Page 12 of Moments in Ink

Or should I go with the suit? Maybe some leather? Lace? Or perhaps just go in my bra and panties like she had worn when I first met her, and we could call it a day.

I ran my hands down my face again, grateful that I hadn’t put on any makeup yet. Not that my makeup would look anywhere near close to Zia’s. Maybe I should quit while I was ahead and text her that I couldn’t go. She would probably hate me for it, but at least I wouldn’t feel as dejected as I did right now.

I had never been good at dating, hence why I’d ended up with the person I had. And I felt like I had gotten even worse at the idea of it since.

All because I was trying to be introspective and shit. And frankly, I didn’t know where to start.

“Just wear the fucking suit,” I growled and reached for my stone-gray pants, and the white button-up top with a black lace design along the seams.

I would pair it with a leather jacket, or maybe my vest, as well as some high-heeled boots and call it a day.

It wasn’t the fanciest thing I owned, nor the most sparkly. Zia would probably outshine me no matter where we went or what I wore, and that was fine with me. She sparkled even without makeup, and her hair brushed back as if she had recently woken up.

She shined in the darkness, and I liked that.

I didn’t mind being the canvas next to her, but I did mind looking like hell. I at least had totry.

But I didn’t know where to start.

I set out my clothes and went back into the bathroom to do my makeup.

I had watched her basic night out tutorial seven times earlier, had taken notes, and now I was going to try it.

The fact that I was putting so much into this embarrassed me, and if anybody asked, I would lie to them and say that I hadn’t done any of it. But here I was, trying to practice a basic smoky eye with whatever makeup I had.

Thankfully, Zia’s tutorials also came with a link to her website that went over everything step by step in words, as well.

I appreciated the notetaking because, sometimes, I got distracted by the sound of her voice, and I wasn’t a hundred percent sure exactly how I felt about that.

I was trying, and that had to count for something.

I still couldn’t believe that I had said yes to a date, and I had a feeling that she couldn’t quite believe she had not only asked me but that I had said yes, as well.

We would have fun tonight, and I was going to try and get out of my comfort zone. My comfort zone lately had been me hiding in my new house and pretending that the rest of the world couldn’t find me.

I couldn’t hide for the rest of my life, though, so I needed to find out if this new phase suited me. If it didn’t, then Zia and I could walk away as friends, and we wouldn’t hurt each other in the end. Because we would have barriers, we would have rules.

And we would have fun.

I was super stressed out.

I looked down at the new brushes in front of me and hoped that I had bought the right ones, even though they were the ones directly from her website.

I had wanted to get this right, and frankly, I needed something more than the sample brush that had come with my previous makeup.

She had mentioned something about cleaning brushes, so I had bought that stuff, too, and now I had a wide array of new utensils. Though I probably needed better makeup to go with all of it.

I applied my primer, something I hadn’t even known existed until now, and then started on my base and the rest.

I sucked at blending, but with the new brush I had, it was easier than it had ever been before. Having the right tools or even some semblance of how to use them actually helped.

Who knew?

I curled my lashes, applied my nude matte lipstick because I wanted to showcase my eyes, as well as my cheekbones because, apparently, she liked them, and called it a day.

I added more products to my hair, something I was good at because I trained myself for months to get my hair the way that I wanted it depending on the situation while smiling at the person in front of me.

I let out a breath. “Here we go.”