Eternal Ever After (30 page)

“You were always better at dealing with him. Maybe it’ll be good for him to get more involved in the business. It can’t be good for him to be cooped up in his office staring at the same four walls all day.”

I didn’t say what I really thought. I didn’t envy her having to work more directly with him. It would be unbearable if it were me. But the two of them communicated on a different level. They seemed to have an unspoken connection since Trina lost her mom to breast cancer. Trina had a friendly but no-nonsense way of dealing with him that he responded to. I wished I could be more like her.

“You may have a point there. Maybe the best way for him to get over the grief is to get busy. He just sits in his office watching TV all day. But I’m going to miss talking to you,” Trina said.

“Me too. You can call me anytime.”

“Well, it was good chatting with you. We’ll have to get together sometime.”

“Sounds good. Thanks for calling. Bye, Trina.”

“I’ll talk to you later.”

By the time I hung up with Trina I was almost at the club. Arie didn’t live too far from HFC. I parked the BMW and grabbed my dress out of the backseat. My boots made a squeaking sound as I made my way across the back marble, heading toward the bar. Victoria had her laptop open on top of the bar and scribbled away on a white legal pad next to her. She looked up from her writing and nodded at me as I approached.

“Hey, Victoria. I need your key card. I’m supposed to meet Tessa.”

“Oh, right. The photo shoot. I almost forgot,” Victoria said as she slid the key card out of her pocket.

“Photo shoot? What photo shoot?”

“Tessa didn’t tell you? It’s for an advertisement she wants you in to promote the gala.”

Suddenly, I felt self-conscious and smoothed back my hair. Victoria handed me the key card. I set off for the elevator with my dress swung over one arm. When I reached Tessa’s office the vampire guarding her door waved me past. Inside her office were two people, one holding an expensive-looking camera and a woman with a large silver case and a canvas bag at her feet.

Tessa regarded me with a curt nod, looking instead at the dress. “This is our model,” she said to the man holding the camera on his lap.

“What am I modeling for?” I asked.

“A billboard advertisement for the gala, as I discussed with you on the phone. Making you part of the royal court will lure our intended audience.”

It took me a second to catch the meaning that she intended only for me. “Should I go change into my dress then?”

“No. Lori is going to do your hair and make-up first,” Tessa said, gesturing to the woman with the silver case. “There’s a vanity in the bathroom at the end of the hall.”

The stylist and I exited her office, heading to the bathroom. It looked more like a dormitory bathroom and across from a shower stall stood a wide counter with a lighted mirror that ran its length. Lori placed the aluminum case and her bag on the counter. She pulled out hair picks, bobby pins, hair spray, and a curling iron from her canvas bag.

“Have a seat,” she said, gesturing to the stool in front of the counter.

Taking a seat on the padded stool, I fiddled with my locket. This whole thing made me really nervous. The stylist plugged in the curling iron before pulling my hair out of the bun I had swept it into and combing it out.

“You don’t strike me as a model,” she said. “Is this your first photo shoot?”

“Yeah. How can you tell?”

“Because you look like you could pass out.”

I frowned. “I’m not really a model. I only found out about it this morning.”

“Well you’re pretty enough to model, but shorter than they like. That doesn’t really matter for an ad campaign or when you’re going to be plastered on a billboard. But what do I know? I just do hair and make-up.”

All the while she curled my hair, pinning the curls in place.

I smiled. “Thanks for saying so but I’m not really sexy enough to model.”

“Relax. You’ll be fine. And when I get done with your hair and make-up you won’t even recognize yourself.”

She moved behind me, taming my hair into smooth curls. By the time she finished pinning the last curl into place, she had looped my chestnut mass into an elegant up-do.

“Turn to the side,” she said, as she opened her make-up case.

The stylist applied make-up to my face. I didn’t really wear make-up and her application tickled. It took great effort to hold still and not to blink.

“There. That should about do it,” she said. “Take a look. What do you think?”

I turned toward the mirror and was stunned. My own reflection revealed an elegant image I didn’t recognize. The whole idea of me modeling in the photo shoot seemed ridiculous to me and I didn’t relish one bit of it, but looking in the mirror now, I felt confident and sexy.

“It’s unbelievable. You do good work.”

She laughed. “Well you’ve got great skin and give me a lot to work with.”

“Thanks.”

Lori started packing up. “Do you need help getting into your dress?”

“Thanks. But I should be okay. I just need to step into it.”

“Well I’ll leave you to it. It was nice to meet you.” She collected her make-up case and bag before leaving me to change for the photo shoot.

I managed to get into the dress without maiming my hair and slipped on the shoes. Holding up the skirt of my dress, I gingerly trudged down the hall in the heels from Rue’s shop and almost fell flat on my face.
Great. These heels are going to be the death of me. Arie is going to have to either carry me or hold me up all night.
I managed my way back to Tessa’s office. I opened the door but didn’t think I wanted to try sitting in one of the chairs. Oversized or not, I didn’t see how that would work with the dress. Tessa sat at her desk and the photographer sat across from her.

Tessa looked up as I walked into the room. “Well now I see what the fuss is all about. I suppose Arie has good taste after all.”

I could feel my face flush and glared at Tessa, who either didn’t care or didn’t notice.

“Should we get started then?” the photographer asked. “Where do you want me to shoot her?”

“I have an idea. Come with me,” Tessa said.

We followed Tessa to the elevators and descended to the main level where Victoria and Luna were chatting at the bar. Doors wouldn’t open until eight o’clock and this place wouldn’t start packing in the fang-fakers until at least nine or ten. Tessa walked over to the sound table, flipping switches; the lights darkened, and the black light starlit dance floor illuminated the empty club.

“I don’t know if we can get the lighting right but I thought maybe we could get her to lay on the dance floor close enough to the stage that you could get an elevated shot,” Tessa said.

The photographer frowned. “I should have brought my assistant. It could work. But we might have to shoot her on the stage against that white wall.”

Luna had disappeared and Victoria walked over to us.

“Where do you want me?” I asked.

“Over here. Can you lay on the floor as close to the stage as possible?” the photographer asked.

The heels made it difficult to maneuver. I stumbled toward the stage. Victoria rushed to my side and she caught my arm, keeping me from falling. She helped me to the floor. After several rounds of smiling, not smiling, and pouting as I lay there he had me stand in front of the white wall on the stage instead. The photographer had me move this way and that, snapping more pictures.

Luna came back in and stood close to Victoria. They were watching and commented on how beautiful I looked. I couldn’t help but notice how cozy they seemed together. Finally, the photographer stopped shooting and with Victoria’s help I went upstairs to change. She told me to meet her back downstairs when I was done. I kind of wished Arie could have seen me all trussed up in something other than handcuffs or red silk scarves.

CHAPTER 23

I met Victoria downstairs. She sat at one of the round tables at the edge of the dance floor. The lighting on the stage had been illuminated while the band members set up their equipment.

“So now what?” I asked.

“We have a headliner for the gala, but we need an opening act. I hear these guys are pretty good. They’re called the Hellcats.”

The band started playing a hard rock number. About halfway through their second song Victoria held her hand up for them to stop and said she’d be in touch.

“What did you think of them?” I asked.

Victoria shrugged. “It’s not my taste, but they’ll do for an opening act.”

A sexy woman with pale skin swaggered onto the stage. She enacted a burlesque snake dance to the song ‘Fever’. Her pearlescent skin was a dead giveaway. Following the snake dance, a mortal woman performed a fan dance. Her sheer gold dress shimmered under the spotlight. It made her voluptuous figure curvy and exceedingly sexy. I couldn’t believe she pulled it off. After the fan dance she began doing a striptease while reciting a poem she told us Albert Laighton had written. It talked about the dead and pondered whether they could watch us and if they knew of our sins. Then it ended by talking about how the dead can visit us in dreams. Or rather, how the poet viewed his own dreams. I shivered at how appropriate and fitting it was. It made me think of the intensity of my own dreams and visions these days. By the time she finished the poem, only feathers covered her breasts and her pussy. I had no idea what held them in place.

“I can’t say it’s entirely original,” Victoria said. “You’ve managed to incorporate the style of Sally Rand and add your own spin on it. And I like the bit you did with poetry, very Gypsy Rose Lee. But I think I might be able to use you. We have your phone number, but leave your email address with Holly and we’ll let you know.” She gestured toward me.

The woman approached our table. I handed her a piece of paper and she jotted down her email address.

“Thanks,” I said. “You’ll hear from us if we can find a spot for you.”

“Thank you for your time,” the woman said with a smile before turning to leave.

After the woman left, Victoria turned to me with a smile. “You catch on quick. I was non-committal because Tessa hasn’t decided whether she wants me to book three burlesque acts this year or only two.”

“I thought she was really good and I admire what she’s doing. She doesn’t look anorexic. It’s refreshing to see someone with a body doing a routine like that. I think we should book her.”

Victoria laughed. “I couldn’t agree more. I’ll talk to Tessa.”

I couldn’t help but think it was strange that a vampire-witch and a witch were auditioning burlesque acts. Victoria had taken to celibacy and I had recently discovered that pain mixed with pleasure was the only thing that kept me from having visions during sex, allowing me to orgasm. I almost laughed at the absurdity of it. We had one more act to audition. A man came out carrying a bed to the stage. At that moment I realized he wasn’t a man. He had to be a vampire with the way he carried the bed single-handed—like it weighed nothing. Then I saw his skin under the stage lights. And I knew when his unmistakable skin shone a luminous white that he was a vampire.

I recognized the blonde who came to the stage. She appeared to be in her early forties and she was accompanied by the vampire who had been sucking her blood upstairs the first night I came here with Arie. Except instead of joining her on the stage, he sat in a chair close to the stage but in the audience.

She came out on stage wearing everyday clothes and carrying a suitcase. Setting the suitcase on the stage, she opened it and removed a red negligee along with a gown from it. The blonde put the gown on over her clothes and the negligee on top of that. With more grace than I could muster she had her clothes and the gown drop from under the negligee.

Then she strutted down the stairs to the vampire, sat on his lap and kissed him in a way you would only kiss someone if there were no one else in the room. I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks. After she claimed him she took his hand, leading him to the bed on stage. The vampire straddled her. Another one that I didn’t notice before near the sound and lighting table darkened the lights. Victoria and I sat in the pitch black but all I could hear was a breathy sigh from the stage. After her sigh came a moan.

When the lights came back on she wore the same clothes that she had on when she first took to the stage and the vampire was gone. Only now blood dripped down her neck from two round punctures. The woman took a scarf from the suitcase and closed the case before wrapping the silk around her neck to conceal the wounds. She picked up the suitcase, bowed, and then left the stage. I could see how the purpose of the entertainment was in the concealment of what they did on stage when the lights went down. I wouldn’t have thought it sexy if I hadn’t seen it for myself.

“Oh, yes. They’ll fit in nicely. He told me that he’s been working on that routine with her. It’s an imitation, of course, and a bloody one, but the crowd is going to love it. They’ll eat it up,” Victoria said. “I think I’ll have them be the final number. Doors open at eight. The burlesque acts will go on from nine to ten. Then the live music starts.”

“But he bit her. I mean he really bit her. Don’t you think that’s a bad idea? I mean with everyone watching.”

Victoria laughed. “No. They’ll never believe it’s real. They’ll just think it’s fake blood—all part of the show.”

An elevator door slid open and Tessa stepped out, making her way over to our table. When she reached us she placed an envelope on the table in front of me.

“Your pay,” Tessa said.

“Thanks.” I opened the envelope. It contained the key card and cash. I pulled the money out, counting it. I swallowed. “There’s three thousand dollars here.”

“It’s for the month. I figured you could use an advance. Arie told me you quit the Coffee Grind.”

“Will this be what I get paid every month?”

“Yes, but typically I do payroll every two weeks.”

I did some quick math in my head. It was double what I made working at the coffee shop. “But all I did is highlight some flyers and book the entertainment with Victoria. I really haven’t done much of anything.”