15 Kimber
“Are you… lost?”
Laci tilts down the studded glasses she’s wearing, eyeing me over the rims. “You do live here don’t you?”
I just keep staring at her, because this is surreal. Beside her is another girl I rarely speak to at Sins, Anita, who’s holding a shiny pink duffle bag and looking as uncomfortable as I feel.
“How did you get my address?” I ask, still looking between the two of them. I know they’re friends; I’ve seen them wandering around the club together when they aren’t with their partners. I think they were friends before S&S too.
“You can thank Tyson for that,” Anita pipes up, still looking between us. Her hair is pulled back tight in a bun, and she’s wearing scrubs. I want to say she does something in the medical field, but to be honest, I can’t remember if we’ve ever even spoken to each other. “He said you needed a girl’s day.”
“How did-”
I cut myself off and groan.Rich. I haven’t seen him in the few days since Euphoria, our work schedules clashing, and I had resigned myself to binge watching TV and sitting with Brutus whenever I’m off the clock.
And drinking… something I think will send Rich over the edge if he finds out. Realistically I know I shouldn’t do it, and he’s mentioned vaguely several times that he doesn’t approve, but I can’t stop it.
Now that I don’t have the distraction of the club, I just have work and my thoughts. When my thoughts can’t be silent, I drink.
Thank god I decided to not do that twenty minutes ago before these two showed up.
“Apparently Tyson doesn’t think he qualifies for a girl’s day,” Anita says, shrugging. “He and Russell had a whole argument about it. I didn’t realize Tyson did girl’s days.”
I blink at her. “Uh, I only did a girl’s day with Tyson once. He bought a fuck ton of clothes at the mall.”
Laci snorts, tapping her nails on the doorframe. They’re still standing out in the hall. “Charming. Can we come in now?”
Glancing over my shoulder, I think of the lackluster decor and the cramped little space. Don’t these two live with their partners now? The memberships for S&S are expensive, and a lot of the members work lush jobs.
Well, kind of. Emilio’s a bodyguard, which I believe served Laci very well in the past. Russell does tech work, so he’s kind of in everyone’s business. That’s part of the reason I know him better than Anita.
Glancing at their arms, I realize they came more than prepared. Who told them what the plan was here? Laci has a little rolling suitcase with her in the same shade of pink as her heels, and it matches the duffle bag Anita’s holding. I think that might be Laci’s too.
“Um, I guess,” I say, stepping back. Sitting around in sweats without brushing my hair suddenly feels like a bad idea as the two of them walk in.
Laci’s heels click on the tile in my kitchen, and Anita’s wearing sensible white sneakers. They contrast each other in a way that’s almost comical: Laci’s tall, wearing stick-thin stiletto heels and a pink outfit that, paired with her beach blonde waves, gives her a very Barbie persona. Anita wears glasses and hasshort dark hair, and generous curves that fill her out in all the right places. Laci’s skin has a hint of red from being out in the sun too long, and Anita’s tawny skin has zero blemishes and compliments her hair. Somehow they are polar opposites and still manage to fit together.
I shift away from them as Laci takes charge and begins putting things down in my little kitchen. I cross my arms protectively over my chest, unsure if I want them to leave or if I should just get out of here myself.
“You can stop looking like we’re going to attack you,” Laci says, pulling her hair back. “Girl’s day is supposed to be fun.”
“Usually people know they’re going to have a girl’s day,” I grumble. Anita drops the duffle bag, shoots Laci an annoyed look, and slumps in the nearest chair. “What’s all this?”
Laci clicks her nails on the table top before wiggling her fingers at me. “Let me see your nails. What do you prefer? Polish? Acrylics? I’m supposed to be working on dips.”
I give her my hand, staring at her like it’s a foreign language. “What?”
“Nails,” Laci says, glancing up. “How do you like them done?”
“You do nails?”
“I graduated just before summer,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows at me. “I have a booth at one of the local salons downtown. Foot traffic through there isamazing. I get so many damn tips. But I have a hard time squeezing people in since there’s so many walk-ins.”
I’m not sure why this is important at all. I glance at Anita, who’s working her hair out of the stiff bun, and she grins at me. “It’s me, I’m people. Laci has owed me a haircut for a month now.”
“And I’m definitely getting to that,” Laci says, digging out a bag from insidethe suitcase. “So, we’re doing nails. I’ve seen your nails done before at the club. You like nails, yeah? I can do any set you want. Pick something hard. It’ll give me practice.”
I just keep staring at her, like I’ve stepped into another reality. I’ve avoided Laci for months since she started going to S&S with Emilio. I wanted him at the time, couldn’t have him, and made a string of bad decisions following that.
