“That’s Nick’s M.O., not mine,” I teased. Nick had gotten himself into a world of trouble when he and Del first hooked up, not intending for it to be anything more than a one-night stand. But they both caught feels and screwed the whole thing up.
“And no. I’ve never even said more than five words to Lizzy. That’s why I’m steering clear. I didn’t have to do a single thing to stoke the flames of that little crush. Which means if I did ever lay a hand on her, she’d be head over heels. I’d only break her heart.”
“Hey, Lizzy’s a sweetheart,” Nick argued.
“Obviously,” answered Ben. “Which is why if she knows what’s good for her, she’ll stay away from Damon.”
“I just don’t like you talking about her like she’s some lovesick high school girl. She’s a grown woman, you know? Whether she has a crush or not, she deserves our respect,” Nick insisted.
Ben, Joey, and I blinked at each other and then looked back to Nick with twisted expressions. It wasn’t like we disagreed with anything he was saying, but he was beginning to sound less and less like the guy we knew.
“Of course she deserves our respect,” I said slowly, eyeing Nick like some alien creature had taken over his body. “But damn. Del is really doing a number on you.”
“Naw, it’s all good.” Ben flopped his hand through the air in a dismissive wave. “He’s just in that honeymoon phase. Give him six months and he’ll go back to normal. He’ll be making up excuses to get away from Del and begging us to go out to the strip club with him.”
My eyes grew wide as I perked up in my seat. “Wait. There’s a strip club in Cherry Falls?”
“Not within a hundred miles,” Joey replied with disappointment. I could tell it was something he had looked up recently.
“Not yet,” I said, pointing my finger in the air before pulling it down to my cheek as I stared off in deep thought. Ben picked up on what I was thinking and we exchanged a look of agreeing to revisit that topic later.
“Alright, enough chit-chatting,” Nick said, standing up and re-buttoning his suit jacket. “You guys in or out? I’m going either way and need to get home to shower. If you come to the show, we’ll probably all go out for drinks after.”
I considered it carefully. We had hung out with Lizzy tons of times, and while her crush may have been obvious, it was never awkward. An appearance at the fashion show to show support for local business was pretty much work and play all rolled into one, especially if there would be drinks after.
“Count me in.” I stood up as well, knowing I also needed to go home and shower.
“Yeah, okay,” Ben said. “Why not.”
Joey didn’t say anything, but he’d obviously be joining too. If all of us were in on something, it usually meant he was too. It’d be the same way for any one of us. It was rare to see just three of us at a time. Two, maybe. But once three were down, it automatically dragged the fourth person in too.
“Angel will be there too,” Nick said, tilting his head toward Joey.
Angel had been eyeing him the same way Lizzy looked at me. Like we were two juicy pieces of meat they were just dying to sink their teeth into. But even if Joey was interested, he’d never say a word about it. I noticed his cheeks turn a little pink, but he stayed stoic as ever.
“Let’s get this over with then,” I sighed, rushing toward the elevator. “The sooner we get to the show, the sooner we can get the hell out of there and hit the club. Joey and I can find less...complicated female company for the evening there.”
2
Lizzy
The backstage area of the fashion show was buzzing with models and stylists as we frantically worked to organize all the final details. Some of the models were professionals. It would have been hard to imagine a fashion show of this magnitude happening in Cherry Falls at all five years ago, much less with real models. These days it was commonplace for me to wait on celebrities when I was working at the diner. It used to make me all frazzled at first, but I was getting used to it.
“Can you believe all this?” Angel said with a hand on her hip as she surveyed the madness of the room.
“I was just thinking the same thing. And no, it’s all still a little hard to believe.”
“All those years Del and I would daydream of running off to a big city...who would have thought the big city life would end up coming to us?”
“At half of the price in rent,” I noted. “For now, anyways.”
Del emerged from the back, carefully studying her line-up of models. Each shop owner had eight to ten girls to show off their Fall season’s merchandise. Mixed in with the real models were regular old people from around town, including the woman who owned a salon next to Del’s shop. She was beaming in the flattering, chic dress that Del had chosen for her, all while she tended to the hair of the other models. Some of the shop owners, mostly the ones recently moved here, insisted on hiring expensive hair and makeup people for their models. But Del argued that the salon had been serving men, women, and children of all ages for all their hair needs for as long as she could remember. The salon owner’s skill beat out any rookies that could possibly be brought in, no matter what their going hourly rate would have you think.
“What do you guys think?” Del asked us in nervous breathlessness once she had finally made her way up to the front of the room where we were standing.
“It all looks amazing,” I smiled. “I organized all the accessories like you asked. They’re all lined up here.”
“Perfect.” She turned to one of her assistants. “Make sure Carla gets that broach pinned to her suit before walking out. It’s what ties the whole look together. And I paid a pretty penny for my stock of those and really want to push them this next season.”
“The jade one? Or turquoise?”
“Jade, of course! It pops against the red accessories. Turquoise would be a disaster. Too summery.”
The assistant recoiled a little, as if she felt stupid. But she quickly brushed it off and got back to work.
“Listen to you,” Angel grinned. “You sound like a real fashion industry badass boss bitch.”
Del flipped her hair playfully. “Because I am.”
“Damn straight, girl. Own it. Hey, we’re going to go out and take our seats. You coming?”
“You two go ahead without me. I’ll be out in a bit. I want to stay back here and make sure nothing goes wrong between now and go time.”
We exchanged hugs and kisses on the cheek for encouragement and good luck before filing out of the backstage area and into the auditorium seating. The new venue had been recently constructed when Nick and his guys realized with all the growth in Cherry Falls, there was money to be made in an event space that served as an alternative to the high school gymnasium. That gym had hosted every big gathering in our town for our whole lives, but it wasn’t exactly the right vibe for things like fashion shows.
Soon after we claimed our reserved seats in the front row VIP section, we saw Nick and the others come in through the front door. He scanned the room until he saw me waving and made his way over with a smile.