Anya came back from the bathroom, unaware of the little conversation that had gone on while she wasn’t present and got to work on my nails almost immediately. “Just relax and don’t try to move too much.” She smiled at me innocently.

I gave her a nod. “I will try.”

And so Anya painted my nails. A rather foreign feeling to me as I have had my toenails painted on less occasions than I can count on one hand. It did feel pretty good to have someone skilled care for me like that though. In no time whatsoever, Anya had put the first coat on my nails.

“We are done now, right?”

“No, two more layers to go.” She just went back to my first nail as that nail polished had dried already.

“Like Anya said, Auro, just relax.” Em winked. Ria was done painting her nails so she could move around freely already.

“I am envious of the position of liberty you’ve acquired already.” I replied, more poetic than I normally would, which Claire found very funny.

“What art thou, if not free?” Claire asked in return.

“Right, I should’ve known that would trigger you.” I scratched my cheek. “I’m not used to keeping my legs still like this for a prolonged period of time.

“Don’t worry, we will be done soon.” Anya replied. 100% of her focus on what she was currently doing.

Ria came to sit down right next to Anya so she could follow along precisely what she was doing. “You really need to tell me where you bought your nail polishes, Anya. I really like the depth of colour that these have.”

“I will give you the address later.” Anya smiled, not looking up at all. “You might need to get them shipped to you though.”

“Are they that exclusive?” I asked.

“If I recall correctly, Anya told me that the store she buys them from make all the nail polishes themselves, or at least the production line is completely within the family.”

Anya nodded. “It’s a premium product. But it’s produced locally and I really like what their polishes look like. So for me, it’s worth the price.”

“Do I even want to know what these things cost?”

“Probably not.” Anya shrugged.

“Then I shall not ask.” I almost started sweating not knowing what kind of diamond infused nail polish was being wasted on me.

Anya finished the great work that was called ‘giving me a pedicure’ and looked rather content with her work. “What do you think?” She looked me straight in the eyes, quite intimidating, actually.

I looked down at the blood-red nails that were now adorning my toes. “It’s not bad.” I replied. “You did a good job.”

“Thank you, but you should wait for the picture to be complete before making your final verdict.” She smirked.

“Complete picture…? Oh…” I looked at my fingers.

“Exactly.”

“It’s only fair that you get your nails done first now, Aurora, you had to wait the longest to start after all.” Claire smirked, the bastard.

Suddenly a great idea came to my mind. “Wait!”

Everyone stopped moving for a couple of seconds before Claire replied. “Yes?”

“Anya and Ria haven’t had their nails done yet!”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Oh, that’s true, actually! I totally forgot!” Ria smiled.

I had bought myself a little bit more time before execution, but at least I could eat some more snacks now before I would also not be able to use my hands anymore for the time being.

In the end we did move on to a manicure too, which, all in all, wasn’t too bad either. I still wouldn’t do it if my girlfriends didn’t ask me, but it wasn’t the end of the world either. That said, it did feel incredibly unnatural for me to wear all this nail polish.

And so, we moved on to the final part of my torture, the make-up. This time, to the surprise of everyone, I volunteered to go first. I really wanted to get it done and over with. And luckily for me, although Anya is definitely not bad either, Ria wanted to work on my make-up while Anya started on Claire.

Ria was very soft with me while she touched my face, just like Em had predicted earlier. It was definitely a way more enjoyable occasion than that one time I got bumrushed by the maid squad right before Alessia and I went on to Ria’s house.

My make-over was done a lot sooner than I had expected too. “I’m done!” Ria proclaimed excitedly.

“Is it over already?” I asked, opening my eyes.

“I decided to go light on the make-up and just use it to pull out your best features. As you don’t really like make-up much.” Ria leaned behind her, got a mirror and pulled it out in front of me. She had mainly put the focus on my eyes and my lips. Not really using much more than a good eyeliner, some blush and a red lipstick. “How does it feel?”

“It’s definitely not heavy.” I inspected myself in the mirror. “It’s almost bearable, I’d say.”

“Almost?” Ria tilted her head and smiled.

“You did a good job, babe.” I winked back with a smile. “I’d kiss you, but then you’d be full of lipstick already.”

“Hehe.” Ria chose to give me a very cute blowkiss instead. Didn’t really satisfy me physically, but in my soul I was all set to go.

Ria started on Em while Anya was about halfway done with Claire, it was a good moment for me to go and get some more drinks for everyone as we were all starting to get a little bit low.

I did have to put on my socks, otherwise my poor feetsies would freeze to death on the cold flooring in the kitchen.

I mentally made a note of everything my girlfriends and my friends wanted to drink and made my way over with the glasses.

Right as I was about to open the fridge, the doorbell downstairs rang. “I’ll get it! I called out to the party in the living room and jogged to the staircase, making my way downstairs.

When I opened the door I was met with, aside from a bunch of snow, Julie who was standing there in a rather thick black coat.

“Ah good, she smiled. You made your way back home safely.” She smiled warmly, contrasted by the cold air that was wafting in.

“Did you come out here just to check on me?” I smiled.

She nodded. “Lady Blanchet was quite worried about you, she wouldn’t be at ease unless she knew you were safely back home so I volunteered to come and ask. And I feel a lot more at ease myself now, too. Did your friends get here as well?”

“They are both safe and sound, having fun with my girlfriends. They wanted to have a bit of a girl’s night instead of watching the television.”

Julie giggled. “Ah, I see, so that’s why you are all dolled up yourself.”

“Pretty much.” I chuckled.

“Well, then I will be going back again, sorry for disturbing your little party.”

“I don’t mind at all.” I smiled once more. “I really appreciate the concern. It’s definitely weather you have to be rather careful in.” Even though, as a vampire, that’s all quite relative for me. But for Claire and Anya that would be a different case all together.

“Very true. Then the only thing that rests me is to wish you a very happy and fruitful New Year from the both of us.”

“We wish you the same. Tell lady Blanchet that we will come to visit her one of these days.”

“I definitely will!”

And with that, the winter door ringer went back to the house next door. A final peek outside showed how much the snow had gathered even more in the last couple of hours. I almost couldn’t imagine how Julie managed to plow her way through that amount of snow to my house, even if it’s just a couple of meters. That’s definitely some dedication, but then again, the price for some peace of mind can quickly be underestimated.

I closed the door and made my way back upstairs to get some drinks for everyone. The moment I stepped back into the living room with my tray of drinks, they were all looking at me, their eyes filled with curiosity.

“Who braved this awful weather to come and visit?” Claire, appointed spokesperson for the entire room, asked.

“It was our neighbor. She had seen me leave to come and get you two at the train station. Her and the lady next door were a bit concerned so they wanted to know if we made it back safely.”

“Awh, that’s very sweet.” Anya smiled.

“Julie made her way through this weather just to ask that?” Em asked. “She must’ve been quite worried then.”

“Yeah, I don’t think my neighbors would care at all, to be honest.” Claire commented.

“They are some pretty darn good neighbors, that’s for sure.”

-Good neighbors are definitely a blessing one shouldn’t overlook.-