by Chloe Plume
Nicole stood up from the light-blue ottoman. “Good, well, let’s get out of here.”
We walked towards the cash register and, again, the anxious sales girl from before showed up. She rang me up and, although I balked at the price, I followed through, thinking at least my first party in LA would be worth it.
“It’s worth it,” Nicole put in, seeing the price register. “It’s hot! Hot, hot!”
The sales girl smiled. “This just came in today. You’ll be, like, on the trend, no worries!”
“Thanks.” I walked out of the store, still overwhelmed by the price. “Well, at least this whole thing’s squared away.”
“Oh, I can’t wait!” Nicole all but screamed. “Time for make-up!”
“Right.” I’d forgot.
I stepped into her Jetta, and Nicole drove me home. I was expecting some sprawling Beverly Hills compound, complete with absentee parents, but as soon as we pulled up to the modest Pasadena home, Nicole’s parents stood in the doorway to greet us.
“How was your first day honey?” her mom asked.
Nicole smiled. “Mom. I told you, I’m doing the same thing as last year. It’s not my first day.” Nicole leaned close to me. “They really have no idea what I’m doing, like ever…”
“Seems like they really care about you though, waiting out like that,” I added.
“Yeah…” Nicole walked to the kitchen and grabbed some water. “Ugh…right, I got back to back shifts Saturday,” she said, thumbing through the calendar on the fridge.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Oh, well, for Cabos, you know? They don’t pay interns shit at KR.”
“Right,” I said, realizing that there was more to Nicole than I’d first assumed.
Nicole’s dad appeared in the doorway, a sturdy built, Hispanic looking man with a well-tended goatee. “Nicole, you didn’t introduce us to your friend.”
“Oh, right. Sorry. Dad, this is Madison, she just started over at KR. She’s from the East Coast and went to prep school there, so she doesn’t know L.A. very well.”
“Pleased to meet you.” Her father extended a hand.
Nicole’s mother appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Those are very good schools over there. That’s very good,” she said, and I shook her hand as well.
“Where are you going to college, Madison?” Nicole’s dad asked.
“Oh…well, I just heard a couple months ago—Stanford, I’m excited.”
He nodded appreciatively. “Hmmm. Now that’s a good college.”
Nicole mom added, “Well, Nicole, I hope Madison’s academic ambitions rub off on you. Good influence…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know mom…listen, we’re gonna head upstairs. You know, the party I mentioned yesterday?”
Nicole’s mom frowned. “Okay…yes. But be careful and don’t stay out late. You have work tomorrow and this internship is important for you to get a job.”
“Yeah, I know mom. Okay. Love you both.”
We shuffled up the stairs and into Nicole’s room. Posters lined the walls and I gulped uncomfortably when I saw one of Zayde, strumming at a guitar with an open jacket exposing his abs.
“Okay, okay…” Nicole buzzed around the small room collecting brushes here and beauty products there. “You go take a shower and I’ll get set up.”
I walked into the small bathroom and peeled off my loose blouse and pants. I was actually excited to put that dress back on.
The steaming water calmed me. I used a bit of Nicole’s shampoo and conditioner, even though it was intended for chemically treated blonde hair, and vigorously scrubbed myself until I was sparkling clean.
This’ll be fun. A nice, chill party to help me forget about this weird Zayde thing. Maybe I’ll even meet a nice guy…
I stepped out of the shower, pulled a towel across my chest, and began to blow dry my hair. Immediately, Nicole burst through the door.
“No! No!” She shouted. “You’re doing it all wrong. Let me get that for you.”
She yanked the blow drier from my hands and proceeded to lift and dry this section and that, one at a time, with meticulous concentration plastered across her face. Every now and then she rubbed a bit of oil from some vial between her hands and distributed it in my hair, or sprayed a light mist across an outstretched section of my hair. She worked so fluidly and precisely, I knew she was well practiced in doing this each and every day.
“Okay, yes, done!” she exclaimed, while my eyes were closed to avoid the ordered chaos of her whirling hands and the sprays of product.
“Holy shit!” I couldn’t believe it. I checked behind me to see if someone else was in the room.
No way…
My usual mess of kinky hair had been magically worked into a glossy, shimmering cascade of silky dark smoothness.
“Wow…Nicole. How’d you—”
“Nothing,” she said hastily. “I didn’t do anything, just this and that. You have ridiculously thick and healthy hair, Madison. You just have to treat it right.”
“Okay…” I staggered out of the bathroom and towards my dress, laid out on Nicole’s bed. I still couldn’t come to terms with how different my hair looked.
I zipped up the form-fitting back and adjusted the asymmetrical straps. Just as I slipped into the strappy black heels, Nicole appeared out of nowhere.
“Oh my gosh! Time for makeup!”
I took a seat in front of the mirror and closed my eyes, knowing there was nothing I could do to alter Nicole’s determined vision for me. Her brushes danced across my face and a whirlwind of powders and pastes seemed to come from all directions. I’d only used foundation before and maybe mascara once in a while. I really had not idea what she was doing.
“And…” Nicole fluttered something over my eyelids and dabbed at the tops of my cheeks. “There you go! Open up!”
I was scared to open my eyes. Slowly, I peered out of the corner of my left eye, to make sure the coast was clear. Nicole had quieted down from her makeover frenzy and stood behind me, a look of intense study on her face, her hands resting on the chair to either side of me, like an artist surveying her work.
Holy crap!
No way.
A chill ran across my body and my heart skipped a beat. Whoever was staring back at me in the mirror…they looked just like my mother. Alina, with her bright green eyes, beautiful cheekbones and shimmering hair…
How…
“You look so freaking gorgeous Madison,” Nicole said, standing back and nodding. “My work here is done.”
I ran a hand through my smooth hair.
It can’t be me. There’s no possible way.
“And all I did was basic stuff,” Nicole continued. “I feel like we’re keeping things simple with the dress, so the emphasis will really be on you.”
She’d run a dusting of silver eye shadow over my eyelids and painted my lips a vivid red, the same red my mother preferred. Other than that, everything was natural. Smoother, brighter, softer, but natural.
“Now to complete the look…” Nicole brought two small silver earrings with diamond studs to either side of my head, nodding with approval.
“Nicole, I can’t…” I hesitated.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Nicole said, waving her hand casually, “They’re not real. But all the same, don’t lose them!”
I stood up and walked to the full-length mirror in Nicole’s room. I adjusted the earrings and took my first comprehensive view of the makeover.
Wow. Do I really…
I couldn’t believe the way my legs ran right into my curves and the way the dress put all my features in their best light. The lanky limbs I’d always hated looked long and shapely. The figure I thought I never had was on full and stunning display. And my eyes looked bright and vivid, while my hair fell softly across the highlighted contours of my face.
“Nicole.”
“Yeah Madison…I really have to hurry, we’ve got to leave soon, so I’m going to jump in the shower�
��“
“Thank you.”
“—Oh, well, you’re really welcome. Came out good, didn’t it?”
“I mean it. Thank you.”
Chapter 14
Zayde
This party is really fucking raging.
I was so damn relieved to be back in the swing of things. My two-floor apartment was stuffed with hot girls, hipsters, and trust fund assholes wearing fedoras. All was well in the world.
I passed my buddy David necking with some hot blonde whose bra had somehow ended up on the floor. He gave me a thumbs-up and pointed to the upstairs. I gave him the middle finger.
He smiled and pushed the blonde out in front of him and towards the stairs. “Thanks man. Might have to wash the sheets, though. Haha.” He grabbed a handful of the blonde’s luscious ass, squeezing with admiration. “So good, Zayde, so good…”
“Yeah. Have fun.” I knew he’d leave the place a mess.
“Bye, Zayde,” the blonde waved, giggling as she ascended the stairs.
“Always a good one, my man.” David patted my shoulder as he took off after his hookup.
People were in various states of undress throughout my apartment. Which is really how it should be.
Now if I could just get Maddy out of my mind…
Some jerk off took one of my guitars out of the glass case and started pecking at it. I ran over to my living room. “Hey, shithead. Jimi Hendrix played that at Woodstock.”
“How much?” the fedora wearing assclown asked me, half-drunk and trying to impress the slutty girls around him.
“More than your trust fund.”
He laughed. “Yeah, right. Alright man, take it easy Zayde. Come chill with these chicks, my man.”
“Yeah, maybe later. Just don’t touch my shit.”
I went to the kitchen and grabbed a beer.
Why am I not balls deep in one of these easy girls, drowning my sorrows with prime L.A. pussy?
The question perplexed my soul. It tore me apart, standing there in my own home, everyone but me having fun.
Ah, shit. Again!
Yet another jerk was pawing at some modern art installation someone had convinced me was a “great investment.”
I rushed over. “Come on. Not my art. Back off bro.”
“Zayde. You need to chill out. I was just checking it out.”
“Check something else out.” I shook my head.
Unbelievable.
“Hey…Zayde,” some brunette said, running her hands over my shoulder. “Let’s go upstairs…I’ll help you relax.”
“What?” I pushed her hands off. “I don’t even know you.”
“All you need to know”—she grabbed my beer bottle and basically deep-throated it—“is that.”
“Yeah. You keep that.” I walked back to the kitchen for another beer.
Why the fuck am I not balls deep…
I couldn’t fathom my sudden inhibitions, the likes of which I’d certainly never felt before.
I really should have let that chick work me over. Suck some sense into me…whatever that means. Or something…
I popped the beer open over the ledge of the counter and walked back out. And then I lost my mind.
Who the fuck is that…Holy shit, she’s way too beautiful to be in the company of these idiots and fools.
I swear. It was like some fucking angel in black had walked right out of some classic movie and into the depressing group of wannabes littering my apartment. She was glowing, soft curves and long lines in a dress that was killing me from across the room. Those vivid red lips… My pants tightened.
Finally, now, something’s happening.
And those eyes, so brightly green that I could see them from across the room…
Wait!
It couldn’t be.
No possible way.
I approached.
Damn! It was Maddy.
I was so taken aback that I stayed back, almost fearful of getting too close and shattering what must be a figment of my imagination.
I’ve never seen her like this.
The Madison I knew was some egghead with a clumsy body she hid under the baggy rags she called clothes while burying her make-up free face in books and avoiding each and every social situation. So it couldn’t be her.
It couldn’t possibly be the same person. But as I looked closer, it was definitely her, except with smoother hair, a brighter complexion, and the sexiest dress I’d ever seen.
Just look at that ass. And those legs… And…
Fuck, there was nothing there that wasn’t perfect. Her friend, some bottle blonde chatting it up next to her, was cute in a skimpy little outfit, but that was it. Side by side, just cute. The girls here might be pretty. But Maddy… Fuck. Madison was beautiful.
Her friend took off to use the bathroom, and I thought it might be a good idea to get in and… Well, we hadn’t parted on good terms that night. But some dickhead beat me to the punch. He was, of course, wearing a fedora, so I thought it was the same guy who messed with my guitar.
Nope, different asshole.
Well, I had to finish my beer anyway. So I walked back out to the middle of the party, just in time to see the blonde David was boning rush down my staircase and out the door.
David chased after her, shirt open and in his boxer-briefs. “What? I thought you’d like it!”
I shook my head. L.A. was a crazy fucking place with crazy fucking people. Just look at this mess of entitled jerks I called friends directing every effort, every faculty of their minds, bodies, and souls into a social media worthy hookup. And of course, I was a jerk to call them jerks, but the truth is we were all jerks. Couldn’t escape that fact.
Except for Madison.
Shit, she’d always been a different kind. And now, there was no way I was getting her off my mind. Not after that entrance, stopping time itself with her perfect body and perfect face and perfect form drifting through my apartment like an apparition conjured by the deepest longings of my soul.
That’s a bit dramatic.
I couldn’t help thinking these things though. That’s what seeing her made me do.
I finally gathered up some confidence and walked back to where she was. Or thought she was.
Where’d she go?
She was over by the kitchen, with the fedora clown pushing up against her. Meaning, I was too late. Except, she was pushing him.
That fucking piece of shit!
Chapter 15
Madison
“Hey come on, stop!”
Fuck, I can feel it pressing against me!
“I don’t even know your name. Just, get off!”
His hand is under my dress.
“I just want to get a little closer.” His breath covers my face. “I promise it’ll feel good.”
“No. Get. Off”
He had me against the kitchen wall and he was reaching up my thighs. No one was paying any attention. We were in a bubble.
“I can tell you’re wet…”
“Please! Just get off!”
Suddenly, he was off of me. And suddenly, Zayde had punched him in the face. Twice.
He ran away, out of the apartment, blood dripping through the hand he held up to his nose.
Zayde put his hand on my shoulder. “Hey. Hey, you alright?”
I was spinning. All of that just happened. One thing after another.
He started talking to me, about what kind of parties I liked or something and then we went somewhere quieter and then…
“Yeah, I’m alright,” I said. “Thanks.”
Zayde smiled reassuringly. “See, I’m not so bad. I’m a knight in shining armor after all.”
“Ha. It’s almost like you know what a pun is.”
“Yeah…well, Maddy—“
“Oh, shit!” someone shouted. “Fucking cops! Cops man!”
“I better go.” Zayde rushed to the door to talk to the police.
They entered the apartment and there was a quiet panic
as people began to slip out.
I overheard one of the cops talking to Zayde say “we had a noise complaint and then a girl ran out crying and some guy came out with blood on his face. We’re taking a look around.”
While one of the officers searched the main floor, the other followed Zayde upstairs. I went to take a seat in the kitchen.
Nicole ran in and leaned over to tell me something. “We have to get out of here. They found coke. I’m leaving. Let’s go.”
Of course. Zayde and drugs. Just when I thought things were somehow different.
But I have to be sure.
“You go ahead.”
Nicole frowned. “Madison. This is serious. Especially for you. Come on!”
“Nicole. I just have to check something. Go ahead.”
Nicole hesitated. “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She bolted for the door.
Zayde rushed downstairs right before the cops began questioning everyone.
“Zayde, what’s going on?” I asked.
“They found cocaine in my fucking bedroom, that’s what. I’m fucked.”
I looked directly at him. “Zayde?”
“What?”
“Is it yours?”
“No,” he stated firmly. “But that won’t matter. None of these people will come forward, I know it.”
I shook my head. “This is going to mess things up for you, isn’t it?”
Zayde stared at the ground. “Yeah, Maddy, this is going to do that.”
“They’ll fucking crucify you when word gets out. I mean, after…well.”
Zayde looked up at me. “You should go. Wouldn’t want to ruin your perfect record, right?”
“No Zayde,” I stated firmly. “Wrong.”
“Wait…what are you doing. Maddy…” Zayde grabbed my arm as I headed towards the cops. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m giving you a chance Zayde.” I twisted free and continued over to the police.
Chapter 16
Zayde
As expected, no one had come forward about the coke. And now, Madison Pierce, who hadn’t so much as snuck one underage drink, was taking the heat. She explained the situation to two incredulous police officers.