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They were going out on a date. A real date. They’d agreed to do it the very next night: Friday.
Tonight.
Esther couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone out on an actual, honest-to-god date. Usually, she met someone, flirted for an hour or two, and then went home with him—always to his place, never hers. Easier to duck-and-run the next morning, thereby avoiding any attempt at awkward morning-after pancakes.
But that was the old Esther. Not only was she going on a date tonight, but she’d had to plan it, because she was the one who’d done the asking. She’d definitely never been the one in charge of planning a date before. But she’d spent the whole day thinking about it and had it all figured out.
“What about this one?” she said, holding a dress up in front of her phone’s screen. Jinny was helping her get ready for the date via FaceTime.
“Yellow makes you look like you have malaria.”
Okay, then. No more yellow dress. Esther tossed it into the corner to donate to Goodwill.
“It’s the blue or the purple,” Jinny said. “Those are the two best.”
The blue one fit better, but the purple one showed off more cleavage. Esther remembered how much Jonathan had seemed to like her in the low-cut top she’d worn to the party. “Purple it is.”
“Good choice. Wear the tan shoes.”
The tan shoes were heels. Esther wasn’t a fan of heels, but they did look the best with the purple dress. “Hair up or down?”
“Down.”
Esther frowned into the phone. “Are you sure?”
“I love how nervous you are. It’s adorable.”
“Shit, should I get him flowers? I didn’t get him flowers.”
“Let’s not go overboard. You don’t want to emasculate him.”
“That’s patriarchal toxic masculinity bullshit, and I refuse to participate in it.”
Jinny rolled her eyes. “Are you really going to run out and buy flowers in the next fifteen minutes?”
Esther checked the clock. “No, I don’t have time.”
“Then he’s not getting flowers.”
“Oh, god,” Esther said, staring into her makeup drawer.
“What?”
“How am I supposed to pick a lipstick? There are too many to choose from.”
“Relax, I’ve got you. Nothing glossy or sticky.”
“They’re all sticky.”
“You want something matte for maximum kissability. Like the one you got last time I dragged you to Sephora.”
Esther propped the phone on the counter and dug through her lipstick collection, looking for the liquid lip color Jinny had talked her into buying. “This is weird, isn’t it? You helping me pick makeup to seduce a guy you’ve kissed.”
“First of all, you’re not seducing him with your makeup, weirdo. Second of all, yes, it’s a little weird…but not insurmountably so.”
Esther looked up at the camera and smiled. “What would I do without you?”
Jinny smiled back at her through the screen. “You would be a disaster, my friend. A fucking disaster.”
