Chapter 7

Alexandra handed the knife over to Aurora, her friend, so that she could cut the cake. Aurora has been her friend since they were in high school but as they grew up,they stopped communicating frequently but that didn't stop the bond between them.

"Happy birthday, Rory," Alexandra said, taking a seat on the plush cushion beside Aurora. "Make a wish and blow out your candles, I want cake"

Alexandra laughed out loudly as she watched Aurora blow out the last of her candle. Aurora wiped away the imaginary sweat from her forehead as he released an exaggerated sigh.

"Is this a plan for you to kill me and eat all my cake?" Aurora said feigning exhaustion. " I almost lost my breath. Did you really have to put that many candles on the cake?"

" Yeah duh! It's just 24 candles" Alexandra said, rolling her eyes. " Each for every year you've spent on earth, and I'm pretty sure that it's not that hard to put out a candle." Aurora rolled her eyes at Alexandra's words.

Alexandra laughed at Aurora's expression.

"Stop acting like that," She teased. "At least you didn't die, right?"

Aurora flipped Alexandra off, cutting a slice from the cake. "Oh yeah, funny Alex," Aurora said, crossing her arms. "But honestly, I can't believe I'm twenty four already. I'm almost an old woman. Ahhh"

Taking a slice for herself, Alexandra spoke. " Haha,come on… you're not old,wait till you're in your middle age" she said with a mouthful of cake. "Wait till you get to the over the hill stage before you start complaining about being old"

Aurora pouted her lips, pretending to be deep in thought.

" Yea, you're right,"she said.

" At least I'm not living a miserable life with no love life "

" Don't start that now Rory" Alexandra chuckled, taking another slice from her cake. " You know how hard I'm working right now, I'm still trying to pay off my student loan so I don't have time for love right now"

Aurora put her hands in her chest in a hurt manner.

" Don't say that girl, you have no time for love. No time for love?" She repeated. " Hate to be you then. Having someone who dots for you makes everything better and helps me get over each day. How do you survive?"

Alexandra rolled her eyes in a playful manner. "It's really not a big deal and I'm very fine, thank you" She said with a smile playing on her lips. " By the way,if you think about it,love is overrated anyway"

"Overrated" Aurora screamed. " My heart is bleeding from hearing such blasphemy" She said, clutching her heart as though she was injured.

Alexandra bursted into a fit of laughter at Aurora's reaction. "Please stop, you're making me tear up," She said.

"Let's be real, just because you have a loving relationship doesn't mean it will be the same for others. Love can be really messy sometimes. Take my parents relationship for an example"

Aurora turned towards Alexandra, taking her hands in hers. "I get how you feel but don't let your parents life determine yours." She said in a serious voice. " You're really missing out on all the romance and butterflies"

Alexandra grew up in a very toxic environment which affected her life growing up. Her parents always fought mostly about drugs and tried to control Alexandra's life in every aspect. She finally had the courage to move out when she turned nineteen after she learnt that her parents were trying to marry her off to an old man.

"Enough about me, it's your birthday so let's talk about you" Alexandra said, changing the topic. "Any plans for it,the day is almost over already" She checked her phone and it was already twenty minutes after eight.

At Alexandra's words, Aurora clapped excitedly like a little child at the sight of a delicious treat. "Yea!" She exclaimed. "I'm having a little birthday celebration. I had a friend get us tickets to a club where we are going to party"

" I've always wanted to celebrate a birthday party in a club and this year is that year" she continued, her excitement growing as she talked. " My friend said that the club's name is The Raven's Den. He said that it's really upscale and exclusive and that he had to go through a hard time getting us a ticket"

" That's so sweet of you but you shouldn't have gone through such trouble for me" Alexandra protested not wanting to go anywhere again. She has a book waiting in her e-library waiting to be read.

Aurora laid on her belly, holding Alexandra's leg as she begged. "Nooo, please, please, pretty please, please come with me" She said at the top of her voice. "Fulfill this birthday wish of mine, I beg of you Alex"

The longer Aurora begged,the more Alexandra's resistance faltered. She really didn't want to disappoint Aurora but she also didn't want to go anywhere but home to get to bed.

She finally cracked accepting to come to her friend's party. "Stawp, okay fine, I'll come…" She said which made Aurora engulf her in a tight hug. "... only if you promise not to leave my side and spend the whole night by my side"

" Yes ma'am, I promise to babysit you" Aurora exclaimed, faking a butler's bow. " I'll make sure that you don't leave my sight"

Alexandra laughed at Aurora's word trying to catch her breath from the tight hug Aurora gave her.

"I bought a dress for the both of us," Aurora said, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "It's a matching black and white swan dress"

Alexandra's eyebrows shot up in surprise. " Wow, you really got me a dress?" She said in an amusing tone. " You must have planned this months ago"

" Not months ago but weeks ago actually and yes I bought you a dress" Aurora replied, grinning from ear to ear. " I knew that you didn't have any party clothes so I took the liberty of getting you one just in case you use it as an excuse, which you didn't"

" Aurora, what can I do with you?"