The next one will be shorter, I promise. >> I got a little carried away here hahah.As usual, Emma was running behind schedule.
It was an incredibly annoying habit that she just couldn’t seem to break, regardless of how hard she tried: despite attempts to build in “buffer” time or plan ahead the night before, it just never seemed to work out. The only thing she was essentially never late for was her job at the Ministry, which was definitely fortunate.
The work week had dragged on for what felt like forever, and Emma was exhausted from it. Ordinarily – especially in the colder months – she would snuggle up on her couch with Rosie and a good book for the night, and she was perfectly content with that. But with the weather finally beginning to warm up she was getting a little stir-crazy, and that was saying a lot for the homebody of a brunette. It had been too long since she’d last reached out to her girlfriends to catch up (she was absolutely terrible at keeping in touch), and even longer since she’d last been to Nyx. So, the former Slytherin had made it her goal to put both of these activities on the night’s agenda.
The nineteen-year-old wasn’t big into alcohol, in all honesty, – she'd typically have just one drink or maybe two all night – but she
did love going dancing with friends. Emma had contemplating asking a group of people, but scrapped the idea after further consideration. More people meant more people to keep track of, which is what the brunette always seemed to end up doing more than she liked when alcohol was involved. Nope, she didn’t feel like doing that tonight.
The one person she
would invite was basically a no-brainer: Greer Lusk was two years her senior, but that was a fact that Emma often forgot because it didn’t feel that way at all. Their similar personalities fed off of each other, and their similar sense of humor meant that they were often in throes of giggles over things that, in reality, probably weren’t actually all that funny – if at all. Greer definitely brought out the extravert in Emma, and the older girl was always fun to go out with.
That is, if she ever got her butt into gear and made it out to begin with.
Now,
where had she put her earrings?!
‘I was literally just
holding them…’The brunette dragged a hand through her hair, thinking, but cringed and yanked her hand away: she suddenly remembered that she had decided to curl her hair tonight, and that running her fingers through it would undo the full hour it had taken to get it way. Typically, Emma was able to get ready fairly quickly if need be, but she felt compelled to put in a little extra time and effort to get dressed up for tonight. Only problem was that more effort meant more decisions, and more decisions meant more time. Which Emma wasn’t very good at managing, apparently. On the plus side, her hair and make-up were totally done. But on the downside… she still hadn’t figured out which dress she was going to wear.
And she was supposed to meet Greer in five minutes. Thank
Merlin for Apparation. She didn't know how her mum (and brother) managed without it.
Propping her hands on her hips, the brunette surveyed the three dress options laid out on her bed. She was completely and utterly torn between one of her favorite
one-shoulder little black dresses, a sleeker
snakeskin-print one-shoulder dress, and a fun
pink flowy dress that had caught her eye despite being a bit “louder” than her usual style. As her gaze flicked from option to option, a glimmer of silver caught her eye.
“AHA!” she cried, snatching up from her bed the earrings she had been looking for. They were the ones that went best with the pink dress…
Emma chewed her lower lip, completely forgetting that she had lipstick on. Was she feeling adventurous today? Yes, yes she was.
After pulling the sheer fabric over her head, she hesitated, a small frown tugging at her lips as she glanced down. The dress was a bit shorter than she remembered… Eh, who cared, anyways? Better to show off her long legs. Shrugging to herself, she cast a quick glance her disaster of a room for the last few things: her wand, money, and clutch. After one last make-up check and stuffing her feet into her heels, she was good to go – and just in time. Stepping outside the main door to her flat she Disapparated with a
POP!, reappearing just outside the doors to the nightclub. She gave the bouncer at the door her most endearing smile in hopes of skirting the cover fee; unfortunately, he wasn’t so easily charmed and she ended up having to part with a Galleon anyways. Wrinkling her nose, the brunette entered the club – and was immediately met with a wall of noise.
And yet, she
still heard Greer before she saw her. The older witch emitted a very characteristic high-pitched squeal before practically tackling her, squeezing her so hard that it actually left the brunette a little winded. Laughing outright, Emma returned the hug just as fiercely. “Ahh, hi!! I’ve missed you, too! Sorry I suck and that it’s taken me so long to actually make this happen.” She pushed out her lower lip in a pout.
“So glad to see you, too! You look amazing!” she exclaimed, taking a step back and holding her friend at arm’s length to better admire her outfit. It wasn’t difficult for the brunette to give compliments, and Greer made it especially easy. She was gorgeous by nature, and her dress-and-lipstick combination accented that perfectly.
"Honestly, I’m positively shocked that every guy in the bar hasn’t queued up to buy you a drink already. They must be defective or something…”
No sooner had to words left her lips than a guy around their age passed them, covertly (yet unsuccessfully so) attempting to check out the pair of them, though his gaze lingered on Greer. However, he got flustered and scuttled away rather quickly once he realized Emma was on to him. A wry smile crept across the witch’s lips. Sneaky boys. Did they have any idea how amusing it was that most of them were
not as subtle as they thought they were?
The Slytherin alumna raised an eyebrow, giving her friend a knowing look before flicking her gaze to the guy (whose back was now turned) and back to Greer again.
“Damn, girl, I
am gonna have to beat people away with a stick! I guess not all of them are defective,” she conceded with a laugh, grinning wickedly. “Though they’ve gotta work on their game, it seems.”
“Now,” she began, leading her friend back toward the bar. “Shall we have some firewhiskey to kick things off?” Without waiting for a reply Emma flagged down one of the bartenders and gave her order; shortly thereafter, he placed two shot-glasses filled with the smoking amber liquid on the bartop. Emma paid and picked them up, holding one out to Greer with a mischievous grin. The brunette normally couldn’t stand bourbon or whiskey, but she liked Ogden’s because the intense cinnamon flavor masked the bite of the alcohol. She liked cinnamon.
Raising her glass, she beamed at her friend.
“To reuniting… and a desperately-needed night out!” Draining her glass, she couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose immediately afterwards: she had forgotten how
strong that stuff was!
“So, tell me!” Emma chirped brightly once she had recovered, settling herself on a bar stool and draping a slender arm across the bartop. “How are things? How’s racing going? Fill me in on your life, woman!”
