My hands flew up to my mouth as I gave her a round of girly applause. “You look stunning. That green is the perfect color for your eyes.” I snapped another picture on my phone, knowing she’d want a “changing room reaction” immortalized for all eternity. When I was done, I gave her another once over, and my face softened into a thoughtful smile. “Seriously, Mandi, you look perfect. Gosh—sometimes it feels like yesterday that we were playing dress up in our moms’ closets and look at us now. I don’t even know what to say.”
She gave me a long look. For a moment, I thought she also imagined our childhood days. But then she gestured to herself impatiently.
“Oh!” I exclaimed, remembering my scripted lines. “And it makes your boobs look amazing!”
“Yeah, it does.” She grinned, adjusting her sweetheart neckline to show off her cleavage. “I think this is definitely what Billy had in mind when he said to make a good impression.”
I came to stand beside her in the mirror, gazing confidently at our reflections. “Two good impressions.”
“Yes, two good impressions,” she said, keeping her eyes trained on her breasts. “You’re right, Bex, I shouldn’t play favorites.”
I rolled my eyes and dragged her to the counter to pay.
***
It might have dampened our arrival just a little that we showed up in a Volvo we borrowed from a friend who owed us a favor. But we parked it just inside the gate so that we could walk the rest of the way across the grounds to the front entrance where the socialites and paparazzi were having the time of their lives each pretending they didn’t care about the other. On second thought, “walking the grounds” to get to the house might also have been a bit of a mistake.
“How much farther could it possibly be?” I demanded as we tramped over the carefully manicured grass toward the lights up ahead. “It didn’t look this far.”
“Yeeps!” Amanda shrieked and flew to my side as a peacock made its way out of the dark underbrush, examining us suspiciously with its beady little eyes. “Becca, get it!” She slipped off a lethal looking stiletto and held it up like a knife. “Back, you beast, back!”
“Mandi! Stop!” I said. “It’s not a pit bull.”
“Yeah, you’re right. It’s worse! It can peck me to death!”
“We’re not hurting the poor peacock,” I said. “Now put your shoe back on.”
The peacock rolled back its head with a languid caw, and I could have sworn there was pity in its eyes as it shuffled off slowly toward the valets at the main door. We followed it at a safe distance and ditched it quickly amongst the parked cars as we wound our way through to the bouncer at the gate.
“Hi,” Amanda said sweetly, turning on the charm. “I’m Amanda Gates, and this is my friend, Rebecca White.”
The man scanned down his list, surprisingly unaffected by her foolproof charms. It must be all the beautiful women here tonight, I thought as I smoothed my dress and waited.
It was only then that I really took in the house for the first time. I’d been far too concerned with the rogue peacock to notice it until now. House wasn’t really the right word. It was more like…compound. Headquarters. Lair. Something like that.
It looked like exactly what you’d imagine when you thought of the most ridiculous, opulent wealth in a place like the Hollywood Hills. Sculpted lawns, sparkling fountains, exotic lethal wildlife. You name it—this guy had it. And much more.
“Here you are.” The bouncer finally found us and scratched our names off the list. “You with William Colson’s Talent Agency?”
“That would be us.” Amanda smiled as he lifted the velvet rope for her. “Thanks. You have a good evening.”
The man looked surprised, like he didn’t get many thank yous or well wishes in his line of work. Looking around the people climbing out of their foreign sports cars, I could easily believe that. The crowd here looked like they’d been purchased to go with the house. Not a calorie or polyester thread among them. PETA would have a field day…
A little nervous for the first time, I followed Amanda inside. It was everything I could do to keep my jaw from dropping open like an idiot.
And I thought it had looked big on the outside…
It was like stepping back in time to the place that fairy tales and fantastical balls were based on. Ten diamond chandeliers glowed like ethereal orbs from the ceiling, reflecting off the white marble floors in watery golden pools. A huge winding staircase led to an upper level that seemed to be off-limits, but I think that if I were given the entire night, I still wouldn’t have had time to explore every room just in the downstairs. A massive foyer led to a sitting room, led to a parlor (is there a difference?), led to another sitting room, led to a dining room, led to a dancing room, and so on and so forth. The walls were hung with what even an art apathetic like me could identify as priceless pieces, adding the only bits of color to an otherwise extravagant but sterile environment.
Caterers appeared from nowhere and faded back into the walls, balancing silver trays with bubbling champagne as Stravinsky leaked down from invisible speakers. Um—scratch that—it was a live orchestra out on the terrace.
I almost laughed as I imagined being in a place that required my mental narration to use the word “terrace.” We were certainly a long way from East Hollywood.
“Well…it’s smaller than I imagined.” Amanda turned to me and sniffed with disdain.
I shrugged an indifferent shoulder. “What? No coat rack? That’s rude.” We grinned but stuck close together, a little thrown off balance by our statuesque surroundings. “But seriously, I bet this guy loved to play with Legos when he was a kid.”
She snorted. “All right, well we have our marching orders. Mingle with as many people as possible.”