Olivia caught sight of herself and her twin next to each other in the mirror. Sometimes they looked like night and day with their different skin tones and dress sense. But at times like this, when they were switching, it showed how much, underneath it all, they were just the same – sisters and best friends.
‘No matter what,’ Olivia said to Ivy amid the chaos of the bathroom, ‘we’ll figure this thing out.’
‘But we won’t!’ Brendan called from the other end of the counter with Jackson. He was holding a long black wig in his right hand and a short blonde one in his left. He had four different necklaces around his neck and was wearing a loose pink shirt with a long green skirt. ‘Help!’
Olivia cracked up and Ivy joined in, holding her hands to her stomach.
‘No one is going to believe you’re a movie star!’ Ivy said.
‘Hey,’ said Brendan defensively, ‘this was your idea.’
Ivy kissed him on the nose. ‘I know, and it’s going to work too.’
‘But not with you looking like that!’ Olivia declared. She handed Brendan an oversized blue sweater. ‘Pink is definitely not your colour. Lose the shirt.’
Brendan eagerly complied, ripping off the shirt and flexing his muscles.
‘And since you don’t exactly fit the body-shape of an up-and-coming female star . . .’ Olivia went on, ‘we’ll have to aim for as much distraction as possible.’ She handed over a long blonde wig and white sunglasses.
Ivy’s plan for Operation Escape was to have lots of possible mystery actresses to throw the creepy photographers off the real trail.
Olivia and a glammed-up Camilla were going to form one pair to lead off as many paps as they could, while Ivy-as-Olivia and Brendan-as-mysterious-movie-star led the rest in the opposite direction. Jackson would play himself with a Hollywood-ised Sophia as a third possibility. Ivy’s plan was that the photographers would become so confused and fed up that they’d give up and go back to California.
‘What are you going to do about the shoes?’ Camilla asked, pointing at Brendan’s huge steel-toed boots.
‘Well, I can’t wear little sandals,’ Brendan declared. ‘I haven’t had my pedicure.’ He and Jackson cracked up and Ivy rolled her eyes.
‘Your hairy toes would give you away,’ she shot back.
‘How about these?’ Camilla said. They were pink sneakers that looked just about big enough.
‘They don’t exactly go with my outfit,’ Brendan teased. ‘But they’ll be good for when we have to run.’
‘They will have to do,’ Ivy replied. As Brendan hopped around, putting on the sneakers, she barked out her orders. ‘We need to divide, conquer, and confuse the paparazzi until they give up.’
When Brendan finally stopped hopping, Ivy called out, ‘Troops, line up!’
Olivia obeyed, along with everyone else. Her five friends stood to attention in front of the bathroom mirror.
Sophia, standing next to Jackson, was wearing all black, with huge black sunglasses, red lipstick and a plastic Chihuahua poking out from her bright red handbag.
‘Check,’ Ivy said.
Beside Olivia, Camilla was wearing a broad-brimmed straw hat, a white floaty dress with Grecian sandals and had a copy of the script for Romezog and Julietron, a sci-fi version of Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet, which she’d recently directed.
‘Check,’ Ivy said again.
Ivy marched to the end of the line and slipped her arm through Brendan’s. He looked utterly ridiculous, but in that eccentric Hollywood way. Olivia smiled – even dressed up all strange, they were a perfect couple.
‘Ready?’ Ivy asked everyone.
But before everyone could reply, there was a clank from inside one of the bathroom cubicles.
Olivia whipped her head around and a hush fell over her friends. There’s someone else in here!
‘If you don’t come out, I’m going to start opening doors,’ Ivy called out.
Olivia heard an exasperated sigh and the click of a lock.