She had shrugged. "Work for NASA."

Mirabelle had curled up her lips slowly in gratitude before swiping them from her hands. "I mean I've completed the Rubik's Cube several times but this," she had shook the novel, eyes running over the title. "is new. I've never thought of the idea of working in space and most importantly in NASA. "

Stacey adored the bright glow that had lit her eyes. Slowly, she looked up to Stacey and had patted her just like her mum had done. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Stacey was so happy from the gifts and money that she had received that the statement was accompanied with a smile. Dylan's family were people who were worth getting gifts for.

Now, she exhaled as she snuggled into a white turtle neck wool sweater, she had to face now. No thoughts to distract her from the inevitable as she stared at the mirror.

Her outfit of black leather pants, and the same shade of leather boots contrasted nicely with the sweater she had chosen. As much as she didn't want to make this more than what it was, she was a bit nervous. Out of nervousness, she had checked on her mum and tried to make her mind busy with worry but her mum was more perfect than ever today of all days. So that idea was in the bin.

Studying herself in the mirror, she examined her face. Was she supposed to apply make up? Where were they going? She ran her tongue over her lips and realized they were too dry. Picking up a rarely-used strawberry lipgloss, she applied a dark pink shade.