Beautiful People - Chapter 7: Chapter 7

Getting Carmen to commit to anything was a nightmare.
Vera left that first day thinking they had a solid plan: Carmen had bought into the strategy, they had started to put together some simple daily looks that were more intentional than her usual choices but not so wild that she was uncomfortable wearing them, and had discussed goals for the upcoming events. When Sharise dropped her off at her hotel, Vera was exhausted but satisfied. She spent some time reviewing the photos she had taken of Carmen playing dress up, making notes and sketching out ideas. She even managed to write out and schedule three posts to satisfy her neglected followers. She slept so deeply she didn't dream at all.
But when Vera went back the next morning, Carmen had decided she didn't like any of the looks they had designed and wanted to have an existential discussion about the necessity of the whole strategy.
"I promise I won't try to force you to wear anything you're not comfortable in." Vera spread her hands, palms up, pleading. "The whole point is for you to feel great about what you're wearing. I just want a chance to convince you to take some risks."
Hands on her hips, Carmen turned to look at herself sideways in the floor-length mirror. She was wearing a structured navy blue dress with tiny crystals swirling over her hip and down her leg like stars in the Milky Way. Vera had found it tucked in the back corner getting dusty and thought it would be a safe step out from Carmen's usual look, perfect for the party she was attending the next day (Semi-formal, read Sharise's notes in the schedule).
Carmen wrinkled her nose. "It's gonna make people think I'm pregnant." She tugged at the loose fabric over her stomach and waist. "Baby bump watch is serious business."
"It just needs some alterations," Vera said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Unless something is custom, it's not gonna fit the way you want it to at first. Didn't Bea ever get anything altered?"
"How would I know? I like the other dress better."
The other dress was a pink silk slip dress, exactly the sort of thing Carmen always wore.
Vera stifled a sigh. "Okay, I'll put together looks for each of them and you can decide tomorrow. Just let me pin this one up before you take it off. I won't suggest you go out in something that doesn't fit."
After the fitting was done, Carmen flitted off to do something else. Vera worked on alone. With the two dresses and her notes on colour in hand, she picked through the racks of shoes and boxes of jewelry for the perfect pieces to turn both dresses from an outfit into a statement. She agonized over accessories: socks, tights, or bare feet? Simple necklace, elaborate, or bare neck? Earrings? Bracelets or rings?
And equally important: hair and makeup. She didn't know what she was going to do about that.
Vera set up her sewing machine in the sunniest corner and was bent over the finicky waist darts of the blue dress when Sharise appeared in the doorway. She didn't step inside, just hovered with her palm on the frame, watching Vera measure and fold and pin and adjust and pin again.
After a while, Sharise said, "Sorry to interrupt."
Vera looked up. The smile that bent her lips pricked. "Ouch," she mumbled, pulling half a dozen needles out of her mouth.
Sharise's lips twitched in that way Vera was already becoming familiar with. "That looks dangerous."
Shoving the whole handful of pins into her crocheted-pig pincushion, Vera said, "It's a bad habit. I'm glad you're here. I forgot to ask Carmen about the--" she gestured in the direction of her own face "--hair and makeup situation."
"She's got a hair and makeup artist. Jaypal. He'll be here tomorrow with his assistant before the party."
Vera frowned. "I wanted to talk to him before we jump right in."
Sharise nodded. Vera wished she would just come inside instead of standing awkwardly in the doorway like the clothes would attack her if she got too close.
"I'll ask him if he can get here a little early to coordinate. Right now I'm gonna pick up some lunch." Sharise propped a hand on her hip. "Any special requests?"
"I'm vegetarian." Then, quickly, "But you don't have to get me anything."
Her stomach chose that very inconvenient moment to let out a rude gurgle, loud enough that Sharise could surely hear it even across the room.
"Maybe you'll be hungry later," Sharise said, a wicked twinkle in her dark eyes. "I know a place that does amazing veggie paninis, if you eat carbs."
Vera grinned. "I eat anything. Thanks, Sharise."
"Can't let you starve to death. Would look bad on my references."
Vera's laughter was half a snort. Somehow Sharise's dust-dry jokes still surprised her.
The next day, Jaypal arrived early, as promised. He was swathed in bright colours and glittery eyeshadow and wasn't freakishly tall like everyone else here, which made Vera feel at ease immediately. Sharise introduced them, and, like Carmen, he went in for a hug.
"Just call me Jay," he said, as Sharise slipped out of the room. "Please. I didn't pick Jaypal just so everyone could butcher the pronunciation. And girl, you don't know how glad I am to see you." He patted her shoulder enthusiastically. "I love Carmen, but she needs someone to knock some wisdom into her pretty head. I can't make her look fabulous all on my own."
"I'm glad someone agrees that Carmen needs help," Vera said, chuckling.
Jay's laughter was bright as the summer sun. He folded his hands together. His manicure was impeccable, glossy nails like perfect pearls against his rich brown skin. "Tell me your vision. Let's make our girl shine."
Jay enthusiastically supported the blue dress ("Oh my God, yes, anything other than pink," he said passionately) and together they decided on dramatic makeup and straight hair with a middle part. With Vera's alterations, the dress fit Carmen perfectly. She looked like a goddess of the night sky.
But she frowned at herself in the mirror and said, "It's pretty, but it's not sexy."
"Girl, you make it sexy," Jay said, and Vera was so glad to finally have someone on her side she could have cried.
But Carmen didn't agree, so they went with the pink one. Carmen did agree to the rose-coloured net stockings with floral patterns on them Vera suggested, and she let Jay give her the scrunchy wet-look curls he suggested. Red boots and spiky gold jewelry completed the look.
Carmen seemed to love it when she was all made up and admiring herself in the mirror, but to Vera it felt like they had fought a great battle to get there--and while the coherency of the vision was a move in the right direction, the whole thing was barely half a step edgier than Carmen's usual choices.
Vera went home exhausted and spent the night revisiting all her ideas. The blue dress hadn't even been that daring. How could she ever get Carmen into anything bolder?
With great difficulty, it would seem. They fell into a sort of routine of indecision. For each occasion, Vera would lay out two options, one usually a little more daring than the other; Carmen would like one, with changes, or neither, and Vera would have to start over.
Sometimes when Carmen couldn't decide whether or not she liked a look, she would call Sharise in and do a little twirl.
"It looks beautiful," Sharise would say, and Carmen would huff and send her away.
"I know she has opinions," Carmen said to Vera, rolling her eyes. "She just doesn't want to hurt my feelings."
Despite all attempts at planning, looks came together at the last minute. Several times Vera found herself frantically digging through shoes as Carmen was about to walk out the door in her strappy black sandals which were never the right choice for the look she was in.
The one bright spot each day was when Sharise brought Vera lunch: paninis and soup and noodle bowls and salads and once bingsu for dessert. Sometimes they would eat together out in the sun by the pool, but more often Sharise had other things to do and Vera would eat alone before going back to her sewing machine.
Vera watched Carmen's press as studiously as Carmen did for those first two weeks. There were the usual murmurs about her style on the gossip blogs, but not the jump in buzz Vera had hoped for. Carmen's reputation for boring style was too well cemented, and they were playing it too safe. She was starting to worry they'd have to do something really risky to get the attention she had promised.
By the end of the second week, the novelty of being in LA and working for Carmen fucking Juarez had thoroughly worn off and the drudgery set in. Vera was always tired and growing more frustrated by the day. Carmen was uncooperative. Vera had been taking photos and videos with the idea of creating a sort of behind-the-scenes series, but she hadn't yet managed one style win splashy enough to post to her own channels.
It was when she was laying out the options for Carmen's morning show appearance that Vera felt like they finally made a breakthrough. The first promotional materials for the Merry Sanders film were dropping during the broadcast, but Carmen had shown Vera her early access samples. The movie looked like a serious drama, very emotional, and from the small snippets available, Carmen looking amazing in it.
Jumping off from the tone of the movie, Vera had styled two looks, one a leather skirt and beaded white t-shirt, the other wide-legged plaid pants and a simple white blouse worn unbuttoned low. Both were intended to be worn with a long plaid trench coat and brocade ankle boots for the paparazzi who would be waiting outside the studio. To her shock, Carmen liked the pants, easily the riskier of the two looks.
"I feel like they shouldn't, but these pants make my ass look so good," Carmen said, admiring herself in the mirror. "And I love this shirt." She adjusted her boobs in the black leather bra just visible in the plunging neckline. "It's a lot of plaid with the coat, though. I'd rather wear the white coat."
"It is a lot. That's the point," Vera said, crossing her fingers behind her back. They'd already had this conversation at least a dozen times. "Don't stop halfway. Be as extra as possible."
Carmen shrugged into the coat again, then turned back and forth in front of the mirror, holding onto the lapels. She pushed her tumble of long curls back over her shoulders.
"Jay suggested a tight, high ponytail, or a topknot," Vera said, bouncing on her toes. "Keep the focus on the clothes without the busyness overwhelming your face."
Sweeping her hair into one hand, Carmen held a high ponytail on top of her head and pouted at herself. "It's weird but cute," she said, finally. "I'm feeling it. Let's do it."
Vera let out a small squeal of delight. Carmen giggled and threw her a slow wink.
Of course, the next morning Carmen had changed her mind. She demanded the skirt and t-shirt be packed too, as well as the white coat.
Grumbling, Vera pulled out the requested items, as well as the relevant accessories, and laid them out beside the plaid outfit. Carmen could have picked that skirt herself. Jay would have done a nice face and an appropriate hairstyle and it wouldn't have turned out much different from what Vera had put together. And the blogs would have made the same bland comments about it, or said nothing at all.
What was she even doing here, if Carmen was just going to ignore everything she said? She was starting to get the terrible feeling that she wasn't as good at this as she thought she was. The job was to make Carmen look good and feel great. If she couldn't do both, she might as well go home.
So she wasn't exactly in the greatest of moods when her phone rang, and the screen told her it was Ivy.
Pushing by a surprised Sharise in the hallway, Vera took the call out by the pool, where she hoped the gentle rustling of leaves could keep her calm-- and no one would be able to hear her if she got pissed off.
"Eric and I leave for Bali tonight," her sister said on the other end of the line.
Vera grimaced. "Good for you."
"So I'll leave our key in your mailbox, then? Toffee has an ear infection. She'll need drops twice a day, and if you-"
Vera pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers, then realized she was copying Sharise's signature exasperated move and stopped. "Ivy, I can't watch your dog."
"Are you asking me to pay you? 'Cause that's kind of a bitch move but I know you're probably hurting for money right now. I can talk to Eric about paying you something."
"I'm not asking you to pay me, even though, yeah, you definitely should if I was doing it. But I can't. I'm not in the city."
For a moment the line was silent. Then Ivy laughed. "What? You quit your job and jetted off on vacation? Wow. A new low for you."
Vera rolled her eyes, even though Ivy couldn't see it. "I know this will be shocking to you, but I'm actually working."
"You're working," Ivy repeated, and Vera could practically see her raising her eyebrows slightly in that way she did when she was sure Vera was lying. "You signed up for one of those fruit-picking jobs or something? That doesn't seem like you."
Vera nudged her bare toe against a limp piece of grass that straggled between two warm paving stones. "I'm in LA. It's fashion stuff."
"LA? Oh, Vee." Ivy's voice dripped with pity. "This isn't one of those scams, is it?"
Vera didn't mean to snap. Ivy had always been like this, from the moment Vera was born and Ivy had laid unequivocal claim to the gilded throne of older-sibling supremacy. She thought she had learned not to let it bother her. But she was exhausted from putting in long nights trying and failing to anticipate Carmen's next mercurial mood swing, and she missed her tiny apartment and Mr. Wu's bakery and her friends and even Alex, that fucking asshole, because at least she would have someone to yell at if he was around.
The problem was, she hadn't even realized until she heard Ivy's voice just how lonely she was. So she wasn't exactly in the mood to put up with Ivy suggesting that all of this misery was a waste of time, even if she had just been wondering herself if this might all be a waste of time.
"Thank you so much for your totally uninformed opinion, Ivy. I just can't look after your stupid dog, okay? Pay a fucking sitter like a normal person."
Ending the call before Ivy could respond, Vera let out a long, frustrated breath and dragged both hands down her face. She wanted to be here. She did. This was getting her closer to her dream, even if that dream had become a little cloudy with lack of sleep.
She spun on her heel, prepared to stalk back into the house, then stopped short. Her hot face heated further.
Sharise stood in the pathway, hesitating half-turned as though she had been about to go back inside. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I just wanted to-" She ran her palms over her hips in a gesture that on anyone else Vera would have described as nervous. "You looked upset."
Something squeezed in Vera's chest, and her eyes felt unexpectedly hot. "It's just-" everything "--my sister. She's kind of a bitch."
Sharise fiddled with her belt loops. "Family can be like that."
Vera let out a short laugh.
Sharise pressed her hands into her pockets as though to still their fidgeting. "Tonight, with Carmen going to New York- I don't have any plans. If you're not busy-"
"What would I be busy with? Hanging out alone in my hotel room?"
Sharise smiled, slightly more than just the tips of her very white teeth. "You wanna grab dinner?" Vera opened her mouth to accept with relief, but before she could say anything, Sharise hurried on, "We don't have to talk work. I could use a night off, too."
"If that's a promise," Vera said, with a loud, dramatic sigh, "I'm in. A night off sounds fucking amazing."
"It's a date, then," Sharise said, and her tone was so dry that Vera wasn't quite sure if she was supposed to take that the way it suddenly sounded.
Distracted by the strangely appealing image of Sharise running her hands nervously over her hips, Vera went back inside to finish packing the outfits. There was no way she was sending Carmen to New York without the plaid look. It would be there, taunting her, in case she changed her mind again.
As she went through the drawer to find the leather bra, her eyes caught on more plaid. A matching bra. Tugging it free, she looked at it with pursed lips, then laid it out beside the pants. Not quite the same tartan pattern, but both mostly brown and yellow with hints of red.
"Maybe the answer is to be even more extra, Carmen," Vera muttered, and packed the plaid bra instead of the leather one, along with a note: No necklace with this one.
She texted Jay, who was going with Carmen to do his magic for her in New York before the TV crew got their hands on her: I'm counting on you to make this plaid moment happen.
I'll do my best! he replied, followed by a gif of a shirtless man in a sailor hat saluting, and Vera smiled, still only halfway sure she wasn't going home in two weeks but at least feeling a little less dejected about the whole thing than she had been an hour before.