Imperfect

I had been watching interviews for hours. It was 4am and my eyes were getting heavy with the sleep I was so deprived of. I placed my phone on my worn oak nightstand and pulled my duvet up over my shoulders. I closed my heavy eyes and let his gentle voice and laughter slowly soothe me to sleep. A smile formed at the corners of my mouth as I thought about finally seeing him in person.

When I awoke I checked my cracked phone screen with weary eyes.

"Shit" I mumbled under my breath. I was already two hours late. I pulled my light summer duvet off of my curvy body and pushed my birds nest of medium brown curly hair away from my face. I rubbed my tired eyes gently with the tip of my fingers, and sat up on the edge of my bed. I really was not a morning, or early afternoon, type of girl. I stretched all of my limbs out allowing a groan escape my mouth. I stood up, decided I could only be late once and I needed a shower. I grabbed my fluffy grey towel off of the squeaky spinning chair by my desk and threw it over my shoulder as I walked into the small bathroom. I turned on the tap, quickly threw off my pyjamas, and stepped into the hot steamy shower. I allowed the piping hot liquid to flow over my body. I winced as it touched my skin, but slowly I got used to the temperature. I grabbed my no waste solid shampoo and began my cleaning routine.

Once I was done I meticulously dried off the water and gently pressed the damp towel over my hair to dry it a little bit. I wrapped my towel around my body, and strolled back into my bedroom. I rooted around in my already messy drawer for a clean pair of underwear, and threw on the same bra I had worn yesterday. I found my favourite pair of distressed jeans and pulled them on. I grabbed a clean comic book logo shirt and slid it on. I quickly put a messy fish tail braid in my hair. I needed a hair cut but money was tight so it could wait. I ticked off today on my Exile Watch calendar and smiled. Only two more weeks to go.

I left my house and quickly dialled my Mum's number. It rang for what felt like ages and I began pawing through my handbag for my car keys.

"Sorry Mum I woke up really late." I said apologetically.

" Well there's nothing new there!" she joked. "It's fine Claire. Whenever you say nine in the morning I don't expect you until at least twelve noon." She said, half laughing. "Where are you now?"

"Just getting into my car Mum, I'll be around thirty minutes." I replied as I fumbled to unlock my car. I really needed to organize the mass of key rings I had attached to all my keys.

"Ok Honey. Drive safely and we'll see you soon. I love you." She said cheerfully.

"Love you too Mum" I heard the phone beep and jumped into my cute Volkswagen Polo. It was my first car and I had managed to keep it looking almost the same as when I got it. I turned it on and started driving. My parents didn't live far, all it took was a short trip down the motorway and I loved visiting them. The sun was shining and I could feel it beating down on my skin. I turned the AC up in the car and turned the radio on. I began singing absentmindedly along with the song, thinking about what was going on in two weeks. In two weeks time I was meeting my celebrity crush. I had been following him for years on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and of course interviews. I was pretty sure I had watched every interview he had participated in. I watched all of the movies he was in and I was an official fan girl. When I found out he was going to Comic con in Cardiff I had to get tickets. I had been planning my outfit for around eight months and began actually making it around six months ago. Every stitch in the fabric and each accessory had all had some sort of customisation by me. It had been a blur of late nights and early mornings, but the costume was ready, it fitted and it looked great. The last thing I was waiting for was the wig and hair extensions to arrive. They should be getting here any day and it was my last touch to the outfit. I had freed up this weekend from work to do it.

I approached my exit and pulled off of the motorway into gorgeous countryside. I loved this part of the drive, because it reminded me of home. Even though I hadn't lived at home for a few years I always felt like returning to my parents was my true home. I smiled to myself thinking about what Mum would be making for dinner, and what Dad would be watching on TV, and cuddling with the dogs.

I arrived and parked outside the gates to their house. The beautiful flowers at the front of the house were all in bloom, and as I stepped out I could hear the garden, alive with insects. I saw the dogs at the window and could hear them barking faintly through the double glazing. I knew they would be waiting for me and probably annoying my parents with their howling. I entered through the gates and I saw the dogs disappear from the window, knowing they would be waiting at the side door for me. I walked down the narrow path at the side of the driveway and entered through the door. The dogs almost bowled me over. My parents had two gorgeous black cockapoos who were always far too excited to see me. They were both jumping up and down and crying.

"Hello! hello!" I said as I bent down to fuss over them both. They began licking my face and hands. " I only saw you a few days ago! I missed you too!" I cooed over them. I stood up and the dogs excitedly bolted into the living room to announce to my parents that I had arrived. I took my ankle boots off and put my bag down. The smell of bolognese wafted into my nostrils and I smiled. I had always loved Mum's cooking, and even when I decided to be vegan she continued to go out of her way to prepare and cook fresh food for me. Mum came to greet me in the hall and gave me a kiss and a big hug. I reciprocated and followed her into the living room. I seated myself in the large comfy fabric chair, facing the bay window. One of the dogs launched themselves into my lap and I laughed. I stroked Max behind the ears as he settled on my lap.

"How was the drive sweetie? How's work going? Are you all ready for your convention in a few weeks?" My Mum asked in quick succession.

" The drive was lovely. The weather is beautiful out there. Work is the same! I'm still having problems with Angela, and I'm just waiting on my wig! Everything else is done. Once I've finished the hair I'll take a picture and show you the whole thing!" I said excitedly. Mum was listening whilst tidying up, not that the house needed tidying it was always immaculate, and checking on dinner. I relunctantly disturbed the dog, and began following her from room to room as she was telling me about my Aunties and cousins.

"Can I get you a drink Claire?" My Dad asked appearing behind me.

"I'm ok thanks Dad" I said moving aside to let him past. "How's everything with you anyway Dad?" I asked as he opened the fridge and pulled out some flavoured water.

"I'm good thanks Claire. I haven't been doing an awful lot so I feel pretty lazy at the moment but everything is pretty good ." This was Dad's usual response unless something exciting was happening.

The rest of the day was filled with laughter, conversation and of course eating dinner. I loved spending time with my parents as of late. We hadn't always seen eye to eye when I was younger, and we had fallen out several times but now it was very rare that a cross word was shared between us. For the most part they supported my decisions and would advise me in my troubled times and I had nothing but love and respect for them. These family times were one of the favourite parts of my life. My Mum had dark straight shoulder length hair and dark brown eyes and my Dad had short grey hair, with a short full grey beard and glasses. I looked more like my Mum in my face, except for my eyes which were bright blue like my Dad's.

I left around eight in the evening and got home around nine after stopping to put fuel in my car. As I opened the door to my house, I sent my parents a message thanking them for having me and letting them know I was home safe. I closed and locked the door behind me, then opened twitter. I stood in the hall for a second scrolling mindlessly through my feed when I was interrupted.

"Hello trouble!" I jumped and nearly dropped my already battered phone. It was Jamie my roommate. He came and gave me a huge hug and I squeezed him tightly. Since moving in Jamie and I had become really close. He was a six foot , dark skinned, teddy bear. "So how are your parents doing?" He asked releasing me from his embrace. I nodded at him.

"They're good! It was so good seeing them I needed to unwind and forget about making my bloody costume for a day!" I said. Jamie chuckled and shrugged.

"I offered to help you, but little miss 'I can do it all on my own' didn't need any help remember?" he winked at me and I rolled my eyes in return.

"Well I have got it done. I have a few final stitches on some seams to do and my wig then it's ready." I said defensively.

"Whoa!" Jamie said putting his hands up and backing away slightly. " I was only teasing. I thought you were done with all the sewing." He said.

"I thought so too, but I had another look at Grace's costume from the comic book and she has a tiny skull and cross bones on the left leg in the middle of the thigh, and I missed it so I probably have another few hours work there. I also have to dye the extensions but it's fine I have two weeks, so it's fine!" I stopped to take a breath and Jamie just stared at me.

"Look you don't need to do it tonight. How about we go and put a stupid romcom on netflix and I'll make us a drink!" he put his arm around my shoulder and gently led me into the lounge. This costume had all but consumed me for the past few weeks because I wanted every detail to be perfect. I'd always been a perfectionist, and this cosplay was no different. Jamie made me sit on the couch and disappeared into the kitchen. The flat we shared was nice. It was small, but nice. Both the bedroom's were around the same size and Jamie, being the gentle giant he was, had let me have the slightly bigger room so I could have my desk in there too. It was where I worked when I needed to do a few things at home. I regularly brought things home from work to get them done so my team wouldn't get into trouble and our managers could meet their deadlines. I had followed in my Dad's foot steps and become an engineer. I was currently the lead quality engineer so it was my job to make sure all the quality control documents were in place, and any quality issues with our products were addressed and of course liaising with customers. It was a difficult job at times and if you let it get to you it could be incredibly stressful, however I enjoyed it most of the time, and I loved the problem solving that came with it. Jamie reappeared with two large gin and tonics and set one down on the coffee table in front of me.

"Coaster Jay," I said leaning forward and placing my glass on the small drinks coaster next to it. He pulled a face at me and sat down next to me.

"So, what are we in the mood for tonight?" He asked as he started flicking through movies on Netflix. "And I swear if you say Exile Watch I will kill you." I laughed and shook my head.

"Trust me Jay, I never thought I would say this, but if I have to see one more Exile Watch picture at the moment I might scream!" We settled for a cheesy romance film where you could guess the storyline if you tried hard enough. I picked up my drink and gently clinked my glass against Jamie's as we both said cheers and settled into my evening. The stress of getting my costume done was slipping into he back of my mind and I finally, for the first time in weeks, had a fully stress free day.