The Insiders (The Insiders Trilogy #1) - Tijan Page 0,117
father was doing this. It was time. And with that reassurance in my head, I trusted that all would be fine as long as Kash was next to me.
I was wrong.
FIFTY-TWO
I broke the “Be with Kash at all times” rule within the first hour.
He got called away for a security briefing, and my stomach growled. And me being the super smart one, I went for brunch. But—score again!—I snuck in. Grabbed a fancy-looking doughnut, a coffee, an apple for the nutrition gods, and got back to the villa with nothing happening.
I could hear the energy outside, the conversations, laughter.
It got louder and louder as the day went on.
Chrissy texted to check in. I was fine, and that appeased her. She was getting fitted for a dress for the whole day. Matt checked in too. He was at the main house, his friends had just arrived, and he wanted to know if I wanted to come join. I declined, stating I was getting ready in Kash’s villa.
To an extent, I was. Sorta.
I’d had all my fittings the week prior, and one of Martha’s team members brought over a few different options for me to wear for the day. Actually, they brought more than a few options. I had a whole rack. Three different outfits to choose from for breakfast. Three more for brunch, and four different dresses for the evening.
Hair was scheduled in the morning, in Quinn’s bedroom, but they should have known I wouldn’t go there. I could do my own hair. How bad could it be? Pin it up. Put in a fancy brooch, and voilà. Fashion-magazine ready.
Wrong. So wrong.
I was panicking by around two o’clock. Kash was still doing his thing, whatever that was, and my hair was flat as a pancake. I needed help, stat.
My options were limited. My mother, but I didn’t want to endure any griping she might do about the party in general. Matt, who … was probably wasted and balls deep in some girl. Let’s be honest here. So I called Torie.
“What’s up, superstar?”
Music sounded from where she was. I frowned. “Are you working?”
She laughed. “Hardly. But kind of. Your man wanted me at your shindig in case you needed any help.”
She was a gift.
“Know anything about hair?”
She laughed. “I don’t, but my roommate’s a hair stylist. Want me to sneak her in?”
I hesitated, but decided. “Yes. Give me her name first, though.”
Tamara Harris.
She was roommates with Torie—
“What’s your last name?”
Torie chuckled. “Hanson.”
Right.
After I did a quick search for her on my own, sending Kash the details of what was happening, she was flagged through, and an hour later I was looking back and forth between the two. Tamara had platinum blond hair that framed her face so it looked like a heart. She had plump lips, heavy red lipstick, smoky eye shadow, and thick eyeliner. She was wearing a plaid cropped skirt and a white button-down shirt, tied at the waist. Black hooker boots that ended at her calves.
Next to her, with her brown hair slicked down, looking like it was wet, but that was how it was styled, was Torie. She was wearing a black leather skirt. The same white button-down shirt, but it wasn’t tied at the waist. It was left out, the ends hanging over her skirt. And she had cream white heels with diamonds on the straps.
They were fashionably edgy.
They were aliens.
I felt two feet tall in front of them and had only the latte Torie had brought from the house as my shield. I gripped it tight.
Tamara nodded with her, eyes never leaving me. “Freaking. Totally freaking.”
Oh. Gah. I was.
My lip quivered. “I am not.”
They both snorted. “You are a shit liar right now.”
Tamara added her two cents, still nodding. “Bad liar when freaking.”
“Totally.” Torie grunted.
Neither ever looked at the other. They remained fixed on me.
That was freaky.
I gulped, and Torie saw the motion, her eyes narrowing. “Right. Okay.” She was taking charge.
Thank God.
“Show us the goods. Tamara will do your hair, and I’ll do your nails.”
My nails? I held them up.
As if reading my mind, she laughed. “No way you’re heading out there to that group without a proper mani and pedi. Get in the shower. We’ll pick your outfit.”
I was out of my league. I recognized it now. And after showering, I gave up any control I might have been trying to cling to.
Torie and Tamara could have their own reality or beauty show. They both moved around