“That’s what we’re here for, bitch,” Amy declared, before I heard her crunching into the speaker.
I groaned as Rita let out a short laugh. “Ames, shut up. You sound like a horse munching on carrots.”
“HEY! THAT’S REALLY INSULTING! And I-” Amy’s voice got cut off by a beep, and both Rita and I glanced over to my iPhone to find Adrian’s name flashing on the screen.
“Ames, Adrian is calling,” I told her, grimacing as I waited for her reaction.
“I’m sorry, who?” she said, “I only know someone named Mr. Sexy Pants.” She burst out in laughter at her own joke. I rolled my eyes and pressed ‘Answer’ to Adrian’s call – abruptly ending Amy’s howls. I was about to take the phone off speaker and put it against my ear but Rita slapped my wrist away, glaring.
“No phones near the working area,” she scolded, spreading her fingers over my head and covering my ears to indicate the place that was forbidden.
“Sorry,” I mumbled sheepishly, before looking back over to the phone. “Mr. Kingston, is everything okay?” I asked nervously, biting my lip.
“How long do you need to be ready and over here? You’re driving Suzie mad. All the volunteers are here but yourself. You have an hour.” I noticed he was using his business tone – implying that he was either around important people, or he was pissed off at me for some reason. I mentally raked through yesterday’s lunch in my mind to look for any signs of me pissing him off, and came up with nothing – indicating that he was around other people.
“Yes sir,” I responded. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. I apologise for the inconvenience.” I adopted his professional tone, and heard Rita mutter a swear word under her breath. She began to smoothen out a soft crème in my hair in a rush, and I winced slightly as she pulled a little tighter than usual. “Is there anything else?” I asked after recomposing myself.
“That’s all.” He ended the call.
“ONE HOUR?” Rita exclaimed. “THIS MAN GIVES YOU NO TIME TO PREPARE YOURSELF!” She began to straighten my semi-blow-dried hair, which I had done before she arrived to make her job easier.
“It’s okay!” I tried to calm her. “Luckily, I already have most of my makeup done and my dress is already on! Take your time.”
She looked over to my reflection in the mirror and I watched as her eyes scanned my attire briefly, before she sighed in relief.
“Okay. That’s good. You’re okay with the simple soft waves to the side, right?” she asked, giving me a curious look as she finished straightening the last few strands of my naturally wavy hair carefully.
“Yep!” I confirmed with a nod. “Anything that will make me look like a piece of cardboard next to the others.”
She instantly began working on pinning my hair to the side securely and working on the waves on the side. We chatted aimlessly like last time, and I also decided to send a text message to my mother before she could have a meltdown as to why I didn’t call her today. I assured her I wasn’t dead or lying in a pool of my own blood in an alley somewhere, and attached a smile at the end of the message for good measure.
It took about 20 minutes all up for Rita to curl the waves to perfection, and I found myself admiring the silky looking blonde locks once again while I thanked her countless times.
“You don’t have to thank me so much, it’s my job!” Rita exclaimed, laughing my gratitude off. I blushed and grinned, before helping her pack her products that were scattered all over the vanity in my room.
When we finished, she pulled me into a quick hug. “Okay, sweetie. Text me and tell me who you end up going home with! Have fun, no matter what happens, okay? You look stunning, as usual!” She waved her goodbyes as she rushed out of my apartment.
I closed the door behind her softly, and leaned against the cool wood for a moment, gathering up all my stray thoughts. A worst case scenario began forming in my head, and I bit my lip as a terrifying image appeared in my mind: of possibly going home with David Walter and of him taking advantage of me.
I shook the thought out of my head. Adrian will take care of it. He promised.
I kept repeating that to myself as I applied last-minute mascara and nude lipstick, and slipped on my nude Louboutins. I rushed out the door while slinging a small bag over my shoulder.
A black car was waiting outside my apartment building when I came down, and I recognised the driver from the previous business dinner I had attended with Adrian on my first week of work.
“Hello, Miss,” he said as he opened the door. I smiled and thanked him as I slid into the dark car. Once I was settled, he shut the door softly behind me. I heard him get into the front seat himself, and then the car rumbled to life.
“Mr. Kingston has called me three times now in regards to our whereabouts,” he told me. “I apologise in advanced for the pace we will be driving at, but Mr. Kingston insisted I get you to the venue in under half an hour.”
“It’s fine. I’m so sorry.” I grimaced, mentally picturing Adrian snapping at the poor driver because of me.
“Nonsense.” He laughed, before the car fell silent for the rest of the ride.
***
We arrived at the venue Suzie had arranged in 18 minutes, and I got out of the car with wobbly knees due to the speed the driver was going at the entire time. Adrian had called him during our trip, and I could hear his deep voice barking orders at the driver, all the way from the backseat.
“Thank you so much!” I gushed, smiling at the driver and giving him a small wave. He returned both gestures before driving off, leaving me to enter the back entrance of the venue alone.
I gulped as I made my way through a blue, metal door and instantly began coughing as copious amount of perfume assaulted my nostrils. I cringed as the girls around me continued to spray more of the heavy scents.
“EMILY! THANK GOD YOU’RE HERE!” Suzie gushed, suddenly turning up directly in front of my path. The girls in the room stopped chatting and all turned toward the door, where I was currently standing, rubbing my arm awkwardly as I tried to smile – but grimaced instead. “You look absolutely incredible, dear!”
“Sorry I’m late, Suzie. And thank you.” I smiled, before pulling her into a quick hug. “So… what do I have to do?” I asked, biting my lip curiously.
“Well, now that you’re here, we can get started. Everyone is already seated. It’s a big turn out!”