by Adan Ramie
"It doesn't matter what I think, just as it doesn't matter what you think," Adonia finally said. Betheny made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat, and her hands dropped from her chest, one landing on a hip with attitude. "What matters is what Leah wants."
"What do I want?" Leah's voice sounded behind Adonia. Betheny jumped, and Adonia turned around slowly to look up at her, a million thoughts running through her mind, mouth slightly open with unspent words.
Betheny regained her composure faster. She smiled, showing all her teeth like the Cheshire Cat. "That's what we want to know. I've decided to break us into three groups, since we have three fire pits. Do you want to burn the paper, the plastic, or the sculpted nightmares?"
Leah looked from Betheny's grin to Adonia's open-mouthed gape. She narrowed her eyes at Adonia, searching her face for information that she couldn't glean there, then looked back at Betheny. "I guess I'll be on sculpture duty." She motioned at the large piles of bizarre objects lined up in front of the sofa two and three feet deep. "None of those wimps want to do it anyway." She jerked her head in the direction of the girls who were picking through records like they were bloody animal bones.
Adonia hopped to her feet. "I'll join you. Some of that stuff is pretty heavy."
Leah looked her up and down in mock disdain. "Do you think I'm not strong enough to lift?"
A blush crept over Adonia's face and her mouth broke into a shame-faced grin. She looked down at her shoes, rubbed the back of her neck, and then looked back up at Leah from under her eyebrows. "I just didn't want you to have to do all that work yourself."
Her cooking partner winked back at her, then smiled. Betheny glowered beside them. She opened her mouth to speak, but a crash of glass shattering across wood floor got her attention first. She swore, looked back at Adonia and Leah who were smiling at each other like they shared an inside joke, then stomped off to scream at whoever was breaking things.
"She isn't going to give up," Leah said, and her smile faltered. "I don't know what to do."
Adonia shoved her hands in her back pockets, following Leah's gaze to where Betheny was growling into the face of a girl with tears in her eyes. "I don't know, either. If I were you, I would have left this job."
"And what? Let her give me a bad name all over the world?" Leah frowned at Betheny, then turned her eyes to Adonia. "She's going to ruin my career before it even starts, and what she doesn't destroy, Dame O'Brien will be sure to stomp on herself."
Adonia snorted, pulled her hands out of her pockets and placed them on Leah's shoulders. She moved her around to stare into her face. "She's not. She can't. Anyone can say that she, who is basically our employer for the tour, is pursuing you. You could go right now and slap her with a sexual harassment lawsuit."
Leah nodded, but her frown remained etched into the lines of her face. "Then I get branded a snitch, and I never work again."
"Maybe," Adonia said, dropping her hands, and looking at Betheny. "But she gets branded a sexual predator, and that's going to look bad. She wouldn't risk it."
"Let's hope so."
15
Women lay on the floor or slung over hardback chairs all over the penthouse, each one longing for something different, most of them quite vocally. Some wished for a more comfortable seating arrangement or a bed, while others wished for a shower, an escape route, or a stiff drink. Betheny stretched out alone on the plush sofa, her skin and hair scrubbed of all the remains of their ashy expedition, and stared out the window into the fading light. She told them all she hadn't known the burning would take so many long hours, or that they would have to send out for a mid-offering snack. Now that it was over, she looked worn out instead of excited. Her spirits were obviously flagged.
Adonia sat on the floor, her knees up and her arms draped across them, staring at the lighted hallway. Each time a woman walked out, her skin clean and alive again, a soot-smeared caterer, dead on her feet, would get up and shuffle off to the open bathroom. The process was slow, but she was watching the clock. By the time they were all finished, it would be seven o'clock and they would be so ravenous that some might turn to cannibalism. She grinned at the thought.
"What are you thinking about?" Leah asked from the chair on which she was perched a few feet to her right.
"I was thinking about how far people will go to get what they want," Adonia answered in a small voice. There was no one else talking, and it felt spooky to break the silence this way. "To ridiculous proportions."
Leah stared over the back of the chair at Adonia. "What are you going to get for dinner?"
"You know, I hadn't thought about it. Something with little prep that will cook quickly. I feel like I could eat the sofa if I didn't think it would give me indigestion." She grinned.
Leah smiled back. "I was thinking the same thing. But you know what I really want?" Adonia looked at her expectantly. "A steak. A thick, juicy, rare steak resting on a bed of fried onion strings, with steamed broccoli, a baked potato, and a chunk of crusty bread. Oh, with soup and salad before."
Adonia turned her eyes to glance in Betheny's direction and found the rocker looking at them longingly. "Do you think you can eat all that?"
Leah let out a bark of a laugh that turned heads toward her. She covered her mouth and blushed, her eyes going to the floor. "I could probably eat more, but I don't want to overdo it," she whispered.
Another woman walked out of one of the two bathrooms in a towel, signaled to the woman holding vigil in a chair in the hallway, then walked to a bedroom to get dressed. The waiting woman hopped to her feet and jogged to the bathroom, not even bothering to ready her clothes before she went. No one moved to take the hall chair, so Adonia nudged Leah toward it.
"Hurry before you have to wait another half an hour," she whispered.
Leah leaned down so that she was speaking near Adonia's ear. "I'm in no hurry to get to the restaurant and be subjected to Betheny alone."
"You won't be alone," Adonia said, but her heart warmed at the thought. Maybe she could find a place in her life for me. "Besides, you still have to wait for all the rest of us to bathe. Now go." She put a hand on Leah's hip and pushed. Leah's legs fell onto the floor. She pushed again and Leah made herself stand and walk over to the vigil chair.
Adonia watched her walk; even exhausted and weary, she moved like an exotic animal. Adonia had to fight the urge to run over, pick Leah up, and carry her into the bedroom to ravish her. She wondered idly what Leah would do if she did. She played out scenes in her head, and by the time Leah stood for her turn, Adonia had her legs crossed.
The second bathroom door opened, and before anyone else could stand, Adonia was taking the showered woman's place. She closed the door, turned on the tap, hurriedly stripped, and climbed into a hot shower. She scrubbed as fast as she could, not enjoying the clean, but as a means to an end. The faster she was clean, the faster she could lean up against the wall in the shower and manipulate herself to ecstasy.
Her mouth opened in a wide O of surprise when her fingers first touched the throbbing nub, and she clenched her teeth to keep from crying out. With one hand, she rubbed furiously; the other slid one finger inside. As her eyes rolled back, she fought a moan that threatened to escape from her lips. Her legs shook, and she pushed another finger inside, ready -- so ready -- to feel the clench of her insides signaling the end.
Her eyes closed, she pictured Leah standing naked in the bathroom. She pictured one hand reaching down between her legs. Then they were in the bed, and Adonia had her mouth on one of Leah's breasts, the delicate nipple between her teeth. Her hands rubbed all over Leah's body, and her skin was hot in response. Her hips bucked, begging to be taken, and Adonia trailed kisses down her belly. When she wrapped her lips around her, Leah cried out, and Adonia put her own hand down between her legs. As she worked Leah to orgasm, she rubbed herself until they were both writhing.
In the shower, the wave of orgasm crashed over Adonia so hard she
almost fell. She teased the last of it out, then leaned her forehead on the front wall and let the shower pour over her as her heartbeat settled back to normal. When she had calmed, she rinsed between her legs and washed her hands, then turned off the tap. She wasn't looking forward to dinner, but found comfort that at least they were allowed to eat for now.
16
After a long, sumptuous dinner, the group returned to the penthouse a different number. Two of the original girls had gone, each citing over-stress from the lengthy burning of the offerings. In their place, Betheny had called in two of her clones. Adonia tried hard not to meet the hurt eyes of Kayla, who kept glancing over at her.
"Ladies, I hope we won't lose any more of our number," Betheny said from her precarious perch on the terrace wall. She didn't smile. "Either way, I've already replaced the two who left us." She sucked in a long drag of her cigarette, her eyes on the blinking lights of the city around them. "I shouldn't have to be punished because some girls didn't read their contracts, and don't have the constitution to take a long, honest day's work." She turned her bloodshot eyes on the group clustered around in chairs and on the plush sofa beside and near her. "If you can't take it, leave now. Anyone who leaves after tonight will be punished as per the terms of the contract."
Adonia looked at Leah, whose eyes were on the stone floor, and wondered if she had taken a moment to read through the contract yet. Adonia hadn't. Anything Leah signed on for, Adonia wouldn't let her do alone.
The scraping of heels on granite caught Adonia's attention, and she looked up as Kayla sat down beside her. Freshly showered, as Betheny had requested, Kayla didn't really look too much like the rock star. Her teeth were brighter and less straight, her nose had a slight upturn, and without her belly bared and her breasts lifted and cinched below her chin, she almost looked like a normal woman. She gave Adonia a tight-lipped smile, then turned her attention to Betheny.
"Tomorrow, we cleanse. We'll spend the day getting every spa treatment this hotel offers, from facials to cupping and deep tissue massages. The detox will only work if we limit food, and drink a lot of the detox tea, so if you think you're going to be a fatty tomorrow and cry about food, either leave now or load up on protein."
One girl, who had started at Dame O'Brien's on the same day as Adonia, halfway stood then sat back down. Betheny glared her way, then turned her attention to her clones.
"I want the color out of your hair. When we leave this hotel, we're all back to natural hair colors." The girls nodded. Betheny grabbed a cigarette out of the hand of the nearest, took a long drag, then handed it back. "Big sunglasses, hair in low ponies, hat on, coat on. I want us to be as high profile low key as we can."
The Bethenys nodded in reverent understanding. Betheny's eyes flitted over to Leah, then Adonia, and landed on Kayla. "You can find another job when we leave here." The girl bowed her head for a second, emotionless, then turned to Adonia.
"What happened?" Adonia asked her in a low voice.
"She doesn't need me anymore," Kayla said. "She said she's phasing out some of the copies so that she can, 'More realistically portray herself.' Apparently, I'm not a believable Betheny." Her voice was measured, but Adonia could see the defiant spark in her eye. She glanced at Betheny, then leaned closer so that only Adonia could hear her voice. "I think she thinks she would never fuck you." She leaned back, rolling her eyes as she did. She glanced back at Betheny. "But she's wrong. If you hadn't rubbed her the wrong way by being friends with Leah, you would have been one of the girls she had gone after. I've seen her do it. You're the kind of girl who would make her feel more womanly." She grinned.
Adonia rubbed a hand over her mouth, then took in a deep breath. Her eyes strayed to Betheny. When they got there, Betheny's eyes were already on her. Adonia's eyes slid down Betheny's body, stripped naked but for a black silk robe, and wasn't surprised when Betheny parted her legs just far enough for almost a glimpse of what lay between her thighs.
Betheny turned her eyes away, and Adonia followed suit. Almost as if she had understood their silent exchange, Leah stood abruptly and announced that she was going to bed. Betheny made as if to slide off the side of the wall and onto the terrace floor, but Leah was too quick, and was already inside. Betheny settled herself back in, stole a cigarette from one of the Betheny clones, and looked back out over the city.
"Would you go for her?" Kayla asked. When Adonia didn't respond, she smiled, and a faint blush crept to her pale cheeks. "Because you wouldn't go for me."
Adonia scowled. "I got sick."
Kayla leaned forward, pushing cleavage up to peek out of her V-neck t-shirt. She snaked her tongue across her lips. "So, do you want me?"
"Honestly, as everything stands, I don't think I'm going to even think about sex again until after this tour is over. Stress is killing my libido." She stood up, stretched, and yawned. "And exhausting me. I'm going to bed."
Kayla deflated. "I understand. Good night."
Back inside, Adonia groaned with relief. She wondered idly if she should just pack herself up and get out, forget the tour, forget working in catering, and not worry about the repercussions of pissing off a superstar musician with more pull than she should have. Then she, too, deflated, and realized that as much as she wanted to go, this was supposed to be her big break, too. And she couldn't leave Leah. Despite everything, the silent treatment, the attitude, the jumbled web of love and sex that she had been caught in -- she didn't want to leave her.
She walked in the bedroom she shared with four other women and found Leah already curled up on a mattress on the floor. Her eyes were closed, and her breath came relaxed, but Adonia knew she wasn't asleep. She crawled in beside her under the covers, and Leah's eyes flew open. When she saw Adonia, she relaxed and slid over to give her room.
"I didn't feel like sitting and watching Betheny act like just another sick, spoiled celebutante," Leah said. She gave Adonia a tight smile.
"I know. I couldn't either. Besides, this whole thing has me stressed out."
They both relaxed back onto pillows, and shifted so that Adonia's arm draped easily over Leah's waist. They stared at the same wall, Leah's head flat on the pillow, Adonia's arm propping her up off of her pillow. She watched Leah's eyes flutter like a sheet in a breeze.
"Why don't you leave?" Adonia asked.
"You know why. Why don't you?"
"You know why."
Leah moved closer, and Adonia wrapped her arm around her more tightly, feeling her own eyelids start to grow heavy.
"We only have two more days." Leah's eyes closed.
"Forty-eight hours," Adonia responded, watching Leah. When she didn't say another word, Adonia closed her own eyes and was swept into oblivion.
17
When Adonia woke, light was just starting to grow rosy outside, peeking through the window, and Leah wasn't on the mattress beside her. The rest of their room mates were sleeping, so she padded out of the room. The light in the kitchen was the only one burning in the penthouse, and the aroma of dark roast coffee brewing lured her in. She stepped into the kitchen and found Leah and another girl, whose name Adonia hadn't bothered to learn, sitting at the table, drinking coffee and ignoring each other.
They both seemed to wake up from some kind of trance when she entered. Leah stood, legs like a young gazelle bringing her to the coffee pot, and called over her shoulder. "Coffee?" She poured a cup and brought it to her. "It's fresh." Their eyes met as their fingertips touched over the mug, and Leah smiled at her. Adonia smiled back.
"What has you two up so early?" Adonia joined them at the small table.
The girl she didn't know shrugged. "Neither of us could sleep."
Adonia held her face just above her coffee, hands wrapped around the mug, savoring the warmth. "Yeah, same here. The stress."
"I don't think I want to be a high profile caterer anymore. I don't know if I even want to work in the industry." The girl looked at her with bloodshot eyes. "
How do you stand it?"
Adonia's face shifted into a rueful smirk. "You mean, how do I stand being the most hated person here?" The girl nodded. "I guess I'm just used to it."
"You're not the most hated person here," Leah scolded.
"Yeah?" Adonia asked, and gave her an incredulous look. "If not me, then who?"
"Me," Betheny answered from the doorway.
The three women held their breath. None had heard her come in. The girl Adonia didn't know turned her face to stare at her coffee. Leah looked away, out a window whose curtains had been parted for a view of the sunrise, and sneered. Adonia let out her breath in a whoosh and turned to watch Betheny pour herself a cup of coffee, walk over to the cabinet, pull out a bottle of Frangelico, and add a generous dose.
She turned to look at Adonia. "Want some?" she asked, holding up the bottle.
"Not if you want me on my game today."
Betheny smiled, plastic. "Who says I want you on your game?"
Adonia picked up her coffee, sipped it, and then replaced it on the table. "I guess you never did. But I like to keep my head above water when I'm working. I'm a professional, and I take what I do seriously."
Betheny shrugged, then put the bottle back in the cabinet. "Suit yourself." She sipped her coffee, then strutted back out of the kitchen toward the terrace without a look back at any of them.
"Wow." Leah raised her eyebrows. "Who knew you could get started so soon?"
Adonia took a long, scalding drink of coffee that boiled her mouth and throat. It brought her back to childhood, to sneaking drinks from her father when he wasn't looking. She contemplated the dark surface for a moment, then looked up at the two women. Both were looking at her, waiting. She straightened. "Enjoy your coffee while you can. And, if I were you, I'd eat pretty quickly, because I doubt any of us get any solid food for the rest of the day."