“Okay.”

Ayden looked up under raised eyebrows.  “Okay?”

“Yep.  Let’s do this.  Let the birthday fun and debauchery commence.”  She squealed loud enough to make my ears hurt and rushed around the table to wrap me up in a hug that squeezed the life out of me.

“Trust me Shaw, you will never forget today.”  She was right because by the end of the night this birthday would prove to be life changing.

Breakfast was amazing and we stuffed ourselves so full of fried goodness that by the time we hit the mall I needed to do a few laps just to keep moving.  I tried on a million pairs of jeans and ended up buying quite a few.  I grabbed a pair of Chuck Taylors that I always wanted but was never allowed to have and stocked up on boring old t-shirts and tank tops.  At the thrift store I scooped up an awesome old school leather jacket and a couple western style shirts with pearl buttons that I knew would look awesome with my new skinny jeans.  At the vintage store I went a little crazier because I just fell in love with all the fifties and sixties style dresses.  I looked like a character out of Mad Men in a few of them and like Bettie Page minus the height in a couple more.  I bought a pair of heels that were peacock blue and had sequined feathers on the side and a sweet pill box hat that I probably would never wear but adored.  More importantly I laughed with Ayden for hours while we tried thing after thing on and felt like a giant weight was off my chest.  It was fun, plain and simple and the fact I forgot what that felt like was just sad.

At the salon I got a hot pink mani-pedi and just for kicks had them add little black stars.  It was cool and totally against the normal pale and pearly colors I went for.  The lady doing it had bright green dread-locks and a tattoo across her forehead so I was thrilled when she grinned at me and told me she approved.  Everyone that worked at this salon had a cool, rock and roll kind of vibe and while I normally would have felt out of place and reserved, they were all so nice and friendly that it was impossible to do anything but relax and have a good time.  The guy in charge of my hair was a big, obviously gay, African American dressed head to toe in leopard print.  His shiny bald head had a big tattoo of an eye on the back and his shoes probably cost more than mine, but he was sweet and told me my hair was gorgeous and suggested I just put some layers in it to give it body and life.  I was all on board and even asked if he could do something new with the color.  My hair was so pale I normally avoided dying it simply because it went too far in the extreme.  His dark eyes gleamed in excitement when I asked for something kicky but still respectable, what I got was my normally ash blond with a shadow of chestnut brown underneath.  It was awesome, different but understated enough not to be alarming.  My favorite part was that he had bisected my super straight bangs in half and added the darker color to one side.  It was trendy and hip and so different from what my hair normally looked like I hugged him hard in glee on my way out.  He hugged me back more than likely because I tipped enough to take a weekend trip on, but who cared, I looked awesome.

We ran back to the house to get dolled up for dinner.  I put on one of my new outfits, a super tight pencil skirt and a sheer blue top with a black cami underneath.  I curled up my new hair, put on more makeup than I normally wore and decided just for the hell of it I would wear my awesome black boots.  They looked like something a Harley Davidson model would wear, but I loved them and they gave my look a certain edge that I was feeling after a day of letting the real Shaw off her perpetual leash.  Ayden put on a slinky red number that made her long legs look endless and set against her dark hair had our waiter at the restaurant practically drooling into our water every time he stopped by to refill our glasses.  She made me try out my new Id by ordering a drink, it worked like a charm and before I knew it we were both feeling no pain and having a great time bouncing from bar to bar and club to club in LoDo and even after a few hours making our way back up towards Capitol Hill and some of cool dive bars up there.  I was surprised that I didn’t even need to show the fake Id at most places, turns out a tight skirt and exposed breasts work just as well.

I was laughing hysterically at Ayden doing some impression of a guy failing around on the dance floor, we had drawn our fair amount of attention everywhere we went tonight and had had to pay for very few drinks.  At the moment a guy from CU Boulder was trying to tell me all about his illustrious football career or rather he was telling my boobs about it since I don’t think he had looked up from the girls once.  Ayden was rolling her eyes and trying to avoid some guy in a banker suit that was offering to do her taxes for free if she gave him her number.  It was silly and fun, I didn’t have to work hard at the flirting or being charming.  I was well past my way to being wasted so conversation was out.  All I had to do was smile and sit prettily on the bar stool, two things I was apparently really getting good at.  Another Cosmo that I definitely didn’t need appeared before me and Mr. Football was leaning even closer to me when some sixth sense, maybe it was my fight or flight response suddenly kicked into over drive.

I lifted my head up and swiveled around on the stool practically kneecapping the leering football player.  I looked around, craning my neck to see what had my skin suddenly feeling too tight but all I saw was the regular bar crowd mixing and mingling.  Football player was trying to get my attention back by running a finger up and down my bare arm, I guess it was supposed to be sexy, but now I was drunk and unnerved so I wanted to go.  I wanted to tell him to get lost so I could find Ayden and get someone to call us a cab but before I could any of those things a warm hand slid under the heavy fall of my hair to settle on my neck and a deep voice growled in my ear, “How in the fuck did you get in here, Casper?”

Football player’s eyes went huge because well, Rule was Rule.  Gone was the dark hair spiked up in a crazy mess, now he had it all shaved on the sides and bleached out into a startling white mohawk that was several inches tall.  He had on a tight black shirt with a flaming skull in a Viking helmet on it and a pair of black jeans that had a hole in the knee.  Both his full sleeves of tattoos were on optimum display, so was the chain he wore from his wallet to his belt as were his heavy black motorcycle boots.  He should look sloppy and unkempt next to the V-neck sweater wearing footballer, but he didn’t.  He looked hot and rumpled and clearly not to be messed with because footballer pushed away from the table in a hurry and vanished into the crowd.

“And what did you do to your hair?”

I was drunk, admittedly probably not the best state to try and go toe to toe with Rule in after getting a two week break from him, but I liked my hair and he wasn’t going to rain on all my birthday vibes, especially since he clearly didn’t even know what the day was.  I shook his grip loose and sucked back the tart drink in one swallow.

“What are you doing here?”

He lifted an eyebrow at me and took up the same spot football player had vacated, looking down my low cut top and all.  “This bar is right around the corner from the shop.  Nash and I stop by all the time after work.  I just finished a client.  I know they Id at the door, how did you get in?”

I flipped my hair over my shoulder like I had seen endless annoying girls do only I practically fell off my stool because suddenly that last drink was letting me know just how bad an idea it had been to chug it.  I grabbed the edge of the table and Rule reached out a hand to steady me.  I felt like it burned where he gripped my upper arm.  Definitely should have listened to my flight response a minute ago.  I put a hand on my forehead it was warm and suddenly clammy.  “I need to go.”