36. House Of Cards
The Euphoria of visiting La La land lasted only as long as the weekend. It was business as usual on Monday morning. Adam made his early morning dash for the door and I was home alone. For a change, my day was not without purpose. It was the day of Seraphina’s fashion shoot.
Seraphina ended up deciding against an outside setting. She managed to con Ryan into letting her do it at Nellie’s, while it was closed between lunch and dinner service.
“Did Ryan charge you rent?”
Sera gave her trademark demure giggle. “No. He’s okay, if you catch him on a good day.”
I went about setting up my equipment while Sera started sweeping through the hangers of clothes she’d brought with her.
“Sera, how far did you wheel that thing?” I asked, pointing at the mobile clothes rack.
“I didn’t. I had it delivered.”
Of course. Every single thing in New York could be delivered for a price – including bunches of brightly coloured balloons and a smoke machine, as it turned out. The props she’d arranged shouldn’t really have shocked me. Any girl who designed outfits that combined tutus and striped socks was a little on the quirky side. Seraphina Sawyer clearly had an anime character living in her brain.
“Too much?” she asked, pointing to the massive bunch of balloons she was grasping. “I don’t want it to be too much.”
I shook my head. “It’s your vision. Let’s go with it.”
“Go with what?” asked Kinsey, bustling through the front door of the restaurant.
“Sera’s vision,” I told her, turning my attention back to my camera. “It’s all about the vision.”
“I hope you have good vision,” barked Kinsey, pointing to the camera in my hand. “I don’t want you to make us look bad.”
Yellow tulle and striped socks were going to make her look bad. But I saw no need to burst her bubble. “I know what I’m doing, Kinsey.”
“I’m so excited,” squeaked Sera, checking the time on her watch. “Where’s Whitney? She’s supposed to be here by now.”
“I’m good to go,” announced Kinsey. “We can start without her.”
Unless she was planning on attending a Japanese comic book convention, I couldn’t think of a single place she was good to go to. All I could do was try not to look too alarmed at the sight of the featherweight Kinsey in the heavyweight studded green mini dress.
It was almost a relief when Whitney finally turned up. Kinsey’s vapid personality somehow showed up on every single picture I’d taken.
“Sorry I’m so late. Something came up.” She spoke only to Sera and Kinsey, ignoring me completely. “Where do you want me?” Antarctica sprang to mind, but I kept my mouth shut. Sera thrust a pile of clothes at her and ordered her to get changed.
Just when I thought the atmosphere had reached fever pitch, Parker strutted through the door. “It’s a closed set, Parker,” said Seraphina flatly. “You should go.”
He walked toward us, smiling as if she hadn’t spoken. “I’ll stay out of the way,” he pledged. “Kinsey wanted me to come down and check it out. I promised I would.”
That was the first time I’d ever been jealous of Kinsey Ballantyne. I struggled to get Adam to give up half an hour for me even on his slowest day.
“Just let him stay,” I muttered, endorsing the romantic gesture.
“Fine,” yielded Sera. “But keep out of the way.”
“That shouldn’t be difficult.” He pointed to the mass of balloons near the foot of the mezzanine stairs. “Are they latex?”
“They’re Mylar,” replied Sera. “Just for you.”
Kinsey waltzed back into the room, caught sight of Parker and practically threw herself at him, squealing like an excited kid. It gave me chance to ask Sera why he was so concerned about the circus-like props.
“He’s allergic to latex,” she whispered, rolling her eyes. “He gets all puffy and comes out in welts. I’ve seen it happen a couple of times.”
I couldn’t help giggling. “So, how does someone with a latex allergy practice safe sex?” It was my very first thought. Perhaps I should’ve been embarrassed by that.
“I think any form of sex with Parker would be unsafe, don’t you?”
I looked across at the couple canoodling near the nontoxic balloons, and shuddered. I had to agree.
Parker actually did as he was told and faded into the background when Whitney reappeared. I had to admit, Whitney was easier to deal with than Kinsey. She managed to ditch the morose expression long enough for me to take a few hundred pictures, and never once called me on the fact that I was a complete novice when it came to fashion photography. If she had, I might have been forced to call Seraphina on being a complete amateur when it came to fashion design. Expecting someone to photograph well while wearing a purple PVC jacket was a big ask.
I was glad when they finally ran out of outfits. I was even happier to find out that Sera had hired people to come in and pack up her anime-circus-cartoon-themed set. It was a whirlwind of activity for a few minutes while people stormed the restaurant and cleared everything out. “I guess that’s a wrap,” said Sera, brushing her hands together.
“I’ll get these edited tonight,” I said, waving my camera at her. “You should have them tomorrow.”
She lurched forward, hugging me tightly. “I can’t thank you enough.”
I took a step back, smiling at her. “You haven’t seen the pictures yet.”
“I have every faith in your abilities,” she told me. “I could’ve hired a professional but you came highly recommended.”
A huge penny dropped.
“By Adam?” I said his name a little too indignantly for a girl who claimed to love him with her whole heart. “He asked you to get me to shoot this for you, didn’t he?”
She shrugged, but there was nothing casual about her expression. It was the look of someone who’d let a major cat out of the bag. “He just wanted you to be busy. Please don’t be upset with him,” she begged, grabbing my wrist. “I would’ve asked you anyway. As soon as I saw your Billet-doux pictures I knew you’d be perfect for this.”
I nodded. “I’m not upset with him.” That was a lie. I was very upset with him. It was another attempt by him to occupy me.
Seraphina and Kinsey didn’t hang around a minute longer than they needed to. I declined their offer of sharing a cab, deciding to hang back and straighten up the tables. I wasn’t worried about leaving the place to Ryan’s standards, but leaving it for Bente to sort out seemed mighty unfair. Parker and Whitney slipped out with the clean-up crew without saying goodbye. If I’d given a damn, I might have been miffed.
Sliding the tables back into place took no time at all, so I thought I’d kill a few more minutes by setting them. It was the first time I’d noticed how creepy Nellie’s was when it was empty. The silence amplified the clinking of the cutlery as I carried it to the first table. I dumped it down, overcome by a sudden urge to turn around.
It would have been fitting to see the ghost of Nellie standing there – except Nellie was alive and well and spending the day tormenting her canasta club buddies, just as she did every Friday afternoon.
There was no one standing behind me but I could definitely hear people talking. I followed the sound of the voices.
By the time I’d reached the kitchen, I was practically in stealth mode. I managed to open the kitchen doors without making a sound, but it was a hollow victory. The kitchen was as deserted and the talking stopped. For a quick minute I wondered if it was all in my head, then noticed that the cloakroom door was shut. I could have walked away, content that no one was looting the kitchen, but curiosity got the better of me.
I ferociously pushed open the cloakroom door, preparing to catch a thief or a ghost. What I caught was much worse.
I sucked in a sharp breath and quickly spun around, trying to erase the horribly compromising position I’d just caught Whitney and Parker in from my psyche.
“Er, excuse me.”
Neither of them acknowledged me, but the sound of scurrying to gather clothing led me to believe they were as mortified as I was. I blindly reached behind for the door handle, pulled the door shut and bolted back to the front of house. I couldn’t even leave because I needed to lock up the restaurant. I contemplated just locking them in and leaving them to it, but Parker sashaying into the room put an end to that thought. I struggled to look at him but he acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.
“Charli, I know it looks bad but we’re all adults, right?” he asked smoothly. I nodded, fearful of what I might say if I answered. “I hope this doesn’t go any further. I’d hate for people to get hurt.”
I continued nodding, unsure of what else to do. There was an underlying menace to his tone that I hadn’t heard before. “I’ll let you out,” I mumbled, rushing to unlock the door for him.
I stood holding the door open for an eternity. Like the pompous, arrogant dick that he was, he sauntered slowly to the door. On his way out, he took it upon himself to lean forward and kiss me as he said goodbye. I practically pushed him out the door, bolted it shut and reached for the nearest napkin to wipe my face, disgusted by the thought of how many different people had contributed to the DNA on my cheek.
I was still scrubbing and cursing him out when Whitney appeared. I had no idea how this was going to play out. I didn’t know whether to mention it or pretend I hadn’t seen anything.
“I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone about this,” she said shakily.
I stared at her for a long time, trying to figure out what to say. It was clearly a gesture that made her uncomfortable. She burst into tears, and inexplicably I rushed to comfort her. “Oh, don’t cry,” I pleaded, loosely hugging her. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“You must think I’m disgraceful,” she said woefully.
Releasing her, I took a step back. “Yeah, but in fairness, I formed that opinion long before I knew you were screwing Parker.”
My honest answer had the desired effect and she punched out a sharp laugh. The humour was fleeting, though. She buried face in her hands and began sobbing again. I really didn’t know what to do about it. I had no choice but to wait for her to compose herself.
“I don’t even know why I do it anymore,” she muttered finally.
“So it’s been going on for a while?”
“Years.” I tried not to appear shocked, but the look she gave me implied it was the exact reaction she was aiming for. “Yes. Even when I was with Adam.”
The guilt I’d always felt all but dissipated. She could hardly take the moral high ground when she’d been screwing the lord of creepiness the whole time. I pulled out the nearest chair and sat down. Whitney remained standing. I couldn’t fathom her confession. Parker was lecherous, sleazy and average looking at best. Adam was, well, Adam.
“Why on earth would you go there, Whitney? And with Parker, of all people?”
“Being with Adam was no picnic, Charli.”
“I know that better than anyone, but nothing on earth could make me stray in Parker’s direction,” I replied, shuddering.
“It really doesn’t have anything to do with Parker,” she said, shaking her head. “I just wanted a little bit of attention. That’s how it started, anyway. I don’t know why I still do it.”
“But you could do so much better than him. You could have anyone you wanted.” It was a stupid, thoughtless thing to say. She scowled at me and I instantly looked away.
“I’ve never had the one I wanted,” she replied sourly. “Adam was never mine. He’s been yours all along. And I hate you for it.”
“Surely hating Adam would be more appropriate.”
She smiled, albeit uneasily. “Well, he is emotionally deficient.”
Annoyed, I jumped to his defence. “Deficient or not, how do you think he’d feel if he found out that you were sleeping with his so-called best friend while you were together?”
“Come on, Charli. Adam is no saint.”
“Did he cheat on you?”
“Only with you, as far as I know.”
“So, you did know about me?”
“Of course I knew about you!”
“So why did you stay with him?”
She shrugged. “It served a purpose. I like being envied.”
I didn’t even try making sense of her comment. I’d wasted far too much time believing she was heartbroken over the loss of Adam. Love clearly had nothing to do with it.
“Do you want to be with Parker?” I had no idea why I was even asking.
“God, no.” She screwed up her tearstained face as if the whole idea was repulsive. “I use him, just like he uses me.”
“And what about Kinsey? She’s supposed to be your best friend.”
“Sometimes I think she deserves it,” she replied, completely unrepentant.
“You’re all mad,” I muttered, shaking my head. “Completely and utterly morally broke.”
Whitney finally pulled out the chair opposite me and sat. I didn’t want the conversation to continue. As far as I was concerned, the more distance I kept from their empire of dirt, the better. I stood and gathered my gear, preparing to leave.
Whitney stood too. “Please don’t tell Adam about this.”
I knew she wasn’t trying to preserve his feelings. She was intent on making sure he retained the title of villain. Whitney could hardly play the victim otherwise.
“I said I wouldn’t.” Her look of surprise annoyed me. “But make sure you know that when this house of cards finally falls, it wasn’t me who betrayed you.”
Whitney slung her bag over her shoulder and heaved out a long sigh. “I’ll keep it in mind.”
If I could have figured out a way of telling Adam everything I knew without ratting on Whitney, I would’ve done it. I owed her nothing, but I felt a strange sympathy toward her. What I wasn’t feeling was a skerrick of understanding toward Parker. It was hard to comprehend the superiority that the purple circle seemed to think they had over the world. To me, they were all completely soulless.
It was even harder to comprehend why Adam felt any sort of kinship toward them. Maybe I’d ask him about it one day when we were far, far away and they’d become nothing more than people he used to know.