Lucy’s smile wobbles before she straightens it once more. “Ah... yes, she is in the Wardrobe with Lindy and the two new designers. Or that’s where I heard the last bit of yelling coming from.”
Oh dear, that sounds ominous.
“Okay, thanks. We’ll see if we can sort that out, don't worry,” I reassure her and take off in the direction of the Wardrobe. I can hear Holden and Thomas wishing her good morning on their way past.
As I move down the corridor, I can hear loud voices, so it looks like that’s still an ongoing problem. I start to walk a little faster after I hear something crashing.
“Jesus, what is going on in there?” Holden asks as I push open the door and walk in.
The noise comes to an abrupt stop at my appearance, and as I look around the room, I can’t decide whether to laugh or cry.
There’s a ladder wobbling precariously, and next to it, Jacinta is lying on top of Jace, cradled carefully in his arms, though it looks like her knee got him directly in the balls if his red face is anything to go by. There are colorful feathers fluttering all around the room, some still slowly falling from an open cupboard above the ladder. Lindy and Rowena are also present, but they’re nowhere near the ladder, so I'm guessing neither of them were involved in that. Both have faces like thunderclouds though, so I'm guessing they were involved in the argument part of the yelling.
Thomas is the first person to recover. “What the fuck is going on in here?”
Rowena and Lindy both start to talk, one over the other, but I tune them out as I watch Jacinta and Jace on the ground. She’s asking him if he’s okay, patting him all over to check for injuries, and he’s reassuring her he’s fine while trying to make sure she’s okay. It’s so freaking cute seeing them both flustered. I’m even more excited with my idea now that I can see how attracted they are to one another.
“Stop! One at a time,” Thomas yells, needing the extra volume to be heard over the two women. “Lindy, go.”
“Jacinta insisted on climbing the ladder to get that box of feathers down, and Jace tried to stop her, especially because she’s wearing those heels, but she didn't listen. The ladder started to wobble, and she tipped over, but thank god he caught her.”Some loyalty. Bitch throws Jacinta right under the bus.
“I tried to stop her!” Rowena chimes in.And there’s the new girl to pop it into reverse and do a second run over.
“Who are you?” Thomas demands, looking her up and down. Holden snorts once more behind me in amusement. That guy needs to learn to keep his reactions to himself.
“I’m Rowena, the new designer for Neighpalm Couture.” She simpers, fluttering her eyelashes at him.
“One of them,” Jacinta says from between gritted teeth. She and Jace have managed to get to their feet, but both are still covered in feathers.
“Holy crap, Jazzy. It looks like a chicken farm exploded in here,” Holden says, not holding back his laughter at all. She flips him off.
“Yeah, yeah, I should have let Jace climb up to get it. But I knew exactly which box it was.” She shrugs, sending feathers floating down to the ground.
“Tom, Holden, these are my new designers, Jace and Rowena. These are my brothers Holden and Thomas.” She does the introductions before shaking herself down. The others exchange pleasantries while I go over to Jacinta and start to brush her down.
“Hey,” I say to her, and she leans in to give me a hug, transferring some of the feathers to me.
“Hi, what are you doing here?” she asks, laughing and plucking them off my dress.
“I needed to get out of the house. Staying in one place was driving me nuts. What are you doing for lunch? You want to meet me in the conservatory?”
Her eyes shine as she gives me a big smile that I never thought would be directed at me. “I’d love to! That would be awesome.”
A sound has me turning to where Lindy is looking at the two of us incredulously. Oh, I guess she didn't get the ‘Harlow and Jacinta are BFFs’ memo.
The silence is a little awkward until Holden steps in. “Well, okay then. That’s done, so we will leave you to it. Got places to be and big bands to rip a new one.” He turns and disappears out the door with Thomas following behind. Jace approaches me before I go anywhere, giving me a feathery hug before I can leave. The two of them laugh when they catch my eye roll, and my god, even their laughs sound adorable together. I don’t know what I need to do to make this happen, but I’ve decided it’s inevitable.
“Hi, Alex and Shane say I keep missing your calls. They told me your trip was a mess. Are you okay?” he asks, looking worried.
My eyes go to Lindy and Rowena who aren't hiding their interest in the conversation. Noticing their obvious interest, Jacinta growls at them, “Well, don't just stand there! Clean this mess up! We’ve got shit to do today.”
“I thought you said they hated each other,” I hear Rowena mutter to Lindy not so quietly.
“They did,” Lindy hisses back.
I pull Jace and Jacinta away from flapping ears. “How about you come to lunch today too, and I’ll give you all the messy details.”
With his agreement, I wave them off and hurry after the guys. Jacinta's raised voice follows me down the corridor, bringing a smile to my lips.
