"I'm a friend of Hunter's," I said. "He’ll want to see me."
"What's your name?" the bouncer asked.
"Celia," I said. "Celia Parker." But I knew that my name wouldn’t ring a bell with the bouncer.
He glanced over his clip board. "I checked my list, Celia Parker, and you're not on it, so get. Go home."
"Hunter will be mad when he hears you turned me away."
He laughed and checked me over. "I highly doubt that, little sister, but you dream on. Now, I have work to do, letting these very attractive people inside."
With that, he turned away and I saw smiles on the faces of those people at the front of the line.
I felt like a complete idiot. Of course, I didn’t expect there would be a lineup this early. I thought I'd be able to just walk right into the club and go find Hunter in the back or wherever it was he spent his time.
I walked away, found a taxi driving down a side street, and took it back to my dorm in Cambridge.
I'd have to dress up if I wanted to see Hunter that night. I knew what I had to do. I had to call in the big guns.
Chapter 6
Celia
Amy glanced at me, her eyes narrowed. "I could have told you that you'd never get in looking like that," she said, her voice amused. "Look at you – faded boyfriend jeans, Blundstones, a grey hoodie? What were you thinking?"
"This is me," I said and shrugged. "This is who I am."
"Who you are is awesome, underneath that student getup. Now, let's look in your closet…"
She checked out my closet and took various skirts and blouses and shook her head sadly.
"When was the last time you went on a date?"
"Months ago, and you know it."
She laughed. "I do know it."
My romantic life was dismal, so I didn't have a lot of sexy numbers that I could wear to The Venue to impress the very discerning bouncer at the front door.
"You can borrow my red dress," she said and pulled me into her room. "With your black hair and fair skin, you'll be a knockout." She opened her wardrobe and removed this red dress with deep plunging neckline that fell just above the knee. "Wear these shoes and put on some eyeliner, you'll have Hunter eating out of your hand."
"Hardly," I said with a grim laugh. "Remember it's me asking for money from him. If anything, it'll be me eating out of his hand."
I changed clothes and then sat in front of her desk while she brushed my hair and straightened it with a flat iron until it was shining.
When she was finished, she stood behind me so that I could see myself in the mirror over her desk. "Your hair looks like black silk."
Then, she proceeded to paint me up so that I was practically unrecognizable.
"Kitten eyes are all the rage. That stupid bouncer won't be able to resist you now." I checked myself out in the mirror and sure enough, I looked like someone else.
Someone who fit in with the rest of the crowd at The Venue.
I slipped on Amy's black pumps with the straps around the ankles and turned in a circle for her.
"Perfect," she said. "When Hunter sees you, he'll realize what he lost back then."
I shook my head. "He'll hate me. He'll look at me with total contempt. I can see him now." The very thought of it made my stomach churn.