"So? What do you think? Does this look good on me?" my cousin asked, striking a pose in front of the mirror, modeling a bright red cocktail dress. I gave her a critical once-over before shaking my head. "Nah, it just makes you look even darker," I said bluntly, turning my attention back to the racks of clothing. "Ouch! Harsh! Okay, what about that white one from earlier?"
"No way. You'd look like a fishball dipped in chocolate if you wore that," I said, causing her to pout dramatically. "Ugh! I can't decide what to wear!" she complained, throwing herself against a nearby mannequin. "That's because you're being way too picky. And if you knock that thing over and break it, you're paying for it all by yourself," I warned. That seemed to do the trick, because she immediately scrambled away from the mannequin.
When I finally spotted something that caught my eye, I snatched it off the hanger and held it up for Gael to see. "This one, what do you think? Does it suit me?" I asked, holding the dress against my body. "Hmm," she said, pretending to consider it carefully, her eyes narrowed. "It's... okay," she finally said, turning her back on me. What kind of response was that? Tsk. I just faced the mirror to get a better look at myself. After deciding that I liked it, I took it to the counter. We'd already picked out a gift, so this was the last item on our shopping list. Our friend's birthday was tomorrow, and we needed to be prepared.
After paying, we headed straight to a nearby restaurant for a late lunch. It was already 11:37, and my stomach was starting to rumble in protest. "Should we just go home after this?" I asked my cousin between bites of my burger. "Yeah, I think we've got everything we need, right? So, yeah, let's just head home," she replied, taking a sip of her soda.
As soon as I got back to my apartment, I was hit by a wave of exhaustion. I barely made it through the door before collapsing onto my bed. I was just about to drift off to sleep when my phone rang, jolting me awake. It was right next to my ear, and the ringtone was deafening. I groaned in frustration, running a hand through my hair before answering the call.
"Hello?!" I answered, my voice laced with annoyance. My eyes were still closed as I held the phone to my ear, lying on my back. "You forgot something," a familiar voice said, sending a jolt of awareness through me. I immediately opened my eyes and glanced at the caller ID. It was my boss. I also checked the date, just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Yup, it was Saturday, and I definitely wasn't working. So why was he calling me?
"What do you want?" I asked, my tone still sharp.
"Didn't your parents ever teach you any basic manners?" he said, switching to fluent Tagalog. I rolled my eyes. "For your information, it's Saturday, and you're not my boss right now. So, basically, I don't have to be respectful to you... so what is it? Make it quick, I'm trying to sleep," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Tsk. Never mind. I was just going to hang up--"
"Hey, wait a minute! You called just to say never mind? Seriously? What is it? Just spit it out!"
"Forget about it. But maybe next time, if you're going to bring a napkin to my office, try not to leave it lying around. I just happened to find one today,"
Then, to my horror, he sent a picture. I immediately sat bolt upright in bed, my face burning with shame.
"Shucks!" I exclaimed, cringing at the thought. Ugh! Gianna! You're so embarrassing! Earth, just swallow me whole right now! Seriously! At least it wasn't used and was still in its wrapper. Ugh!
"J-just throw it away," I managed to stammer before hanging up the phone.
Seriously, Gianna? You're such an embarrassment! Why did you have to leave evidence in his office? Seriously! And he only called because of that? That's even more mortifying!
I bit my lip, my cheeks flushed with embarrassment. How could this happen to me, of all people? It must have just fallen out of my bag without me noticing. Next time, Gianna, be more careful! Ugh! You're so embarrassing!!