"You're mean," Val muttered. A black velvet box stuck out of her jacket's side pocket, the present she had bought for Naomi while Juliana was getting ready. Strings of little white bulbs were reflected in the glass windows of the shops they passed. Giant snowflakes dangled beneath the protruding metal arms of streetlamps.
Though it was close to midnight, a thousand people filtered across the street and sidewalks, bogging down traffic. Students huddled with their friends, laughing and cheering while taking videos with their phones. In contrast to the sunny dispositions of those with plenty, those without homes and money sat on newspapers and cardboard boxes, hugging themselves to stay warm.
Val led the way down the sidewalk; she was over six feet tall, and the crowd split at her behest. Juliana was maybe two inches shorter than her sister, but unlike Val, the angles of her face were softer, more oval. Her black hair reached the middle of her back, but she had tied it back so she could eat without it getting in the way.
As they went forward, men nodded at Juliana; a few blew kisses. A shiver ran down Juliana's spine. She hated being out late at night, and she hated men that thought hitting on strangers was respectable behaviour. So, she pinched the back of Val's jacket. With this gesture, she hoped people would mistake them as a couple and hopefully not hit on her.
Juliana's gloves were thin and cold air leaked in and froze her fingers, but she thought of the free food and pushed forward. In high school, she had forced herself to be a people person, but in university, she had dropped that pretense and retreated into her shell where it was quiet, and she didn't have to bother with unnecessary conversation. Maybe that was why most of her classmates thought she was a bitch.
Val stopped in front of a tinted black door and held it open, so Juliana released her sister's jacket and entered first without checking the restaurant's name. A lady dressed in black waited by the counter. 'Limitless' was written in gold on the purple wall behind her. Her brown hair had been put into a tight bun. When Val stepped inside and shook her head like a wet dog, brushing some of the snowflakes free with her long fingers, the woman glanced at her with a slack-jawed expression. A blush reddened the stranger's cheeks.
Juliana recorded the stranger's reaction in her mind's log; a half smile curled her lips.
Val broke the silence. "Is your boss still cool with me using the stage at twelve-thirty?"
The stranger answered, "Yep. Naomi's waiting at table six; I'll take you there." Their host picked up two menus and led them into the dining hall. Inside, the walls and floor were made of cedar wood. Naomi was waiting with Dana at a square table by a large window. Naomi's face was rounder than when they were in high school, and her shirt was tight around her gut; her thighs were fuller, but even so, she was still beautiful, and Val watched her like a whipped puppy. Auburn hair curled near Naomi's shoulders. Her pink lips formed a hard line; her eyes narrowed as if to say she wouldn't forgive Val too quickly.
Juliana and Val sat across from the others and accepted their menus.
Dana asked Val, "You're paying for me, too, right?"
Val nodded; her smile, growing strained, twitched at the edges. "Please don't order dessert unless your name starts with 'N'," she whispered, her ears turning red.
Naomi said, "So, you're still doing the modelling stuff?"
Another nod. Val played with the cuffs of her shirt. "Is your café doing okay?"
"A friend is helping me promote it on Instagram and Tick Tock, so business has picked up a lot."
'Why am I here?' wondered Juliana. The waitress that was in love with Val waited patiently on their orders; Juliana flipped through the menu. 'Oh yeah. Free food.'
Val wiped her hands on her jeans and told Naomi, "I'm sorry I haven't been making time for you, and I really want us to work on this and continue to be in each other's lives. I don't think modelling is more important than you... I just...." She looked to Dana for help.
A red band circled Dana's forehead, holding her bronze-tinted afro away from her face. Dana said, "She really didn't mean to miss your café's opening. She was so excited that Blank Gender asked her to wear their clothes that she said yes without checking the date of their runway show."
Val bowed her head.
Naomi sighed. "I know she didn't mean to miss it, but it was still important to me, and I- I thought she would be there. I wanted her to be there."
Juliana addressed the waitress, "Could I try your mushroom burger with a side of sweet potato fries? And for the drink, I'm thinking a glass of Cola."
The waitress jotted Juliana's order down in a notebook, then took the others' requests. After Juliana ruined the mood, they fell into an odd silence. Dana watched Juliana with furrowed brows and kicked her shin under the table. In response, Juliana elbowed Val and cleared her throat loudly. "Ahem...." When Val didn't catch her meaning right away, she whispered, "The present."
"Oh, right." Val stood and searched the pockets of the coat she had draped on her chair. She paused, her empty hands gripping the air, and Juliana knew she had lost the gift somewhere on the way there. Val's lips trembled like she might cry.
"One second," Juliana said, getting to her feet. She preferred searching for Val's lost present rather than sitting through another awkward conversation. As she walked into the reception area, she noticed their host, who had drooled over Val, tucking a familiar black box into a drawer. The hostess was average looking; white skin, freckles and a round face. Another waitress stood next to her.
Juliana could accuse the girl of theft, but then she would make a scene, and people would stare. She waited by the front door for a moment, glancing out the windows at the light flakes of snow that drifted down haphazardly. Juliana took a deep breath, then walked over to the counter. Instead of stopping, she followed the curve to the other side, where the waitresses waited.
"Hey, you shouldn't be back here...."
Juliana pulled the drawer open and lifted the black box. "Is this where you put the lost and found? My sister accidentally dropped this not too long ago." She smiled. "Thanks for finding it. She was the tall, boyish-looking one."
The waitress blushed and scratched her cheek. "Oh, I saw it on the floor, but I wasn't sure who dropped it."
"If you don't believe me, my sister can show you the receipt, and if it matches the gift, then it's hers, right?"
The waitress hesitated, then nodded. "If she can prove ownership, she can have it."
Juliana returned to the dining hall, the blushing waitress at her heels. They reached Val's table. Juliana said, "You do have the receipt, right?" Honestly, Juliana didn't trust her sister to bring their mail from the main floor to the eleventh, much less hold onto a receipt for more than two seconds.
Val picked through her wallet and somehow pulled out the receipt for the gift she had bought. The waitress swore with her eyes but smiled and handed Val the gift, which Val presented to Naomi. Once Naomi opened the cover, what waited within was a simple gold chain with a quarter note pendant, a single diamond glittering in its bulb-shaped body.
"Um," Val stood. "I'm going to go over to the stage and sing now, and I hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me for what I've done."
Naomi's lips twitched. Val was starting to warm her cold exterior and win her back. She shrugged, pretending to be unfazed, but Juliana saw through her; she saw through all of them. Val went to the stage, which waited at the back of the room and sat by the piano. As she tested the microphone, the waitress's fingers curled into a tight fist, and she stormed out of the room.
Juliana tapped Naomi's hand. "Don't eat whatever they bring you."
Naomi frowned. "Why not?"
"The waitress likes Val, but you... not so much," Dana interjected. She had been watching the waitress as closely as Juliana had.
Naomi pressed her hand to her forehead, watching Val as she sang,
'I see you when you're down
And depressed, just a mess
I see you when you cry
When you're shy
When you want to die
I see you when you smile
It takes a while
At least you're here
I see you
Yes, I see you.'
Naomi smiled, then said, "Sometimes I worry, especially after putting on some weight, that Val will lose interest in me, or I'll become ugly to her, and she'll find someone prettier. I don't want to get hurt, so I'm thinking of cutting her off."
At the proposition of Val being 'cut off' for some superficial reason, Juliana remembered her old friend who had left without any explanation. Didn't they realize how unfair that sort of thing was to the people they left behind? They should at least state their reasons for leaving.
Dana said, "Val loves you. Even after you put on a bit of weight, the only comment she has ever made was that now there's more of you to love. And she really likes squeezing your belly... if that helps."
"But what if—" Naomi bit her lip.
"Val has always liked you, and she'll always like you. That's how she is. Liking you is one of her permanent personality traits," Juliana spoke without thinking; the words had rushed forth, but Juliana knew they were true because she knew her sister better than anyone else. Juliana had watched Val grow and struggle with her sense of identity and self-worth to become who she was now.
Naomi studied Val quietly, probably thinking of all they had gone through together and whispered, "I guess I'm being a bit ridiculous, but you know how she models now? What if she meets someone pretty and...." Naomi's fingers wrung her napkin, but it was dry, so nothing came out.
"If all Val likes about you is that you're pretty, then there's no real need to hold on to this relationship, is there?"
Dana glared, so Juliana softened her statement by adding, "But you know there's more to what Val feels for you than that."
"So, you think I'm being irrational?"
"I think you gained some weight and are feeling insecure, and you're taking it out on Val, but you know, and I know that she couldn't care less how much you weigh."
Naomi's expression hardened; guilt swam in her dark eyes as she realized how her insecurities were hurting Val. "I'm sorry."
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."
***