[ g o l d o r s i l v e r ]

♥ talisa ♥

ONE THING THAT people always underestimate is how hard it is to actually put together a good outfit. A solid seventy percent of the clothes I had packed in my suitcase were strewn across the floor of my bedroom.

"I fucking give up," I proclaimed, collapsing into a pile in the centre of it all.

I didn't know how people did this. If it was taking me this long to pick out an outfit and I had relatively good fashion sense, god knows how long it took others. Horrific.

"For crying out loud Lisa, there was nothing wrong with the last dress. Just wear that," Gabriel mutters, sitting on the couch fed up. One leg was planted on the floor whilst the second was bent so that his ankle rested on his other knee. His foot was shaking more and more by the minute in impatience.

For some reason, my mother thought it would be an incredible idea to host a evening of performances. She called it a showcase of the Lisin talent. I called it a revamp of those tacky year seven talent shows. Cheap, boring and cringy.

All of the cousins had been conscripted to perform, but I had vehemently refused as soon as the words had left her lips. After all, nobody expected the judges to go on stage and demean themselves to the performance itself. So why should I? A part of me was relatively excited to sit back and evaluate every single member of the extended Lisin house. If there were not at lease a few entertaining performance fails before the interval, I would take it into my own hands to make things a little more interesting.

"You don't get it," I stated dryly, finishing off my cigarette and stubbing it violently on the ash tray until the smoke disappeared. "This is going to be a fun night, I can just tell. Final night of this goddamn boat..."

I paused, thinking about the only thing that had kept me afloat during the week. A smile played on my lips as I stared at the crashing waves of dark blue outside the window. Although they twinkled in the light of the moon, every so often the navy blue would distort into a black obsidian, curtsey of the moon becoming hidden my a cloud.

"...and final night until you're mine." I intended for the words to come out as a statement. Yet for some reason, there was a slight shake in my voice. I couldn't quite put a pin on why.

Was it really going to be this simple? Nothing was ever simple. She always made things so complex.

I could sense his eyes dart in my direction from behind, but I continued as normal.

A deal was a deal.

7 days were 7 days.

Before he could comment on anything, I picked up the two dresses that I had narrowed it down to. Both were practically the same. Long and elegant, with a split by the right leg. Just different colours. "Gold or silver?"

I turned around and found him staring blankly forwards, miles away. I let out a frustrated sound and shook both dresses in his face, repeating myself.

"Oh, gold," he said instinctively, before sitting up straighter against the sofa. "Wait, I mean, silver. Silver one."

"That gives me great confidence," I said dryly, rolling my eyes and walking into the bathroom. I changed as quickly as I could, facing the door to make sure I didn't accidentally look at the mirror behind me.

Clothes didn't quite fit me the way they used to.

When I left the bathroom, I went straight to the wardrobe and put on my oversized fur jacket which covered majority of the dress. Turning my head to the side, I hoped Gabriel hadn't noticed but once again, he seemed miles away.

My eyebrows furrowed, "Hey, what's up?"

No response.

Nothing irritated me more than being ignored. It took me back to a time when I was younger. My fingers twitched and I grabbed my trainer which was by the door, throwing it in his direction. It bounced against his chest and hit the floor, successfully waking him from his daze.

"What the fu-"

I shrugged my shoulders. "You weren't replying, okay? Just checking there was still someone in that head of yours."

He muttered a curve under his breadth, before walking toward the door. "Can we actually go now please?"

I arched an eyebrow at the word 'please.' It had been a while since I'd heard any pleasantries leave his mouth, as opposed to cold demands.

Huh, maybe I'd actually taken too long to get ready this time.

I lifted both palms of my hand upwards in defeat, a smile toying at my lips. His eyes flickered towards my silver Harry Winston bracelet that I'd bought for myself when I turned sixteen. It had grown loose, and tumbled down my forearm towards my elbow.

"Lisa...' he began, in that classic 'Riel-in-concerned' voice he always did when he wanted to baby me.

I threw my hands back toward towards my side abruptly, quickly sliding on my heels and striding out the door. "Let's go."

***

It seemed all of the guests on this bloody anniversary boat were growing sick of it too. I leant forward in my seat, twisting around to look behind me at the other people. Instead of guests filling the rows fluidly, they had begun grouping in different sections, obviously growing tired of each other.

This is when it always gets interesting.

Immediate family had front row seats in the cinema style room, and I'd somehow managed to wrangle one too. The wink that Zhenya had sent me when I walked in suggested she had been in charge of seating.

My eyes darted to Gabriel beside me, who was still previewing the same text message that he'd been eyeing a good ten minutes ago. "You know the message doesn't change each time you read it, Riel?" I said sarcastically, still shifting around in my seat.

I shook my head in annoyance at myself, as I tried to stop myself jittering. I'd taken a hit too much earlier on.

Gabriel's head darted upwards in surprise, before hastily locking his phone at putting it in his blazer pocket.

"Who's it from anyway?" I questioned, reaching into my handbag and reapplying lipstick for what felt like the tenth time within fifteen minutes. From my weak attempt of reading it, I'd gathered that somebody was attempting to meet up with him. His finger had been in the way of the name though.

He adjusted the lapels of his jacket, sitting straighter. "Just the agency. New photographer wants to do a shoot with me. Also," he started, grey eyes locking with my green ones intensely. "Quit being so antsy. You're gonna piss off the people behind us."

I let out a breathy laugh, shaking my head. "Oh, please. They already hate me, thank god."

Instead of cracking a smile like I expected, Gabriel save me a somewhat unreadable look with a tinge of an emotion I couldn't decipher. Almost sadness-like.

I snarled at my own thoughts.

Oh, get a grip Talisa. Stop being paranoid, he knows nothing.

i had to split this chapter into two because it got too long! second half coming out tomorrow (: it's going to be an intense one so buckle up for some major twists and revelation! i know updates have been super infrequent but i really wanna complete this for you all and myself! send any motivational quotes my way haha
- kiwi x