Adjournment (The Fate Series) (7 page)

Oh, I can’t wait for the tables to turn in my favor.

Shock and horror fill my voice at the idea of it. “No, I wanted to punch him and leave,” I scoff. The doors shut in front of us as the elevator begins to descend.

“Wow… that’s the same reaction you have to—ouch!” Grabbing her arm she walks off the elevator when the doors open again next to me. “You need to control yourself,” she mumbles.

I’m trying, but she makes it so damn hard.

“And where are you two off to at this hour?” Stanley sends us a sweet smile when we approach him at the door.

“Frozen yogurt… I accidentally set her up on a date with a man—ouch! Seriously?” she barks.

“I can guess who. Shall I arrange for an alibi?” He laughs, opening the door for us as we exit.

“That won’t be necessary tonight. But it’s very sweet that you would do that for me.” I smile, patting him on the cheek on my way out the door.

“It’s called survival. If you go to jail and one day get out, you might come looking for me,” he yells from behind us.

Snapping my head up to where he’s standing, I try to give him a dirty look but the smile on my face ruins it.

Frozen yogurt fixes everything.

By the time we return, Stanley is gone for the night, and we quietly eat our creamy concoctions on the ride back up.

“Want to watch some TV?” she offers once we’re inside kicking off our shoes.

I don’t know why but I feel the need to look at the stupid photo when I walk past it.

“Actually I am going to bed. Early morning you know…” I give her a hug then begin to retreat to my room on the opposite side of the apartment.

“I wish you would just admit that you care,” she says loudly in a sing song mocking tone after me, waving the paper around.

“The only thing I care about is avoiding him and his jackass brothers when we go out.” Slamming the door on that note, I change into my pajamas and after a few whispered curses I fall asleep.

A few hours later, my insufferable alarm starts to go off precisely at three. I roll over to smack it then lay back to stare at the ceiling. Lexi is already up and singing her morning routine from the other side of the apartment. “Now I’m gonna brush my teeth. Then I’m gonna straighten my hair.” It’s annoying but at least I know the events of last night haven’t weighed too much upon her. She’ll bounce back, perhaps date a man who is actually single and maybe even a little fun.

For a girl who is as pretty as she is you would think she would have better taste in men.

Nope.

Lexi is tall, with gorgeous long dark brown hair and perfect curls. You know the kind you see in the magazine and want, but then you remind yourself it’s airbrushed to look that way. Only her curls aren’t, but she straightens them.

Mine, on the other hand, is light blond and straight, cut into a short wedge with longer sides. Both of us have the same side bang that makes people ask if we are related.

Yes—we’re related…

She has olive skin and brown eyes, I am exactly like my sisters, fair with green eyes. Let’s also point out the six or seven inch height difference. I had to start wearing higher heels since she would mockingly lean down and say “what” every time I spoke. Now I wear them for two reasons—one so she won’t lean down, and two because she knows I will kick her with one of them if she does.

I look over at the clock, and it’s already four am.

Seriously where does this time go?

Rushing into my bathroom I quickly brush my teeth, smooth back the sides of my hair so I can pin them into place, and run some mascara over my lashes.

Done…

Hey, I am paid to make others look good… not myself.

Sliding into my black pants, I grab my white button-down, twisting the buttons through the holes as I race down my short hall. I grab my scarf off the back of the couch as I cross the room to make the coffee. Movement in the kitchen makes me stop, Lexi has the coffee already ready next to the fruit she has cut up and put in to-go containers for the drive.

“You’re going to make us late. If we don’t leave now we’re going to risk seeing Mr. Willis in the hall.” She cringes as she stuffs a cube of watermelon into her mouth.

Our neighbor Mr. Willis likes to take his morning walk in our hallway… naked. I was thankfully made aware of it when I moved in and have been able to avoid that craziness. When Lexi first moved in she didn’t believe me and got a nice show one morning as he came jogging by. She never did that again. He’s now in his seventies and still does it; he tells people clothes constrict him. I could have gone the rest of my life without needing to know that.

“It’s four thirty, we’re okay; besides I’m ready.” Racing over to the counter I grab my coffee and fruit.

“I swore to myself a long time ago I would never run into him again, Sidney. Don’t make a liar out of me.” She grabs her stuff and calls for a car. We open the door to look down the hall.

We have an hour and half until he takes his jog. What is her problem?

Taking the elevator down we wait for the car by the front door and leave Stanley a “sorry we missed you” note. He doesn’t come in until the actual morning but whoever is supposed to be here isn’t around. It’s still pitch black outside which is why getting a cab is out of the question right now, and the subway is a no go until sun up. Not that we’ve ever had a bad experience but really why risk it? We live in the city and like anywhere else you have your good and bad. Most places we walk to or jump on the subway. But there are certain times in the day you just don’t feel comfortable doing either.

The car pulls up, and after loading our stuff, we are on our way.

“Are you upset that it’s our last day?” She reaches over to take my hand.

She’s such an asshole sometimes. I know where she is going with this.

“Not at all.” I turn to the window.

“Aren’t you going to miss your best friend?” She lets go of the laugh she was holding. Taking her hand back she opens the container of fruit.

“So last night had no effect on you?” I raise an eyebrow at her. She shrugs.

“He is his wife’s problem now.” An evil smirk plays across her lips.

What did she do?

“Are you going to tell Mr. GQ about your red hot date?” She changes the subject before I can ask.

Oh GQ…

“I don’t even want to hear what he has to say about my latest battle with dating,” I groan.

Popping open my container, I start to stress eat.

I wish this was something unhealthy.

We pull up to where the movie is being shot and unload all the bags of gifts we got for the costume designers, hairstylists, crew members, and, of course, the director and writing team who “Gave us the opportunity to work on such an amazing team.” That’s what we write on the cards.

Being that this is the first of a trilogy, we are going to be seeing these people for a while, and Ms. Lexi has it in pretty good with some wineries in the Finger Lakes since her dad does business with them. A few months ago we spent the weekend there touring different wineries and picking out what we thought everyone would enjoy. 

Maybe that’s why they like working with us so much. I would love working with someone who gave me wine.

When everything is out we walk through caution tape that has been put up to keep people out, even though it really just draws them closer.

Just as I expect, our friend Jacob is already here with tears in his eyes. This movie was a big deal for him since it was the first time he has been hired as head costume designer.

We met Jacob back when we were in school. We had gone out to lunch one day, and there he was, working on a design for class. Lexi and I were nosy so we began to ask him about his work and spent the rest of the afternoon debating what eye shadow would work best with his sketches. That was the day I remember thinking Fate hadn’t forgotten me, it was just working out the details.

After that we spent all of our free time coming up with makeup designs from his costume designs and vice versa. Now anytime we hear of a new movie in the works we all sit down and sketch out ideas. Our designs haven’t gotten us hired as key makeup artists yet, but we work directly under a great one who is well-known in the industry. Evangeline and Jacob work flawlessly together; we really are lucky to have such a great team.

At the end of every project Jacob has ever worked he stands around with tears in his eyes saying, “I can’t believe we are here finishing another one.” As we approach him I notice he dabs his eyes.

He should have been onscreen.

“Hey, bitches,” he says between sniffles. It’s hard not to laugh. 

I do my best to look sympathetic while wrapping my arms around his shoulders.

“Hey Jakey, you okay?” I pout.

He hates being called Jake or Jakey.

Snapping his head back, he pulls away from our embrace, his hands wildly flaying around. “Do I look like a Jakey to you? Am I a six-year-old boy that just scraped his knee?” His hands jerk and chop their way through the air.

He is so cute when he’s mad. Actually he’s gorgeous, five-foot-ten, perfect tan complexion, short dark hair, and the most gorgeous brown eyes that I have ever seen. Like little pieces of chocolate stuck there. Oh have I mentioned he is gay? All the good ones are. I’m jealous of the man who eventually lands him. He will be hot too no doubt.

“Sorry, Jacob,” I say in a mocking tone that would suggest he was a small child, while pinching his cheeks.

He’s about to sass something back at me when our meeting begins. I can feel his death glare on me, but I have to keep looking straight. If I look at him, I’ll laugh.

Evangeline clears her throat to gather everyone’s attention and begins her speech.

I bet I could recite it with her.

“I just want to thank my makeup crew for all your hard work on another wonderful production…” Her heavy Columbian accent rings out.

I swear it’s the same speech every time but her damn accent draws us in. I can go into autopilot now, I know what parts to clap for.

I sway closer to Jacob and Lexi and begin to whisper as Evangeline drones on.

“So… celebrating tonight?” I whisper to them.

Jacob instantly forgets about the name mix up.

“Oh my God, we have to go to this new club. I was there last night. Which is why I need the dark circles under my eyes fixed when this is over. But it was so great and lots of hot guys to check out,” he gushes.

If he is trying to whisper then his excitement has gotten the better of him because he is so loud that Lexi and I step back so we don’t get into trouble… and to make him look crazy.

“Jacob, I’m sure we would all love to hear about your dark circles and man candy but can it wait until we are done here?” Evangeline smiles.

“Honey, you need to get out and meet some man candy. I think your backup makeup gets more action than you,” he sasses back.

Everyone laughs at them and instantly we all start discussing what to do tonight to celebrate. Kate, one of the hair-stylists, and Jacob begin debating clubs while Lexi and I look back and forth between them.

Here’s a little about Kate—we met her when we started working with Mr. GQ. She is his stylist and goes everywhere he does.  A few years ago she was all over the tabloids when everyone thought they were together, but she would just laugh and say “Look how cute I look in this photo!” Any other bubbly girlie girl would drive me crazy, but there’s something about Kate that makes me think there is more to that dizzy party girl. Like it’s all an act she puts on.

“Hey, weren’t your best friends at Slide the other night?” Lexi nudges me.

I shoot Lexi a harsh stare as Kate continues to speak.

“Oh it’s so much fun. The DJ is amazing and the drinks are so good!” Kate smiles like she is now winning the battle.

Evangeline can’t help but laugh and thank everyone for their professionalism. The joke isn’t lost on us. She dismisses us, and we all go to our stations to get ready.

“Well, I vote for Slide. What do you say, Sid? Care to make some page six news?” Lexi bumps me again with her elbow.

“No, she doesn’t,” Jacob snaps back at her.

Giving Lexi a dirty look, I walk toward the trailer with Jacob and Kate as they argue over which club we should start at and which one we should end at.

Any place that doesn’t bring Simon and me together is fine with me.

When we get into the trailer it’s almost 5:30 in the morning. I have no prosthetics or anything time-consuming, so my “leading man” is in and out. 

“So what are you going to do without GQ to flirt with every day?” Kate coos. She and Jacob immediately start laughing at my expense.

Do I have a sign on me that says please make fun of my life?

Oh right, before I lose you, I should probably explain that ‘GQ’ is our private name for ‘The Brett Davis’! No, he has no idea we call him that or that we refer to him as ‘The Brett Davis’.

“I—do not flirt with him.” I make a face.

I don’t flirt with him, please see rule number one.

“He’s just a nice guy and since when is being grilled about my life flirting?” My brows knit together when I look at them.