The Hot Mess: Brother's Best Friend

by Lauren Wood

  “Is your allowance still covering everything?” I asked. The only way I knew how to show my care and concern for her was to cover the finances. Our father had been the same way.

  “You know I want more,” she sighed.”I’ll still never understand why mom left you in charge of everything, doling money out to me like a child.”

  “She was worried you’d blow it all. You’ve always had one of us doling out your money.”

  “Exactly. How am I ever going to learn if you don’t let me try?”

  “There’s no room for mistakes if it involves you blowing through your entire trust fund in less than five years. Then what would you do?”

  She rolled her shoulders and poked her fork around in her salad, ignoring the question. Her silence told me she wasn’t entirely confident about her ability to stop herself from doing that very thing.

  “You need a career, Izzy,” I pushed. “Something to do besides parties and jet-setting with your friends.”

  “Careers are for workaholics or people who need to make money to survive,” she argued. “Thanks to you and Dad, I am neither of those things.”

  “Even mom had hobbies,” I reminded her. “The Garden Club. Her charity work. She tried to use her position for good.”

  “The way I see it, my life is no different than yours. You jet-set around the world every bit as much as me and my friends do.”

  “Except I get paid to do that traveling, rather than giving a group of people a free ride so they’ll pretend to like me,” I huffed. “I work while I’m traveling.”

  I noticed the subtle flinch at the corners of her lips, giving away her unhappiness.

  “I’m sorry,” I frowned. “I didn’t mean…Look. I have a proposition for you. They’re launching a new campaign at Heartstring. They’re looking for all sorts of users to interview, and I think you should be one of them. You’re the perfect model of what we need. Someone young, beautiful, and hip to inspire others to sign up.”

  “I don’t use Heartstring,” she scoffed with a laugh.

  “Not yet, but you could.”

  “So…what? You think since you can’t force me into having a career, you’ll force me into finding a man instead? How very modern and forward thinking of you. Good to know all that traveling has expanded your horizons so much.”

  “It’s something for you to do,” I groaned defensively. “Consider it networking. You don’t have to find a boyfriend, but you’ll meet new people. Who knows what could come out of it for you.”

  “Probably an STD,” she quipped.

  I buried my face in my hand. “Ah, Izzy. Too far. I don’t want to hear about your STDs.”

  “Even if it’s your stupid app that’s responsible for me getting them?”

  “Do you always have to be so difficult?” I snapped.

  She stared out over the pool, her eyes hidden behind her shades and the shadow of her hat. There was a sadness about her that seemed to get worse every time I saw her, even if she’d never admit to it.

  “How are you doing these days anyway?” I didn’t mention Mom directly, but we both knew that was what I meant. How are you doing now that she’s gone?

  “Just fine,” she snipped. “I’m really not as helpless as everyone likes to think, you know.”

  “I never said you were helpless. And don’t get me wrong…I loved our mom. I know she loved us too and she did the best she could. But she raised you to be a rich wife. She didn’t teach you much beyond that.”

  “And look at me now,” she grinned, sipping her drink again. “I’m managing it just fine, and I didn’t even have to get married.”

  I wanted to remind her she had no money of her own, and I wouldn’t always be around to babysit her and manage everything. But then I thought, maybe she had enough of my lecturing for the day. Sometimes I caught myself being too hard on her, as if I was trying to make up for both of our parents not being around.

  “How long are you staying this time?” she asked.

  There was no way in hell I was going to tell her about Lucas’s offer. I’d never hear the end of it.

  “A few months,” I told her. “To help out around Heartstring mostly. I might take a few small trips…just for fun. It’ll be nice for you and me to have the chance to spend more time together.”

  “What would be nice is if you were around more all the time,” she suggested. “Especially during the holidays. It gets lonely here when you’re gone.”

  “You’re barely ever here. Didn’t you just spend three weeks in the Bahamas?”

  Once again, she grew silent and stubborn as ever. If I ended up taking Lucas’s offer, I could be around for Izzy more. Neither of us were in any rush to start families of our own, and maybe we never would be. Maybe investing more time in our relationship, the only family either of us had left, would be good for both of us.

  The rest of lunch was less tense. We gossiped about people we knew and all the divorces and drama that had gone down since I was last in town. People with a lot of money always had the most drama. They got bored and had nothing better to do than cause a big stir every few weeks or months. It was an endless revolving door of scandal, like a soap opera. And it always entertained me and Izzy. We got that from our mother too, I guessed.

  “It really is good to see you,” I told her again as another wave of our laughter faded.

  “You too, big brother. Cheers.” She lifted her glass to mine and we both drank.

  4

  Jada

  I stared down the reflection in my bedroom mirror, frowning at what I saw. My long mousy brown hair was always braided off to the side in a dull flop. My glasses weren’t quite as trendy as what my sister wore. They were simple frames. Everything about my look was simple. The less time I spent on my appearance, the more time I had for reading and daydreaming.

  Not anymore, I reminded myself. The goal was to stop living through books and fantasies, and to start making some of those things come true. I couldn’t think of a single book I had read where the heroine’s description matched my current one.

  I started digging through my closet for an outfit that didn’t exist. I thought maybe I had bought something at one point on a whim. One of those ‘I don’t know when I’ll ever wear this’ kind of dresses. But I was quickly remembering that whenever I found something like that on a rare shopping trip, I’d talk myself out of buying it.

  I needed new everything. New hair, new clothes. A whole new look and a whole new me. But if it was so easy to do, I would have done it by now. I was going to need some help. I would start interviewing for the new campaign that week, and wanted to come at it as the new me…not the old me.

  The only real friends I had were the other members of my book club. I imagined turning to one of them for help. But Jane was more skilled in decorating apartments than she was people. Her own simple attire said as much. Sure, she was chic. But she was also middle-aged and didn’t exactly exude the vibes of the new me I hoped to invent.

  Lucy was many wonderful things, but fashionable was not one of them. While Magda was ideal for giving out makeovers, I imagined her forcing me into crazy expensive and ridiculous frocks that only she could pull off.

  There was my sister. But the interrogation I imagined getting with such a request made it far from worth it.

  I paced my room, thinking about everyone I knew until it finally occurred to me. Victoria! Lucas’s wife specialized in PR, including people’s image and attitude. If there was anyone in my life who could point me in the right direction, it was her.

  I reached out to her and set up a lunch for the following day. I was a little nervous going to meet her on my own. When she and Lucas got engaged, Camille and I spent some time with her to help plan the wedding and things. But she and I had never really been close, and I couldn’t think of many occasions where we had been alone together.

  Even after getting married and having a baby, Victoria maintained her fit physique and fashionable attire. She showed up in a designer p
antsuit as if she was still working in a big office like mine, even though I knew she mostly worked from home now. Of course her home office was nicer than most people’s regular offices—decorated to the nines, looking like something from Vogue or Elle.

  “Sorry I’m late,” she offered, sliding into the chair across from mine. I wondered how much her designer handbag cost as she plopped it into the seat next to her.

  “It’s fine, really,” I blushed. She made me nervous, but being there with her was better than sitting alone. The restaurant she suggested was so trendy, and it only made me feel more out of touch with anything cool.

  “Is everything okay?” she fretted immediately. “Does this have anything to do with Lucas or the company?”

  “No, no. Nothing like that. Sorry if I worried you. Everything is fine. This is really more of a…personal matter.”

  “Oh!” Her brow furrowed in surprise. I watched her relax with relief, then tense up with curiosity and dread all at once.

  “I was hoping to enlist your services,” I explained. “I need….well, I need a makeover. But not just my clothes and stuff. I need the whole deal. I need to be redone from the inside out. And you help your clients with that sort of thing, don’t you? You teach them how to look and talk to fit their image?”

  “That’s part of it, yes,” she nodded. “What kind of image is it exactly that you’d like to put out there?”

  I fidgeted with my hands in my lap and slumped slightly, not wanting to go through the humiliation of pointing out the obvious. “Come on, Victoria. Look at me. You look like the cover of a magazine on a Tuesday afternoon, and I look like an elementary school librarian.”

  “You want to look more like me?” She puzzled.

  “I just want to look less like…this.” I scrunched up my nose, waving over my clothes.

  She was quiet for a moment, thinking it over. “I might be able to help you. But I don’t want to turn you into something you’re not. I just want to open you up a little. You know, help you build some confidence.”

  “Yes! That’s exactly what I need,” I gushed, already feeling better about the whole venture. “Oh, and one more thing. I was hoping…well, there’s no need to tell Lucas about any of this. Think we could keep it just between us?”

  She paused again, and I could see her wheels turning. “Sure,” she replied, taking a sip of water. “You know, I heard a rumor that Jack Landson was back in town and working around Heartstring. I remember him from high school. All the girls had a thing for him. This makeover idea of yours wouldn’t have anything to do with him, would it?”

  I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “I don’t know what’s gotten into everyone. I decided I needed a new look before Jack ever came back into town. And aside from that…I’ll tell you the same thing I told Camille. Guys like Jack don’t go for women like me, made-over or not.”

  “Don’t be so sure,” she argued. “A woman set on changing her life is one of the most attractive things in the world. I wouldn’t be surprised if he started looking at you in a whole new way.”

  “I’d be lying if I didn’t say that getting a boyfriend out of all of this would be great,” I sighed. “But that’s not the only reason I’m doing it. And I don’t expect Jack Landson of all people to be lining up for me. I’m sure you’re good at what you do and all, but come on. Let's be realistic here.”

  “Maybe I am being realistic,” she murmured.

  We ordered salads and mimosas for lunch before heading over to some nearby shops. Victoria navigated every store and the workers like a pro, pointing to different garments like a hawk finding mice in a field and barking orders to the shopgirls who scurried back and forth to meet her every demand.

  My head was spinning by the time we made it to the fitting room with piles of clothes, bags, and shoes waiting for me to try on. The first dress I tried was tight and short, in a hot pink shade that was better suited for Victoria’s skin tone. But that only made the second look catch me off guard even more.

  I stepped out in a dark green blouse that hugged the new push-up bra she insisted I wear, showing off more cleavage than I even knew I had. She paired it with a pair of high waisted gray dress pants that flared out at the bottom and made me look a whole foot taller. As someone who wasn’t used to wearing heels, I was grateful for the chunky heeled boots she picked out, as opposed to the impossible stilettos she always wore.

  “Now we’re onto something,” Victoria smiled, hovering behind me as we both studied my reflection.

  “Definitely an improvement,” I beamed.

  “This is good for work. You need something for going out.”

  I let out a laugh that was louder than I meant for it to be. “Don’t bother. I never go out.”

  “The old you never went out,” she argued, placing her hands on my shoulders to redirect my attention back to the mirror. “This is the new you. And new you is going to have all sorts of dates to go on.”

  I smiled at the thought. Even if I wasn’t as sure as she was, the prospect was exciting. And shopping for dresses I never dreamed of wearing before would be fun.

  As we were leaving one of the last shops with our arms full of bags, she asked me, “Why didn’t you ask Camille to help you with this? I’m glad you came to me. I just always imagined that if I had a sister, these would be the kind of things we would do together.”

  “Uh…the Meadows family is a little different in that regard,” I tried to explain. “We’re close and all. But also very competitive. Camille would be too critical and would end up changing my mind about the whole thing.”

  As we walked, I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection of the shop windows. I had to admit, I already looked like a whole new woman just with a change of clothes. I couldn’t wait to see what I looked like by the time we were finished at the salon.

  But before we could go to the salon, Victoria insisted we stop by the vision center so I could get a prescription for contacts. I wasn’t thrilled about learning how to put them in, but she insisted I shouldn’t hide my pretty eyes behind glasses.

  Even more shocking than seeing my face without glasses, and actually being able to see anything without glasses, there was the surprising haircut everyone insisted on. It was a vintage bob that framed my face and made me look a little older, in a good way. It was topped off with the most adorable bangs. It was the kind of thing I never would have been brave enough to suggest on my own, but the finished product made me wonder why I hadn’t done something like that years ago.

  As we finished up for the day, I couldn’t believe how much Victoria had managed to transform me in such a short period of time. I started to wonder if I shouldn’t sign up for my own profile on Heartstring as a part of the new campaign. Victoria was right. I felt like I could snag my fair share of dates, finally.

  Maybe I really was about to live out one of the romances I always read about. The only question was…with whom?

  5

  Jack

  I was deep in a good workflow of assessing all of Heartstring’s successes and failures. With Lucas’s offer constantly tumbling around in the back of my brain, I tried to consider that satisfying feeling of being in the zone as a possible plus for accepting it. I rarely had trouble digging in and getting to an addictive work state. It was just that in between those states, I was boarding jets and crossing seas, putting down my temporary roots one burst at a time, wherever I was called to.

  I imagined my life being like my work. Having the time to settle in long enough to exist in that zone in more places than just my job. And how maybe that would make my work even better.

  Oddly enough, the thought itself was enough to distract me from my flow. But it was lunchtime anyway, so I took a step back and headed out of my office. As I passed through the main work floor, I caught sight of a woman standing at the other end of the room. She was wearing a tight black suit jacket and pencil skirt with heels that accentuated her gorgeous long legs. Her sleek bobbed hair was shielding her face,
but from the looks of her body, she was a stone cold hottie.

  I smiled to myself, thinking women like that might be another perk to sticking around. A guy could really get himself into trouble that way. The pro turned to a con as I considered how much harder it would be to resist temptations at the office when you were in the same one every day. One bonus to bouncing off so quickly was knowing that if your desires ever did get the better of you, you’d be gone before it could cause any trouble.

  As I walked past the woman, her conversation with the receptionist ended and she turned, giving me a plain view of her face. My first thought was that she was every bit as gorgeous as I suspected. But the second thought was more of a realization, and a startling one at that.

  “Jada,” I gasped, almost choking on the sharp breath.

  I couldn’t believe it was her. Mousey old Jada, who was always hiding behind glasses and frumpy clothes with her nose in a book. Not that it wasn’t attractive in its own way, but she had never caused such a strong physical reaction…in my pants.

  “Oh, hey Jack,” she smiled sweetly. Innocently. She had no idea what kind of naughty thoughts had just rattled off in my brain about her.

  “Hey,” I cleared my throat. “Uh, yeah. Hey.”

  Her brow furrowed. “Are you okay?”

  “Sorry, yes,” I snapped to, feeling ridiculous for letting any woman throw me for such a loop. It was a rare occurrence for me. “You just…You look different. Good different. It caught me off guard.”

  Her eyes dropped down to the floor between us with a bashful grin. I had never noticed the adorable dimples in her cheeks before, or what great cheekbones she had.

  “That’s alright,” she said, rolling one shoulder. “I’m turning over a new leaf, I guess you could say. Shaking a few things up in my life. Thought I could use a new look, you know? To make the outside match my insides.”