Tabby ran down the stairs and stopped for a moment at the door to wipe the tears from her cheeks… those unpleasantly stinging salty droplets that had so often clouded the forget-me-not blue of her eyes lately. Then she took a deep breath and bit her lip painfully, then whispered quietly to herself.
"Well, this is my usual state, so why are you surprised, girl, it's completely clear, I must be doing something wrong… every time…" And she defiantly tossed her raven curls and ran out the front door. Her heart was pounding like an alarm, overflowing with emotions she was somehow not used to. The sun was already high in the sky and the sidewalks were starting to fill with crowds of people walking silently. She mingled with them and headed towards her father's house. Her mind was in complete confusion…after all, David had shown her his affection so many times, both verbally and physically, so why? She didn't understand anything at all. There was nothing left to do but to accept it. The closer she got to the house, the more her aversion to the upcoming evening grew, from which her would-be new mother was completely carried away…especially that slime Ted…well, it was necessary to arm herself with enormous patience, and her feelings were slowly starting to turn into anger and defiance.
She quietly ran up the stairs to her room, but all her peace was taken away by a sweet, honey-like, unpleasant voice that came from the end of the corridor.
"Tabby, dear, for God's sake, where were you last night? Well, this probably won't work, honey. There are certain rules here and you'll respect them, eh?"
Br, dear…behind the sweet words there was definitely the venom of a treacherous cobra. Tabby straightened up and snapped.
"Of course, mother, I follow the rules, but one of my friends had a serious problem...and I wrote to my dad, didn't he tell you anything?" Nicole bit her lip and blinked quickly, her eyes showing disappointment and indignation.
"Um, your dad...of course he didn't tell me anything, he's been a completely different person since you arrived..."
"I'm really, really sorry about that..." Tabby replied sarcastically.
"However, I would like to warn you that we're expecting a rare visitor today..." After these words, Tabby grinned, spun on the spot and walked briskly towards her room. She registered Nicole's angry intake of breath with satisfaction, after which she hissed.
"Just between us, it's not proper to leave in the middle of a conversation. I want you to look like a real person this afternoon. I expect you'll wear those clothes and shoes we bought together. Ted's father is a very respected man in town, and please don't look so sour. Ted is a really great match. You should be thinking about your future at your age..."
Sure... Tabby thought mischievously. I'm all hot to get married. And she conjured up a honeyed smile that made her feel bad and replied.
"Of course, don't worry, the Princess of Monaco will turn pale with envy..." she didn't wait for an answer and slammed the door of the room behind her. In two steps she was at the player and played her favorite song Tallulah very loudly... and in her mind, with a malicious smile on her cherry lips, she began to weave her plan...
The day passed like nothing and the early evening came. Tabby still assessed her appearance in the mirror with a satisfied smile
and headed towards the staircase, followed by her indispensable friend of the last few days, her father's dog Sid.
As expected, the living room was already ready and full of guests. Tabby descended the stairs with dignity and when all eyes turned to her, she smiled with the utmost satisfaction, especially when she saw Nicole, who suddenly turned as pale as chalk and looked like Dracula's companion in her disgusting-looking white dress, which inevitably included lace trim. It was no wonder, because Tabby put on ripped jeans, a short bright yellow T-shirt ripped in several places, reaching only a few centimeters above her navel, decorated with a silver piercing, and quickly dyed a few strands of bright red color in her hair. Two leather bracelets with silver studs lined her wrists.
The only compromise was the high-heeled pumps, which looked quite comical compared to the outfit.
After a while, she approached her dad, who at first did not hide his astonishment, but eventually laughed and winked at her conspiratorially. But she was already watching with horror as Ted approached her, who looked quite funny in her dark blue suit with a bow tie under his neck and hair disgustingly slicked back.
"Welcome, forget-me-not, you look...um...great..." he stammered and looked desperately for Nicole. She slowly started to change her white barrette to turkey red. She was two steps away from them and hissed.
"Excellent, I hope you're happy, making us impossible like this..." At that moment, an older man approached with a pipe in his hand.
"So this is her, but it suits her, she looks so cute and natural, doesn't she, Ted?"
Tabby's eyes darted from one to the other. Couldn't that be true! That her plan wouldn't work out after all? It seemed like it probably wouldn't. Even though Ted looked like a scared rabbit.
"Sure, Dad...sure, you're right. Tabby? Would you like something to drink?"
Disgusted, she blew a strand of her restless raven curls away from her face and nodded.
Fortunately, the evening passed quickly, but the artificial behavior (except for Dad) was making her feel bad. Finally, she managed to escape Ted's unpleasant presence for a moment, in which he never missed a moment to touch her in any way. She felt as if she had touched a frog. His hands were cold and clammy. With a smile and a glass of champagne in her hand, she found herself on the darkened terrace of the house.
She breathed in the fresh, fragrant evening air and leaned carelessly against the railing. She watched the twinkling stars for a moment, then downed the rest of her drink, which was slowly making her dizzy, and turned to place the empty glass on the plastic table. At that moment, she heard a rustling in the bushes. She became alert, but then laughed at her fear and turned to leave. Out of the corner of her eye, she registered a quick movement as a figure swung out onto the terrace in the darkness. Before she could scream, the person jumped up to her and covered her mouth with a hand. Immediately her fear vanished, like a cloud of steam over a lake and a hot feeling spread through her…
"Shhh, be quiet… don't scream, it's me… you know, you ran away so quickly this morning and I'm desperately fighting with my self, which is used to fulfilling my resolutions… I couldn't fall asleep if I hadn't seen you yet and…" She silenced him with a quick kiss, during which his chocolate eyes blinked in surprise, and she gently took his hand.
"I know, me too, come on…" Tabby whispered and looked uncertainly towards the terrace door, which fortunately was empty. Then only the pale moon followed the two slender figures, who silently and flexibly like two weasels jumped down into the dark garden