THE PARTY

Red met with Agnes in her office to discuss the details of their contract with love struck. She walked into the small shop that served as 'Happy Pen Editorial Agency.' She looked around in pity at the poor state of the building. The only furniture's in the office being an old dusty office table with two chairs placed on each side, a wall clock that seemed to have stood the test of time and decided to give up, and a shelve filled with books that had been published by the agency. Agnes started her agency at twenty-one, and Red was her longest standing client left. Everyone else had abandoned her when things became difficult.

"You look drained. Have you gotten any sleep at all?" Red asked worried about Agnes's appearance. She had very visible dark circles around her eyes.

"Nope. I had to go through the details of your contract meticulously. It took me all night, but I did it," She stretched and yawned. "I'm glad to let you know that there's no sign of any dubious activity. We're all set to go Red." She cracked her fingers, and pumped her fist into the air dryly .

Red chuckled.

"That's a good sign. Not that there was any doubt anyways. I'm just glad its all cleared up," She looked around the office as if someone was eaves dropping, then beckoned on Agnes to draw closer. "Now let's talk payment. How much are we charging Ag?" Her heart raced.

Sure she was excited to work again, but she also needed money desperately. She hoped to God it was a good pay.

"Yeah, considering everything it entails," Agnes whispered back. "I did some calculations and arrived at half a million dollars, monthly."

Red grew pale.

"Stop it!" She banged her fist on the table, and threw her head back in a nervous laughter.

Reclining into her seat, she stared long, and hard at Agnes, who had a stupid smile on her face.

She has gone mad!

Surely they were not going to be paid that outrageously high amount of money. Agnes who was initially confused, clocked Red's reaction , causing her to smile even more.

"Calm your nerves Red. The calculation involves the money it'll take to get Happy Pen running again. You'll get sixty percent, cus you're doing the heavy lifting."

"Agnes, no one is giving us an annual gross of six million dollars, just to write a few think pieces. That's insanity. Literal madness!"

"They are a multi billion dollar company. Trust me, they can afford it." She yawned.

"Have you lost your mind Agnes? No one is paying us that amount monthly; regardless of how much they have." She was bewildered, but at the same time amused at her audacity.

"Errhm I'm not so sure about the 'anyone' part," Agnes got up to pour herself a cup of coffee. "We're talking about a company that averages a hundred billion dollars yearly. I don't think five hundred thousand dollars monthly is too much money to be fair." She shrugged.

Red shook her head, trying to make sense of everything. The more Agnes spoke, the more it did her head in. She slapped herself to see if she had suddenly switched bodies with Agnes. How was she the one being considerate here? Agnes who had cried and begged when the man who stole her savings decided to leave her? Agnes who would rather be walked over just to avoid confrontations? Same old spineless Agnes? When did she grow so much audacity? And why was she lovin' this new Agnes?

"How do we even make this request?" Her voice grew low again. A flush crept up her face, and she quickly chided herself for being so cheap.

Agnes scoffed, and frowned. She expected Red to have scolded her for pricing down their worth, which was more believe than whatever act she was putting on now. If anyone has ever told her she'll be in a position where she'll have to shake some sense into her dear friend, she wouldn't have ever believed it. Usually, she was the one in need of saving. Red was the most ambitious young woman she had ever encountered. She was ruthless when it came to getting her way, so it surprised Agnes that she was being this modest.

She sprang to her feet, and dragged Red with her, "Red Justine Phoenix, have you lost your confidence? Where is that ambitious lady that stood in my face and begged, no demanded I pick her up as my client to avoid future regrets? Have you forgotten your worth? Who bagged the best writer in the Young writer awards four years straight? Who walks into a room and manages to command the attention of everyone? You need to fix your crown Red. What's that you always say? 'A bad bitch must never be caught shaking?"

She shook her some more, then let her go. Red staggered a little bit dazed, but then her face spread into a wide smile.

"Who are you, and what have you done to my friend?"

"Red...."

"No whatever did this, I love them, or it, or whatever. This new and improved Agnes, rocks!" She clapped, and did a little dance.

"Well then Red; let's just say I didn't stay up all night to be turned down. Fuck all that bending over for people only to be run over time and time again. If we're going to take on a job as strenuous as whitewashing the linen of this extremely rich family, then we better fucking make a fortune of it. We're done being broke Red. They accepted our demands already and even promised add-on's. We did it Red!" Agnes screamed excitedly.

Reds brows raised, and her mouth hung open, loosely. Her jaw slacked, and she cleaned her ears. She shook her head trying to comprehend what she just heard. After years of building up her portfolio only to constantly crash, it took barely a week to get a life changing offer.

"We did it Agnes! We're going to be rich. We'll finally have enough to take those trips we planned. We'll wear designers and fly first class. We will move to the Upper East Side and even have enough to renovate happy pen," She paused, and her eyes widened. "And I'll finally show Ms Won. I'll show Ms Won!"

Agnes couldn't stop the tears falling down her eyes. Seeing Red so happy made her emotional. Red had been the only one that stuck by her when the agency took a deep dive into the bottomless ocean. Red might be churlish and stuck up according to many people, but to Agnes, Red was her guardian Angel.

"Come here you," Red said drawing Agnes into a tight hug. "You're the hero of the day. You did this, so I don't want to see tears. I want joy," she spun her around. "And happiness, and lots of drinking." They said in unison, and broke into laughter, as they danced, cried and jumped together.

"Wait, I have an idea," Agnes paused. Red saw the glint in her eyes, and instantly new. "Miss Red, Why don't we celebrate this in a much more appropriate venue?" Agnes clasped her hands behind her back, picking up her go to English accent.

"And pray tell where this appropriate venue might be, Miss Agnes" Red replied in her fake German accent.

"Where else if not the club my darling?" Agnes said raising an invincible glass in the air.

"The club it is then!" They jumped around again, laughing and screaming.

Red hadn't gone out in months so she wasn't exactly sure what to wear. After much brain cracking and cussing out Agnes for insisting they both got dressed in their own houses instead of together, she finally settled on what to wear. She took her time in the bathroom, soaking herself up properly. Agnes had lended her some money to pay her water bill, after Ms Won had threatened to break her legs with a stick, if she came to her for help again.

"You said you were going to be rich soon, yet here you are, begging, again!" Ms Won had screamed, and shut the door in her face the last time she was over there.

All that didn't matter anymore. She was going to pay Ms Won for all the times she had come through for her, then show her.

She didn't care about the amount of water she used now. She would be able to afford water bills. Not even Mrs Montgomery her landlady will be able to hassle her for any bill of any kind. She giggled in excitement as she thought of the various ways her life was about to change. She was going to send enough money home so her mum didn't have to stress herself working in their farm. She would pay up all her debts and step out comfortably without fear of being embarrassed. She would finally be able to purchase her dream home with the big pool and two dogs, and a cat.

Reeling with excitement, she left the bathroom and proceeded to dress up. She put on the short, black body con dress she had purchased from a thrift store ran by her neighbour. After taking a few seconds to debate between going braless or not, she finally decided on the latter. She blushed seeing her nipples poke out of her dress. She turned around and nodded satisfied at how the dress accentuated her well curved apple shaped butt. She was never shy about being sexy, she knew her body was the truth. She slipped into a black leather stiletto boot, and pulled her hair into a ponytail. Her eyes landed on her make-up purse. She had not made proper use of it in months. She quickly pulled out her powder, mascara and lip gloss. 'This should do' she whispered to herself and went on to apply them. Finally she was all set. She took a minute to stare at her reflection. Smiling confidently, she paused and took a selfie of herself. As if on cue, Agnes honked. Red rolled her eyes in her usual fashion whenever she heard the honk of agnes car.

"Thank God we'll finally make money. She definitely needs to change that junk she calls a car." Red muttered dashing out of the house.

Agnes gasped when she saw Red. She never had to put in much effort to be the most stunning woman in any room she walked into, but when she did, it was murderous. Agnes began to feel self conscious and inferior. She knew she was also a beautiful woman, but how could any one stand a chance next to Red? She had even grown out her blonde hair as opposed to the short purple bob she used to wear, in other to look more fashionable. She had lost major weight and was now very skinny, yet she was no Red. While she was just a pretty, pleasant lady in her mid twenties, Red was simply, beautiful.

"Did you drive all the way here to stare awkwardly at me all night?" Red asked snapping Agnes out of her reverie.

"Oh, sorry. You just left me speechless. You look earthreal." Agnes beamed.

Red frowned, looking over Agnes. Sighing, she ran back into her house to fetch her mascara, foundation and lip liner.

"Look at me." She ordered, stepping into the car.

"What?" Agnes eyes narrowed.

Red ignored her and instead set to work. When she was done, she fetched a mirror from her purse and handed it to Agnes.

She gasped when she saw her own reflection.

"What magician are you? I tried for hours to get rid of the dark circles."

"I teach you how to cover your dark circles with makeup every time, but you never listen. Thank God we're rich now. You can rest, and get rid of it entirely." Red scoffed.

"Say that again baby."

Red looked at her friend, and they both smiled.

"We're rich baby!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Shut your mouth up Red! People are sleeping!" They heard Ms Won yell all the way from her house,and broke into a feat of laughter.

"Such a cranky old lady." Agnes said, as her engine roared to life.