It was around five in the afternoon when Abby and Elle began getting ready together. Abby wore a short red lace dress, it was sleeveless with a high collar and a chiffon skirt. The dark red of her dress brought out the auburn in her hair. Abby lined her eyes with black, and applied a festive gold eyeshadow, some bronzer, and finally, she finished her look with a dark plum coloured lipstick.Elle had gone for a softer look. She work a short, pale blue chiffon dress with silver embellishments. It had a sweetheart neckline that outlined her strong collarbone and long sleeves. The skirt flowed out softly, and ended just above her knees. Her makeup was much lighter too. She didn"t bother with eyeliner, and simply applied a soft brown eyeshadow with a pale pink lipstick. Abby had tried to convince Elle to at least wear some blush, arguing that her look made her look too pale, but Elle knew herself well. She was bound to be blushing after a drink or two in the hot, crowded room anyway.
Finally, the two girls took turns helping each other style their hair. Elle fashioned Abby"s thick hair into a messy bun that rested softly against the nape of her neck. When it was her turn, Abby carefully helped Elle curl her hair so it fell into large, loose curls.
Elle smiled as she watched Abby put on the necklace she had gifted her earlier that day. Elle lent her some earrings to match, and then put on a pair of diamond earrings herself before the two girls finally headed downstairs.
By the time they got downstairs it was already well past six, and guests were slowly starting to trickle in. Abby and Elle took a turn about the room together before Elle left to find her father and stand by his side as he greeted the guests as they came in one by one.
It was a long and tedious process, but after a while everyone seemed to be in attendance. There were no more guests to greet, and Elle was finally free to go enjoy the party for herself. She let out a tired sigh as she picked up a gla.s.s of champagne. It had been a while since Elle had last seen Abby, her friend was most likely with her parents making their own round of greetings.
Elle took this chance to mindlessly wander around the house, lightly sipping on her champagne, and enjoying the beauty of the decorations while they lasted. In another day or two they would all be coming down, but for now they filled every nook and cranny of the house.
Green garlands decorated each doorway, speckled with gold sparkles and dark red berries. In the main room a giant green pine tree stood proudly. Elle had spent the better part of two hours decorating it herself. She had hung intricate gla.s.s ornaments and wrapped it with sparkling white ribbon and lights. The lights were perhaps Elle"s favourite decoration, she had lined all the rooms with them. The entire house was dark with hundreds of soft fairy lights hanging from the ceiling, lighting the party. It was as if hundreds of little stars were hanging above them.
In the background piano music was softly playing. Elle somehow managed to ignore everyone, focusing instead on the ambiance of the room. In her world nothing existed but her, the lights, and the snow.
One of the rooms of the house had large gla.s.s double-doors that led out to the back garden. Elle stood by the doors, not even noticing the cold draft. Outside, ten centimeters of snow had already fallen, and the snow showed no sign of stopping anytime soon. Since they were already well into winter, the sun set early. The sky was already pitch black, but the moon was bright. The snow sparkled softly in a moonlight, a perfect, undisturbed blanket covered the whole world in white.
When Elle looked outside she felt at peace. Like everything in the entire world was silent and perfect in that moment.