“Stop it! Now help me get all this stuff in the house.”
If there was one thing Lizzy knew, it was fashion. There was no doubt in Rory’s mind that she was the better dressed one of the two. Lizzy talked her into closing the store early, and it was barely early evening when they stood staring at a room full of clothes with Lizzy trying to pick and match items in her head like a mad stylist.
“Why the hell have you brought a pair of speakers?”
“Right! I totally forgot about them.” Lizzy rushed over and plugged in her iPhone to the speakers. Beyonce blared out and she pumped up the volume.
“Because this! No self-respecting girl ever gets dolled up without some Beyonce in the background.”
Though Rory laughed as Lizzy showed off her dance moves, she had to admit that the girl could really shake that booty. Even though Rory kept insisting that she didn’t want to wear any makeup, Lizzy forced her into it. In the end, Rory was glad that she did. For the first time in a long time, Rory looked into the mirror and admired herself. She looked good—really good.
“How the hell are you ever going to be able to sit in that dress?” Rory wondered out loud as she saw the super short black dress that Lizzy was wearing.
“Who the hell sits at a party?” Lizzy threw her hands in the air.
Rory had no intentions to be as daring as Lizzy was and in spite of the latter’s insistence that she wear a dress as well, Rory decided against it.
“Oh c’mon, for once you can doll up a little.”
“Lizzy, it’s not a night out at the opera. It is a house party thrown by a rock band. Everyone will probably show up in bathing suits or something.”
In the end, she chose to wear a pair of torn, baggy boyfriend jeans with an off-the-shoulder top that Lizzy had insisted she try on. She even dusted off her black high heels after ages, though it took her a minute to remember how to walk in them.
“You really should be a makeup artist or something,” Rory commented as she admired herself in the mirror.
It was half past eight as they sat in the limo that Don had sent for them and made their way through town.
“I could get used to this,” Lizzy exclaimed as she pulled out a bottle of sparkling wine from the side bar.
“Are you sure that’s for us?” Rory asked, feeling nervous to be sitting in there.
“Of course. Why else would they leave it there?”
“Cheers to the good life!” Before Rory could even say cheers back, Lizzy had downed the whole glass in one go.
“Easy, Lizzy! At this pace you are going to be drunk before we even get there.”
“C’mon Rory. Have some fun. It’s not every day that we get to live it up in a limo!” Lizzy replied as she poured another glass for herself. Rory realized that there was no way Lizzy was going to listen to her as she promptly turned her attention back to her wine glass. The limo sped through streets that she wasn’t very familiar with.
“Where the hell are we heading?” she said out loud to no one in particular.
“This is Glenley Hill. You don’t come here often, but I know this place like the back of my hand,” Lizzy replied mid-sip. “All the celebs that come down to Montcove stay here. Like, the most beautiful houses you will ever see!”
There was a remarkable shift in the surroundings. Rory thought where she lived was beautiful, but this was another level of gorgeous. Well-manicured lawns, picturesque structures at every corner, and huge villas lined up the roads. It was like Hollywood Hills but much bigger and a whole lot prettier.
Not long after, the limo slowed and turned right toward a smaller road, at the end of which they were stopped by big burly security guys. The driver rolled down his window to speak to one of them and Rory saw a whole bunch of paparazzi flashing their cameras.
She made an ugly face as she noticed Hector, the paparazzo who had visited her shop, staring at her through the window. He had an amused look on his face as he looked down at her, as if she didn’t belong there.
“Isn’t it exciting, Rory? Look at all the paparazzi.” Lizzy was like a kid in a candy store. “I hope they take a lot of our pictures too. Oh, I wish they had like a red carpet or something.”
“For a personal party? You gotta be kidding me.”
Much to Lizzy’s joy and Rory’s dismay, there was indeed a red carpet leading up to the house that was infested by a whole new bunch of paparazzi. When she saw sponsored banners there she realized that this was more than just a house party, and boy did she feel like a fool in that moment.
There were a few women walking in front of them and they were all dressed to kill in outfits that would fit well on a Paris runway. She wasn’t surprised when the paparazzi didn’t show any interest in snapping her pictures.
“Hey, you in jeans, get out of the way, you’re in the frame,” one paparazzo shouted at her, as he tried to snap a picture of Lizzy in her tiny dress. Lizzy was busy posing in all the poses that she had probably practiced in the mirror for years. For once Rory wished that she had listened to Lizzy and put on a glamorous dress. Damn, I need a drink.