Page 12 of Falling for You

Annie

So it turns out that there is a foolproof plan to find the confidence to wear your homemade bat costume to a fancy party when your mates are next to you looking like contestants for America’s Next Top Model .

I don’t think there will be many people who need to see this plan, but I’ll share it anyway. Just in case.

Step one: have a temper tantrum. Now, it’s quite important that you do this alone, especially when you are thirty-two years old. My temper tantrum involved taking the costume off, crying into my pillow whilst watching Mean Girls and repeatedly thinking Why me?

Honestly, I was one play of Evanescence away from being right back to my fourteen-year-old self.

Step two: call your mum. Okay, yes, I was still in child mode at this point.

In my defence, my mum is the only person who loves Halloween and costumes as much as I do and fully understands the effort it takes to make an entire costume from scratch.

She’s also my biggest hype woman. If it were up to her, the costume would have bigger wings and some form of smoke machine.

Step three: play Beyoncé. I don’t need to explain this one. It is tempting to play Adele and crawl back into bed but, and I must stress this is of the utmost importance, if you do that then there is no going back. You have been warned.

Step four: get drunk before leaving the house, have your friends take several photos of you and dance intensely to ‘I’m Every Woman’ by Whitney Houston.

Et voilà! You have me, in full bat costume, at the masquerade ball surrounded by glamorous, leggy, beautiful people, feeling like the most powerful person in the room.

Or, at least, that’s how I feel right now. Once the vodka wears off, who knows how I’ll feel. As long as they don’t play Adele I should be fine.

If they play Lewis Capaldi, I’m screwed.

I catch sight of my reflection in one of the many mirrors dotted around the ballroom and feel myself glow with pride.

It’s not very often I’ll say this, but I look fantastic.

Not in the same way that Tanya or Penny look fantastic.

Obviously. Tanya had been thinking about this masquerade ball for weeks so had plenty of time to plan her outfit.

She’s dressed like an extra in Bridgerton , with an incredible gown that pushes her boobs up to her chin and an elaborate, swirly mask that twists over her eyes.

Her Afro hair is tinted with blonde flecks at the bottom, sitting perfectly. Honestly, she was made for this theme.

Penny is wearing her pale pink dress. It’s less dramatic than Tanya’s but more slimming. Her mask is gold and attached to a long stick that she holds up to her face, in a mysterious, very cool manner.

I take in my surroundings. Tanya wasn’t joking when she said that this was a party that we couldn’t miss.

I’m still amazed that we were let in, to be honest, but Tanya strutted up to the bouncer with such confidence that he ticked our names off the guest list without even looking.

It’s in a huge, grand ballroom, with an embellished ceiling and an enormous, glistening chandelier.

A DJ is propped up in the corner, bopping around, and swanning around the dance floor are waiters and waitresses dressed in impeccably neat uniforms and wearing elegant masks.

They do all have knives sticking out of various parts of their bodies, though, which I quite enjoy.

In the corners of the room, you can see the branding for Midnight, the new fragrance, that we’re all apparently here to celebrate.

I’m still not sure how I feel about spending Halloween (my favourite night of the year) at a product launch for a beauty company, but I have to say, I don’t think I’ll ever get to go to an event as grand as this again. I wouldn’t be let in.

Penny loops her arm in mine. ‘Come on, let’s go get some drinks.’

Almost everyone here is dressed like Tanya, elegant and stunning, but there are some people towering on stilts and bent double, with gory make-up and smiles that split their cheeks. I’m not totally alone, I just look like I’ve been hired to be here as a performer.

Well, there are a few people also in fancy dress, but not nearly to the same extent that I am. Although that’s not new for me. Nobody is ever dressed as extravagantly as I am.

Penny plucks two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter and turns to spot Tanya, who has weaved through the crowds towards some colleagues. I shrug as Penny hands me a glass and we clink them together.

‘You really do look amazing.’ Penny grins at me. ‘When are you going to do the wing reveal?’

I look around. At some point I need to pull the lever and have my bat wings pop out in all their glory.

This was fine to execute when the night was going to be spent in our flat, filled with my friends who all know I’m a bit weird and love me anyway.

Now I’m at a very fancy event and I’m slightly concerned that I’ll display my wings and immediately be bundled away by security for fear of being some form of protester.

What sort of protester would arrive in a full bat costume I’m not sure, unless there’s something funky in those perfume bottles that’s harmful to animals.

Hey, maybe I should be protesting.

I might just need some more vodka.

‘I’m not sure,’ I mumble into my glass, my cheeks warming as another clique of beautiful strangers waft past us. ‘I have to do it, otherwise I’ll be annoyed at myself for the rest of the year.’

Penny’s eyes widen. ‘You can’t not do it – it’s amazing! People need to see it!’

‘Yeah, okay,’ I say. ‘Anyway, how’s your week been?’

‘Fine. Boring. Same old.’ Penny shrugs and looks around the room and I know the conversation about her work is over.

The funny thing is, Penny is an actual scientist. She was part of the team that developed the Covid vaccine, for God’s sake.

She’s by far the smartest person that I know, and I could spend hours listening to the thoughts stored up in her brilliant brain.

But to Penny, her job is the most boring thing in the world.

She cannot understand why anyone would want to talk about it, and when I slip it into conversation how brilliant she is, she gets annoyed and brushes it off.

So, I’ve learnt not to dig too deep and certainly not to bring it up in front of any of our friends, and heaven forbid any strangers.

Even though it’s the coolest thing about any of us.

Unless I’m drunk, that is. Give me four tequilas and sign me up for This Morning .

She’d be nominated for Pride of Britain before she’d finished her drink.

‘You know, for a beauty event, everyone looks very …’ Penny makes a face. I turn around so we’re both looking at the same collection of poised, perfect strangers.

‘Beautiful?’ I suggest.

‘Well … yeah,’ Penny says. ‘But like, where is the imagination? You’d think someone would be wanting to steal the show at an event like this.’

‘What, like wearing a bat costume with real wings and hanging upside down in the ladies’ loo?’

Penny laughs. ‘Were you planning on doing that?’

I shrug. ‘You’d have to give me a leg-up – the pipe I spotted earlier is pretty high.’

‘What if it breaks?’

‘Free special effects.’

‘Of course.’

We drift into silence and I continue to sip my champagne. Tanya swans over a moment later, her dark skin sparkling as it catches the light of the giant chandelier.

‘Hey, guys,’ she says, swiping a champagne flute as it sails past. ‘What do you think? Are you having fun?’

Penny nods politely. ‘Yeah, it’s great.’

Tanya raises her eyebrows. ‘Honestly? I didn’t organise this event, remember, they’re just my client. Real feedback is helpful.’

‘It’s really boring,’ I say flatly. ‘Nobody is dancing! Everyone is just standing around looking perfect.’

Tanya looks over her shoulder and nods, chewing her lip. ‘That’s just what the client was saying.’

‘It’s not your event though, right?’ Penny says. ‘So not your problem to fix?’

‘No …’ Tanya says slowly, still peering around at the grand ballroom. ‘But if I do fix it then they’ll love me forever and let’s be honest, Christmas is round the corner and I’d love a bonus. Okay,’ she turns back to face us, ‘if I get them to play a good song, will you dance?’

‘Only if it’s a good Halloween song,’ I say. ‘I’m not getting my bat out for anyone.’

I pause. ‘Not a euphemism,’ I add into my champagne flute, concerned that Tanya may expect me to flash my vagina as soon as I hear the opening bars to ‘Thriller’.

Tanya nods. ‘Got it.’

‘Oh!’ Penny squeals, grabbing my arm. ‘Annie should open her wings, too! That’ll get people onto the floor!’

‘Really?’ I mumble.

‘Great idea,’ Tanya says, spotting the DJ. ‘Okay, I’ll be right back.’

‘Meet you on the dance floor!’ Penny calls after her. ‘Come on,’ she adds to me, plucking another two champagne flutes. ‘Get this down you.’

Five minutes later, as I’m gurgling down the dregs of my champagne, ‘Bump in the Night’ by Allstars starts to pump through the speakers. I grin and Penny whacks my arm.

God, I’m amazed that the DJ even had this song.

‘That’s our cue!’ she giggles. ‘Let’s go!’

She hurtles towards the dance floor and I scurry after her. This is our favourite Halloween song. I mean, yes, you have ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Monster Mash’, but really, everyone knows that this is the best one.

We start to dance, and as the chorus beats around the room, other people sashay around us.

Penny’s blonde hair swings around her as she shakes her head, singing along loudly.

One by one, people throw their arms in the air and shake their hips, chanting along to the chorus.

Penny takes my hand and spins me in a circle and I laugh, the warm champagne bubbles popping in the pit of my stomach.

‘It’s working!’ Tanya cries, bouncing up next to us. ‘Penny, this was a great idea, you genius.’

Penny flicks her hair and gives Tanya a wink as she joins us.

‘Come on,’ Penny nudges me. ‘You need to do your wings!’

I glance around, suddenly feeling a bit nervous.

‘Yes!’ Tanya cries, spotting my expression. ‘You need to do it, they’re incredible, Annie!’

‘Is it not a bit much, for here?’ I say, looking at the girl next to me who is dressed as a dog (I mean, come on. What’s scary about that ?).

‘No, it’s perfect,’ Tanya says defiantly. ‘Go on, Annie. Do it!’

‘Hang on,’ Penny says, pulling out her phone. ‘Let me film it! Okay, I’m ready.’

My fingers coil around the string on the inside of my cape.

‘Ready?’ Tanya grins at me. ‘Three, two, one … go!’

‘ARGH!’

Oh no.