Window Seats
On Celebrations
“This one definitely” Alison smiled as she grabbed a dress from my closet, “You’ll be getting all the attention today, forget about it being Roy’s birthday too” she giggled. The dress was a dark burgundy colour with a sweetheart neckline and short sleeves, probably a creation of Jane’s for I’m sure I would never buy a dress that looked that short.
“I don’t want any attention today. I’m just getting older, pretty soon I’ll be forty and I don’t want anyone making a big deal out of it.” I said as I passed my fingers through my hair, still hot from the barrel curler Alison had used not too long before.
“You’d think you’re already forty and miserable” Allison said as she took some black heels out of her bag, “Plus I heard you invited a special someone to this.” She wiggled her eyebrows, “You’ve got to look good, show him what he could have”
“Roy had the biggest mouth on any person ever.” I muttered before grabbing the clothing from the bed. “It’s not anything special, I’d just rather not be around a drunk Roy all night or a Jane. You were option but I figured Roy would ultimately suck you into his drunkenness.”
“He has an ever bigger heart” she said and I scoffed, “he’s just trying to be nice. Oh he doesn’t even have to try hon, I’m so ready for this” she smiled before ushering me to the bathroom to change.
I hated birthdays, I really did. They did nothing but remind of all the things I still hadn’t done in my life, and it was always the same things. I still hadn’t been to New York City, I still hadn’t swam with dolphins, I still didn’t know how to eat with chopsticks. They were dumb things, I’m aware, but they were things I always told myself I would do. With each passing year I was reminded that I was getting older, but not necessarily more complete.
“You look amazing, now it’s time for your grand entrance!” she exclaimed while clapping her hands. I felt awkward with a short dress on and the ridiculously high hells Alison had forced me to wear. I grimaced when she began opening the door, “Roy’s already out there, so all eyes on you birthday girl!”
“You’re always so cheerful” I muttered and rolled my eyes before walking out the door and meeting up with Roy in my small kitchen where upon seeing the both of us together everyone began showering us with birthday wishes. Roy looked stunned when he saw I was nearly his height as I stood next to him, “Blame Alison” I smiled as I patted his hair down.
“Now go have fun and get drunk, Jane’s not making you go in tomorrow” he gave me a thumbs up before running to Alison.
I also hated crowds. The people squished together, their loud conversations that are usually less than pleasant, the heat, and the fact that most of the time the crowd is made up of strangers. Out of all the people that were at this party I only knew about 15, of those 15 only 5 or so did I know more about than just their job and where they worked. I could never work a crowd, but Roy was the king, everyone flocked around him and he fuckin loved it.
That’s how I found myself in the small balcony. Sitting on the black couch trying to shield myself from the harsh winds with a cup of beer , courtesy of Roy, in my hand. Roy had been sending me glares throughout the time I had been out there and telling me to go back inside to socialize. I never did, he was extremely drunk and so was Jane, Alison was well on her way too, the only sober person in the party it seemed was Jack, who just stood and laughed at Roy.
“I can’t have fun if you’re not in there with me” Roy whined as he came out onto the balcony, cigarette in mouth, “fuck, ‘s cold out here.”
“Too much noise Roy” I mumbled as I stared up at him. ”I’ll go in a minute, let me finish this” I raised my cup to him.
“Fine, two minutes is all I’m giving you.”
I rolled my eyes as I brought the cup back up to my lips as Roy walked back into my living room backwards. He’s probably going to fall, I thought to myself as I shook my head and smiled at him. Alison smiled and lifted her cup as she grabbed onto Roy’s arm and began dancing with him.
“Your friends are here!” Alison whisper yelled as she grabbed my shoulders, “Roy’s talking to them right now. I think he’s embarrassing them,” she giggled and covered her mouth. “I’d go in there if I were you.”
I shrugged my shoulders as I grabbed the hand she was offering me and followed her back into the party, where the music seemed louder and the people seemed to multiply. “Bells!” Roy yelled and waved his hand over his head, “Your friends are here!” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and I shook my head at him.
“Stop it” I muttered in his ear before he was swept away by Alison. “You actually came” I said surprised.
“If I missed your birthday I wouldn’t be good company. I’m here to help you celebrate, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world” Vincent grinned before placing his arm around my shoulders and pulling me to his side. “So 23 years?”
“The most important birthday of one’s life” I answered and he laughed, his chest moving up and down.
“Since my cousin Vincent seems to have forgotten his manners, I’ll introduce myself” his cousin said as he stepped forward and pulled me from Vincent’s grasp and into a hug. “I’m Levi, the much more attractive cousin” he wiggled his eyebrows. “This is Jay, we bring him along cause he has no other friends” he whispered the last part but still received a punch on his arm.
“Let’s move outside,” I interrupted before shaking Jay’s hand.
“Happy birthday by the way!” Levi and Jay both said.
“We didn’t quite know what to get you as a present, so we just got you a bottle of good wine,” Levi said as he brought out a bag. “We figured you were probably a real classy broad so we thought good wine!” I laughed loudly but took the bottle nonetheless.
“Why are you out here?” Jay asked as he placed a cigarette on his thin lips. “Do you mind?” he added.
I shook my head, “I’m not much of a fan of birthdays” I answered. “It’s just another day passing, think about it, why don’t we celebrate the fact we got the chance to see another sunrise?”
“Deep, but unimportant.” Levi answered. “’s your birthday, cheer up doll. Your friends threw you a party and there’s plenty of stuff to be happy about.”
“It’s more like Roy’s party, we have the same birthday.”
“What would you rather be doing at this moment?” Jay asked.
“Be in Spain, on a beach and it be really sunny and-”
“Something reasonable doll, nothing involving other countries, expensive cars or celebrities,” Levi interrupted.
I smiled and shrugged, “Watching a movie, eating tiramisu and not hiding in my porch.”
Vincent stood up abruptly and extended his hand towards me, “Then we’ll do that then. There’s no reason why you should be spending your birthday unhappy. So let’s go.”
I smiled and grabbed Vincent’s hand, pulling myself up. “We’ll have to sneak out; Roy’ll get angry if he even sees me walking towards the door.”
“We’ll do that then doll, and we’ll celebrate your birthday like it’s supposed to be done!” Levi whispered before trying to make his way past the crowds of people inside.
I didn’t really realize that I was leaving with three strangers to God knows where. All I wanted to do was get away from all the people and actually celebrate my birthday how I wanted to. With a bad 70’s movie, tiramisu and without any drunk people.
“I don’t want any attention today. I’m just getting older, pretty soon I’ll be forty and I don’t want anyone making a big deal out of it.” I said as I passed my fingers through my hair, still hot from the barrel curler Alison had used not too long before.
“You’d think you’re already forty and miserable” Allison said as she took some black heels out of her bag, “Plus I heard you invited a special someone to this.” She wiggled her eyebrows, “You’ve got to look good, show him what he could have”
“Roy had the biggest mouth on any person ever.” I muttered before grabbing the clothing from the bed. “It’s not anything special, I’d just rather not be around a drunk Roy all night or a Jane. You were option but I figured Roy would ultimately suck you into his drunkenness.”
“He has an ever bigger heart” she said and I scoffed, “he’s just trying to be nice. Oh he doesn’t even have to try hon, I’m so ready for this” she smiled before ushering me to the bathroom to change.
I hated birthdays, I really did. They did nothing but remind of all the things I still hadn’t done in my life, and it was always the same things. I still hadn’t been to New York City, I still hadn’t swam with dolphins, I still didn’t know how to eat with chopsticks. They were dumb things, I’m aware, but they were things I always told myself I would do. With each passing year I was reminded that I was getting older, but not necessarily more complete.
“You look amazing, now it’s time for your grand entrance!” she exclaimed while clapping her hands. I felt awkward with a short dress on and the ridiculously high hells Alison had forced me to wear. I grimaced when she began opening the door, “Roy’s already out there, so all eyes on you birthday girl!”
“You’re always so cheerful” I muttered and rolled my eyes before walking out the door and meeting up with Roy in my small kitchen where upon seeing the both of us together everyone began showering us with birthday wishes. Roy looked stunned when he saw I was nearly his height as I stood next to him, “Blame Alison” I smiled as I patted his hair down.
“Now go have fun and get drunk, Jane’s not making you go in tomorrow” he gave me a thumbs up before running to Alison.
I also hated crowds. The people squished together, their loud conversations that are usually less than pleasant, the heat, and the fact that most of the time the crowd is made up of strangers. Out of all the people that were at this party I only knew about 15, of those 15 only 5 or so did I know more about than just their job and where they worked. I could never work a crowd, but Roy was the king, everyone flocked around him and he fuckin loved it.
That’s how I found myself in the small balcony. Sitting on the black couch trying to shield myself from the harsh winds with a cup of beer , courtesy of Roy, in my hand. Roy had been sending me glares throughout the time I had been out there and telling me to go back inside to socialize. I never did, he was extremely drunk and so was Jane, Alison was well on her way too, the only sober person in the party it seemed was Jack, who just stood and laughed at Roy.
“I can’t have fun if you’re not in there with me” Roy whined as he came out onto the balcony, cigarette in mouth, “fuck, ‘s cold out here.”
“Too much noise Roy” I mumbled as I stared up at him. ”I’ll go in a minute, let me finish this” I raised my cup to him.
“Fine, two minutes is all I’m giving you.”
I rolled my eyes as I brought the cup back up to my lips as Roy walked back into my living room backwards. He’s probably going to fall, I thought to myself as I shook my head and smiled at him. Alison smiled and lifted her cup as she grabbed onto Roy’s arm and began dancing with him.
“Your friends are here!” Alison whisper yelled as she grabbed my shoulders, “Roy’s talking to them right now. I think he’s embarrassing them,” she giggled and covered her mouth. “I’d go in there if I were you.”
I shrugged my shoulders as I grabbed the hand she was offering me and followed her back into the party, where the music seemed louder and the people seemed to multiply. “Bells!” Roy yelled and waved his hand over his head, “Your friends are here!” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and I shook my head at him.
“Stop it” I muttered in his ear before he was swept away by Alison. “You actually came” I said surprised.
“If I missed your birthday I wouldn’t be good company. I’m here to help you celebrate, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world” Vincent grinned before placing his arm around my shoulders and pulling me to his side. “So 23 years?”
“The most important birthday of one’s life” I answered and he laughed, his chest moving up and down.
“Since my cousin Vincent seems to have forgotten his manners, I’ll introduce myself” his cousin said as he stepped forward and pulled me from Vincent’s grasp and into a hug. “I’m Levi, the much more attractive cousin” he wiggled his eyebrows. “This is Jay, we bring him along cause he has no other friends” he whispered the last part but still received a punch on his arm.
“Let’s move outside,” I interrupted before shaking Jay’s hand.
“Happy birthday by the way!” Levi and Jay both said.
“We didn’t quite know what to get you as a present, so we just got you a bottle of good wine,” Levi said as he brought out a bag. “We figured you were probably a real classy broad so we thought good wine!” I laughed loudly but took the bottle nonetheless.
“Why are you out here?” Jay asked as he placed a cigarette on his thin lips. “Do you mind?” he added.
I shook my head, “I’m not much of a fan of birthdays” I answered. “It’s just another day passing, think about it, why don’t we celebrate the fact we got the chance to see another sunrise?”
“Deep, but unimportant.” Levi answered. “’s your birthday, cheer up doll. Your friends threw you a party and there’s plenty of stuff to be happy about.”
“It’s more like Roy’s party, we have the same birthday.”
“What would you rather be doing at this moment?” Jay asked.
“Be in Spain, on a beach and it be really sunny and-”
“Something reasonable doll, nothing involving other countries, expensive cars or celebrities,” Levi interrupted.
I smiled and shrugged, “Watching a movie, eating tiramisu and not hiding in my porch.”
Vincent stood up abruptly and extended his hand towards me, “Then we’ll do that then. There’s no reason why you should be spending your birthday unhappy. So let’s go.”
I smiled and grabbed Vincent’s hand, pulling myself up. “We’ll have to sneak out; Roy’ll get angry if he even sees me walking towards the door.”
“We’ll do that then doll, and we’ll celebrate your birthday like it’s supposed to be done!” Levi whispered before trying to make his way past the crowds of people inside.
I didn’t really realize that I was leaving with three strangers to God knows where. All I wanted to do was get away from all the people and actually celebrate my birthday how I wanted to. With a bad 70’s movie, tiramisu and without any drunk people.