I’d bet though, that Grazia didn’t have anywhere near the chutzpah that Eireen possessed—the woman was the devil in tiny black pumps and chunky gold earrings. Grazia also had the misfortune of being part of the Viaspa bloodline.
It was harder to find information on Jasmine Kaflouti. She’d gone to Palmyra High School then completed a fashion certificate at TAFE. Aside from a lot of photos at social events, there wasn’t a lot more to find. She knew enough about Facebook that her profile was set to private and her LinkedIn page showed nothing I hadn’t already learned.
I glanced up from my online sleuthing and saw a taxi pull into the kerb in front of the salon. I recognised the woman who was leaning over the backseat to pay the cabbie, so I slapped some change down on the table and bolted across the street, timing my trajectory to intersect with Phoebe just as she emerged from the cab.
‘I’m so sorry,’ I gasped. ‘I didn’t—why goodness … Phoebe Kenilworth…’
She staggered backwards from the impact of our collision, but the annoyance on her face dissolved a little as she tried to work out who I was.
‘Tara,’ I said, obligingly. ‘We went to school together.’
She frowned, drawing down hard on her memory. I noticed the dark rings under her eyes, and the blotches on her otherwise perfect skin that suggested she’d be crying recently. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t think that I—’
‘You probably knew my cousin Crack better? Err … I … mean Craig Thorn.’
The coin dropped. ‘Craig Thorn, yes. Oh, you’re umm… Tara … umm… Sharp. You were the one caught with a boy in the sports shed?’
I couldn’t help the blush. It was a long time since anyone had mentioned that particular indiscretion of mine. Infamy, huh. ‘Rumours,’ I said blithely. ‘Just added to my mystique.’
‘That’s funny,’ she said. ‘I thought you got suspended.’
I laughed as a distraction. ‘Do you go to this salon? I adore it. Melissa’s my favourite.’
She smiled, realising that I was changing the subject, and was polite enough to let it go. ‘Yes. Indeed. Anyway, speaking of… I’d best get moving. Things to do.’
‘Yes, me too. Are you going to that big thing tonight?’ I just threw it out there. People like Phoebe were always going to some “big” thing.’
‘You mean the Hilton parade. Yes, I am, I’m afraid. No rest for the wicked.’ She shook her head a little sadly. ‘Nice seeing you again, Tara. Bye.’
She glided inside and I moved on until I was around the corner out of sight. Parade? What parade? I got out my phone and tried googling general terms, but was deluged with information. It wasn’t until I got back to Mona that it hit me. She meant fashion parade.
I immediately texted Garth. Jasmine’s fashion parade. When and where?
The reply came quickly. Tonight. Hilton ballroom.
That had to be it, I thought. It would give me a more natural and less obvious way to get chatting with her. I could also tail her afterwards. See what she did.
Garth sent a second text. ??????
I need two tickets. I replied.
Will ask Jasmine to leave them on the door.
Thanks.
Our exchange over, I doubled back towards my car. My phone rang and I answered it quickly, forgetting to look at the caller ID.
‘Hey,’ said Nick Tozzi.
‘Hey,’ I said, my heart beating faster.
‘Did you get my text?’
‘Sorry, I haven’t read it yet. I’ve been busy. Two jobs running at once.’
‘I won’t ask,’ he said.
‘Don’t. How are you after…?’ I wanted to say puking, but I refrained, ‘the run?’
‘Sore. Embarrassed. Thanks for the wakeup call though. Didn’t realise how out of shape I’d got.’
‘It was unfair of me,’ I said. ‘I’ve been running that hill for a while.’
‘Well, you’re never one to make allowances, are you?’ His voice was honey laden and I imagined his aura glimmering with the same golden glow. ‘I rang to see if you’d come to a fashion parade with me tonight.’
‘The one at the Hilton?’
‘Yes, do you know about it?’
‘I’m already going,’ I said.
‘Oh.’
He sounded so disappointed that I softened. ‘We could still sit together if you like.’
‘My tickets are front row,’ he said.
No doubt Phoebe Kenilworth’s were too. Tozzi would be a perfect cover for me. ‘Sounds better than the back row. Why are you going to a fashion parade anyway?’
‘I’m part of the charity contingent. They auction some of their front row tickets for ridiculous prices and give the proceeds to the Telethon Kids research.’
Nice,’ I said. I hadn’t thought about Tozzi as a philanthropist.
‘Sh-shall I pick you up?’ He was as hesitant as a teenager asking a girl out on a first date and any resistance I had melted away.
‘Sure … oh, actually. You’d better come and get me from my new place.’
There was silence on the other end for a moment. ‘Which would be…?’
‘The Gar Lok.’
‘Of course it is. Who else would live in a Chinese restaurant?’
It was hard to tell if he was being funny or not. ‘Recently closed down Chinese restaurant,’ I corrected him.
‘See you at seven.’
I called Smitty immediately. ‘Get a sitter. I need you to come to a fashion parade at the Hilton with me tonight.’
‘Oh but—’
‘No buts Jane Smith. Tozzi’s taking me and I have to work. You’re going to keep him out of my hair for a while. You owe me.’
‘How do you figure,’ she said with an edge of amusement in her voice.
‘You told me to tell him to slow down, and now he’s trying to date me.’ I could hear the slight tone of hysteria rising in my voice.
Smitty laughed. ‘I haven’t been out in ages. It sounds fun. When and where.’
‘Meet me at the Gar Lok at 6.45pm.’
‘Oh goodness,’ she said. ‘I can hardly wait.’
* * *
I pointed Mona towards Lilac Street and returned to find Cass surrounded by boxes. I threw some masking tape at her and together we taped up all our belongings.
When we were done, we took a run to the new place with a bag of cleaning gear and JoBob’s vacuum cleaner. I set Cass to work picking up all the large items of rubbish, while I drove the vac. When we’d finished, Cass had three large Tidy bags full. We then split the kitchen and the bathroom between us. I scrubbed the grout in the tiles while Cass wiped benches and swept out cupboards.
A couple of hours later, we were back at Lilac Street lugging our belongings out to the car. My belongings, I should say. Hers amounted to one small box, the weight of which was largely made up of the cookbooks Joanna had loaned her. As soon as I had some cash flow, I was going to have to get her some clothes.
‘We’ll have to make a couple of trips,’ I said. ‘I’ll go and hook the trailer up.’
She didn’t seem bothered with the idea of more work. The excitement of moving had taken over everything. ‘Your mum came down to see me earlier.’
‘How was that?’
‘Awkward,’ she said. ‘Huggy.’
I bit my lip. Huggy with Joanna was most definitely awkward.
‘She said that you could take anything you want from the storage shed, and that she and your dad were going up to the Hills today to visit her sister-in-law.’
I nodded. They did that about once a month. Dutifully. Without exception. ‘Right then. Let’s get on with it!’
By dinner time we had everything moved, including some other things I’d grabbed from storage: crockery, pots, and cutlery from my last sojourn on my own, a small chest of drawers, three kitchen chairs and a square kitchen table JoBob had discarded years ago. The couch was the last thing we tied onto the trailer. Fortunately, it was cane and not too heavy, and my bed had pul
led apart. The mattresses proved the heaviest, but by then we were on a high, and on a roll.
When it was all deposited at the other end, we guzzled down some ginger ale and flopped on the carpet in the main room next to each other.
‘I can still smell sweet and sour sauce,’ I said.
‘And garlic,’ Cass added. ‘The kitchen is awesome.’
She was right. Possibly, it was the best feature of the whole place, outside the light shades and statue of Buddha in this room. ‘This will be good too, when we can afford some furniture.’
She nodded. ‘Yeah the air con works a treat. And there’s lots of light.’
‘I’m going to a fashion parade tonight,’ I said.
‘This to do with Garth or the Cheaters?’
‘Well Garth will be there. His girlfriend’s boutique is supplying some of the clothes. But yeah, it’s for Bon Ames.’
‘I’d like to meet him,’ she said.
‘I’d like for that not to happen.’
‘He was famous around my old neighbourhood, y’know. The boys—my mates—all crushed on him.’
‘Funny kind of crush,’ I observed.
She shrugged. ‘Sergeant of Arms carries heaps of respect in Bunka.’
‘Yeah well, once I do this job for them, they’re out of my life. And I don’t want them ever to be in yours.’
She rolled away from me, as if annoyed. I wondered if Pete was the cause of it.
‘I’d better get showered and changed. Tozzi’s picking Smitty and me up,’ I said. I wasn’t about to let Cass’s sulks bother me. My house. My rules. Stand firm, I told myself.
She rolled back over, her interest piqued. ‘Three of you going together?’
I grinned at her. ‘Safety in numbers.’
* * *
By the time I’d showered and unearthed my dressing gown from the chaos of my suitcases, I realised I was starving, and went in search of Cass.
She was downstairs in the kitchen, arranging the odds and ends we’d brought from Lilac Street. Our few kitchen items looked pitifully miniscule in the restaurant grade kitchen, but Cass didn’t seem to notice. She was carefully separating out the cutlery and plates and allotting them spaces.
‘We forgot to raid Joanna’s kitchen,’ I said mournfully, spying the tools but no the food.
‘She sent some stuff,’ said Cass.
‘What do you mean?’ I hadn’t seen Joanna since this morning’s conversation.
She gestured to an esky over near the fridge that I hadn’t noticed before.
‘Where did that come from?’
‘Wal brought it. She must have phoned him.’
‘Wal?’
‘Here,’ called a voice from the front room.
I pushed open the swinging door and peered in. Wal was on the floor under the counter. He rolled to his feet in a single movement and held up a power board. ‘I’ve vacuumed. Now I’m just sorting the outlets before the desks arrive.’
‘What desks?’ Why did I feel I was the last to know everything?
A knocking at the door was all the answer I got, as Wal hustled across to open it.
It was Smitty, dressed in a slimline, pink crepe dress with lace in all the right places. She looked sweet and beautiful all wrapped into one and her killer pink heels lent some height and elegance. She had her hair pulled back, subtle make-up on, and was carrying a large bag.
Wal swayed under the force of her femininity, and almost swept a bow as she walked past him.
‘You look…’
‘Awesome,’ Cass finished for me, poking her head out of the kitchen.
I nodded. ‘Truly Smitts, you do.’
She smiled, delighted. ‘Nice to know I’ve still got a bit of something left.’
‘More than a bit, I’d say.’
She looked me up and down. ‘Thank goodness I came early. Lead on to the bedroom MacDuff. Time to get you glammed up too.’
I showed her upstairs to my room and she immediately spotted the dress trousers and shirt I had out ready to wear.
‘I suspected as much,’ she cried waving the bag in her hand. ‘Bok sent this for you to wear.’
Bok and Smitty had spent years trying to mould my fashion sense, one taking over when the other gave up for a while. But Bok only ever sent me sample dresses when I had something special on.
‘How did you…’
‘I went straight over to the office to see him after you rang. He called in a favour. You have to return it though.’
‘What is it?’ I asked, staring at the bag with suspicion.
‘Proenza Schuler. It’s straight from the spring collection in New York and totally divine.’
‘Never heard of her.’
Smitts tapped me lightly on the cheek. ‘Don’t show your ignorance, T. Get the damn thing on.’
I retrieved the dress from the bag as though I was pulling a trick scarf from a top hat.
When I finally held it in front of me, my heart beat faster. It was an aqua blue, sleeveless dress that had a tunic top which finished in a fringed skirt. The fringes started just below my panty line. A 1920s style with a twist.
My eyes popped a little. ‘Jeez.’
‘I’m going downstairs to stall Tozzi. Get it on and leave your hair out. Pink lipstick. Blue sandals I gave you two years ago. Are your legs shaved?’
I nodded dumbly. ‘I can’t go out—’
‘Oh, for goodness sakes. It’s THE parade of the year. You can go naked if you like.’
Well I certainly wasn’t planning on that.
She left me with the dress, which I turned over in my hands. Whichever way you looked at it the fringe skirt was risqué.
I took a deep breath. My friends never steered me wrong. Have faith.
I slipped it on and managed the zip alone. Then I pulled my hair free of its tie and ran a brush through. It took me a bit longer to find the sandals in the boxes, but finally I was assembled. Halfway out the door, I remembered the pink lipstick and returned to hunt for it in my old school pencil case.
I heard more knocking as I descended the stairs carefully. I hadn’t been in true high heels for a while and felt a bit wobbly. Fortunately, I had no mirror in the bedroom yet, so I was spared the trauma of my own critical gaze.
As I entered the room, I saw Nick looking admiringly at Jane. ‘Good to see you again Jane. How’s Hen—’
He broke off when he saw me, his jaw sagging open. His aura deepened from its normal caramel to something almost chocolatey.
Smitty and Wal turned to look at me and Wal’s face flushed a shade of beetroot. Wal’s aura ran to smoky grey most of the time, but right now it was almost black. Smitty’s looked normal and her expression was smug.
‘H-hi!’ I stammered, feeling self-conscious. In my heels, I topped about six feet four inches, and no doubt the fringe was making that seem like most of it was my legs.
Nick kept on staring, while Wal’s eyes shot to the ceiling and back, like he was checking I was real.
‘Jeez,’ I said. ‘What’s wrong with you two? It’s just a dress.’
Tozzi managed to shut his mouth and regain some composure. ‘That might be a tiny bit of an understatement, Tara,’ he said. ‘You look…’
‘You look like you need to put on a coat,’ Wal finished for him in a mildly outraged, fatherly kind of way.
I shook my head in disgust at them both and glanced at Cass who was peering around the kitchen door.
‘Cool,’ said Cass, giving me the thumbs up. It was her single word approval that bolstered my confidence. If she’d curled her lip, I might have run back upstairs to hide under my bed. Instead, I picked up my Mandarina Duck, and linked my arm through Jane’s.
‘Let’s go,’ I said.
16
The Hilton lobby thronged with beautifully dressed people gliding about. As we caught the crowded lift to the ballroom, I decided most of them were going to the parade as well.
Nick shadowed Smitts and me, and as we emerged f
rom the lift he took my arm in a purposeful manner. It was a togetherness statement that, combined with my swinging fringe skirt, made me as uncomfortable as hell.
‘Our seats are there,’ he said pointing to the centre of the front row.
‘Goodness,’ I said. ‘Who’d you murder for those?’
He grimaced. ‘My wallet. It’s still bleeding.’
‘Well they look wonderful, but there’s only two. I should sit with Smitts in the seats that I was given,’ I said.
Tozzi’s expression became mildly thunderous and his aura prickled against me.
‘No way,’ piped up Smitts from down near Tozzi’s elbow. ‘I’m the gooseberry tonight. I was expecting back stalls and that’s exactly what I want: a place to chill out and not have to speak to anyone.’
Before I could argue, she’d dashed over to the door and secured the free tickets Garth had arranged. Waving cheerily, she disappeared off across the ballroom to row Z.
‘Why do I get the feeling you’re embarrassed to be seen with me,’ said Nick grumpily.
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ I said. ‘Let’s sit. People are looking at my legs.’
His frown vanished in favour of a slightly lecherous smile. ‘Indeed.’
He went first, but kept hold of my hand, drawing the attention of too many people. For a start, everyone knew Nick Tozzi, and no doubt his wife Antonia. And then for those who didn’t, we were simply the tallest people in the room. Then there was the small matter of the amount of flesh I was showing.
Despite the air conditioning, I was breaking a sweat by the time we reached our seats. Once seated though, I began to relax. The music was good and we were no longer being ogled by two hundred plus people. Maybe this would be fine, even possibly pleasant, I told myself.
‘You OK?’ asked Tozzi, leaning close to my ear.
I felt his aura softening against me and his breath on my shoulder. The combination was far too titillating, so I tried to think about other things. Like the reason I was here. Phoebe Kenilworth.
‘I shouldn’t have worn this dress,’ I said.
‘You absolutely should have,’ he said.
‘I’m not sure how to take that,’ I said.
Sharp Edge Page 13