by J.M. Cagle
“No, I know you. From high school. Back home, right? Tiffany?”
Tiffany pretended that it was dawning on her, as well, “Oh, that’s right! Wow, what are the odds?”
“Crazy! I can’t believe it. I never in a million years thought I would run into you here,” Liam exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
“My friend got invited. But it just wasn’t really my scene.” Tiffany lied.
“Yeah, usually isn’t mine either, but I had a client who wanted to meet me here.”
“Client? What are you doing in the modeling industry?”
Liam held up his hands, “Oh no, I’m not part of that. Not sure if you remember from school, but my dad owned a company that basically worked with smaller companies to give them starter money for a cut later. Investments, really.”
Tiffany didn’t remember. She vaguely remembered something about Liam’s family being rich, but he had been so off her social radar that she couldn’t bring up anything else. Liam had been a hardcore nerd in school, whereas Tiffany had run more in the cheerleader/jock social circles.
Liam must have seen her blank look because he went on quickly, “It’s okay; it wasn’t like major news back in school. Anyway, he passed away a few years ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Tiffany said, and meant it – she couldn’t imagine her parents passing away already, even if they were angry at her for packing up and moving away to try to be a model.
“The company was left to me. So I’m trying to get a good handle on things. Make new connections in different industries. Things like that.”
Tiffany nodded, still itching to get away from him before things got too personal. What he was talking about was going over her head anyway. Investments and money? She didn’t really know anything about those topics.
“Well, I hope you get the client. I have a headache, though, so I’m just trying to wait for my friend so we can go.”
“Is your friend a model?” Liam asked, and Tiffany wished she could end the conversation already.
“Yes,” She said quickly. “She’s trying to make some connections.”
“I hope she has a thick skin. From what I’ve seen in this industry, I wouldn’t want to be in any part of it. I just overheard someone talking about how twenty-two might be too old to get into the business. Twenty-two! At least in business that wouldn’t happen.”
“Right,” Tiffany replied quickly, swearing that she was breaking out into a sweat, “Crazy.”
“Listen, I might be able to get something set up for your friend. Why don’t you give me your number and I can let you know?”
Tiffany wanted to pull her hair out. She wished he was being a jerk to her. Why was he being so nice? At least if he’d been being mean, she could have blown him off. Instead, she had no choice but to give him her phone number.
“Great,” he said to her, clearly oblivious to her plight, “I’ll call you.”
“Great.” Tiffany echoed.
“Where are you?” A female voice rang out.
Liam looked over his shoulder. Tiffany saw a gorgeous redhead coming over to the two of them. Her hair fell down in waves across her shoulders and she was wearing a white pantsuit. Her green eyes blazed when she saw Tiffany.
“Liam,” the woman said, “You just left – where did you go? You have a client who wants to speak to you.”
Something shuttered closed on Liam’s eyes. It was as if a curtain had been closed suddenly across his eyes. Even his posture changed slightly in front of Tiffany’s eyes.
“I know, sorry. This is Tiffany, an old friend… I couldn’t believe it so I had to come out and make sure I wasn’t imagining things. Tiffany, this is my girlfriend, Beth.” Liam’s voice was indifferent, as if he had come out to see her out of boredom.
Beth looked at Tiffany as if she was a stinking fish out by the side of the road. Tiffany offered a small wave since it didn’t look as if she was going to hold out her hand for a shake.
“An old friend?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Why are you here?”
“My friend had an invite.”
Beth’s eyes left Tiffany as if she had lost interest in her and turned back to Liam, “Let’s get back inside now.”
Liam didn’t even get to say good-bye. Beth grabbed his hand tightly and tugged him away quickly. Her high heels smacked loudly against the pavement as she marched Liam off. Relieved, Tiffany slid back in the car and closed her eyes, wishing she could melt away.
It was coming back to her now, swiftly, how she had made fun of Liam back in school. Had he somehow been oblivious to her mocking him in class while she was among her friends? The nerd who seemingly had an answer for everything in class, and was always outspoken, letting everyone know how much smarter he was than the rest of the room. Had he forgotten that Tiffany had used to tease him?
It was all so childish and felt like a million years ago. Now he was offering to give Jackie a contact in the industry, and for what? Why be so kind when they had just met for the first time in years? Tiffany couldn’t sort it out.
It didn’t matter. She doubted that he would actually call. Not after the way Beth had looked at her.
Chapter Four
Tiffany shut the front door behind her and pulled out the clip in her hair with a groan. She was feeling irritated, which didn’t shock her since it seemed to be the only feeling she had lately. Job interview after job interview, and she wasn’t feeling confident about any of them.
Jackie was in the small kitchen, making herself a salad when Tiffany walked in. She looked up when she entered.
“How did it go?”
“Not very good. At least I don’t think so.”
Jackie bit her bottom lip, “Same here. I want to save up and get my portfolio done again.”
“Again?” Tiffany remarked, surprised, as she opened up their fridge. “That’ll be, like, the third time since we came here.”
“I know. But maybe my current pictures just aren’t cutting it.”
“For waitressing jobs?” She joked.
Jackie waved her hand. “No, I haven’t had any luck with those either. I got lucky with the last place letting me be a bartender even though I was underage. I just had to lie to anyone who said I looked young and say I was twenty-one.”
“I wish I had that problem,” Tiffany said and then turned around, leaning back and crossing her arms. “I’m thinking about packing it in, Jackie.”
Her eyes widened, “What? Quitting modeling?”
Tiffany nodded, unable to speak. It wasn’t that she didn’t want it anymore. It was that it felt impossible. She kept relieving the fact that she’d seen Liam and bolted from the event, where she could have made some real connections. Instead, she’d ended up in the car an hour before Jackie had left, feeling jumbled. Who was she kidding? She had come here with dreams of breaking into the modeling industry, and yet she ran at the first sign of someone knowing her real age. What would she do if she ever got an actual job? And what if she never did?
Jackie had ended up giving her number out to anyone at the party who’d asked. Even though Jackie seemed unsure of ever hearing from anyone, Tiffany didn’t feel the same. She was sure that someone would contact Jackie. She looked stunning in photos and had a great personality.
Jackie took a step towards her, “No, you can’t. I mean, you moved out here just for this, Tiff. You set off here together with me, for an adventure. To break into the industry. What changed?” She frowned, “Was it running into that guy from your old school?”
Liam. Tiffany had been trying not to think about him since their encounter. He had come to represent the possibility of her secret getting out, all in one person. Jackie must have sensed her thoughts because she shook her head.
“Tiffany, even if a client finds out you’re twenty-five, it doesn’t matter. You could still make it. You just have to let your personality and beauty shine through.”
“You sound like you�
��ve been watching reality TV again.”
“Maybe a little, but it still doesn’t change the fact that I’m right. I think you’re being way too hasty about this. Think about what you gave up to come here and try this out.”
Jackie was right, of course. Her parents hadn’t taken kindly to her basically giving everything up to move out here. They had thought it was silly. She remembered her dad’s mocking tone when he’d said good-luck to her, and the way her mother had refused to pack up her bedroom, saying it would be here for her when she got back. They didn’t have any confidence at all that she could make a job out of this.
“If you go back now, you know what they’ll be like. You’re just getting cold feet. You’re focusing too much on being old. Tons of people will still hire you even if you are older, Tiff. You can’t leave me now.”
“Just feels like we’ve already been put through so much. Getting scammed. Losing our jobs because of the scam, and now we’re in this tiny little place.”
“Don’t overthink it. Just roll with it.”
“Just roll with it.” Tiffany repeated as her phone went off.
She looked down at it, expecting to see Brad. It wasn’t him, though. He had been silent except for a few texts lately. Tiffany found she wasn’t missing him exactly. Brad was only two years younger than her, and still dragging his feet through community college, clinging to the idea that his band would make him famous. Maybe we aren’t too different in that way, Tiffany thought as she went into her room and answered the phone.
“Is this Tiffany?” Came an adult-sounding male voice.
“Yes, sir. May I ask who is calling?” She replied, hoping that this was a scout or someone calling her for a second interview.
“It’s Liam.”
“Oh, hey.” She replied, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.
“I was just calling about our discussion in the parking lot the other day,” Liam said, and his tone was formal. “In regards to a talent scout for your friend. Wanted to get some information on her.”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” Tiffany replied. “Need her number or anything?”
“That’d be great, thanks.”
Tiffany rattled off her friend’s number and then asked, “Think you’ll have anything for her?”
“Not sure yet. I’ll let her know.”
“You okay?” She couldn’t help asking, “You sound sort of robotic.”
There was a slight chuckle on the other end of the line, and then when he spoke next, the formal tone was gone, “I’m about to start a meeting and have to look professional.”
“Ah, gotcha. Sounds fun.”
“Not even a little bit. But I’ll call you later.”
The phone call ended and Tiffany found herself staring at the phone with a strange feeling in her stomach. She couldn’t pinpoint why exactly. Liam had been kind enough upon their meeting. Yet, as soon as his girlfriend had popped up, he had changed completely. Even now, on the phone, until she had said something, Liam had sounded cut off again.
She wished that she could remember more about him from high school, but she was drawing nothing but a blank. As Tiffany curled up in her bed, her eyes grew heavy. She felt stressed out and apparently exhausted. The last thing she saw was her hand clutching her phone.
***
“Tiff, wake up!”
Tiffany jolted awake, pulling herself out of her dream, in which she’d been back in biology class. Only this time, Liam had been the teacher and he’d kept staring at her in a manner that twisted her stomach. He had been walking over to her as the class emptied out, about to ask her something…
Now Jackie’s face was looming over hers. She looked excited.
“What?” Tiffany mumbled sleepily.
“I got a call from one of the guys from the party. Turns out he works at the country club and wanted to know if I was interested in working there. I smooth-talked him into both of us getting interviews!”
“What?” Tiffany repeated, sitting up.
“Interviews at the country club just crawling with the elite! There is no way you can go home now, got it?”
Tiffany quickly recounted her conversation with Liam, which made Jackie’s eyes widen. “A possible scout? Why didn’t you take this for yourself?”
“He knows my age, remember? No way.” She replied, hugging a pillow close to herself.
Jackie looked at her closely, but then dropped whatever she was thinking about saying, and instead smiling. “Interviews tomorrow at two, okay? Let’s knock this out of the park!”
Tiffany smiled, “You got it.”
***
Tiffany fiddled with her skirt. She was waiting in the foyer for Jackie to finish up her interview. Tiffany had gotten the job almost instantly. She had made sure to be as charming as possible upon entering, but it didn’t seem as if it had mattered. It seemed more like the man, Mr. Johnson, was more into Jackie and that they were going to the jobs anyway because he was so smitten with her. Because of this, Tiffany had been at ease in the interview. Mr. Johnson was too old for Jackie, but obviously wanted someone pretty around as a waitress. Tiffany felt that the two of them could have gone in there juggling like clowns and still gotten the job.
“Hey, you’re here.”
Tiffany looked up to see Liam in the foyer. He was wearing golf clothes, with a pack of clubs slung over one arm. He was sweating slightly, obviously just having come in from playing on the course. He smiled a little at her and her stomach did a flip. She leaned forward slightly in surprise, remembering she hadn’t eaten yet today.
“Good afternoon.”
“Now who sounds formal?” He said to her, glancing over his shoulder, “I don’t have a lot of time to talk. Bigwigs over there. What brings you here?”
“Just got hired as a waitress here. My friend is in there, too, for her interview.”
“Ah, not surprised. Mr. Johnson always hires the pretty ones.”
“Yeah, she’s gorgeous.”
“Not what I meant.”
Tiffany started, looking closer at him, unsure of his meaning. Just then, one of the men in his group came over to him. And just like last time, Liam’s face changed. His eyes, so full of warmth moments ago, melted and his look was replaced by an ice cold countenance. His posture stiffened. It was amazing how quickly it changed.
“What are you doing over here, Liam, hitting on someone?”
Liam turned, blocking Tiffany from the man’s view. She lowered the hand that she had been lifting to give the man a small wave.
“No one, just someone who works here. Let’s go in for lunch.”
Together, the two men headed off into the dining area of the country club. Tiffany’s jaw went slack. What the hell had that been? That was the second time now that someone else had come over and Liam had changed. Just someone who works here. In spite of herself, the words stung, which was absurd. Technically, she was someone who worked here, right? Yet, it wasn’t as if they were strangers. He had her phone number!
“Oh my God,” Jackie’s voice came to her, hushed and rapid-fire. “Tiffany, why didn’t you tell me that was who you meant?”
Tiffany turned her head to see Jackie sitting next to her, following her gaze into the dining room, “What? How did the interview go?”
“Fine, I got it,” she said, waving her hand like it didn’t matter. “Why didn’t you tell me your friend from high school was Liam Cunningham?”
“Uh, why does it matter?” Tiffany replied, wondering why her friend knew his full name when she hadn’t even been able to remember his last name.
Jackie pulled out her phone and, after typing something in, shoved it towards Tiffany. Tiffany took it and looked down at the image.
Jackie whispered, “He’s the leader of International Lending Company. He’s worth billions.”
“Billions?” Tiffany squeaked out, “Like with the letter ‘b’ and not ‘m’?”
“Billions,” Jackie repeated, “I can’t believe you didn�
�t know that, Tiff. He’s not just rich. He’s like mountains of money in his pool rich, if he felt like it. And he’s talking casually with you like that!”
Tiffany looked back down at the image on the phone. It was a picture of Liam in a suit, next to the company logo. His network was listed underneath. More money than she knew what to do with.
“Didn’t you say you went to a private school?”
“Well, yeah, but I was there on a scholarship for that. My parents couldn’t actually afford it.”
“Well, his could.”
In spite of herself, Tiffany looked up at the dining room. She could see Liam in the corner, leaning over the menu, talking to an old guy across the table. Liam, a billionaire? No way. How could that be?
“You’re telling me you never realized it? He got the business from his dad.”
“No, I…” Tiffany tried to recall Liam in high school, to try to remember more information about him, but nothing came to her mind, “No, I barely remember him. My friends and I used to make fun of him a lot. He was such a dork.”
“A dork with tons of money.” Jackie whispered, taking her phone back.
“I can’t believe it.”
“Well, believe it. The guy you’ve been casually chatting with is totally loaded. The meeting over there is probably them discussing millions of dollars.”
“No way, he said he just helps different people start up their business and gives them loans. How could he be a billionaire from that?”
Jackie shrugged, “Look it up online. I only know that he’s not married, he’s a billionaire, and he’s talking to you.”
“Well, forget it;” Tiffany said quickly, “He acts funny. Nice one second and pretending I don’t exist the next. Like I need to deal with that. Besides,” she added on as an afterthought, “I have Brad.”
“Right, Brad. Where is he, anyway?”
Tiffany stood up. “He’s been busy. Come on, let’s go.”
The two of them left the country club. At least we have jobs, Tiffany thought to herself. She wasn’t going to think about Liam. She wasn’t going to think about his quick remark of not what I meant when she’d been talking about Jackie. She wasn’t going to think about how he’d said she was just some girl who worked there.