Chapter 24- Simone
I watched as Mallory and Rina danced around and drank from wine bottles in my vanity mirror, where I was sitting. They were already dressed, in whites and pinks and blacks. Halsey’s melodic voice was blasting from my pink Beats by Dre Pill, singing about how bad at love she was. The music was so loud it was vibrating in my chest.
Carefully, I applied winged eyeliner to my lids. Rina and Mallory came over with the phones, recording me. They had to have been slightly past tipsy.
“Guys, I’m still in my underwear!”
“Forget all that, back in L.A. they’d say you were fully dressed,” Rina said holding up the camera. “Guys this is my hot ass boss.”
It was then I realized she was on a live broadcast. I didn’t want my face plastered across social media. Hurriedly, I finished my task and got to get dressed.
“Whew, look at that ass!” Mallory cat called me.
My hands flew to cover my butt, and I shot them both a look.
The thought to kill them both occurred to me.
Seriously, how hard could it be?
My dress was waiting on the bed. It was solid red, with a sweetheart neckline the was covered in sequences. It matched Rina and Mallory’s dresses except for the fact that it was solid. The bottom half was nothing but red tule, that bounced and bobbed around once I slid it up.
“Ugh,” I grunted.
“What?” Mallory and Rina asked in unison.
“I think I’m gaining weight….when I bought this last week it barely fit. Someone zip me up.”
Mallory came forth to do the deed while Rina took another gulp from the wine bottle and snapped more pictures. I felt the vibrations of the zipper slide from the base of my back and along my spine.
“Damn I should’ve gotten the red one,” Rina finally put the bottle down.
“You look, hot boss,” Mallory said.
I did a little strut and moved around in the mirror. The last thing I needed was the heels that I’d purchased a while back. Reaching into the top of my closet, I pulled down a shoebox and removed the lid. Inside waiting for me were red and black snake Louboutins. They had cost me a pretty penny but the moment I’d seen them, I’d had to have them.
Popping them onto my feet, I felt like a tattooed Cinderella.
“The guys are probably getting pissed we’re taking so long,” I told them.
We finally left my loft and caught a rideshare to Frost. I knew it was dangerous going there. It’d been a week since I’d last seen Lucien. Naturally, his threats of killing Miguel had fallen away due to the fact that Miguel had shown up to work every day since the incident happened.
My mother’s famous words were etched into my brain as traffic darted along outside. “Baby girl, the road to hell is paved with bad intentions.”
I wondered what she would have thought of my involvement with Lucien, to save Albie, who by the way was still alive as well. I guess Lucien had taken what he wanted from me and that had satisfied the debt.
The driver of the rideshare dropped us right in front of Frost. The line was moving fast to get inside and I was grateful. Even though the weather had turned slightly warm there was still a chill. When it was our turn we escaped into the atmosphere.
It didn’t look like its normal self. There were balloon decorations and hearts everywhere. Valentines’ Day had hit Frost in a huge way. I spotted Miguel and the rest of the boys and we went over to greet them.
Ax and AJ each had a girl on their arms, and Brandon was off nearby chatting up some beautiful ladies who had been charmed by him.
Miguel turned and took us in as we approached. He grabbed his chest as if he were having a heart attack and then handed each of us a glass.
“We’ve been waiting on the three of you to show,” Ax spoke.
They proceeded to introduce us to their dates but I didn’t commit their names to memory. What was the use, those two would be with new women tomorrow.
When everyone else went off to either dance or grab more drinks, Miguel and I stayed, sitting on the plush velvet couch. I’d finally waved down a waitress in the packed club and she returned with my drink, vodka on ice with a splash of cranberry.
