Girl's Night Out

[Lyra Newbury]

Thanks to Nicolas' forceful hand, Lyra was feeling better. She had been to the office every day this week and found work had a way of busying her mind which now had very little time to focus on the absence of Julian's presence. He had told Lyra they would talk, but yet again she'd seen neither hide nor hair of him since. It was Saturday, which meant she didn't need to go into the office and now her mind was free to dwell on her mangled love life.

Instead, she owled her friends and arranged a girl's night out. Lyra wore a ridiculously low cut navy dress that hugged her hips and fell just above her knees. She stepped into the nightclub, the first of her friends to arrive, and sauntered up to the bar. She ordered a dirty martini and tapped the toe of her cream stiletto on the floor absentmindedly as she waited.

[Samantha Montgomery]

Lyra's sudden overdrive of devotion and energy toward the magazine freed up quite a bit of time for Samantha. It was nice having a capable right hand which left Samantha free to pursue other business ventures. But she too was due for a break. She had of course seen Lyra at the office, but they hadn't had time to really sit down and talk since the evening of Lyra's ball. Samantha still had no clue about Nik's part in Lyra's new look or fighting attitude, but she admired the changes in her friend.

She was running only a little bit behind due to an inescapable meeting that ran late. When she arrived however, she was impeccable as always.

"Please tell me you've already ordered drinks."

[Lyra Newbury]

"Long day at the office?" Lyra asked with a laugh. She turned to the bar behind her picking up the drink she had ordered for her friend and passed it to Sam. She sipped on her martini then smiled. "You look amazing, as always."

[Samantha Montgomery]

"Which office?" she replied dryly before taking the grateful drink. She smiled graciously at the compliment her friend paid her, "And you look fabulous, so you never did tell me what inspired the switch." she said referring to Lyra's hair.

It wasn't just her hair, but her attitude.

[Lyra Newbury]

"You'll have to ask Nik that," she said casually before realizing Samantha didn't know that Nicolas had rescued her from herself. "Oh. He didn't tell you, did he? Nik did all of this." She gestured to her hair and her clothes. She was embarrassed to say that the jewelry he had given her was enchanted to, basically, make her not act like such a pathetic loaf. It was working quite well and she was even wearing confidence inducing necklace today, which had transitioned from a large ruby to a smaller sapphire to match her outfit.

Lyra was nearly certain that Samantha had ordered Nicolas to fetch her from her flat that day, and after the staff at Enchanted confirmed that it had been Nik who had orchestrated the spa day, she was still fairly certain Samantha had something to do with it in some way. She wasn't just going to believe Nicolas because he said Sam had nothing to do with it. Lyra thought of Nicolas as one of those guys who didn't realize talk was even cheaper sold in bulk. He used words that were more complex than they needed to be and threw his power and connections around as if he had to impress or intimidate everyone around him. Lyra wouldn't put it past Nik to claim he'd thought of her all by himself when in actuality his arm had been twisted. But apparently that wasn't the case.

[Samantha Montgomery]

Lyra's idea of who Nik was and Sam's idea was vastly different. The man never took credit for anything kind that he did. He shrugged off praise as it made him uncomfortable, and he certainly didn't tell Samantha about his hand in Lyra's makeover.

"Nik did it?" she asked, confusion written on her face, "But why?"

Contrary to what Lyra believed, Nik didn't talk very much. He acted. His word was law whether it was for good or bad. If he threatened he followed through, and if he promised something he also followed through. Nik was the kind of man whose honor meant everything to him, but he wasn't above bending the world to his knee if need be to get what he wanted. Lyra was also wrong about Nik needing to impress or intimidate anyone, but he was accustomed to it. Most people did as Nik ordered, Samantha was one of the few who flouted his decrees left and right. He also didn't care what anyone thought about him, except perhaps Samantha and the Montgomery's, they were the only people he cared about.

[Lyra Newbury]

"I guess I made a big enough ass out of myself at the ball that he finally believed me," she said on a sigh. She took a long sip of her drink. "He said he believed I wasn't trying to take advantage of you, or Mason, or - " she paused, a hint of a pout on her lips. "Or Julian. I guess he felt guilty for being such an unbearable wanker." Lyra looked sideways at Sam. "I know he's your fiancee, but you have to admit he can be a bit of a git sometimes."

[Samantha Montgomery]

"He's not my-" Sam began but shook her head, "Oh well never mind that." She was still surprised that Nik of all people had assisted Lyra in her transformation.

"He can be extremely stubborn." Samantha agreed sipping on her drink, "But he means well. I knew he'd come around eventually." Sam wasn't entirely aware of the git-ishness of Nicolas' as both he and Lyra had spared her the worst of their feuding otherwise Sam would have put her foot down sooner.

"And you do really look fabulous."

[Lyra Newbury]

"Thank you," she said confidently. Lyra examined Sam's face over the rim of her glass before deciding that Nicolas had also kept her self-destructive behavior a secret from Sam. She was grateful for that but simultaneously annoyed that it made her like him just a bit more. She really didn't want to like him. She was being kind when she called him a git.

"And the show in Milan was amazing. Nik had to practically carry me back to my flat, I had so much to drink at the after party."

[Samantha Montgomery]

Samantha's frown deepened, "He took you to Milan?" there may have been a hint of jealousy in her voice. Nik usually made such a fuss when Sam dragged him to this show or that so she had stopped taking him. To find out now that he had taken Lyra not only to the show, but to the after party as well was mind boggling.

[Lyra Newbury]

Lyra picked up that hint and gave her friend a sympathetic look. "Don't worry. He had a horrible time and he kept leaving the show to handle business. He found every excuse not to enjoy it." Lyra wouldn't say so to Samantha, but Nicolas' lack of enthusiasm at the event made Lyra enjoy herself that much more.

She gave a hopeful smile and added, "plus I've got us a few meetings lined up with new designers, and there's a photographer that wants to meet with you." Lyra hoped the fact that Nicolas had made her work would soften the blow.

[Samantha Montgomery]

It didn't, but Lyra's disposition did. Her friend was feeling better, and it was Nik's doing. That should have made Samantha happy, and after a brief reflection she realized it did.

"I'm sure Camille will be able to set something up." Sam said of her personal assistant. Sometimes Sam wondered how Camille fit everything into a schedule, but then that was why she paid the woman so well.

[Lyra Newbury]

"I've already sent her the information. I believe she was going to set something up for next week." Lyra enjoyed pretty much every aspect of her job, and as a distraction from the rest of her life she found it worked well. In avoiding thinking of the people she had hurt she had become much more zealous in keeping on top of things around the office. But that wasn't why she had invited Samantha out tonight.

"Let's not talk about work. It is the weekend, and weekends were designed for getting pissed and having fun with your girlfriends."

[Samantha Montgomery]

Sam laughed, there was no set hours of work for Samantha and it seemed as though she were always working. She was certainly busy enough. But she agreed, it was a night for 'getting pissed' and having fun.

"Cheers." she said bringing her drink upward.

[Lyra Newbury]

Lyra finished her drink and set the empty glass on the bar. "Come on, let's dance." She pulled Sam by the wrist onto the dance floor. Even being dragged around Sam had a regal look about her. Lyra laughed, knowing that when Nicolas had dragged her from her flat she looked nothing so graceful.

[Samantha Montgomery]

Like everything else that was too eerily perfect about Samantha, grace could be contributed to her mother. The veela blood that ran through her veins also helped, but it was mostly the curse her mother had placed on her to ensure perfection in every form.

Samantha enjoyed her time on the dance floor, but her mind was miles away. She marveled at the change in Lyra, or rather the confidence and playfulness. It wasn't that Lyra didn't have those things naturally, but due to recent events they had been rather subdued.

[Lyra Newbury]

At home, away from the watchful eyes of the Enchanted staff, Sam, or Nicolas, Lyra was still the broken girl she had been before. When she took off her jewelry their powers faded and she slipped back into her darkness. But it was easier to pull out of it now that she had a quick fix sitting on her bedside table.

Lyra noticed the far off look in Sam's eye. "What's wrong?" she shouted over the music as they danced.

[Samantha Montgomery]

Sam shook her head, "No it's nothing."

She was tired, being perfect was exhausting. Heading up several ventures in addition to a magazine was also exhausting. But getting perfect marks at school in addition to the other things on her plate was starting to get to her. Perhaps it wasn't school, but rather the whole point of school. Friends, relationships, drama. Lyra's life may have been complicated and a mess, but at least she was living it. Samantha had no such claims. Nothing ruffled her perfect little feathers.

[Lyra Newbury]

Samantha was Lyra's best friend. She confessed to Sam things that no one else knew and she often sought her out as a source of comfort. But there was still a divide between them. Samantha was too perfect, too much of the time. Lyra knew Sam kept things from her, just as Lyra kept things from Sam. They were protecting themselves and protecting each other in keeping their darkest secrets hidden.

The only problem with their friendship was that the walls they put up to save themselves stopped them from fully being able to support each other in the ways they wanted to. Samantha wanted to solve Lyra's problems, but she wasn't privy to all of the factors that caused the chaos. Lyra wanted to help her friend, but the facade she showed the world didn't need any assistance. She could have never imagined Samantha might have felt even a twinge of jealousy over the disaster that was Lyra's life.

[Samantha Montgomery]

It wasn't jealousy, well maybe it was. Sam was brought up differently, and that upbringing seemed to separate her from everyone. The abuse she experienced at the hand of someone who was supposed to love you was crippling. She didn't know how to let others in because she never had been able to.

She wasn't allowed romantic complications, friendships, or normal life drama either. In some ways it was 'perfect' and in the way it really mattered it was horribly sad.

After dancing for a few more songs Sam went to the bathroom to freshen up. She enjoyed the club scene, but all too often the dance floor morphed into a pit of sweat and writhing bodies. Sometimes she needed fresh air.

When she joined Lyra again she had another drink in her hand.

"I think my cousin said she'd stop by."