Mallory was somewhat anxious as she waited for Suzie to show up that Monday night; the evening could go in a myriad of directions and none of them would result in her getting to bed at a decent hour to be ready for work the next day. She looked in the refrigerator, thank goodness, she thought to herself, one more bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle, at least I can have a glass of wine before she gets here. Taking one of the wine glasses she received as a wedding gift but had kept packed away for years, they had no use for them as a couple since her ex never drank a drop; she slowly poured herself a glass, watching as the liquid swirled around the bottom of the glass as it rose three-quarters of the way to the top.
Walking over to the stereo, she put on her favorite Rod Stewart CD, and then thought about the situation; she was not trying to seduce Suzie or even create a certain mellow mood. She took the CD out, selected a radio station with current hits, and turned it to a reasonable volume, then looked around the room ensuring everything looked neat and tidy. When she felt satisfied with the room and its' contents, she settled into a big overstuffed chair with a magazine, mindlessly flipping through it as she nervously awaited the buzzer gate.
She nearly spilled her wine when she jumped at the intercom buzzing, alerting her Suzie was pulling up to the gate and needed to be allowed entrance onto the property. Mallory got up from her comfortable position on the chair, walked to the counter where the device was located, and pushed the button to let her friend in through the gate. She took a deep breath as she pondered what the evening held when Suzie walked through the door. Would she be a crying blubbering mess? she thought, or would she want to go out and party, completely forgetting about her boyfriend of 6 years? Either way, Mallory was determined to be there for her.
When Suzie walked in, there was no question in Mallory's mind she did not want to sit around and cry about John, she wanted to go out and forget he ever existed, or at least try. Mallory tried not to make it obvious, but she had never seen her co-worker look more gorgeous, she looked her up and down as she took in every inch, noticing for the first time how leggy she was. She was wearing an incredibly short black dress, thigh high stockings, thigh high suede boots, and had perfect hair and makeup.
"Suzie, I'm... I'm ... stunned, honestly. I don't mean to be rude, but in the office, you kind of dress like you just came off of the farm... I had no idea," Mallory meant to sound as genuine as she could without appearing jealous.
"Well, I just felt like dressing up. I haven't exactly felt good about myself since John left. Do you think I look too slutty?" she asked, truly looking for an honest opinion.
"I wish I could say differently, but you look gorgeous. Anybody else would look slutty in that, but you are totally pulling it off," Mallory responded genuinely, feeling true affection for Suzie, "Now I feel all schlumpy, and I thought I looked okay," she said as she looked down at her black pencil skirt, heels and sweater set.
"That's okay. Let's go look in your closet... I'm sure we can come up with something fabulous for you!" Suzie responded eagerly. "Oh, is that wine? Pour me a glass, and let's get busy."
With that, she headed to the bedroom, leaving Mallory behind to pour her some wine and catch up to her. Moments later, wine in hand, Mallory walked in to a hurricane of clothing being swirled around her room as Suzie flung items out of her closet saying, "This won't do, nor this, or this."
"Here's your wine," Mallory called out, trying to get the barrage of flying clothing to stop, if only thinking of the huge mess she would have to pick up later.