You entered your fourth dress shop of the day with a faint sigh escaping your lips. Today was the day of the investor party and you still didn't have a dress. All of them either didn't fit you or were way out of your price range. This was the last shop you could visit before you really had to go to the venue.
Immediately when you walked in, your eyes spotted a sale rack, so you made a beeline for it. After all, you'd probably only wear this dress once in your life, no need to spend hundreds of dollars on it. Your fingers skimmed the rack, taking hangers off but quickly putting them back at the gaudy designs. A deep scarlet dress caught your eye, and you admired the silken material of it.
"Hm," you thought about what Mr. Nestor told you yesterday. "Might as well."
In the fitting room, the dress easily reached past your ankles, and flowed loosely around your form, complimenting every part of you. The neckline left room for a necklace of some kind to be draped on your chest, and you figured that your black heels would give you enough height to not trip over the trail. Thankfully, you could zip it up yourself, and decided to purchase it. You could afford the dress, but couldn't afford to spend anymore time looking for a different one.
At your apartment, you were quickly trying to throw on makeup whilst doing your hair when your phone started ringing. Picking it up to one ear, you tried sticking an earring in the other ear.
"Sadie? What do you need?" You picked up the call from your middle sister. For some reason, your parents had bought their 11-year-old an iPhone.
"You haven't visited in a while, Y/N." You could just about hear the pout in her voice as she spoke.
"I know, I've been busy with work."
"Can you come tonight? We haven't done a movie night in forever!"
"Yeah!" Your youngest sister, Lily, yelled. Sadie must have put you on speakerphone in the middle of their playtime.
"I can't tonight, I'm going to a work party. But definitely Saturday night, okay?"
"I'm having a sleepover with Fiona on Saturday." Lily referenced her soulmate, excitement building in her voice.
"Of course. Look, girls, I really need to go. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay. Love you."
You made smooching noises into the phone, making her giggle. "Love you, baby bears."
"I'm not a baby anymore." Sadie was pouting again at the nickname you gave her when she was an infant.
"Me neither! I'm seven now!" Lily argued as well.
"Love you both, goodnight." You smiled at their resistance. They were growing up too fast for your liking.
"Goodnight!" They said in unison.
Hanging up, you tossed your phone into your handbag and slipped on your heels. With one final look in the mirror, you were suddenly filled with an indescribable confidence and love for yourself you'd never felt. To hell with soulmates, you were going to love yourself and have some goddamn fun tonight. No room for self-pity.
You took a cab there, knowing that parking would be hell at the hotel the party was being held at. After paying and thanking the driver with a parakeet tattoo on his forearm, you climbed out, sucking in a deep breath to bring back your confidence. You flashed a smile at the man checking invitations, showing your company ID badge.
"Sorry miss, we need a hard copy invite." He apologized.
"Nobody got hard copy invites, this party was organized yesterday." You felt your blood starting to boil, you put together nearly this entire damn party and now you weren't being let in.
"Is there a problem here?" Someone asked from behind you, and with a sigh of relief, you saw it to be Tyler, looking smart in a suit.
"This woman is trying to get in without an invite." The guard explained.
"I don't think she really needs one since she planned about ninety percent of this event."
"Oh, this is the Ms. Y/L/N you were talking about, I'm so sorry." He bowed his head, allowing you access to the room.
You followed Tyler into the grandiose ballroom of the hotel, a bewildered expression on your face. "Thanks. But uhm, what was that all about?"
"I must have uh, mentioned you to the staff when setting up the party." Tyler scratched his neck nervously.
"Okay, but why did he think there were hard invites?"
"Mark sent them out last-minute, I guess he forgot about you."
"Who doesn't." You mumbled, accepting a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. After drinking half in one gulp, you remembered why you hated alcohol. The taste made your nose wrinkle, and you didn't want to get drunk, it just wasn't fun for you.
Setting the glass down on a table, you looked around in wonder at the incredible event your company had put together in a little more than 48 hours. "Wiishu did the decorations, right?" You asked Tyler, watching her and Sean interact. They just dazzled with happiness.
"Yes, and I believe Marzia helped design her and Felix's outfits." He pointed out the other happy couple.
"Everyone's so talented." You said with a bittersweet feeling, realizing that there was one face you couldn't find in the crowd. "Where's Mr. Nestor?"
Tyler had a slight frown on his face as he looked around. "I guess he hasn't shown up yet."
You glanced at your watch, it was fifteen minutes after the party started. Mr. Nestor was never late, to anything. What could have delayed him? Was he okay?
"Do you want to dance?" Tyler's question interrupted your nervous thoughts.
You found yourself blue as you finally understood why Tyler was so nice to you. Amy was right, he liked you. But you didn't have a tattoo, you didn't have a soulmate, or somebody to love you. Even if Tyler also didn't have a tattoo, this wasn't supposed to happen. "Sorry, but I actually kinda wanted to go talk to Brian and G."
Letting him down easy was your only option, biting your lip nervously as you awaited his reply. "That's fine, go talk up our investors, Y/N." He halfheartedly ruffled your hair in an attempt to be casual and friendly.
"Thanks, Tyler." You nodded, taking your leave of his sight.
Brian and G were talking to Matt Shea over by the refreshments. "Hey, Y/N!" G greeted you with a friendly hug. "Wow, this is so not your business suit!"
"No shit, G." You snorted, turning to the other guys. "Hey Matt. Glad you could make it, Brian."
"Ms. Y/L/N, it's good to see you." Brian shook your hand, beginning a conversation with everyone.
But you still found yourself craning your neck to look around the crowd for your boss. "What's up with you, Y/N? Don't those heels make you tall enough already?" Matt teased you, referencing the fact that you were somehow even more on your tiptoes despite your choice of shoe.
"Nothing." You brushed off his question, but their insistent stares made you cave in. "Have you seen Mr. Nestor? He's never late to things, I'm worried that something happened."
"I haven't seen Ethan." Brian said, and the other two agreed with him. "I'm sure he's just taking his sweet time getting ready."
You closed your mouth, not quite accepting his answer, but didn't press the matter further.
It had been another hour when you were somehow in a large group of your coworkers, all of them with their soulmate. You were chatting amiably when your pathetic loneliness struck you like a train. The familiar heavy weight constricted your airflow, plastering a fake, pained smile on your face as you excused yourself. Amy watched you with concern, but didn't detach herself from Mark's side. But that was okay, you wanted to be alone.
Outside, you reveled in the crisp, fresh air against your skin. The sun was down, leaving you to be illuminated by the half-moon and the few stars that shone in the urban sky.
"Don't you wish there were more?" A voice that was startlingly close to you shook you out of your trance. Snapping your attention to the person, you immediately relaxed at the comforting smile of Mr. Nestor. "Stars, I mean. It sucks that all the light pollution of cities block out so many of them."
"When did you get here, Mr. Nestor?" Your eyes didn't miss the red tie he was wearing, matching your dress. Funny, he had suggested this color.
"Oh, I was the first one here, aside from the decoration committee." He explained, looking up at the sky.
As you stood there with him, you smiled gently at his calm, open demeanor. He was dressed up handsomely, a fitting suit on and his brown hair messed up in an attractively organized way. He'd even gone so far as to put contacts on, clear blue eyes shining with wonder at the stars. You could sense that he was in a peaceful state as he looked up at the night sky, and this gave you a feeling of tranquility as well.
"Would you like to go back inside with me?" Your boss asked, focusing those heart-stopping eyes on you as he offered his arm out to you. "If you're feeling up to it, of course."
Steeling your nerves, you accepted his arm with as much grace as you could. Walking back into the venue, you knew your coworkers would have plenty of questions. But you had promised to yourself, you would have fun tonight. Deal with their nosiness tomorrow.