The Celebutantes

by Antonio Pagliarulo

  It was, in fact, something cosmetic. Made of glass. Smooth. There was a blue cap on it, but no label.

  “What’s that?” Lex asked from across the room.

  “I’m not sure.” Madison unscrewed the cap and opened the little jar. The smell that wafted out was at first familiar—moisturizer—but something else had been mixed into it, something heavy and cloying. The odor made Madison wrinkle her nose. “Eewww,” she said, holding the jar out. “I don’t know what this is, but I guess Ina forgot to pack it when she and Tallula left last night.”

  Lex came over and placed the little jar in her own hand. She studied it carefully. “This isn’t a store-bought product,” she said with certainty. “No sign of a label, and I think they stopped making packaging like this back in the nineties.” She took one whiff of it, then drew her head away, then repeated the movement.

  “What’s that smell?” Madison asked.

  Lex held the glass jar up and out. “This is definitely moisturizer, but not the usual kind. This is cocoa butter mixed with extra-virgin olive oil and vitamin-E cream.”

  Madison let that sink in. And when her brain made the link, she gasped. “Oh, shit! An oil-based moisturizer! And the handprint on Elijah’s shirt—or what we think was a handprint!”

  Park came strolling out of the bathroom.

  “This could easily explain the stain on Elijah’s shirt,” Lex said coolly. “But it also tells me something else.”

  “What’s that?” Coco took a step toward them.

  “Cocoa butter and extra-virgin olive oil is a homemade preventative measure for stretch marks,” Lex explained. “And ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s used by pregnant women.”

  A thick silence settled over the room as they all stared at one another.

  Then Park sighed and said, “Well, that explains a lot.”

  “It does?” Madison asked.

  Park nodded. “Of course. It tells us why Ina’s in such a rush to get away from everything. She doesn’t want anyone knowing that she’s pregnant with Elijah’s baby.”

  15

  Psyching the Psychic

  “You really think that’s it?” Madison asked as their limo pulled up in front of the Dakota on Central Park West. “I mean, how can you be so sure? What’s if she’s pregnant by someone else? What if she’s not pregnant at all?”

  “Remember what Tallula said?” Park answered. “She said that yesterday, after the luncheon, she and Ina hurried back to the penthouse because she wasn’t feeling well. She also said that Ina had vomited yesterday morning.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Madison agreed. “But I thought it was because she had gas. How does any of that prove she’s pregnant—and, if she is, how does it prove that the baby is Elijah’s?”

  Lex tightened her grasp on the magic purse. “If it’s not Elijah’s baby, then why would she be in such a hurry to run away? It would make more sense for her to stay here with Tallula in that condition. Ina doesn’t have much money. She wants to run away because she can’t let Tallula know the truth.”

  “At least Ina has a brain,” Park said flatly. “Can you imagine how much fuel this would add to the fire? Tallula already knows Elijah was a skank, but now she’ll have to face the fact that Ina betrayed her too.”

  Madison closed her eyes. “I just can’t imagine it. How much horrible luck can one girl have? Tallula will never get through this.”

  “The thing is,” Lex said, perched on the edge of her seat, “we’re pretty much sure Ina’s pregnant with Elijah’s baby, but that doesn’t spell out a motive.”

  “No, it doesn’t,” Park agreed. “But there has to be something else connected to the little fact of Ina being pregnant. It could be as simple as a lovers’ quarrel. Maybe Ina wanted Elijah to break up with Tallula. Maybe Ina tried to blackmail him. Who knows? But I’ll bet anything that Ina shoved him off that balcony. She was the only other person in there.”

  “That we know of,” Lex added.

  “So we still think Poppy has something to do with this?” Madison asked quietly.

  “I think she totally knows more than she’s saying,” Lex answered. “That’s why we have to use this séance to flush out more info. We have to follow the plan.”

  Park nodded firmly.

  Madison bit down on her lip. The “plan” Lex was referring to was something they had hatched a few minutes ago—a dangerous, slightly insane blueprint to trap Poppy van Lulu in her own lies. The very thought of going through with it made Madison edgy. She looked at her watch. “Come on, it’s almost ten. Oh, man. My stomach feels like it’s in knots. I’m totally nervous about doing this.”

  “Don’t be nervous,” Lex said nonchalantly. “Think of it as entertainment.”

  “Do we really have to do this?” Madison asked in a strained whisper.

  “Yes, we do.” Park popped the door open. “It’s the only way to find out what Poppy really knows. She won’t give us a straight answer without putting on some sort of show. That’s just how she is.”

  “But what if she has some sort of other plan for us tonight?” Madison asked worriedly. “Like what if she’s aiming to chuck us off a balcony too?”

  “There’s safety in numbers,” Park said. “And besides, I do most of my own stunts now, so I’d be able to hang on or walk along the ledge.”

  Lex nodded. “Donnie, just stay put. We’ll only be a little while.”

  “Okay,” Donnie said. “Call if you need me.”

  They exited the limo and walked up to the building’s elaborate entrance. The doorman confirmed their appointment with Poppy and pointed them to the elevator bank.

  That was where Jeremy was waiting. His eyes lit up when he saw Park coming toward him. “Hey!” he said. “I was just about to call you, babe. It’s, like, ten o’clock.”

  “I know.” Park gave him a quick peck on the lips. “We got a little…caught up.”

  Jeremy kissed Madison and Lex on the cheek. He was dressed simply in jeans and a white Dior shirt. “So, um…were you serious about what you said when you called me fifteen minutes ago?”

  “You bet,” Park confirmed, leading the way to the elevator. “Just follow our lead, okay?”

  The elevator opened. They stepped inside and rode up in silence. From the beginning of the long, narrow corridor, they could see that Poppy van Lulu’s apartment door was already ajar.

  Lex checked her magic purse to make sure everything was in readiness. Then she knocked and poked her head inside. “Hello?” she called out, giving the door a shove. It slid open with a creak.

  At first glance, the apartment was dark. But as Lex stepped inside, she saw candlelight flickering against the walls and the glass-encased paintings. She smelled the pungent aroma of incense. “Poppy? Hello? Are you here?”

  “Maybe she’s not coming,” Madison whispered nervously. She stared at the Stefan Luchian painting and felt a pang in her stomach.

  “It’s her apartment, you titmouse,” Lex answered. “She’s probably—”

  “I’m right here.”

  They all jumped. Lex’s magic purse hit her chin. Madison nearly lost her balance and stumbled. Park bumped into Jeremy so hard, he fell back against the door, closing it.

  Poppy van Lulu came striding out of the shadows. She was wearing a black dress that swept straight down to the floor, several silver bracelets, and a glittering pendant. On her head was a diamond encrusted tiara that caught the glint of the flickering flames. She looked at Madison, at Park, at Lex. Then her gaze locked on Jeremy. “Hello there, young man,” she said quietly.

  Jeremy smiled his thousand-watt smile. “Hi, Poopy. Nice to meet you.”

  “It’s Poppy,” she snapped. She raised her head to look him squarely in the eyes. “Haven’t you heard of me?”

  “Uh, yes. Of course I have.” He cleared his throat nervously and shot a glance at Park. “I’m totally psyched to be here.”

  Poppy reached out and took his hand in hers. She closed her eyes. “A good he
art, but a restless mind, you have. Good luck follows you—sometimes too much. You have an unexpected bend in the road ahead.”

  Jeremy didn’t quite know what to say, so he just nodded.

  “Mrs. van Lulu, we’d like to begin,” Park said gently. “I have lots of questions for Elijah.”

  Poppy nodded. “I can already sense him in the atmosphere. I know he’s waiting to speak.”

  Park looked at the pendant around Poppy’s neck. “That’s a ruby. From the cut, I’d bet anything it’s from South Africa. There’s a legend attached to rubies—they can act as a person’s third eye.”

  “You are perceptive, dear,” Poppy replied with a smile. “I guess all those rumors about your jewelry are true.” She turned around and led them through the apartment, past the kitchen and dining room, past three bedrooms en suite and past the den. Just when it looked like the corridor would end, it wound sharply to the right. The door just ahead seemed…odd.

  “We’re having a séance in the closet?” Lex asked, irritated.

  “No, dear.” Poppy pushed open the door. “Just step inside. It’s the spirit room.”

  The room was large and rectangular and illuminated softly by candlelight. A round wood table sat in the middle of the floor, and on it was an empty champagne flute, a stack of paper, and a thick crayon. Long velvet drapes covered the two windows.

  Madison gulped over the lump that had sprouted in her throat. This was totally eerie. Like, haunted house eerie. Like, graveyard eerie. In an attempt to calm herself, she studied the paintings on the walls and tried to find in at least one of them something that would reassure her she wasn’t in some horror theme park. But her nerves were wound too tightly. She tore her eyes away from the walls and sat down in one of the chairs.

  Lex and Jeremy sat on either side of her.

  Park chose the seat directly beside Poppy.

  They stared at one another as candle flames danced around them.

  “I’m going to begin the séance by asking you to join me in a few seconds of meditation,” Poppy said quietly. “Close your eyes and relax. Imagine a place filled with extraordinary white light and lots of positive energy.”

  “Saks at Christmastime!” Lex called out.

  Madison nudged her shoulder.

  Poppy shot her a disapproving stare. “Something a bit more spiritual, dear. A bit more like heaven. Does everybody understand?”

  “Of course,” Madison replied. “Not Saks at Christmastime—the Spa at Mandarin Oriental at Christmastime.”

  Poppy nodded. “Precisely.”

  Lex closed her eyes after everyone else did. A minute later she let out a long, luscious sigh. “That feels so good. I’m totally relaxed.”

  “The mud bath and the full-body massage,” Park whispered, lost in her own spa-induced meditation.

  “The cucumber-and-chamomile facial,” Madison muttered.

  “Yes,” Poppy said in a barely audible voice. “And the aloe pedicure. Don’t forget the aloe pedicure.”

  “And the shoulder and back waxing.” Jeremy tossed that out as if everyone visited the Mandarin and underwent extensive hair-removal procedures. When several seconds passed in complete silence, he opened his eyes and saw that Madison, Park, Lex, and Poppy were all staring at him, wide-eyed and slightly disturbed. “What?” he snapped. “It was for a role, okay?”

  “Relax and breathe,” Poppy said. “Breathe deeply. Deeply…”

  Park let out a sudden gasp.

  Madison and Lex looked at each other.

  Showtime.

  “Park, are you okay, dear?” Poppy asked.

  Park pushed back her chair and stood up. “I’m sorry, but I’m not okay,” she said, feigning disappointment. “This is all wrong. The whole setup is out of sync, and I can feel the energy in the room shifting.”

  “So can I,” Lex agreed. As if on cue, she opened her magic purse and pulled out her all-purpose silk scarf. She tied it around her head turban-style. “Our psychic energy is telling us that something isn’t right.”

  Madison pressed her fingers to her temples. “Awful!” she screamed. “These spirits are killing me!”

  Jeremy’s eyes widened.

  “They…they are?” Poppy said quietly, worry etched on her face.

  “There’s only one way to do this, Mrs. van Lulu,” Park said. “Our way.”

  “Your way? I’m the psychic, dear!” Poppy snapped.

  “But don’t forget that my sisters and I have psychic ability too,” Park said firmly. “We know what we’re doing.” She stepped into the middle of the room and took several deep breaths. She followed the same procedure she used to get into character on the set of Short Fuse, mentally preparing herself to cross that sketchy line between fact and fiction. After several seconds, she stretched her arms out and started to grasp at the empty air. “This is a strong vortex, and it isn’t going to work properly unless we manipulate it.”

  “Manipulate it?” Poppy repeated.

  “Yes,” Madison said. “My sisters and I studied with Native American shamans, and we know that the only way to rouse the spirits properly and effectively is through dance.”

  Jeremy mouthed, Dance?

  “Dance?” Poppy asked, sounding more and more confused.

  Madison stood up. She fished her iPhone out of her purse, pressed two buttons, and set it down on the table.

  Tango music started playing; the sexy beats echoed through the room.

  Madison walked over to Park, doing her best to sashay seductively. She knew from the disagreeable look on Jeremy’s face that it wasn’t working, so at the last possible second, she stumbled back into her old gait. She put her left hand on Park’s shoulder and gave her head a toss.

  “Now the spirits will churn,” Park said. She looked at Poppy. She looked up at the shadow-webbed ceiling. Then, in sync with the music, she stomped her foot and launched into a dance.

  The tango was Park’s favorite. She had studied it for the past two years—gym class at St. Cecilia’s Prep required dance shoes, not sneakers—and she knew how to swirl and dip and shake her body across any floor.

  Madison was a slightly different case. She also loved the tango, but when it came to dancing, she got a little…well…clumsy. She certainly didn’t mean to trip or step on anyone’s feet; it just happened. At the moment, however, she was gliding along perfectly, following Park’s lead as they turned Poppy van Lulu’s spirit room into an Argentine fiesta.

  “Oh, my!” Poppy said, staring at them wide-eyed and stunned.

  Jeremy bit his lip to keep from laughing.

  Lex watched the dance carefully. She counted the spins—there had been two so far—and slowly slipped her hand under the table, splaying her palm against the thick smooth wood.

  “Bravo!” Poppy cheered as Madison and Park danced straight past her.

  They spun a third time. Lex caught her cue and gave the table a hard shake, assuming a happily shocked expression as she did so.

  The champagne flute spun.

  “Oh, look!” Lex cried. “The spirits really are here!”

  Poppy van Lulu stared at the trembling table in front of her and nearly jumped out of her chair. She pulled her hands up and back. She gulped in what was very obviously fear.

  Not the look of a true psychic, Lex thought.

  “Olé!” Madison shouted suddenly as she lost her balance on a spin and nearly crashed into a bookshelf.

  Lex quickly reached into her magic purse and retrieved a plastic red rose. She put the stem between her teeth. She stood up, gesturing at Jeremy to join her. Then, flinging one end of her scarf-turban, she started prancing around the room in circles. She stopped every five beats to give her hips a shake.

  Well aware of what he was supposed to do, Jeremy grabbed Poppy’s hand and yanked her out of the chair. She slammed against him with a yip. But the shocked look vanished from her face the moment he stared down at her and squinted seductively. “We must contribute our energy to the dance,” he whisp
ered.

  Poppy nodded, half dreamily and half uncomprehendingly. She didn’t protest as Jeremy began gliding and shaking her across the floor. The gust created by their bodies snuffed out several candles.

  “Olé!” Madison screamed again, stumbling back as she lost her footing.

  Park caught her. She held her up and continued on with the dance.

  Lex, still running around them in circles, thrust her hips out and made a series of strange, otherworldly noises. “The spirits are here!” she cried out, her voice guttural. When no one was looking, she grabbed a book off one of the shelves and quickly hurled it across the room.

  Poppy screamed. “Everybody stop! Oh! Stop!” Her voice was filled with raw fear—but why would a psychic allegedly accustomed to communicating with the dead be scared of a little unexplained phenomena?

  Holding tight to that question, Lex surreptitiously grabbed another book from the shelf and sent it sailing through the air.

  Poppy wailed louder.

  Jeremy clasped her hands tightly, pulled her against his chest, and leaned her back in an impromptu dip.

  The tiara pinned to Poppy’s hair flipped to one side.

  It was the moment Park needed. She forced Madison into a series of violent spins, twirling her like a top as she inched her steadily across the floor.

  Lex ran to the door and pulled it open.

  Madison whirled out of the room at breakneck speed, her hair flapping in the air, her arms held high and rigid. She felt as though she were being sucked into a tornado. She didn’t stop until she slammed into a wall with a thud. Breath shot from her lungs. She saw a smattering of stars in her field of vision. She pulled herself together just as Lex shut the door to the spirit room again. It had been a successful escape. Madison knew Poppy hadn’t seen her make an exit. She also knew that she didn’t have much time to snoop around, so she gave her head a hard shake, forced the dizziness from her brain, and started down the corridor.