Chapter Text
When Eve woke up this morning to the annoying sound of her ringing phone, she did not think that she would need to go shopping for a fancy dress, but well here she was. At the crack of dawn (8am) Bill called her to tell her that she was his plus one for some fancy event this evening. Eve didn't do fancy. She never did and she will not start doing it now. But Bill knows what she hates more than dressing up and playing a role for someone else at parties: paperwork.
So, with the promise to do her paperwork for the next three weeks, she agrees to accompany him. The problem is, she doesn’t know what to wear. Or rather, she doesn’t have anything to wear, because apparently her definition of fancy doesn’t fit quite right with the general definition of it – or whatever. But Bill insists that it would be fun if they went shopping together and that he can help her pick out what to wear. He is convinced he can find her “something appropriate.”
"No, it's not quite the one yet", Bill says for the fourth time in a row. Eve doesn’t bother responding and just rolls her eyes. They’ve been at this for just over two hours now and neither of them is happy with a single dress. Eve feels like she can’t breathe in them or let alone move. She doesn’t know what Bill’s problem with them is, though.
(Maybe she could shove him in a too tight dress the next time they go out…)
"You know, if we continue at this pace, we will be there by next Tuesday."
"Don't fuss Eve, I'm just trying to help you! How long has it been since you've left the house to have some fun?" She can’t argue with that.
(Not that going to this event is her definition of fun, but well.)
Since her husband has filed for divorce, she just never felt in the mood for parties or dating or just fun, really. "You know, that's not fair", she says calmly. Her voice subtly signalling that she's not in the mood to talk about her cheating ex-husband. "I know Eve, I just want to see you happy again."
She smiles sadly at him and before she's about to say something, the shop assistant walks up to her and smiles coyly. "Eh, hi, so I've seen you looking a bit lost and I thought maybe I could help you find the right dress. I mean, only if you'd want that."
For a moment Eve is taken aback. "Uh yeah sure." Motioning with her hand to follow her, the assistant walks away and starts talking about colours and designs and other things Eve doesn't really have a clue about. Bill just smirks and trails behind her.
"So, I think this low-cut black dress would really suit your collarbones and with the low back, there's a certain twist to the look. It would look really nice." Eve feels her cheeks get a bit warm at that even though she knows the woman is being strictly professional.
Bill snickers next to her and she feels the urge to step on his foot to shut him up. "Yeah, I guess if you say so, that must be true", she states attempting to sound unbothered by everything. "Oh, I do say so", the assistant replies with a smirk. When she turns around to gather Eve's dress for the payment, Eve can finally step on Bill's foot because he hasn't stopped grinning at her with that look on his face.
(That bastard.)
"Oh, wow Eve! You're such a flirt, I didn't know you had it in you."
(Seriously?!)
"If you're just going to be rude to me all evening, you can attend this fancy event alone and annoy other people."
"Fine! Maybe I will." He means to sound offended, but his fatherly laugh gives his emotions away.
-x-x-x-
"God, why is there so much hair on my head? Like what am I even supposed to do with it?" Eve looks at herself with an exasperated expression. She leaves the bathroom and glares at Bill, who's laying on her bed and reading something, with a pout and sits right in front of him.
"Should I do your hair?", he asks laughing. "You don't even know how to style the three hairs you've got left, but alright, have fun."
"Oh, Eve, do you know nothing about me? One of the finest qualities a man can have, is knowing how to do hair."
(But what about this bird's nest of curls, huh?)
Eve just grunts and starts staring at the wall in front of her, trying not to move her head too much. "Why do we even have to go there? I mean you and I are as far from fancy as a raccoon."
"Don't insult me Eve", he gasps, slapping her shoulder gently, "whereas I must say, you do remind me of a raccoon. Especially the one trying to wash his candy floss... You know that popular video on social media? It's really sad, you should watch it. Or I could show you..."
"Bill, why are we going to this event?", she asks again, with more force this time. "Ah right! So, Carolyn said something about high profile people being there and maybe potential sponsors or something like that for our little task force. We should ‘keep up the appearances and convince others we are a serious group of people working on serious matters'. Also, there's free champagne, so there's that."
"So, you and I should convince some rich dudes from the high ranks in our agency that we're serious?"
"I guess..."
Eve just vaguely gestures between the both of them and purses her lips. "If we're both in our fancy attire we could probably trick everybody into believing we're serious", he muses and starts working on her hair again. They sit in comfortable silence for maybe another 20 minutes before he declares his work as finished. Eve feels lighter now that all her hair is somehow woven into an elegant bun. "You're so welcome, Eve!", he shouts after as she leaves the room to get dressed.
The dress does a thing to her collarbones, but without her hair falling down her shoulders, her back feels weirdly exposed. She can't stop staring at herself in the mirror. Ever since the divorce she hasn't felt this powerful – this attractive. Being married to Niko she has never felt like she was allowed to feel attractive. Not that he was ever abusive. Neither physically nor emotionally. But he has made her feel like she was boring – like she wasn’t good enough to get excited about. Like she wasn’t worth making an effort for. Being married to him made her feel drained and loose most of her confidence. She doesn’t know how to describe this exact feeling she gets whenever she thinks about those years she’s spent with him, but void comes pretty close to it.
She hates thinking about Niko and how it makes her feel so she just tries not to and shakes herself to get rid of these thoughts.
(What a coping mechanism!)
She blinks at herself one last time in the mirror and puts on some red lipstick for good measure and goes back to Bill, who's now in the living room adjusting his silly hat. "Tada", she says a bit self-conscious and flaps her hands next to her. He turns abruptly to look at her, the hat almost falling off his head and grins. "Wow, Eve, talk about revenge dress!"
(Revenge dress?)
Her confused look must have given her away. "Ah you know, hot, black revenge dress? I can show you a video!" Eve laughs to herself, because somehow Bill always knows about everything going on on social media. "No, I think it's fine, really", she says, trying to escape the endless spiral of videos concerning the topic she’s otherwise doomed to enter. "If you want to miss out on important cultural events, that's too bad for you. Anyway, we better get going. I can feel the free champagne waiting for us."
When they arrive it is exactly how Eve has imagined it: Men in suits with champagne flutes in their hands walking around and making small talk. They basically reek of money and power. She has to look around before she spots some women, rolling her eyes at the fact that her work is still a vastly male dominated field.
The light in the room is dimmed and the big chandeliers on the ceiling reflect everything in an ominous way. Somehow, she feels unknown in here. Not alone, but anonymous.
As soon as they entered properly, Bill goes to get them champagne flutes. He’s almost giddy from excitement. "But you don't even like champagne that much", she remarks. Not that she’s not amused by his childlike behaviour. "True, but I've always wanted to walk around a fancy gathering with a champagne flute in my hand and nod along to stupid things."
"How thrilling."
He just waves her off and quite literally saunters towards the bar. She smiles after him when something else catches her eye. Or better someone else. The woman who’s handing out drinks does so with such elegant movements, Eve can’t help but feel like she’s out of place. Surely a woman like that doesn’t work at a bar because she can’t find anything else to do.
(Not that working at a bar is something shameful. It seems rather cool and quite frankly like an exhausting job.)
But this woman has made her curious. Eve wants to know more about her. Find out how she ended up here. Her casual black and white suit fits perfectly with the atmosphere, but she still doesn’t quite fit in here. Maybe Eve’s wrong and this woman always works at such events, but Eve can’t shake this peculiar feeling.
Now Bill is walking up to her to grab the champagne. He’s stopped to mutter something to her, maybe thank her for the beverages and Eve can’t help but feel jealous of their tiny interaction.
(Where did that just come from?)
Before she can shake the sudden surge of jealousy Bill has returned.
He must have seen her expression because he asks smugly: "Someone's caught your attention yet?"
"You know someone might just have", Eve answers with a grin of her own, looking to the bar where the blonde bartender is handing out drinks to several guests.