Destiny arrives at the apartment building of Johanna King, the party’s hostess. Another lady, who Destiny assumes may be another party guest is entering the elevator.
“Hey!” Destiny calls out just before the elevator doors close completely. “Does Johanna live here?”
The lady stops the elevator doors from closing and steps out. Destiny involuntarily gasps when she steps close. Her skin texture appears to be rubbery and pale in color. Her eyes are hidden behind her shades, but even through the shades, Destiny can see that the color is not quite normal. “Destiny, thanks for showing up! I’m Johanna.”
“Oh I’m sorry, was this supposed to be a costume party?” Destiny asks, taken aback further by Johanna’s far too pointy canines.
“Why would you think that?” Johanna asks, genuinely puzzled.
Destiny’s stomach drops as a barely noticeable, yet too noticeable whiff of Johanna’s cold breathe makes contact with Destiny’s face.
Destiny hides her sudden fear behind nervous laughter and tells a white lie, “Oh, I’m sorry. Someone at work told me that this was supposed to be a costume party. I’m glad I didn’t listen and show up dressed like a clown or something.”
Johanna buys Destiny’s explanation, “That would have been a sight to see.” She says chuckling.
“I’m sorry that I’m so late. My boss had some extra errands for me to do just as my shift was ending.” Inside, Destiny is grateful that she’s late, because being around Johanna is making her feel queasy and very uncomfortable.
Destiny gets a full glimpse of Johanna’s teeth and immediately feels faint. I need to get the hell out of here, Destiny says to herself.
“You’re welcome to come upstairs. The guests are starting to disperse and the food is almost gone, but I could scrape something together for you.” Johanna says in a hospitable tone that seems antipodal to her appearance.
Before Destiny is forced to make up a reason not to go up to Johanna’s apartment, her cell rings. Thank God, she says to herself. “Excuse me for a moment Johanna.”
Destiny pulls out her phone and sees that it’s Drake. She is grateful to him for providing her with a reason to leave.
Drake called Destiny up to ask her to meet him at the Sports Bar. He wonders why she sounded so thankful.
Drake orders nachos and sits down to wait for Destiny.
Destiny enters the bar, and only as she crosses the threshold does her pulse begin to calm. Destiny has never believed in the supernatural, but Johanna’s freaky appearance challenges her past beliefs.
Destiny sits at the bar and looks around for Drake. She’s sure this is the bar where she was supposed to meet him, but he’s nowhere in sight.
She’s too hungry to leave, so she decides to order some hot wings just as Drake comes out of the men’s restroom.
This is the first time Drake has had an opportunity to see Destiny with her new makeover. “Wow you look breathe taking!” Drake compliments.
Destiny is thrilled by the compliment.
The bartender places Destiny’s order in front of her. As the plate touches the counter, Destiny realizes that she really needs to take care of her image. This is really not the type of bar that a star of her status should be frequenting.
She suddenly feels as out of place here as a mouse at a dog fight. She doesn’t want to hurt Drake’s feelings, but this is probably the last time she’ll agree to meet him here.
From now on, she will only visit the bars with the high class clientele.
She decides that she’ll let Drake in on her decision later. Right now she digs in and enjoys her hot wings.
No comments:
Post a Comment