Dreamful

 

DREAMFUL

  CHAPTER:34

         ...Avenue 8 that's where the talent round was, a grand hotel with the most stunning ramp. There was no place for such grand-immense hotels in the heart of the city. It was the total outskirts of the city and Destiny had never been there, it was a two-hour long ride, 'pick-up-and-drop service' was provided by the pageant, however, the idea of traveling such long distances bored Destiny. It was five in the evening and Destiny was getting ready to leave. She put on a basic tee shirt and a pair of black jeans, packed her evening dress and the new sandals neatly, and put it in her bag, hair and makeup didn't have to be worried about since it wasn't her responsibility. The talent round didn't begin before eight p.m. and was scheduled to end pretty late.

"Destiny, Good Luck! , and call us whenever you are on the bus back home.", Grace said.

"Sure, sure, don't worry, I'll be fine". Destiny took a final look at herself in the mirror and went out of her apartment toward the bus station, a fifteen-minute distance from her house, and boarded the bus. Ivy texted about one and a half-hour later.

"Hi, did you reach?"

"No!"

"Where are you?". Destiny looked out the window, cool breezes touching her face...it was six-thirty when they traveled through a road on whose either side were no buildings, no housings, no apartments, no offices-only nature...lots of trees on either side and though it would have looked utterly pretty and refreshing in the morning, as the clock was ticking and the sun set, it appeared eerie, just a little bit as the street lights weren't put to service just yet.

"In a forest.", Destiny typed back along with sending her a snap.

"This place gives me so non-modernish, weird vibes..."

"I'm so bored Ivy, wish you could have accompanied :) "

As Destiny got off the bus, she was amazed. The place looked like heaven on earth, it was the only lighted thing that existed there, providing her a ray of hope after she thought the road would never come to an end. And it was marvelously cosmic. She saw girls getting down from their private cars, those who had refused to take the bus service. Only looking at the place made her forget all the worries of the talent round. A lady guided all the girls inside and Destiny was deciding between whether to look at the place and admire its elysian beauty or watch her steps and prevent an embarrassing fall. They were guided through the stage room, the place where she was going to perform sometime later, with so many people at work there. Someone was setting up huge cameras while a group of girls were adjusting the lighting, chatting, and laughing. The lights which made Destiny's eyes crinkle every single time. There were large boxes of extra props being opened and everything was being put together for the show. The girls were directed to a huge hallway wherein there were rows of rooms on opposite sides, each room had a name tag on its door.

"After you're done with hair and makeup-", the lady said,"... which will be there", she pointed at another room behind them,"... you can take these rooms for last-minute practice and touch-ups". After she was done giving some basic information, all the girls scattered, some decided to change up first and then go along with hair and makeup while some chose the opposite. Destiny entered the styling room and put her backpack in a corner where everyone else had put theirs. She chose a chair and waited for her turn. She saw Stephanie come and sit beside her, she was busy on her phone as usual. When she looked at Destiny she got up with a spontaneity, her expression changing to a frown,

"Good Lord, where did I...", she didn't even complete what she was saying and chose another chair, which was some distance away, towards the door. Destiny rolled her eyes and thought, "What have I done to her?". Soon, her makeup and hair were put in place. As for her makeup, she was given a pastel blue shiny eyeshadow, the one which matched the color of her dress, and light lipstick along with layers of mascara. Her hair was made in a side-French braid, leaving the rest heat curled, giving her a beautiful look. Destiny took a final look at herself in the mirror before she got up from the chair and loved it.

"You look beautiful!", the stylist said, clapping her hands together.

"Thank you for your help!", she replied and proceeded toward the exit of the styling room. Her eye caught Stephanie in the mirror who didn't even look like her anymore. Dez only recognized her because she had seen her take that specific seat. Sure, she looked amazing with rose goldish makeup, and her hair was being put in place. Destiny focused her gaze back on the pile of hand purses, picked up hers, and went out of the room. She went around the corridor of rooms to find hers, which took a couple of minutes.

"Thirty-five minutes more for my turn, all I need to do is change and my final practice.", she said aloud, taking a long breath. She quickly changed into the dress she had rented for the evening, purchasing it would have costed her an arm and a leg. She looked at herself in the full-length mirror, it was a mermaid-style dress covered in pastel blue shimmer with fine silver hand-stitched detailing covering the skirt of the fabric. She took off her vans and reached in the hand purse to find the sandals Grace had gifted her. No sandals. Her heart skipped a beat as she emptied the whole of her purse on the floor. Lipsticks and compact powders, tissues, keys, her diary, medicines, minimal jewelry there was everything, except the pearl sandals. Panic took over her. What would she do? Go perform in those vans which were so worn out, so dirty, so old? NO WAY! She frowned and got up massaging her forehead.

"I VIVIDLY REMEMBER KEEPING THEM HERE!", she said to herself as she gazed at the pile of stuff she had emptied from her hand purse. She had checked her purse five times before stepping out of her house, how could she have been mistaken? She sat down back in the chair, only twenty-five minutes for her turn to arrive and she was shoe-less. She could wear her vans but they were way too ugly to step on the glam ramp. "It has to be Stephanie! She had her seat toward the exit of the styling room where the bags were kept, What have I done to her?! She stole my sandals...before the show!". Destiny felt pretty sure about it. There was no one she knew except Stephanie who would do it. Dez got out of her room and did the only thing she could think of.

After knocking and calling for about the tenth time on the door mentioned, 'STEPHANIE', when Dez was about to give up, she appeared. She wore a blush pink high knee slit dress, which exposed her beautiful long legs, she wore two inches long heels in the same shade as her dress, her hair in beach curls...she looked ravishing. Stephanie looked like a piece of heaven.

"Yes?", she asked, raising an eyebrow. Destiny took a deep breath.

"Is there any way...ANY WAY...you...could be having err...my sandals? The show's about to start Ste-"

"What sandals? What are you even talking about?", she asked, giving Destiny a weird and confused look.

"I...had my sandals in the purse until we were-"

"WAIT.WAIT.WAIT.WAIT...so you think I STOLE 'YOUR' stinky sandals? YOU ARE BLAMING ME, HUH?!", she shouted throwing up her hands.

"Look, I never said that-"

"YOU DON'T NEED TO, IT'S ALL ON YOUR FACE!". Destiny caught sight of the wall clock in Stephanie's room, there were only fifteen more minutes left for her turn to arrive.

"Sorry to disturb you.", Dez said and turned around. There was no point arguing with Stephanie. She would never admit it even if she would have taken them. But then again, there was no point for Stephanie to steal Destiny's sandals, she was high standards. Destiny's throat hurt as tears started building in. The next best option was to ask Edwin, he was the only person she knew but what would he even do? He possibly couldn't have a pair of presentable-looking female shoes. She saw him, far at a distance, phone on his ear which he supported by his shoulder while he kept on moving things. He didn't notice Destiny...he was far too busy...far too at a distance to look at her...

                                                                     TO BE CONTINUED...

 

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