The Green Ticket (29 page)

“Henry was really supportive of it too,” I said, catching Lila’s expression in the mirror. “Lila?”

“You already talked to Henry about all of this?” she asked, looking crestfallen.

“Well, yeah. I told him about it last night. I just couldn’t hold it in any longer and it all just came tumbling out.” I paused. “Are you upset?”

Lila shook her head, her blonde hair bouncing off the lights. “No, no. I’m sorry. I don’t have any right to get upset. It’s just–– usually you would talk to me first about all this. Not some guy. But I understand because I was gone and pretty soon I will be
really
gone. I can’t expect you to wait for me to tell me this stuff. It’s just–– different.” Lila’s voice broke on that word.

I reached over to give her another hug. “Lils, you will always be my best friend. It doesn’t matter that we have to be separated for a while. You get to go be awesome in LA and get spray tans every day while I sit freezing in Iowa and work for a pervert. I’m still going to come to you with my problems. Just maybe not as much. But I can guarantee I’ll come to you when I’m having issues with Henry, because let’s face it–– I can’t really go to him!”

That got Lila to crack a smile. “Sorry I’m being such a drama queen. It’s just been a lot to take in and I don’t think I’ve really got my head all wrapped around it. It just might take me some more time to get used to the situation is all. Then I promise I’ll stop crying all the time.”

“No worries.” We smiled at each other, then went back to putting the finishing touches on our makeup. The girls would be arriving any moment. “Back to this Kevin and money debacle –– I have to say that in a weird way, I’m excited. To know that I’m saving to open my business, to be a real business owner. That’s pretty sweet. I almost feel like Kevin’s handing me the golden ticket or something.”

“More like the green ticket. Get it? Green, money.” Lila laughed at her own joke, and I chuckled along with her. It was the truth. “But I’m proud of you, Alex. And if you decide you really can’t stick it out any longer at Blissful, I know you’ll find something great to replace it with. Even if it takes a while. You know Big Frank would take you back to Tastie’s in a heartbeat.”

“Ugh, I don’t know if I can go back to flashing my bra every night after all this Blissful shit,” I said. “When are you going to put in your notice?”

“I think tomorrow. I have the day off, but I might as well go in and get it over with,” Lila said as a knock on the door sounded.

“Hello? Bitches? We’re here and we’re starving!” Carmen’s voice rang through the apartment.

“In the bathroom!” Lila shouted. “Thanks for listening to me, Alex. I love you, girl.”

“I love you, Lils. You are going to be a star, and I’ll get to say I knew you when you had to flash your bra as a waitress. Now let’s eat!”

$$$

“So you’re moving away? Officially?” Emma asked, staring at Lila after my best friend broke her big news.

“Yes. I’ll be finishing out this term and then...I’ll be gone. Man, that seems so weird to say,” Lila said, taking a gulp of her margarita.

“Wow. Well, obviously, congrats. That’s a huge fricking deal and you should be thrilled. Like, take your pants off kind of thrilled,” Carmen said, causing the rest of us to glance at each other. I hoped nobody would be taking their pants off in the middle of the restaurant. “Of course we’ll all be sad to see you go, but you have to do it. It’s your dream. And it’s huge. Not everyone gets a chance like this.”

“I know. I am so lucky. I’m lucky I made a great connection with Mary who knows all the right people in LA. And I’m lucky Ross wanted to take me on. Now I just have to fake my confidence out there until I really feel some.”

“I don’t mean to cut in on your parade, Lil, but what about you?” Hannah turned to me, where I was idly chewing on my straw, thinking about Lila and her spray tanned body going surfing and meeting celebrities. I was actually trying to slot myself into that daydream, but I just couldn’t do it. LA was not for me.

“What about me?” I asked.

“What about your living situation? Won’t you have to pay double rent if you don’t have another roommate by next term?”

“Oh, shit.” During our entire conversation about Lila leaving Iowa, I had never thought about what that would do for me. “I guess I didn’t think about it. You’re right though. I have to find someone or else pay the full amount. Shit.” I started to panic, until I remembered all the checks from Kevin. I wasn’t going to have to cry to my sister to try to help me out financially anymore. I could back myself up. But I really wanted that money to go toward opening my own spa. Damn.

“Oh, no! I’m so sorry, Alex. I didn’t even think about the rent. Maybe I could talk to housing and get it extended or something. It’s not your fault I’m leaving; you shouldn’t have to deal with the consequences.”

“It’s all right, I’ll figure it out. I’m sure I have some extra money lying around that I could use.” I tried to send her a signal with my eyes, reminding her about the thousands of dollars I had thanks to Kevin’s affairs. A light dawned in her eyes and I saw her shoulders relax for a second, then tighten back up. I was sure she was thinking about what I originally wanted to use the money for. I gave a quick shake of my head, trying to indicate we would discuss it later. I didn’t want all the girls to know yet since I was still unsure of what my next step would be, and communicating telepathically with Lila was getting exhausting.

“Well, I have an idea. I’m not sure if you’d be up for it, but it’s an offer,” Hannah said, right as the waiter came and set our steaming plates in front of us. We paused while we opened our napkins and shuffled our silverware out, tucking in for our first delicious bites. The white cheese sauce in my quesadilla oozed as I cut in daintily with my fork and knife, then gave up and picked it up with my hands, shoving the triangle piece into my mouth. Heaven.

“All right, what’s your idea?” I asked Hannah after a few bites.

“Why don’t you move in with me? I have a second bedroom that isn’t being used and plenty of space. It wouldn’t be too difficult to move your stuff up a few flights of stairs.”

“Really? You would really give up your huge-ass apartment and quiet quarters for me? Hannah, are you sure?” Hannah lived on the fifteenth floor of Wacker, or the ‘penthouse’ as us commoners liked to call it. Her apartment was a spacious two-bedroom unit, with a large bathroom and even a dishwasher. The fifteenth floor was definitely for the rich kids. Hannah used the second bedroom as her “study room” and we all knew that she loved her peace and quiet for when she was working on homework. I was a little surprised at her generosity, but then again, not really. That was just Hannah.

“Of course. I get lonely by myself sometimes and if it will help you out, then I’m more than happy to give up my study room.”

Carmen let out a giggle. “Study room. Gets me every time.”

Hannah shook her head but was smiling. “Anyway, what do you think? You don’t have to answer now, you can think about it for a while. Just know the offer is open.”

“I don’t have to think about it. Of course I would love to be your roommate! Thank you so much, Hannah. This will really help me out.” I leaned across my seat to give her a half hug. “I’m moving to the fifteenth floor. The penthouse! Everyone will be so jealous of me. Wait–– Hannah, how much is rent there after we split the cost?” Would the move actually hurt me more financially?

Hannah waved away my concerns. “I’ll talk to my dad about it, but I’m sure he won’t mind you living there. He pays my rent now. I don’t think adding a roommate will make a difference.”

“Hannah, no. I can’t ask you to give up your space and then just be a freeloader. Please let me pay my part.”

“You didn’t ask, I offered.” Hannah took a sip of her water, trying to signal our conversation was over.

“What if I paid what I pay now? I’m sure that’s barely a fourth of your rent, but it would really make me feel better. Please, Hannah. Or else I’ll just feel like I constantly have to be quiet and do all the dishes and make you dinner every night. I’ll feel like a house guest instead of a roommate.”

Hannah considered my proposal. “All right. You can pay what you pay in rent now. If that will really make you feel better.”

I nodded, satisfied. “It will. Whew, what a relief.”

“Wow, things are really changing around here,” Emma said. “Lila moving to LA, Alex and Hannah going to be roommates, Hannah has a serious boyfriend, and Carmen and I...”

“Carmen and you what? Do you have news too?” Lila asked.

“Nah. We’re just Carmen and Emma. The unexciting gals with no cool news,” Carmen finished up. “Maybe we should get working on that, Em. Be more exciting. Move, get a cool job, a boyfriend. Anything! We used to be the exciting ones in the group.”

“Truth. We’ll just have to work harder. Hey, that new bar downtown is hiring girls to go around and dance and hand out shots. I think they call them shot girls. We could apply for that.”

“Sign me up! I love dancing and I love shots.”

We all laughed and started discussing what we thought the job duties of a shot girl would entail. Our dinner passed smoothly, full of laughs, fruity drinks, and way too much chips and queso. I thought back over our dinner when I was in bed that night, in awe of how much things were about to change.

Chapter 17

“Hi, Alex. How are you today? It’s almost your big day!”

I swallowed the lump of shame in my throat, forcing myself to greet Dani like I didn’t know her husband had knocked boots with the employee giving a facial in treatment room one. Or that treatment room one was where they preferred to do the boot knocking. “Hey, Dani. I’m doing good. Looking forward to Saturday!”

“Same here! I think almost everyone here accepted their invite. And all of your friends are coming, right?”

“Right. Are you sure Hannah will be able to get in okay since she’s not twenty-one yet? I would hate for her to get in trouble just because of me.”

Dani brushed off my concern, taking a seat next to me behind the front desk. I had been trying to go through Wednesday’s schedule to make sure everything looked okay, but found myself distracted. I hated being at Blissful and I hated having to pretend like I didn’t know what was going on here even more. “Oh, yes, don’t worry about her. Kevin knows the owner, even did some business with him in years past. He’s aware of the situation and knows that we won’t cause a scene or anything. Anyone else that isn’t twenty-one yet will be just fine. They just need to say your name at the door.”

I did feel kind of important once she said that. Like Saturday night I was really going to
be
somebody. I just wished I could feel better about it since it was Kevin that was doing me the favor.

“Are you doing anything for dinner today?” Dani asked me, just as the phone rang. “Ooh, I’ll answer it!”

I smiled and shook my head. Dani was always enthusiastic to talk on the phone. I had to hand it to her–– she really loved her business, and talking to the clients was always a highlight of her day. I wished she were around more. Maybe I would like Blissful more if she was actually here with me, instead of it usually being Kevin just bossing people around or fucking the staff.

“Thanks, Mrs. Tillman. We’ll see you at three o’clock tomorrow. Have a wonderful day!” Dani placed the phone back in its cradle and clicked the mouse a few times. “Shoot, I put the wrong appointment in. She just wants a perm and I put in a highlight. I don’t think Mrs. Tillman’s gray hair needs highlighting. Alex, do you know how to fix this?”

“Yep.” I got up from my chair and stood behind Dani. “If you just click appointment detail it will let you into the appointment. And then click manage. Okay, then click where the highlight is and just hit remove. That will take it out. Then click perm and hit add. Yep. Done!”

“Thanks, honey.  Want to do an early dinner? Allie and I are just going to pop into the café across the street if you want to come along. I have to take off right after to go to Bailey’s parent/teacher conference, so it’ll just be a short one.”

I glanced at the clock. It was only four-thirty, a little early to be thinking about dinner. And to suffer through the meal with Allie and Dani, knowing what I knew about our head esthetician? I could think of a lot of other places where I wanted to be instead. Such as the dentist or gynecologist. 

“Um, thanks, but I’ll probably pass. I had a big lunch.” Lie. I had half a turkey sandwich on my drive between Wacker and here. I stayed late in my last class to beg the professor to give me an extension on my final term paper. The extension was granted, and I was seriously hoping I could finish it on time. My grades were really starting to fall.

“Oh, just come with us then and grab something to go. You can eat it here later tonight when you get hungry. Did you bring anything for dinner?”

Before I could lie again, I shook my head. Damn. I really did love the chef salads at that café. I could just have them give me the dressing on the side and bring it back for later. “Okay, okay. I give in. I’ll come with.”

“Excellent! Allie should be done in about thirty minutes and then we’ll head right over. I’m supposed to be to Bailey’s school no later than 6:15. What time is your interview with Kamille’s replacement?”

“Not until eight. I scheduled it later when hopefully it won’t be too busy.”

“Plenty of time then. I hope you like this one. We really need to get her shifts covered. Shame she left us. She always had such a fabulous ideas!”

I bit my lip to keep from screaming out the truth.

Thirty-five minutes later, I found myself face to face with Kevin’s wife and Kevin’s...mistress? Girlfriend? Did they really only hook up one time or was Kevin lying to me? How many more times had they been together? No way was Kevin telling the truth of it being a one-time thing. Was it a full-blown affair? Could Dani and Allie read the expression on my face, the one that screamed
your husband’s cheating on you with the filthy whore you pay health benefits for!

“Alex, are you getting excited for Saturday?” Allie asked me. Her expression looked normal enough, but I could see it in her eyes. She knew that I knew. Bitch. I couldn’t believe she had lied to me about loving her fiancé. I felt like a fool.