Beautiful People - Chapter 16: Chapter 16

"So, wait." Jay leaned forward in the leather seat. "Did Carmen really see your tits?"
Vera choked on her sip of ice-cold water.
Deep red lips peeled back to bare his teeth in wicked delight. "Don't be embarrassed. We all saw Carmen shove a cup up her pussy. Plus, it's not like you've got anything for her to see."
"Excuse me," Vera scoffed, setting down her sweating glass just a little too firmly. "My boobs are very nice, thank you."
"I hate to break it to you, Vee, but when you turn sideways you disappear."
"Bitch. Some people work hard for that. I'm just naturally two-dimensional."
Gold eyeshadow glimmered in the dim light as Jay threw his head back, cackling. "Two-dimensional! I love that."
Around them, the tiny restaurant burst with chatter and the clatter of dishes. Gaudy gold decor mirrored the shimmer of Jay's makeup, and savoury scents of tomatoes and cumin saturated the air. They were waiting on Bea. Vera's stomach pinched with hunger.
Stiletto tapping an impatient rhythm against the tile floor, she swallowed another mouthful of water. Maybe she could trick her stomach into calming down until she could fill it. Jay swore his aunt made the best curry in LA, but right then Vera would have been more than happy with greasy daal and lukewarm naan from a chain restaurant, delivered to her hotel room and eaten in pyjamas in front of the TV.
"At least someone seems to appreciate what you've got," Jay said with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows. "Should I be expecting mama Sharise to be blissed out on love next time I see her?"
Vera grinned. "I don't kiss and tell."
"You just did."
"Okay, but I don't tell details."
"Girl, you told me all about how your ex-boyfriend liked his blowjobs first thing in the morning when he was still all ball-stanky with risk of dick cheese."
With a snort of laughter, Vera shoved him in the arm. "This's different. Alex was an asshole. And you know Sharise."
Jay wrinkled his nose. "Actually, you're right. I don't want details. That'd be like listening to my dad tell me how my mom likes it." He shuddered theatrically.
A harried waitress in jeans and a fringed red scarf appeared beside them and began speaking rapidly in Hindi. Jay laughed and responded at length, then said to Vera, "My aunt's getting impatient with us. She's gonna send the food out and Bea will just have to deal."
Vera's stomach growled. "I'm not complaining."
But the food arriving steaming to their table must have been some kind of signal, because Vera had barely reached for the jasmine rice when a short woman waddled through the narrow gap between their table and the next. Jay leaped up to give her a hug, and Vera took the moment to look her over. Tight curls formed a short halo of afro above her round face and the faintest lines creased the corners of her eyes, as though she smiled a lot. Her tight red dress stretched over a belly so big it looked like it should have knocked her right over, which was probably why she cupped it gently with one hand through the hug--to hold herself up.
Jay introduced them. Vera accepted her handshake, proud of herself for not even being weird about. She was getting better at this whole professionalism thing.
Bea sank into her chair with a sigh of enormous relief. "I expected the chick who convinced Carmen to wear her own period blood down a red carpet would be more intimidating," she said, rubbing her belly.
Vera made a face. "Why is everyone's first reaction to say I look like a kid or something?"
"Well, when you're expecting twins, you find yourself thinking about kids a lot," Bea said with a small laugh. "But baby-face or not, I'm impressed. Carmen was a nightmare to style. You're a miracle worker."
"Vera and Carmen get along because they're the same level of immature," Jay said.
"Hey!"
"That look though," Bea said, reaching for the spoon to scoop herself a heap of rice. "That look was incredible. Iconic. I mean, I cringe just thinking about it, but damn. People are gonna talk about that for years."
Vera couldn't help her huge grin. It was still strange and thrilling to hear such praise for her vision.
"Did you really plan it all in advance?" Bea asked. "It seems incredible that Carmen would have agreed to it."
"Well... " Vera didn't want to admit that the most memorable part of the look had come from a terrible mistake. But Jay was sitting right there. He knew exactly how it had happened. "It was definitely a challenge to convince her," she said vaguely.
Jay shoveled curry into his mouth. "So Marina ain't happy, huh?"
"Oh, Marina's flaming mad. She didn't even wanna be there, and then to have Carmen outclass her so badly--" Bea laughed again. "And stealing her charity cause out from under her was a low blow. Carmen just started quite the feud."
Mixing sauce into dry rice on her plate, Vera said, "Carmen didn't start it."
"Oh, honey," Jay said. "You're cute."
"Are you a loyalist?" Bea asked, this small smile quirking her lips. "Am I wasting my time making my case for why you should take Marina's job offer?"
Vera's face heated up at their condescending tones. She had been in Hollywood a month. She wasn't the same embarrassing fangirl who had stepped off the plane. "Tell me what it's about and I'll think about it."
Bea and Jay exchanged looks. Then Bea set her fork down and gestured to her very pregnant belly. "You might've noticed I've got myself in a bit of a situation."
"Yeah, uh, congrats?" Vera probably should have said that sooner, but she wasn't very good at the whole baby and pregnancy thing. The idea of a little parasite growing inside her was the stuff of nightmares. Not that she would mind being a mom, someday, a long way in the future. But pregnancy, with the weight gain and the growing hair on her stomach and the loose pelvis and the risk of blood clots and diabetes and who knew what else-- she would leave that to people who believed childbirth was a miracle instead of a messy, dangerous thing to do.
"Thanks." Bea grinned like she could sense Vera's unease. "I'm due at the beginning of August. It's bad timing. Marina's got a film premiering at TIFF, and I'm gonna be wrangling two infants during festival season and the runup to it."
Biting her lip, Vera nodded. She had already been thinking ahead to festival season, when Carmen's Merry Sanders film was also coming out. It would be a chaos of photocalls and red carpets and parties for weeks on end. Venice, then Toronto, then New York. The back-to-back schedule of the festivals was intimidating, and if she could make it happen, New York Fashion Week was sandwiched in there, too. She couldn't imagine doing it with children in tow.
"With the babies coming, I've actually been thinking about getting out of the celebrity stylist game altogether," Bea went on, twisting her white gold engagement ring around and around, the small teardrop-shaped diamond catching the dim light. "The lifestyle isn't great for parenting, and I've got a line on a position with Vogue that would be more manageable, more flexible hours. I've all but signed the paperwork. I'm not worried about my other clients, but Marina wants me to stay on, and I hate to let her down. I want to help her transition smoothly."
Vera chewed thoughtfully on a pepper, her lips tingling with the heat. "Okay. So Marina needs a new stylist. But why me?"
"You caught Nia's attention."
"That's it?"
"Your work speaks for itself, girl," Jay said, scooping himself another plateful from the small copper bowls.
Vera warmed slightly. "Thanks, Jay."
Jay winked at her. "When you're famous, I expect to be invited to all the parties."
Gesturing with her fork, Bea said, "I've seen some of your work. You have a unique vision. And I trust Jay's opinion. Marina is still young. I think it would be great if she could work with someone who still has a lot of career ahead of them."
"She's not worried about her rival already being my client?"
Jay and Bea both laughed very loudly.
"Carmen might see Nia as her rival," Bea said, in a tone like she was speaking to a small child. "But Marina is A-list. Sure, they acted together in that movie five years ago. But Marina's only gone up from there. And Carmen's only gone down. They're not anywhere near the same level anymore."
It wasn't like she was wrong, but Vera couldn't help feeling a little angry on Carmen's behalf. She couldn't deny she was interested in the offer, but the possibility for drama made her wary. Crossing her right leg over her left, she leaned forward. "Okay, so Marina sees my talent. But I might lose Carmen's business if I go work for Marina."
Bea shook her head. "Are you really gonna pass up the chance to work for someone with a profile like Marina's? She was nominated for an Oscar last year. There are hundreds of wannabe stylists who wish they were in your shoes right now."
"Yeah, but not all of them have done what I did with Carmen's Teen Taste look," Vera said with more confidence than she felt. "You're the one who's here begging me to do it. So tell me why it's worth it to me."
Bea pursed her lips and tilted her head thoughtfully. "Carmen's got a nice closet, but it's limited. She's gonna run out of pieces you can style the way you've been styling her. That robe she wore to Teen Taste? I mean, it was gorgeous, and you did great things with it, but we both know that went down the runway four years ago. That's not even vintage. That's just out of date."
"I'm gonna reach out to designers," Vera said, trying not to sound huffy because it irked her that Bea was talking like Vera hadn't thought about all this. Like she didn't believe Vera really knew what she was doing, despite this whole thing being Bea's initiative. "If we raise her profile enough they'll be begging to dress her."
"Maybe." Bea shrugged and tugged wrinkles out of her dress over her belly. "Or maybe they'll see you as a one-hit wonder. As your looks get worse, they'll go back to ignoring Carmen. But if you take on Marina, I can help you."
Vera grit her teeth. "How?"
"I've been doing this for a while. I have connections. I know people at every major fashion house. I can tell you who to talk to. For Marina. For Carmen." Bea smiled like she knew she was about to drop the one thing Vera couldn't say no to. "Or for you. You're a blogger, right? An influencer? You want to get invited to New York Fashion Week? You want a byline in Vogue? I can't make those things happen for you, but I can tell you who you need to know to make those things happen."
Vera could taste her heart in her throat. She laid her fork beside her plate, not hungry anymore. Suddenly it felt like she could reach out and touch it-- fashion week, her name on the schedule, models strutting the runway in Vera's designs. The image dazzled her imagination. All it required was taking on Carmen's enemy as a client.
She wanted to say yes. After working so hard to prove herself to Carmen, Bea was here just offering this to her. She knew her hesitation was absurd. But Carmen would be furious if she knew Vera was considering this. And Vera owed Carmen everything.
Her foot tapped frenetically against the floor as Bea chewed on a mouthful of rice and paneer, looking unconcerned.
Those connections... It was exactly what Vera needed to take the next step in her own career. It would be criminal to pass this up.
It wasn't like that obnoxious NDA said anything about not taking on other clients. Maybe Sharise could help her explain it to Carmen.
"Okay, enough work talk!" Jay clapped his hands together. "Tonight we're celebrating! Will you two please finish eating? I wanna take you to my favourite cocktail bar, and then we're hitting the clubs."
"Are you sure Bea wants to go dancing?" Vera asked, eyeing her huge belly.
Bea's eyes crinkled. "When you're pregnant is the best time to go clubbing. You get all the space you want on the dance floor."
They finished the meal, cleaning every dish thoroughly. Vera agreed it was the best curry she'd had in LA, and they split the bill. Even though Jay's family refused to give them a discount, it was cheap, which made it especially embarrassing when Vera's debit card was declined. She had to put her portion on credit.
They caught a ride to the cocktail bar, which was cozy and done up in old-fashioned decor, velvet and glittering crystal chandeliers. Over cocktails and a soda water, Bea told them about the horrors of in vitro fertilization and Jay talked about his dream to open a salon where he would offer free styling for trans people. Vera tried to make one drink last two hours and wondered if Marina would pay more than Carmen.
Styling Carmen alone had kept her busy for a month. Doing it for both Marina and Carmen through the hectic festival season would require a lot more planning and organization than she had managed so far. Vera found herself thinking about timelines and schedules and which designers she would want to approach for each of them. She'd need to do her homework on Marina's style history. Excitement ran up her spine.
Later, as they tapped out onto the sidewalk beneath soft streetlights to catch a ride to the club, Vera leaned close to Bea and asked, "Have you met Fatima Bhatia?"
Bea's smile was wicked. "Honey, Nia wore a Bhatia dress at the Oscars last year."
"Oh my God, how could I forget that?" Vera gasped. "The one that looked like the ocean come alive."
"That's the one. Highlight of my career," Bea added dreamily, rubbing her distended belly.
"That look was orgasmic," Vera said.
Shivers of thrill ran down her limbs as she imagined Carmen wearing the sunset-pink dress from the fall/winter Bhatia collection that had started this whole thing, and she knew she had her answer. If Bea could introduce her to her idol, the designer whose work she had lusted after for years-- Vera would have to be crazy to say no to that.
Even if she had to keep it secret from Carmen.