No Stone Unturned (16 page)

But Nicki was clearly a ticking time bomb.  It grew more and more apparent with every encounter they had.  Mira had always said the quiet ones were trouble.  Gemma was quickly realizing how accurately the saying applied to Nicki.

~

Gemma sat alone in front of the vanity mirror in her hotel suite.  She struggled to reattach the black feathers around her eyes.  Damian had a game against the New Orleans Hornets the next day and was staying in a nearby hotel with the rest of his team.  He invited Gemma and Tyler to have dinner with him and a couple teammates which Tyler surprisingly was very interested in doing.  Gemma supposed it shouldn’t come as that much of a shock.  As awkward as Tyler may have felt about the photo shoot, his love for basketball had a tendency to trump any other feelings he may have had.

“Go first,” she had told him.  “I still need time to do my makeup.”  As much as it was true, it was also somewhat of an excuse.  She needed some breathing room, some time alone.  Tyler was reluctant, but eventually left, sensing her need for space.  The moment he was gone, Gemma reveled in her solitude for a few minutes before feeling lonely once again. 

It wasn’t Tyler she missed as she wrestled with the various contraptions that aided in her makeup.  She knew that her relationship with Penelope had been strained but she regretted denying her help on the New Orleans trip anyway.  In fact, Gemma was shocked that Penelope didn’t fight to come with her.  It was as if she didn’t care for Gemma or Queen Bee – not as much as she used to anyway.  Gemma recognized that she may not have been entirely nice to Penelope in recent times but reasoned that Penelope hadn’t been exactly pleasant either.  It was obvious that she was feeling left behind with Armand working so far away and achieving so much in his own separate career.  It probably hurt to be surrounded by people who were finding their success when she was working a position that became more and more thankless as the days went by.  Gemma supposed she didn’t express her gratitude enough, especially since she was allowing so many outside makeup artists and stylists to call the shots now.  Penelope was losing her chances for creative expression when it came to Queen Bee, and she was strangely getting few offers from others. 

Just as Gemma was applying the finishing touches on her makeup, a knock came at the door.  She quickly re-pinned her wig and adjusted the feathers around her eyes.

“Coming!” she called, running towards the door.  She looked through the peephole to see Elizabeth.  Gemma wiped any visible confusion off her face before opening the door.  “Hey, what’s up, Elizabeth? Are you guys leaving?”

“No, not yet,” Elizabeth said, smiling.  “I just came to talk to you.”

“Oh.  Okay, come in.  Everything okay?” Gemma retreated into the room, gesturing for Elizabeth to follow her into the seating area.

“Oh, yeah! Everything’s fine,” Elizabeth responded, perky ask usual.  “I know Nicki was a little weird during the shoot before and I just wanted to come here and make sure you two would be okay if we all went out together.”  Elizabeth took a seat and cringed.  “I just want to avoid… awkwardness.  I mean, as her friend, I feel bad about the whole situation and how much worse it’s been getting.” She paused, straightening her posture and laughing at herself, “And as a low-level intern that Aiden somehow trusted in handling this shoot, I want to make sure I don’t mess things up by allowing a public blowup to happen.”

“Well, I wouldn’t do anything like
that
,” Gemma said, rolling her eyes.  “Listen, I’ve dealt with drama in the past but I have to say that Nicki’s been pretty impossible.”

“Well, you know.  She’s not a celebrity or a socialite,” Elizabeth pointed out, leaning back in her chair and twirling her hair around her finger.  “She’s pretty much… I mean, if we’re going to be blunt, she’s a nobody.  So like, what I kind of want to understand is why you’re letting it bother you so much?”

Gemma stared at Elizabeth, trying to decipher whether Nicki had sent her over as some sort of spy.  “What makes you think I’m letting her bother me?”

Elizabeth gave an incredulous, slack-jawed look that actually made Gemma laugh.  “Okay, even if it weren’t my job to perceive how people feel about something, I’d totally have noticed anyway.  You’re like… you’re…” Elizabeth’s mouth was open, but she seemed to be stopping herself from finishing the sentence.

“Just say it,” Gemma smirked.

“Afraid of her? You’re afraid of her,” Elizabeth said.  She released a heavy sigh.  “There, I said it, please don’t be angry,” she said all in on breath. 

Gemma muffled her laugh.  She would have been offended were she not so amused.  “‘Afraid’ isn’t quite the word,” she lied.  “Frustrated.  Confused.  Irritated.  Those are more fitting, and only because she’s
always
around.  And she will be until the end of the charity ball.”

“Okay,” Elizabeth nodded with a stiff professionalism as if she was just recalling how to handle such situations.  “I’m going to talk to Nicki and see if I can work on how she’s been behaving, because I definitely don’t think that a jealous girlfriend looks good for Damian’s brand.  Not only that, and I believe I speak for Aiden and Perrin when I say this as well, but I’d like for everyone to be perfectly relaxed and happy before the charity ball.”  She smiled and folded her hands when she was done speaking, as if to punctuate her point.  Gemma pressed her lips together tightly, observing Elizabeth and the silly, kind of strange ticks she had – staring into space, constantly fixing her perfectly placed headband, abruptly straightening her posture out of absolutely nowhere.  Gemma had silently made fun of her for the past several months for all that, though she could guess now that it was really because she viewed Elizabeth to be some sort of co-conspirator with Nicki.  But now she understood that all Elizabeth wanted was to be friendly and professional.

“Can I just say something to you?” she finally said.  Only after Elizabeth nodded eagerly did she continue.  “Thank you for actually
see
ing how Nicki’s been acting.  I really needed that.”

“Oh, it’s no problem,” Elizabeth waved her hand in the air.  “I’m on the same page as you because I want everyone to get along.  Nicki’s a good friend but I know for sure that jealousy can make people do some crazy things,” she said, grimacing.  “Anyway, I’m going to go spruce up and get ready before dinner.  I’ll see you later?”

“Yes, I’ll be there.”

“Great!” Elizabeth chirped.  She made her way towards the door before she slowed down near the desk.  She bent over and picked something up.  “Oops, looks like you dropped this.”

“What?” Gemma asked as she strained her neck to see.  Elizabeth placed the object on top of the hotel stationary, even tweaking it out so it sat perfectly straight.

“There you go,” she smiled.  It was a crystal paperweight shaped like an angel.  It looked near identical to the one that she had seen at her previous hotel.  “It’s pretty,” Elizabeth remarked, patting the angel’s head.  “Lucky you.  The suites always have nicer decor than the regular rooms.  Anyway, I’ll see you later!” Elizabeth waved as she exited.  Gemma waved back before picking up the paperweight immediately.

“Ugh,” she said aloud. 
Why would anyone choose something so creepy to decorate these rooms?
The place she had stayed in after visiting Damian was a boutique hotel in San Francisco.  It had no affiliation with the luxury Bartlett Hotel chain that the team had arranged for her to stay at in New Orleans.  The quirky paperweight made sense for the smaller hotel but Gemma found it a strange choice for Bartlett.  It bothered her to have a reminder of that strange night in her room again. 

The angel once again appeared to glow.  Gemma pursed her lips and grabbed Tyler’s scarf, wrapping it around the paperweight and pushing it to the back corner of the desk.  It was still a half hour before Tyler was to come back and pick her up.  She pulled on a jacket and rushed out the door.  As much as she had been wanting alone time these days, she could never seem to shake the strange feelings that accompanied her whenever she was alone.

~

“So which one’s Josh?” Gemma whispered in Elizabeth’s ear, eyeing Damian’s teammates from across the table.  She had had at least two glasses of wine on an empty stomach, and it was bringing out the affection in her.  When Elizabeth shook her head and kept mum, Gemma nudged her hard.  “Point him out to me! The one you were flirting with on New Year’s.”

“Sh!” Elizabeth giggled, putting her finger to Gemma’s lips.  “I’m much more subtle than that, Bee. 
Gosh
.”  Gemma guffawed at the word “gosh,” drawing the attention of the table to her.

“Someone’s happy,” Nicki said with an eye roll. 

“Someone’s observant,” Elizabeth snorted.  Gemma stifled laughter with her hand, especially as Elizabeth protested drunkenly.  “Nicki! Don’t make that face at me.  I was being sarcastic.  I do that sometimes.  It happens.”

Damian brushed a hand through Nicki’s hair.  “Baby, she’s allowed to be out of work mode sometimes,” he said.  Gemma nodded enthusiastically in agreement, blatantly staring at Nicki and waiting for a reaction.  She had decided that her sudden friendship with Elizabeth was a result of Elizabeth actually being enjoyable, but she also couldn’t deny that some of it had to do with fueling jealousy in Nicki.  Along with affection, the wine brought out truth, along with Gemma’s true feelings for Damian’s obnoxious little girlfriend.

Nicki simply rolled her eyes elsewhere, but not before muttering a few words to Elizabeth, “You’re embarrassing yourself.”

“If this is embarrassing myself, then I should do it more often, because I am having fucking
fun
.”

Gemma’s jaw dropped as she smacked Elizabeth’s arm, cackling.  “Oh my God.  Why did you hide this side of yourself the whole time? We would’ve started having fun earlier!”

“Well, I had a
job
to do, Bee.  Duh,” Elizabeth giggled.  She finished her glass of wine and peered up from under lashes, admiring the boys who sat on the other end of the table.  It was Tyler and Damian with several of his Warriors teammates.  “God, I love this job,” Elizabeth said with a grin.  “I get to be near the hottest guys on the planet every day.”

Gemma guffawed.  “That’s it!” she shook her head, standing up.  “I’m hooking this up between you and Josh tonight, and if you won’t tell me which one he is, I’m going to find out for myself.”

“Bee, no!” Elizabeth protested, pulling her back down. 

“Why not?”

“Because! I’m awkward.  I can’t flirt.”

“Lies.  I watched you flirt with Bryan Waterbury during that radio interview,” Gemma said, cocking a challenging eyebrow. 

Elizabeth snorted, pouring herself another glass of wine.  “That was for work purposes,” she said, gulping down the first half of her glass in a matter of seconds.  “I’m bad at flirting with someone I actually
like
.  I’m only good at talking when I’m rehearsed.”  A gloomy expression cast over her face as she blushed.  “God, why did I just tell you all that?” she asked herself seriously.

“I don’t care, you can tell me things,” Gemma smiled.  “I won’t believe you anyway.”

“Oh, just trust me.  I’m mad awk.”

“Well, prove it to me and go flirt with Josh.”

“I’m technically not even allowed to because of my internship…”

“It’s just talking. 
Go
,” Gemma said, pulling Elizabeth’s chair out from under her.  She watched as Elizabeth laughed to herself and reluctantly hobbled to the other end of the table, quickly finding a way to get seated next to Josh by squeezing herself in a chair with Tyler.  Immediately, she began flirting like a pro, touching Josh’s elbow and whispering in his ear.  Gemma laughed to herself, in awe of Elizabeth’s prowess. 

“No wonder you two are suddenly besties,” Nicki said.

“Oh my God, what now?” Gemma asked her immediately, throwing her hands in the air.  She was thankful that Tyler and Damian were too engrossed in guy time to pay attention to their sparring girlfriends.  “What now, Nicki? Really.”

“Well.  You both have two sides, so why
would
n’t you get along perfectly?” she laughed to herself bitterly.  “I guess that’s the key to making everyone love you – being completely fake.”

“No, the key to making everyone love you is to just
not
be a complete asshole.  It’s simple, really.”

Nicki turned to Gemma, swinging her whole body in her chair so she could face her properly.  “I want you guys to know that you’re both really sad.  Sad and disgusting.”

“Oh.  Really, now, Nicki.  Please enlighten me on how we are sad and disgusting.”

Nicki nodded across the table at Elizabeth, who was practically pushing Tyler off his chair as she shared the seat with him, tossing her hair and laughing radiantly with a receptive Josh.  “For starters, you two are both completely fake.  You trick everyone.  Only someone from the outside looking in can see what kind of people you really are.” 

Gemma laughed.  “You’re sounding a little crazy right now.”

“No, I’m actually the only sane one here,” Nicki said evenly.  “I’m the only one who can see that you’re not just two people – you’re two personalities.  You have everyone fooled, and that’s how no one else can see that you’re hiding your feelings for Damian.”  Nicki paused, gazing at Elizabeth once again.  “The same way that she’s hiding her feelings for Tyler.”

Gemma scoffed.  “Whatever you say.”

“Not everyone can act as blasé as you when they find out that someone is interested in their boyfriend,” Nicki said, gulping down the last of her wine.  “But then again, I guess I should’ve expected that reaction from you when you’re cheating on Tyler Chase.”

Gemma glared.  She wanted to ask Nicki if she was kidding or not, if she was just saying things to get a rise out of her – perhaps a picture-worthy reaction.  But she kept her mouth shut, opting to give herself a simple reminder. 
Watch out for that one.

~