Lavender Lipstick Lies: A Mystery of Makeup & Mayhem (11 page)

Chapter 25

Felicia Gold stood in the offstage
area of the Venice Ballroom, shaking her head and listening to Trevor Cole as
he explained what had transpired less than twenty minutes earlier. After a
brief silence, she smiled at me.

“Abby, I’m so sorry that you…” Her
eyes narrowed as she considered what to say. “That you endured such childish
and unprofessional behavior,” Felicia continued. “I’m very nearly speechless,
and that rarely happens to me.” A bright, wide smile appeared. “Gillian Smart
has been a trusted member of my team for almost two years. I’m dumbfounded to
hear that she jeopardized her career for a measly few thousand dollars.”

“What’s going to happen to her?” I
asked.

The grin on Felicia’s face
vanished. “I suppose she’ll be looking for a new job,” she said. “I have
limitless reserves of patience and trust, but I will not tolerate manipulation,
deceit or the types of things that Gillian and Ms. Woodworth did this weekend.”

“Did you already fire Gillian?”

Felicia nodded. “I don’t have time
for her nonsense,” she explained. “I told her she was done with Splendora, and asked
her to meet me later in the lobby for a final conversation. I suggested she
pack her bags first and settle up her room charges.”

“And what about Amanda?”

“I’m sorry to say that she will no
longer be part of our Splendora family,” Felicia answered. “While I can
certainly understand when difficult circumstances arise for someone, I cannot allow
such behavior to go unpunished.”

A nervous feeling swept through me
as I listened to Felicia Gold describe how disappointed she was in both Gillian
and Amanda. The look of pain in her eyes was genuine; she had clearly been
broadsided by the pair’s plot to force me out of the Achiever competition.

“There’s really not much else to
say about the matter at this very instant,” Felicia offered. “We should
continue the evening’s program, don’t you think?”

I shrugged. “I suppose so. I’ll go
back and find my seat. I bet the other women at my table are wondering what
happened to me.”

Felicia gave me a warm hug. “Again,
Abby,” she said. “I want you to know how truly sorry I am for all of the
difficulties you’ve endured this weekend. You’ve demonstrated great fortitude
by maintaining your composure under such stressful circumstances.”

We shared another hug before one of
her assistants guided me to the steps leading from the backstage area to the
ballroom.

“Good luck, okay?” the woman said.

I looked at her blankly. “With
what?”

She smiled. “Achiever of the Year,
of course! Felicia’s getting ready to make the announcement.”

I walked back through the crowded
ballroom to the table where Emma waited anxiously.

“How did it go?” she nearly
squeaked. “I’m about ready to lose my mind from all of the anticipation!”

I settled into the chair beside
her. “It was really, really…surreal,” I said.

“Well, who was it?” she demanded.
“Was it Amanda?”

I smiled. “Amanda and Gillian
Smart.”

Emma screamed loudly. “Are you
kidding
me?”

“Not at all,” I said. “It turns out
that Amanda and Gillian were roommates in college. When they both confided in
the other about being in debt, they cooked up the idea to rig the Achiever
competition and split the prize money.”

Emma yelped again. “You’ve got to
be kidding me!”

I shook my head. “Not at all. I’m
telling you what they confessed after we busted them by the spa.”

One of the other women asked what
was going on. Emma quickly offered to explain later before turning back to face
me.

“I cannot
believe
this!” she
gushed. “Amanda and the company’s public relations director?”

“Yep.”

“Why?” Emma said. “What was it all
about?”

I shrugged. “What’re things like
this usually about?” I said. “Greed and money and weakness.”

She fell back in her chair,
clamping both hands to her cheeks. “I mean, really,” she said. “This is so
incredibly
crazy
!”

“Tell me about it.” I rolled my
eyes and reached for my wine. “I felt like I was on some kind of police
stakeout or something. You know—hiding in the shadows, waiting for the crooks
to show up, springing the surprise on them when they finally appeared.”

Emma smiled. “And Trevor Cole was
there with you?”

“Yep. The whole thing happened just
as he and I planned it. Two of his security guys watched so we’d have
additional witnesses. Amanda and Gillian nearly passed out from the shock. And
Felicia Gold gave them both the boot the second she heard about what they’d
been conspiring to do.”

Emma gasped. “No, she didn’t!”

“Oh, yes she did! When Trevor
escorted Gillian and Amanda up to the lobby, he’d already alerted Felicia with
a text. He told her there was an emergency situation that needed her immediate
attention.”

“That’s so
wild
!” Emma
cheered. “What did she do when she heard the news?”

I sipped my wine as the lights in
the ballroom dimmed. “She’s amazing,” I said. “One corner of her mouth sort of
twitched a little, but she barely blinked. That woman is one cool customer.”

“Well, she’d have to be after creating
a billion-dollar empire like she did.”

Before I could comment on Emma’s
remark, Felicia Gold returned to the stage.

“Hello again, everyone!” she
announced from the podium. “Before our special guest speaker comes out, I’d
like to invite the three Achiever of the Year nominees to the stage, please.”

I felt my stomach lurch.

“Here it is, Abs!” Emma chirped.
“Are you ready?”

I looked at her and did my best to
smile. “I don’t know,” I said weakly. “I’m feeling a little nervous.”

Emma stood up and helped me from my
chair. “Go get ’em, tiger!” she said, giving me a warm hug. “This is your big
moment!”

As Felicia called my name along
with those of the other two nominees, I drifted through the ballroom like I was
floating on air. It all seemed suddenly dreamlike—the crowd of cheerful
attendees, the music booming from the speakers, the spotlight sweeping the room
to heighten the excitement.

“Thank you, ladies,” Felicia said
when I finally reached the stage and took my place beside the two other women.
“And congratulations! You have been nominated by your peers for this year’s
Achiever Award. Through your dedication to Splendora’s customers and your
diligent work to deliver impeccable service, you have earned a place on our
stage tonight!”

The room erupted in a roar of
cheers and applause. I gulped back my anxiousness and squinted as the spotlight
washed over us.

“While each of you surpassed not
only your previous year’s performance as well as the sales volume of all other
Splendora image consultants,” Felicia continued, “only one of you can be named
Achiever of the Year.”

I took a deep breath and grabbed
the hand of the woman beside me. I’d seen her in the hallways during the
conference, but had never met her. She smiled back at me and reached for the
other nominee’s hand standing to her right.

“But I want to remind you of one
important aspect of our annual competition,” said Felicia. “Being nominated by
your peers is truly an achievement in and of itself. Please keep that in mind
as I prepare to announce the winner of our Achiever of the Year Award.”

My mind began to spin as someone
walked onto the stage with an envelope and the glittering Achiever trophy. It
was sculpted from sterling silver with a large marble base. It seemed to take
an eternity for Felicia to open the envelope and pull out a small white card.

“Our second runner up this year
is…” She looked at the card again and then turned to the audience. “Belinda
Jordan from Tampa, Florida!”

A wave of cheers erupted from the
crowd as the woman beside me dropped my hand and walked to the podium.

“Congratulations, Belinda,” Felicia
said warmly. “I have a gift certificate for you along with a trip to New York
for next year’s fashion week.”

I shifted to my right and stood
beside the other nominee. Her name tag read ERICA SULLIVAN, CHICAGO.

“Good luck!” I whispered.

She squeezed my hand. “You, too!”

“Alright,” Felicia said into the
microphone. “It’s time for our first runner-up.”

She checked the information on the
card again and smiled.

“Well, I can hardly believe this,”
she said breathlessly. “Never before in the history of our company has this
happened.”

I felt an anxious tickle in my
throat. For a moment, all of the bizarre events from the past three days
flashed through my mind: Robert with the blonde stranger, the anonymous
threats, Bree acting so curiously, the hectic pace of the various meetings and
meals with the crowd of conference attendees. The swirl of fractured images was
still spinning when I heard Felicia again.

“…goes to prove,” she was saying,
“that
anything
is possible.”

She turned and motioned for Erica
and I to step forward.

“Ladies, it’s my pleasure to
announce that our competition for Achiever of the Year has resulted in a tie
for the very first time in Splendora’s history!”

Erica squeezed my hand.

“Are you serious?” she asked
Felicia.

“Absolutely serious,” answered the
company founder. “For our conference finale this year, I’m pleased to announce
that both Abby Edison of St. Louis and Erica Sullivan from Chicago will share
the honor as Achiever of the Year.”

She laughed with delight as another
trophy was delivered to the podium. She carefully handed one to me and the other
to Erica.

“Congratulations, ladies!” Felicia
offered cheerfully. “I’d like to invite everyone to join me now in a round of
applause for our
Achievers
of the Year!”

Chapter 26

Emma and Bree were waiting at the
edge of the stage when I walked down the steps with my gleaming silver trophy a
few minutes later.

“Okay, this is now officially the
best conference ever!” Emma said happily.

“Totally!” Bree agreed. “I never
doubted for a second that you’d win, Abs!”

I accepted a hug from each before
they escorted me back to our table. For a few minutes, the entire ballroom
buzzed with excited conversations, raucous cheers and congratulatory shouts. I
sat between Emma and Bree, gazing with joy at my award and accepting the
nonstop flood of compliments and best wishes.

“May I have your attention,
please?” Felicia Gold announced from the stage. “I know we all want to pass on congratulations
to Erica and Abby, but I’d like to ask for everyone to take their seats again
so I can welcome Elizabeth Ashland to the podium for her keynote address, which
she titles ‘Finding Your Inner Wonder.’”

It took a minute or two for the
room to quiet again. I felt Emma nudge me with her elbow.

“I’m really proud of you, sweetie,”
she whispered.

“That makes two of us,” Bree added
on my other side. “I’m sorry if I’ve been a grouch this weekend, Abs.”

“Thanks, Em,” I said quietly. “And
don’t you worry about it, Bree. We all have our ups and downs, right?”

She smiled. “Yes, we do,” she said.

“And we’ll get through it if we
have each other’s backs,” Emma added.

“True enough!” I whispered.
“Together forever—through thick and thin!”

The rest of the evening passed in a
flash of heartwarming advice from the keynote speaker, a few more brief remarks
from Felicia about the company’s upcoming new products and then a final toast
to everyone at the conference.

I was exhausted when Emma, Bree and
I finally tottered into our suite around midnight.

“Ugh,” Emma groaned. “We have to
get up at seven for the final morning session.”

Bree flopped onto a sofa. “Maybe we
can sleep in,” she suggested. “I think I’m going to need lots of rest before we
fly home tomorrow afternoon.”

I walked to the chaise near the
windows and sat down to take off my shoes. “We shouldn’t skip the last
session,” I said. “I heard a rumor that Gerard Butler is making a surprise
appearance.”

Bree scrunched up her face. “The
actor?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I guess Felicia
met him at dinner the other night or something. They have a mutual friend from London,
and Gerard’s in town for a few days. Felicia asked if he’d just come on stage
for a few seconds tomorrow at the end of the conference.”

The curious look on Bree’s face
transformed into a mischievous grin. “Well, we didn’t get to Chippendales,” she
said. “But I think Gerard Butler will be even better—with or without his
clothes!”

We giggled together for a few more
minutes, rehashing gossipy tidbits overheard during the evening. Bree shared a
story about a woman who was getting married to a man twice her age because he
was a distant cousin of the British royal family. And Emma told us about a
conversation she’d had with one of the banquet servers.

“He said our group is one of the
best behaved he’d ever seen,” she said. “But then I asked how long he’d worked
at the hotel, and he said he just started last month. I told him to wait for
the tech conference in a couple of weeks if he wanted to see some truly naughty
stuff.”

Bree sat up and frowned. “How would
you know about that?”

Emma made a face. “Perhaps in a
former life I was in town during the tech conference,” she said in a smoky,
sultry tone. “And perhaps I lived it up a bit with one of the fellas from Silicon
Valley.”

“Aha!” Bree said. “I guess we all
have our secrets.”

“Not me,” I said, grabbing my shoes
and heading to bed. “After all of the anonymous notes and strange threats this
weekend, I’m done with secrets and skullduggery and all the rest.”

“Amen to that, sister!” called
Emma.

“Goodnight, ladies,” I said,
staggering toward my room. “I’ll see you bright and early in the morning.”