"Red….Red..the alarm."
She gave a deep sigh as she swatted the alarm clock next to the bed, eyes still clenched shut as she curled under the blanket. Her back was to him as she slept sideways, his breath fanning the back of her neck. Sunlight cut through the window to illuminate the crinkled bed covers that she desperately hid under.
"The gala is at 8….Sybil..she's waiting…" he mumbled into the mattress and she had the urge to giggle.
"Not yet…a bit longer…." Blankets rustled as she adjusted her position and sighed in content. The newly arranged pillow sat atop her eyes as she rolled onto her back. The light would hopefully keep its distance this way.
"We need to, need to get ready,' he managed, sleep slowly draining from his voice as he made his way to sit up. The cover bunched onto his lap, a clean sheet of snow. But he quickly felt himself dozing off against the headboard, his words slurred with fatigue when he spoke.
"Hey..hey Red, we should really be -"
The doorbell rang. A shrill scream that jolted the both of them awake. He blinked and sat up more, looking at her dumbly as she scrambled up to haphazardly drop the pillow on a startled Luna.
She looked back at him, both frozen in shock. Another ring, followed by irritated knocking.
Finally a switch of realisation was flipped and they rushed to get ready in time. She kicked off the covers and hastily tried straightening her wild hair, pulling up the strap of her pyjama that slipped past her shoulder. He had already gotten up to rinse his face in the bathroom when she appeared from their bedroom wrapped in a robe. The knocking resounded again, this time louder and more forceful. "Red, the door!"
Sybil looked up to see Red swathed in a bathrobe, her hair disheveled and slightly out of breath.
"Oh, Sybil, its you!" She sighed, letting out a deep sigh.
"Red! Have you forgotten? The gala is at 8 o'clock sharp! I've been knocking for the past half hour!"
Red looked at her blankly.
"Its already 7:40 and you look like you've just woken up!"
Realisation hit her and her eyes widened. How could she ignore the alarm like that? "Oh, Sybil, I'm so sorry…we completely lost track of time….the alarm…it rang too late.."
We..? Ahh, yes…her newly acquired lover…Sybil peered over Red's shoulder to see him towelling off his hair in the hallway, a tooth brush in his mouth. She sniffed and turned her attention back to the singer. He was probably coming along as well. As he always did, to every event that she was privately invited to. Sybil kept her tongue about it, though it irked her to no end.
"You have to come….we can't cancel again, and I've already told everyone that you would be there. Please, Red…"
Red chewed the inside of her mouth thoughtfully. All she would rather do at the moment was go back to bed, snuggle back into the warmth of the covers and escape back to the land of sleep…But Sybil was right, she couldn't keep missing social events that she had spent hours organising, despite how much she would rather avoid them at times.
She yawned into her hand. "Alright Sybil, just give us a few minutes.."
"Great!" Her face lit up, "Can't wait to see you there! I'll go now and meet you at the entrance at around 8. Please remember to hurry!" With one last glance at Red's mysterious partner, now looping a tie around his neck in the hallway mirror, she briskly left, candy-striped umbrella in hand.
Red closed the door to her apartment, fighting back a yawn. She walked back into the bedroom where she began rummaging through the wardrobe in search of something decent to wear. He followed her in, already freshened up in a crisp dark blue dress shirt and black pants. She turned back around with a low-cut gold dress her hands, laying it out next to where he was sitting on the bed.
She began to undress when she noticed his gaze still fixed on her, and turned around to smirk at him questionably. He matched it with a sly smile and she rolled her eyes.
"If you don't get out we'll never get to the gala in time, you know that."
"Thats' fine with me." He shrugged, standing.
"You've unbelievable!" she exclaimed, but couldn't help smiling.
He caught the pillow she threw at him and made his way out.
"Alright, alright… you know I was joking…"
