SS 17
"Jesus my fingers are freezing" Sasha complained, bringing them close to her mouth to blow hot air onto them.
"Here feel" she pressed her ice cold fingertips onto the bare skin of Maya's neck. Maya slid as far away from Sasha as she could in the cramped elevator, trying to avoid the chill of her friend's skin.
"I told you to wear a proper jacket" Maya reminded, adjusting her own coat on her shoulders.
"This outfit does not accommodate a coat" Sasha stated, running her hands down the buttery soft leather of her mini skirt.
Maya rolled her eyes and smiled good naturedly at her roommate. The elevator came to a halt on the correct floor and the two girls exited into the hallway. They could hear the soft drum of music and conversation seeping out from under Kates door.
"Alright final check" Sasha stated, grabbing Maya by the shoulders and turning her so they were face to face.
"How do I look?" Sasha asked, shaking her hair out around her shoulders and giving Maya a sultry look.
"Perfect" Maya confirmed, watching with amusement as Sasha carefully repositioned her breasts in her push up bra so they sat perfectly in her satin tank top.
"You're almost there but" Sasha held up a finger in signal to Maya to hold on as she began to rummage around in her tiny shoulder bag that did not appear to hold much beyond a credit card and a cell phone.
"This is your finishing touch" Sasha declared, uncapping the lipstick she had unearthed from her purse. Maya's eyes went wide and the sight of the deep red colour. It wasn't something she'd naturally have gravitated to as she'd never thought she had strong enough features to pull off such a shade.
"I don't think so," Maya stated, ducking away from the lipstick that Sasha was trying to press on her.
"Come on!" Sasha protested, grabbing Maya's wrist with her free hand and pulling her closer to her.
"You said this Kate girl treats you like a kid right? Well nothing says grown ass woman like a bold lip"
Maya considered and then relented, allowing Sasha to carefully apply the colour. Sasha capped the lipstick and tossed her hair once again.
"Now, let's do this shit" Sasha declared, taking hold of the door handle and turning it, not bothering to knock.
The living area of Kate's loft was crowded with guests, clusters of people milled around bar carts and tables ladened with platters of delicate looking appetizers.
"Not a bad offering" Sasha commented as she served the crowd and sized up the guys in attendance.
"Let's get a drink before we start hunting," Sasha declared, grabbing Maya's wrist and pulling her towards one of the bar carts nearby.
"I'm not hunting anything"
" Alright we get it. You already turned a lion into a house cat. Some of us as still prowling"
Maya shuttered " I'm uncomfortable with this metaphor as a whole"
Sasha rolled her eyes and handed Maya a glass tumbler.
" Take this, it'll help"
Sasha scooped ice from the bucket on the table into both of their cups and then scanned the crystal decanter bottles.
" How do you tell what anything is?" Sasha asked, looking over the different liquors before picking one up and giving it an experimental sniff.
" Just give me something clear" Maya requested
" This is not a brown liquor night"
" This is so pretentious, " Sasha muttered, lifting the top off one of the crystal bottles and pouring a healthy helping into each of their cups.
"Like just leave it in the plastic bottle you bought it in"
Maya let out an involuntary laugh that she quickly stifled when she saw Kate heading in their direction
"Maya! Josh didn't tell me you were coming tonight" with the heels Kate had on she was at least 6 inches taller than Maya, giving the illusion that she was looking down on her in both a mental and physical way.
Maya had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. For the past few months Kate had started acting surprised each time Maya showed up at one of her parties despite the fact that Josh had brought her with him ever since they started dating.
"And who is this?" Kate asked, turning her attention to Sasha who was in the midst of sniffing yet another of the liquor bottles.
" This is my roommate Sasha" Maya replied.
Sasha flashed up a peace sign as she took a long drink from her cup.
Before Kate could reply Maya felt Josh's arm wrap around her waist.
" Hey"
Maya leaned back against Josh's chest as he pressed a kiss on her cheek.
Maya wasn't sure but she thought she saw a flicker of irritation pass over Kate's face before it was replaced with her usually thousand watts smile. For a second Maya reconsidered if bringing Sasha had been a good idea.
Sasha was already pouring herself another helping of liquor after finishing her first. Although what could anyone expect when they put a college freshmen in front of a table of free high quality liquor.
Josh went to turn Maya's face towards his but she pulled away.
" Don't! You'll ruin all" she motioned to the lipstick Sasha had carefully drawn on earlier. She somehow doubted her roommate had paid the extra premium for the kiss proof. Sasha usually believed in quantity over quality when it came to makeup. Better to have 50 different colours that would rub off after an hour than one that would last.
Josh pouted, pulling her closer so her back was pressed against his chest.
" points against the lipstick" Maya muttered to Sasha who rolled her eyes.
"Well" Kate began drawing the attention back to herself.
" We don't have a beer pong table or flip cup but you girls make yourself at home" Kate simpered sweetly.
Maya had to stop herself from sighing but Sasha didn't feel the need to hold back.
" Don't worry. We get it. It's normal to get boring once you get old"
Kate narrowed her eyes at Sasha but kept her sickly sweet smile on her face.
" Joshy? Can I talk to you for a second?" Kate asked, focusing her attention on only him.
" Sure" Josh replied with a shrug.
" Be right back" Josh said to Maya, pressing another kiss to her cheek and passing her his drink as he followed Kate to a safe distance.
" What is that girl's damage?" Sasha asked, downing her drink and then reaching for Josh's despite the fact that they were standing in front of the bar.
" I don't know. She never used to act like this" Maya said, lifting her own drink to her lips.
" She needs to pull that stick out of her ass"
Maya snorted into her glass. As Maya watched Josh and Sasha talk across the room from the corner of her eye, Sasha scanned the room.
" Now what do you know about those boys?" Sasha asked, nodding her head in the direction of a couple of dudes standing over by the fireplace.
" I'm not sure about the shorter one, but the tall blonde is Austin, Kate's half brother"
That piqued Sashas interest.
" As in our lovely host? Tell me more" Sasha promoted.
" Same dad, different mom. He's a junior at Fordham. Classic trust fund kid. He's not always at these parties. Kate and him have a complicated relationship"
A cunning smile stretched across Sasha's face.
" Target acquired. I'm sure princess will love this" Sasha picked up another of the crystal decanters and took a shot straight from the bottle.
" Wish me luck" and with that said Sasha turned on her heel and strutted over to where Austin and his friend stood at the fireplace.
"Well that won't end well" Josh said, coming back to Maya's side and wrapped an arm around her waist. Maya watched as Sasha made her initial move on Austin, tossing her hair over her shoulder casually, her eyes bright.
"At the very least it'll be entertaining" Maya offered, bringing her own drink to her lips.
"What did Kate want?" she asked casually, as if she didn't really care. She didn't want to give Josh the impression that anything about Kate bothered her. She didn't want to be the kind of girlfriend that didn't want her guy to be friends with other women.
"She wanted to make sure that Rand wasn't coming" He explained. Maya narrowed her eyes.
"I thought she was trying to get you to convince him to come?"
"Yeah well once it became clear that he wasn't coming she changed her tune and rescinded his invitation. Wanted me to make sure he knew he wasn't welcome"
Maya couldn't help herself from rolling her eyes.
"Did you tell Randy that?"
"No point. He wasn't going to come either way"
Maya shook her head, unable to keep up with the drama of the web Kate had spun.
….
Two hours later Kate's mature gathering had descended into the kind of rucas of your everyday fraternity gathering. The music was blasting through the flat, every surface was covered with discarded drink glasses and half eaten appetizers. The beer pong game that Kate had claimed would not happen had turned into an out and out beer pong tournament, being played with fine china tea cups rather than the classic red solos. The pioneers of the upgraded party were Sasha and her new friend Austin. At that moment they were both dancing on top of the kitchen island, throwing their heads back in laughter and utter amusement. Kate had long ago disappeared from the gathering and Maya speculated that she may be hiding in her room and lamenting that her party hadn't gone her way.
The room was now a mixture of Kate's friends from NYU and the friends that Austin had invited with Sashas prompting from Fordham.
Maya was leaning against the kitchen counter, watching her friend grind against her new fling atop the island. Josh came to stand next to her, a fresh drink in his hands for both of them. He'd just won a round of beer pong against one of his old NYU classmates and was riding the high of his beer buzz.
"This wasn't exactly how I expected this night to turn out" Josh commented, watching in amusement as Austin threw Sasha into a deep dip which earned a cheer from the small crowded following along with their dance party.
"Now I feel sorry for Randy," Maya joked. "He's missing out on a great time, and Kate isn't even here"
"Should we go check on her?" Josh asked, referring to the disappeared Kate.
"She's fine," Maya said flippantly. She'd been enjoying her night and she didn't want to go listen to Kate whine about her ruined swaray.
"I mean this apartment is just as much Austins as it is hers" Maya pointed out. It was true. The apartment belonged to Kate and Austin's father and Kate was only staying there, not renting it. While Austin rarely stayed there, preferring the apartment his mother rented from his closer to campus, he had a room at the loft. Her brother had as much right to the space as Kate did and could invite his friends over at will.
"I know, but you know how she gets. She's probably having kittens upstairs."
Maya looked away so Josh couldn't see her roll her eyes. She loved Josh and how caring he was, but she also knew that Kate was the type of girl who had the potential to take advantage of that.
"Or we could get out of here" Maya offered, sliding her hand over Josh's stomach and playing with the hem of his shirt. Josh's arm tightened around her waist.
"Sold" he replied, his nose brushing against her ear.
"I'll go grab our coats" Josh slipped through the crowd of people and towards the coat closet across the apartment.
Maya crossed to the kitchen island and tapped Sasha on the ankle. Sasha glanced her way and seeing it was Maya, she crouched down so she could better hear her.
"Josh and I are going to take off. Are you good? We could drop you at the dorm if you're ready to go now" Maya offered. Sasha shot her a wicked grin.
"Are you kidding? I'm not going anywhere" She nodded in Austin's direction and raised her eyebrows.
"I've got a new friendship I'd like to solidify," she said with a wink.
"Have fun. Be safe!" Maya reminded her.
"Yes ma'am" Sasha said with a smirk, giving Maya a fake salute before she allowed Austin to pull her back to her feet.
Maya worked her way through the crowd and towards the front door. Josh caught her wrist and led her out into the hallway. As soon as the door to the loft was closed the noise cut down significantly.
"I swear my ears are ringing" Maya joked as Josh took her hand and led her towards the bank of elevators.
"Yeah not the usual Kate affair"
"It was a nice change. A little less stuffy" Maya remarked.
"A little" Josh conceded as the elevator door slid open in front of them. They stepped inside and as soon as the doors closed Josh backed Maya up against the far wall of the elevator.
"Now that it's just the two of us. Do you care about getting your lipstick smudged?" He asked, his breath warm on the side of her neck as he whispered into her ear, making goose bumps rise on her skin.
"Not at all" Maya replied, closing her eyes at the feeling of Josh's lips grazing her ear.
"Good, because not being able to kiss you really put a damper on the night"
As his lips met her own and his hands traveled from her hips up her body Maya melted back against the wall, unable to think about anything but the boy in front of her. The state of her lipstick was the last thing on her mind.
AN: AHH sorry for such inconsistent updating! I promise I haven't forgotten about this story!