Nobody stopped me to do it over, and I let out a sigh of relief when I reached the front door. When I stepped inside, I was struck by the overwhelming smell of melted wax. I could only imagine how many candles had given their lives in service of the show. An assistant directed me to the Mixer Room, where all the parties and ceremonies would be held.
The room was full of women who were pretty in a generic way—everyone had long hair (mostly extensions) with beachy waves. They all sported fake eyelashes, too-white teeth, and perfect makeup. They wore tight, formal dresses that fit courtesy of Spanx, and heels so high I worried for their safety. Especially since most of the women in here were already half drunk.
“Wow!” someone said over my shoulder. “I was in the car behind you, and I have to say, you two have the kind of sparks where you need a welder’s helmet. Yikes. The rest of us won’t stand a chance!”
I turned to see a tall and very pretty redhead with dark green eyes. Her hair was a deep, fiery color. Normally you’d expect to see a lot of freckles on a girl like that, but her porcelain skin was clear and smooth. She had a genuine smile on her face, and I felt drawn to her. It reminded me of the first time I met Kat. Where it had felt like I had known her in another life and that we would be the best of friends in this one.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be surprised if I last beyond tonight.” I wanted to reassure her because she seemed wired and nervous.
“I’m Genesis. Which I know is a weird name, but you get used to it after a while.”
“Were your parents religious?”
“My mom, fanatically so. Hence the name. And you are?”
“I’m Lemon.”
She laughed. “So you get it.”
The other women stared at us like old cows looking at a new gate. I could see that they dismissed us immediately as possible competition. Ordinarily that would have gotten my dander up—but since I wasn’t competing for Dante’s heart, it didn’t matter. I would have to tell him about Genesis, though. She seemed very sweet.
I heard Annie talking to the other girls about her arrival. “He couldn’t take his eyes off of me. We had such a connection. I bet I get the ‘First Sight Heart.’ You should have seen our crazy chemistry.”
“I certainly saw the crazy part of it,” I whispered to Genesis, and she laughed, which caused the women to turn as one toward us, like a bunch of hormone-addled meerkats. Annie glared at me, and I just smiled at her. Because that’s what you did with crazy people. Another limo arrived and everyone turned back to the window.
An angry-sounding dark-haired girl in a purple dress said, “I told him that my last boyfriend wanted me to lose twenty pounds, so I decided to lose two hundred pounds in the form of my loser ex-boyfriend instead. If Dante can’t like me how I am, then I don’t want him, either.”
That must have terrified him. I tried not to laugh.
Everyone started talking at once and trying to one-up each other on who had the best line when they met Dante. Nobody listened to anyone else and nobody stopped talking, either.
“I’m a little afraid,” Genesis whispered. “What’s going on with all of these women?”
“Dropped on their heads as babies?”
She giggled, and we walked over to a couch to wait for everyone else to arrive and to chat without the harpies at the window judging us.
“You look so comfortable. I’m so jealous.”
I had actually been feeling a bit out of place in my jeans and jersey, but Genesis was right. I was comfortable. “But your dress is so pretty.”
She was wearing a dark green dress with princess cap sleeves and a poufy skirt. “It isn’t mine. The stylist had to sew me into it. I just want to take it off and put on some sweats. Same for these stupid fake eyelashes. I feel like somebody glued spiders to my face.”
“You’ve never worn them before?”
She shook her head. “That’s not really me.”
Another new arrival walked in the room, and every eye went to her. She had honey-blonde Disney princess hair—the kind that fell in perfect waves down to the middle of her back—and soft brown doe eyes. She wore a skirt so tight and short I could see her religion. I felt like I should scour my eyeballs.
“I know her!” Genesis whispered to me in shock. “She’s a British actress on that soap opera, East and West, which is one of my favorite shows ever. I used to follow her on Twitter!”
“Used to?” The actress seemed to glide across the room to the bar, pouring herself a drink while looking both refined and flawless. I wondered who did her PR. Since I had a grand total of one client so far, this might be my chance to network with her before I got kicked off at the Heart Celebration.