Beautiful People | wlw

Twenty-three: Claws

Vera slammed the door shut and put her back against it.

Sharise turned half sideways to see around the enormous flowers in her arms. "What's going on?"

"Um," Vera said eloquently.

"Excuse me, what are you doing?" Carmen's voice was muffled beyond the bouquet thicket. "I am late so let's go."

For once, Vera had no clever words. "I thought I saw a, um. A spider? In the hallway."

"What? A spider? Since when are you afraid of spiders?"

Sharise gave her a concerned look.

Vera waited for her malfunctioning brain to generate an excuse, but nothing came. Her stomach sinking straight through her excruciatingly sexy red-bottom shoes, she said, "Nothing. Just got the jitters. Big carpet today, you know. Sorry. Go ahead."

Slowly, she opened the door again.

Marina was still at the top of the stairs, her back to them now, speaking with someone in her entourage.

Vera crossed all her fingers and toes as she stepped aside for the elephantine bouquet and Sharise who was somehow carrying that monstrous thing without even breaking a sweat. Carmen swept out next, then publicist Cora. Jay, oblivious to the horror that could unfold at any moment, cleaned his brushes by the window.

The bouquet led the procession down the hallway, filling it wall to wall and completely blocking the view of the crowd at the top of the stairs. Watching, Vera gripped the doorknob like it would lead her to a time machine that could take her back to the moment she decided not to tell Carmen she was working for Marina. Or before that, when she decided to work for Marina in the first place. Or maybe even all the way back to that moment she had posted a stupid picture making fun of Carmen's style that had somehow convinced Carmen to slide into her DMs.

She thought she might throw up.

The bouquet scraped against baroque wallpaper on both walls as Sharise carried it. A brass-knockered door emerged from behind the rustling herbage, then more wallpaper. Then suddenly, with an "OH!", one very blonde starlet popped out from behind the bustling bouquet, flattened to the wall but still having to spit out a faceful of petals.

Sharise stopped short with a flutter of leaves. "Marina?"

Marina peeled herself off the wall and tugged primly at her oversized t-shirt. She saw Carmen at the same time Carmen saw her. Their big double-takes were mirror images of surprise. In her wide-legged jeans and ponytail, Marina looked plain next to Carmen's shimmering emerald gown and perfectly set pin curls.

There was at least ten feet of empty space between the two feuding actors. Neither made any move to close the distance.

Smiling with all of her square, white teeth, Marina said, "Hi, Carmen!"

Carmen cupped a hand around her ear, as though she couldn't hear.

Marina spoke louder. "What a coincidence, seeing you here. And you, too, Sharise."

"A shock." Carmen put a hand to her chest in mock surprise. "It's almost like there's a reason we'd both be here. Some sort of festival, maybe?"

Marina's eyes twitched like she wanted to roll them but was refraining herself with superhuman strength. Instead, she laughed politely.

Sharise glanced back at Vera, eyes wide. Vera's mouth was very dry.

Muffled voices called somewhere beyond the grove of flowers. Marina's entourage couldn't see where she had gone.