Beautiful People | wlw

Twenty: Oversharing

Vera stood in the shade of Carmen's porch, sweating through her crochet top, and took a deep breath.

"Technically, you haven't done anything wrong," she reminded herself, but she wanted nothing more than to turn around, get back in the car, and go home to Sharise. Instead, she took another deep breath and held it for a count of six. She wasn't going to run away from this.

She rang the bell. No one answered.

Frowning, she thumbed her phone unlocked. Nothing from Carmen since her call. The sleek red sports car was parked under the tree out front, but that didn't mean she was home--Jasper could have taken her somewhere. She rang the bell again, then knocked. She thought about checking if the door was unlocked, but she was pretty sure that would count as trespassing or something. If she was about to be fired, she didn't need to get arrested, too.

She texted Carmen, I'm here, where are you?

Carmen replied immediately: By the pool obviously. Grab a drink on your way in.

"Oh, yeah, obviously," Vera muttered. Grab a drink? Was this some game Carmen was playing, like when Vera first arrived and she pretended not to know her?

The door was, in fact, unlocked, so she slipped out of her new, simple white sandals, calves whining as they stretched, and tiptoed down the hallway lined with all the tasteful nudes in primary colors. A deep hush seeped through the bright, spacious rooms. She didn't touch the fridge, but paused in the kitchen to peer out at the pool she had admired on her first day here, shimmering cerulean water even more alluring now in the searing afternoon heat.

Wearing a loose linen cover-up and a floppy hat that shadowed her face, Carmen lay stretched out on a lounger by the pool. She was alone.

Vera had half-expected Sharise to be here. The empty house knotted unease in her throat, but maybe it was better for her dignity to have this confrontation without any witnesses. It would give her more time to figure out how to explain this to Sharise.

At the swish of the patio doors, Carmen glanced up from her phone and hooked her round gold sunglasses off her nose. "You forgot to grab a drink."

"I'm not thirsty, thanks," Vera said, smoothing out a pleat in her skirt.

Carmen smiled at her, white teeth flashing in the sun. "You're not gonna make me drink alone, bitch." Ice clinked in her fluted glass as she gestured widely with it, slopping water over her wrist in the process. "Oops." Giggling, she licked drops off her golden skin.

A little muddled by Carmen's disarming ease when she had expected anger, Vera frowned. "Why did you ask me to come over?"

"We're celebrating." Carmen tossed long glossy curls back over her shoulder.

"Celebrating what?"

"Me starting my next project, and you getting to work with Andre, duh." Carmen looked at her like she was stupid. "You're welcome, by the way. I told him to call you."

"Yeah," Vera said slowly, now even more confused. If Carmen was planning to fire her, this was a really bizarre way to do it. "I know. Thanks."

Carmen frowned. "What? Why do you look like you're gonna throw up?" She let out a small gasp. "Did Andre not end up hiring you?"

"No, we had a great meeting. He's awesome, and I signed him. I just--" She studied Carmen, trying to find some tell, a twitch of her lips or quiver of the lashes that would make it clear Carmen was playing with her. Carmen just took a long sip from her glass, which Vera realized belatedly was probably not, in fact, water. Finally, she spread her hands and tried to get this over with. "On the phone you sounded like you wanted to bitch me out."