Beautiful People - Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Andre Bernard-DeSantos was a twenty-one-year-old model-actor-influencer whose first blockbuster film, Mellow the Stars, would be releasing wide in July. Vera had first seen him on Youtube when she was in high school and he was just a goofy kid with big dreams. Now he was step-on-me-daddy hot with a smile that could start wars and absolutely brimming with talent, but because he had come up through the internet, Hollywood had only just noticed him.
It was a lot of noticing, though. Everyone wanted a piece - to date him, to party with him, to work with him. He'd most recently been seen out for dinner with Carmen Juarez, with whom he was about to start filming his next project. The gossips had immediately latched on--what an upgrade for Carmen, from bland boy-next-door Troy Dicks to the hottest new guy in town. Her comeback deserved a boyfriend glow up that big. And when Andre needed a stylist for both the Los Angeles and international premieres of Mellow the Stars, Carmen's stylist Vera Kwan was the one his team called.
She'd only let out a small scream when she heard the request. Or so she told herself. She may have woken Sharise in the room next door with her yelp, but she would deny that forever.
Vera met him at Bea's studio, which she had agreed to lease part-time until she figured out a more permanent solution. The meeting went smoothly--as it should have, considering Vera stayed up all night to make sure she got it right. This was not a client she wanted to let down. He was easy to work with, adoring her suggestions and adding twists of his own. Vera was starting to feel spoiled with all these breezy clients. Andre would be the fifth to sign her, and the most high profile after Marina. The most high profile she could claim publicly until she was ready to tell Carmen about Marina, but Andre didn't seem worried about her lack of experience.
"You get the struggle of the old-school Hollywood asslickers not taking you seriously because you didn't come at this business the "right" way, and I think that's what makes your work stand out so much. I'm so pumped to work with you," he said, shaking hands vigorously with both Vera and Jay and blinding them with his spotlight smile. He didn't notice Lily at all.
His entourage, smaller than Marina's but bigger than Carmen's, trailed out after him when he left. In his wake, Vera draped garment bags over the suits and tuxedos and embroidered silk jackets on the rack, then organized a handful of fabric samples to keep their chosen selections on top, lips pursed. At her side, Jay packed up his brushes from the makeup test.
"That went great," Vera said, smoothing her palm over the lush earth-brown velvet they'd chosen for the Tokyo premiere.
"You didn't swoon even a little bit," Jay teased.
"I told you I'm not an embarrassing fangirl anymore. You were pretty swoony, though."
He shrugged, grinning. "What can I say. Andre is a whole damn meal. Was it just me or was he flirting with me?"
"It was just you," Lily said coolly.
"I can't believe it's starting to feel normal for me to just, like, meet a new celeb," Vera said. "They want to work with me. Honestly a dream. I'm so glad I finally get to do some menswear."
"I want that purple tux you had him in," Jay said dreamily. "Those shoulders, though." He pressed two fingers to his lips. "Wish menswear designers would think about us poor fools with hips and asses, though. Pants just don't sit the same, you know?"
Tucking the fabric samples away into her new, oversized purse, more practical than the small cross-body she'd worn for years, Vera frowned. "I never thought about that. Do you have to get everything tailored?"
"Not everything, and I've found a few good inclusive designers, but it ain't easy."
"I don't wear standard sizes either, so I feel that." Vera rolled the rack of suits back into the corner and covered them with the cloth. "Thanks for letting me recommend you to him."
Jay threw her a wink. "Of course. That's the game, isn't it? Did you think I introduced you to Bea because I like you?"
Vera snorted out a laugh. "Are you saying you don't like me?"
"You know I like you, y'all don't need to fish for compliments." Jay snapped the clasps shut on his makeup case. "It's hard for us outsiders. We gotta look out for each other, you know?"
"Yeah, we do," Lily muttered from the other side of the room.
Jay narrowed his eyes at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
"Why don't you get the car, honey." He turned away with a dismissive flick of his pearly nails.
Letting out a loud huff, Lily threw her hair over her shoulder and shoved out through the doors. Jay pushed out a long, melodramatic sigh.
"I think I made a mistake with that one, Vee."
"Yeah, what's going on with you two?" Vera asked, glancing at her notifications before she slung her purse over her shoulder. She probably shouldn't have bothered. She couldn't keep up with her mentions anymore.
"Okay, first of all, none of this is my fault. I told her I wasn't looking for anything serious. But I'm pretty sure she caught feelings."
"Wait." Vera stared at him, mouth hanging open a little. "You and Lily?"
"It's just casual," Jay said grumpily. "Or it was supposed to be, anyway."
"Okay, wow. I definitely thought you were..."
Jay raised both eyebrows. "You thought I was what?"
"Well." Vera's face warmed. "I mean, I thought you were gay."
Jay laughed as he shrugged into his denim jacket, dozens of enamel pins along the shoulders catching the light. "Aren't you bi? What are you doing making assumptions about people's sexuality?"
Vera made a face and held the door open for him, hot air washing over her. Summer had swamped the city when she wasn't paying attention, dry, breathless heat that made her want to shave her already-short hair right down to her scalp. "You're right. Sorry for assuming. I've just never met such a flamboyant guy who wasn't gay."
"Gender expression and sexual orientation are not the same thing, girl."
"I know, I'm a shallow bitch, I'm sorry." She bit her lip as she locked the door. "Just so I'm sure I'm not making more assumptions-- you're not straight, though?"
"Naw, I'm obviously queer as hell." Jay examined his nails. "My dating standards might be higher than Mount Everest, but a hot person is a hot person no matter their gender."
"Okay, but I feel that." Vera tapped her heel against the curb and looked down the street for Lily and the car. "Are you sure this situation isn't at all your fault, though? Wasn't it kind of a bad idea to hook up with Lily in the first place, since she, y'know, works for you?"
"You're calling me out for that when you went for Sharise and made every U-Haul lesbian look bad with your efficiency?"
"We're roommates."
"Of course. Totally platonic. Did you or did you not wake up in mama Sharise's bed this morning?"
Vera adjusted her pleated skirt primly and didn't answer that. He was already grinning at her, so he didn't need to know that despite having set up her stuff in the second bedroom when she moved in a week ago, Vera had slept in Sharise's bed four out of the past seven nights. And he didn't need to know that waking up every day to find the most beautiful woman she had ever met in her bed or in the kitchen making coffee made her happier than she'd been in a long, long time. And he definitely didn't need to know that she had started daydreaming about Sharise's clothes, filling her notebooks with brand-new designs inspired by those curves and great legs and Sharise's taste in color and home decor.
"You're supposed to be telling me what's up with you and Lily."
Jay rolled his eyes skyward. "We agreed it would be no-strings-attached, one-hundred-percent-no-feelings casual sex. Then, last night, she asked me out to dinner. Do you consider dinner casual?"
Vera thought about that first date with Sharise and how ridiculous it was that she'd tried to convince herself it wasn't a date. "Not really."
"Exactly. So now she's mad at me because I didn't want to do dinner and I reminded her that she agreed to not make this anything more than sex."
Vera winced in sympathy. "Are you sure she didn't mean it as like, friends? Or colleagues?"
"You're reaching." Jay shifted his makeup case under his arm and pouted. "Now I have to somehow manage this like I'm a functioning adult. At least I haven't messed things up as badly as Carmen and Marina. I still can't believe Marina just told you she made a pass at Carmen. I mean, they weren't subtle, and a lot of us had our suspicions, but she's not exactly publicly out."
Vera's delicately musical ringtone interrupted her response as Lily pulled up to the curb with the car. It was a private number, not the designer she'd been expecting to hear back from. Awkwardly juggling purse and phone, she answered with a frown.
"Bitch, I need you here now," Carmen said on the other end of the line, as though she called Vera up to order her around every day.
Heart dropping, Vera glanced at Jay with wide eyes. Somehow she kept her voice steady. "Is something wrong? I wasn't expecting to talk to you until Friday and I haven't finished--"
"Do you really expect me to explain myself? Just get your skinny ass over here right now." Carmen hung up before she could reply, exactly like Vera always did when she was annoyed at Ivy and didn't want to let her have the last word.
She swallowed hard. Her hands were shaking.
"You good, girl?" Jay asked, leaning on the open car door. "You look like you just got some really bad news."
"I'm okay." She stitched on a smile and pulled up an app to call a ride. "I've got a fashion emergency to deal with. I'll see you guys later."
Jay looked skeptical, but all he said was, "Good luck."
Vera stared at the app for a heavy moment, at Carmen's address in the destination, before she accepted.
This was it. Somehow, even though she'd only dressed Marina once and it hadn't even been a front -page style, Carmen had found out, and now she was about to be fired. She wasn't ready.
At least she'd already signed the contract with Andre.