How About a Cup of Coffee?
Chapter 11 B
*
(Brief note: Darien didn't care that she said "Endy" in the last chapter because he didn't know what "Endy" was. He probably thought she said something like "candy." Lol.)
The knocking continued. And pounded on the door until it's abuser gave into yelling.
"Minaaaaaa!" Pause. "Mina, open this door!"
Stirring groggily in her sleep, Serena blindly reached out a hand to check the clock and groaned. "This is an ungodly hour to be awake," she threw the covers back and slid out of bed—oh! Soft bed!—and yanked her door open, "AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING POUNDING ON MY DOOR???!!!"
Belatedly, Rei lowered her hand from the air. Then she peered in close to scrutinize her face. "Somebody got in late last night. Are you okay?"
This was it. It was now or never. If she couldn't fool Rei into thinking she was Mina, there was no hope for the known media.
Serena gave her a long look and took a deep breath. "Yeah… I'm okay. I did get in late last night," she admitted, "and Andrew really didn't want me to go."
The raven-haired secretary patted her on the shoulder and gently pushed her into the suite. "Well, that's why you have me, Meens. It's time to get you beautified. You have a 30-minute practice session and then you're on that runway, baby!"
Serena paled. "30 minutes; that's it? Do I always do this?" She mumbled under her breath.
Rei, of course, caught what she said. "Meens—you crack me up. Of course you always do it this way. In fact, I was surprised when Darien pushed it back so you could practice beforehand." She laughed. "Why, I don't remember the last time you practiced."
The blonde smiled weakly. "Of—of course. What was I thinking?"
***
"Ok-ay people—let's get those lights up over here—put that backdrop here—get polish on this runway, it's lookin' kinda ROUGH here," he said, stamping his foot to emphasize his point. Then he glanced at the men carrying the backdrop and growled. "NO!—not there! Here," he said, pointing in the other direction.
The backdrop men gave him a wary look and moved in the direction he ordered.
Darien shoved a hand through his hair and swallowed back a frustrated groan. He turned his back to the arena and faced the black opaque curtain that would hide the models and the crew later. That was why he never heard someone come up behind him.
"Tough morning, Darien?" Ami asked from behind him, pushing the Starbucks cup into his hands.
He frowned, realizing everything hinged on Serena's accurate portrayal of Mina. "You don't know the half of it," he finally answered.
There was a crash to their right and Ami winced, knowing he was about to blow.
"HEY! Watch that backdrop!"
***
"So Mina… where's Serena? Doesn't she want to wake up and see the show?"
Serena stared ahead at the brass elevator doors. Automatically, she reached a hand up to touch her hair, but remembered the last time she'd done that, Rei had swatted her with the hairbrush.
"Mina?" She asked, waving a hand in front of her face.
Startled, Serena jumped back and blinked a few times before she looked at Rei. "I'm sorry Rei, what did you say?"
Rei looked at her curiously. "I said, where's Serena? Did she sleep in the first day of the show?"
Serena bit her lip. 'Better make this good, Serena.' "Darien asked her to go home last night. So she did."
The dark-haired woman looked outraged. "What!? He can't do that!"
Serena shook her head sadly, and looked away to hide the grin on her face. 'That's payback for my wakeup call at 5:30 this morning, buddy.' "Yes. He can. And he did. I'm still upset with him."
Rei sniffed disdainfully and put her arm around Serena. "Well, I would be too. No wonder you're so spaced out this morning."
The blonde laughed. "Are you kidding me, Rei? I'm always like this before a show!"
"That's true…"
They exited the elevator and headed for a small table that was housing an array of beverages. Each woman poured herself a cup of coffee.
Serena noticed that Rei looked like she wanted to say something and couldn't. "Rei. What is it?"
She sighed. "Well, it's just that… well, I was trying to set Serena up with Darien," Serena choked on her coffee and spewed it all over the place, thus ensuring that she lacked coffee for the morning, but waved Rei to go on, "but now that he's sent her home and been such a jerk… I wouldn't help him if you paid me a million dollars."
With what she hoped was a convincing smile, Serena nodded. "Oh… that's great."
***
A short man with glasses complete with a balding head and clipboard was walking around the dressing area. "5 minutes to Showtime, people, 5 minutes."
"LAST CALL FOR ALL MODELS TO REPORT TO THE DRESSING ROOMS. ALL MODELS PLEASE ERPORT TO THE DRESSING ROOMS AT THIS TIME. THANK YOU."
The Amazon beauty stood tall, trying to locate the show's star. Always, they had sat and talked for the countdown before she went on and opened the show. "Dammit… where is she?"
A yelp that sounded a lot like Serena sounded to her right and she shoved aside makeup artists and other middles to get there. What sigh beheld her, however, was something she was totally unprepared for.
Mina was looked outraged as makeup artists worked on her face while some one tried to stick silicone in the front of her …ahem…dress.
Surprised, Lita asked, "Mina? What are you doing?"
Her sky blue eyes flashed dangerously, looking darker in her anger, "Do you see what they're trying to do to me?! They want to put these things down my dress! I have a very nice chest, thankyouverymuch! This is an insult!"
The brunette sighed heavily and walked over to the poor women trying to put the silicone in. "Okay guys—let a pro do this." She looked into Mina's eyes. "Now I know you always hated this part-but the fashions you're modeling today and tomorrow flatten you. Entirely. And you hate that as much as the next woman. So put these in," she handed them to Mina, who grimaced and slipped them in the front of her dress, "and we'll all be happy. You okay?" She asked, touching Mina's face. "You feel a little warm."
"I guess I'm just nervous."
Lita chuckled. "Meens—you've done this how many times now?—fake boobs and all—though you've never put up quite a fight before—the only thing that's different is that Serena's supposed to be here and she left. Rei told me all about it," she added conspiratorially.
Serena paled. "Yeah… he's a jerk. I really wanted her to come."
"We all did," Lita said, slinging an arm around her. "She's a fireball—but I will say this—get her her coffee or be prepared to face the consequences."
A lightening bolt went over Serena's head. "COFFEE!!" She exclaimed. "I need my coffee! That's what I forgot this morning!"
"Looks like Serena rubbed off on you." Lita said, as she dodged a flustered makeup artist. "Better let these people finish you up. See you on the runway."
"No—Lita, I need my coffee!"
"There's no time," she called over her shoulder as she disappeared into the sea of makeup artists, clothing racks, and half naked models.
The blonde slumped down in her stool and let the flurry of last minute primping continue. "I can't do this. I need my coffee. I haven't had anything to eat yet this morning and I need… I need to calm down and get over it."
And then, all at once, it had started. Modesty was completely shot to hell as people around her ripped off the robe she was wearing, shimmed her into the dress, and hiked it up to tie on the stiletto she was slated to wear. There was a lat minute hair-brushing, a loose powder application, and she nearly sneezed. Then—like a magic trick—they had all disappeared.
She was all alone except for Mr. Dior, who was waiting for her patiently.
"Miss Mina?" Serena looked up. "We're ready for you."
***
The lighting was intense. There was a sea of faces all around. A huge voice that wasn't hers boomed, "And now—the principal model of Shields Modeling and Co.—Miss Mina Fuentes!"
Someone gave her a shove and she stepped onto the center of the platform.
'Breathe, Serena, breathe. You can do this. You have done this. Remember Darien back in Manhattan?'
That brought a smile to her face and she broke rule number 1 of modeling: Show no expression.
She took a few more wobbly steps and broke rule number 2: Do not make eye contact with the press.
The flash caused her to take a few steps back and flinch—she almost tripped—but righted herself and kept going. When she got to the end of the catwalk, she turned, stepped and turned again. She made it halfway back before she broke rule number 3, the most important of them all:
Don't ever faint.
***
He watched her like a hawk, wincing when she winced, flinching when she did. When she made her turns on the end, he felt a little light-headed. And then he knew.
"Oh my god. She's going to faint."
Darien pushed by Mr. Dior, jumped over a makeup cart, shoved the oncoming model aside… and made it just in time to catch her before she fell.
***
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Well? What did you think?? Pretty nice ending, there, huh? Um, okay, this may come as somewhat of a shock to you guys, but try and remember the power of patience. (Who I am kidding, I'm the least patient person alive!)
I will be on vacation… until April 15th. So this is your SUPER HUGE UPDATE until then. And it was a good chapter, wasn't it? *pokes readers in their sides* Come on, you know it was.
*Laughs*
Okay. My editor/ Fleur, is ALSO on vacay NOW, so I'm going a bit kooky. See what happens when I have nobody to make me work?
Hope you guys all have an AWESOME spring break if you haven't had it yet—like me. And rest assured that I will be bringing this with me to Hawaii… for 2 LOOOOOOONG weeks of fun in the sun.