Place In My Heart

Every pair of eyes on the high street she was walking down fell straight to her feet and the cream Kurt Geiger masterpieces that she wore. The melodic beat the heels made caught their attention, then their admiration and envy. The colour was only a shade lighter than her ivory skin tone, which gave her a sickly complexion. Yet she fought against it with an electric blue jumper that fell to her mid-thigh and underneath was the hint of a pair of shorts.

Her dark green eyes showed nothing but absence. In London where people had so much determination to stick to their unadjustable routine, she floated through. Absorbing every dominant detail surrounding her and the overlooked ones. Breathing in the avenue of shops, looking above to the flats and offices. She took in the formal Roman blinds and the yellowed net curtains- discoloured most likely by an excessive amount of smoke fumes.

With that thought, she threw the cigarette that she held delicately between her finger tips on the littered ground and stamped out the remainders of the flame.

Somehow she managed to turn into the meeting place that she should have been in a quarter of an hour before. Her companion was already sat at a table, nursing a mug the size of a soup bowl. She sashayed over and scrapped back the free chair. The other girl jumped, spilling some of the coffee from her mug as an aftershock to her sudden movement. Once the temporary alarm faded, she jumped from her seat to kiss her friend on her sharp cheek bone, while pulling her into a tight hug.

"It's so good to see you Coralie." Nina said as she released her.

"Oh the pleasure is all mine. Look at you! Darling you look amazing." her painted lips opened to flash her perfect white teeth as she held the petite girl out at arms length.

She then fell into the welcoming seat, eyes automatically searching for any sign of an ashtray. Yet the British law once again put her in her place, banning the filthy habit from enclosed public spaces. Instead she settled for drumming her french manicured nails on the wooden table top.

"How's uni treating you? You took Media Psychology didn't you?" Nina asked, commencing with the formalities you began with after not seeing someone for an extended period of time.

A slow smirk lifted on the crimson lips and her eyes sparkled with something sweetly devious. "Oh boy, I didn't mention that I pulled out did I?"

Silence crept upon them without warning as the information processed. Nina gawked across the table. Filled with utter awe at the possibility of the smartest girl she knew saying those words. Through out GCSE's and A levels, everyone strived to know Coralie St. Clare off her academic throne, but it was never a success story for anyone but her.

"You did what!? You were attending Cambridge, Coralie! Cambridge! The prestigious Cambridge." Nina reiterated things the both knew too well, and all the other girl could do was throw her head back and laugh.

"Yep. I pulled out midway through the second month." she shrugged like it wasn't a huge deal. Yet it was something Nina couldn't bare to swallow.

"But why, Coralie?"

All the humour seemed to have been drained from the situation by an obvious question. Coralie sighed softly, before looking straight into her friends curious eyes. "Don't you ever feel like we're giving our everything for nothing? Studying for hours and hours, just so we can gain a piece of paper that says we're good enough to qualify. The amount my parents were paying for it was unbelievable. It just didn't seem worth it."

Slowly, Nina nodded to show she understood her friends perspective. Though that didn't mean she agreed with it. "Oh, so you've gone into work now?"

"No... as terrible as it sounds, I'm living off the money my Dad would be sending to Cambridge's bank account. Only for the time being. I just, don't want to live with restrictions. I just want to live while I'm still young and not reach fourty with a suitcase full of regrets." Coralie spoke with what people could only describe as passion.

It wasn't enough for Nina though, she couldn't accept that was the only basis of her quitting her dream life. They'd stayed up for hours upon end in their boarding school dormitory discussing the student life style. It was something Coralie had been aiming for since she learned her alphabet. Nobody loved studying as much as she did, she was the opposite of the free spirit she claimed she now was. She wanted to achieve her degree and step straight into a high-salary job to feed her fetish of designer shoes with her own pay check. Not living off her parents very large fortune, like she currently was.

Yet Nina didn't poke any further, she knew she was being reserved for a reason.

"Your other fantasies we discussed haven't changed in any way, have they?" Nina asked quickly, as there was a firm basis of why she had arranged to meet her. Something that was possibly more achievable with Coralie's new approach to life.

"I still want my beautifully flamboyant romance, if that's what you're asking me." Coralie smiled, recalling how she would gush about every expectation she had about love when she was a naive sixteen year old.

"It is," Nina nodded, relief visible on her face "and I think you may be able to get it out of someone I know..."

"Though there is something more to this set up isn't there? Hmm, he's not very pretty but has a fabulous personality? Erm, it's not your father is it? As much as I would love to be a part of your family, I don't think being your step mother would work. No, no. He's trying to get over someone, isn't he?"

"Bingo!" the brunette threw her arms up, and they both fell into fits of giggles. Thoughts returned back to the semi-given proposition, and Nina knew she was required to explain everything a little more to the girl she was asking so much out of.

"George needs someone like you, Coralie. I'm not asking you to fall in love with him, or even like him. I just need him to get over this girl, by spending time with someone a thousand times greater than her in so many ways. So of course I think of you. You're exactly what he needs, and once he removes his Kiley tinted glasses, he'll give you every romantic gesture under the Sun."

"Oh that boy, huh. You've mentioned him a fair bit. He's in your boyfriend's band, right?"

"Mark isn't my boyfriend!" Nina protested shrilly, cheeks automatically flushing.

"Oh course not," Coralie laughed softly "Okay Nina. I'll woo and seduce this friend of yours."

A wave of satisfaction crashed through Nina's veins, as everything thus far had falling into place. Both were willing to be pushed together through her attempts of playing Cupid. She acknowledged Coralie telling her that she needed to go to the toilet, and watched as she rose gracefully. At that moment, she felt so confident that her elaborate plan would be a golden success.