Wardrobe Malfunction(5)

Charly

I’m admiring the gorgeous Fendi hanging from the shoulder of the woman walking in front of me when my cell starts ringing from inside my knockoff Stella McCartney.

I retrieve it from the bottom of my bag, expecting it to be Nick—my roommate and best friend since college—but see that it’s Ava Simms. She’s a friend and colleague. She works wardrobe like I do.

“Yello!” I sing cheerily to her.

I hear her laugh.

“Charly, do you ever answer the phone like a normal person?”

“Why would I when I can answer so colorfully?” I say in a puzzled tone, making her laugh again. “How you doing?” I ask.

“Good,” she says.

But I can tell from her tone that she’s not good at all. We might not be super close, like Nick and I are, but I know her well enough to know when something is wrong. I just hope it isn’t that prick of a so-called boyfriend of hers. The one she moved across the country to be with. Honestly, I can’t imagine leaving New York to move to LA for any guy. Especially not an out-of-work actor who sidelines as a hand model and thinks he’s God’s gift to women.

I don’t know what Ava sees in that guy. Granted, he’s good-looking, but he’s a dick, and she could do a million times better.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“Are you still in Nashville?”

Okay. Not the answer I was expecting but whatever.

“Nope. I just landed in JFK.” I smile to myself, looking forward to having the week off that I booked in for myself. I haven’t had any time off in…forever, and even though I’m not rich, I have enough money in the bank to allow myself a week of doing nothing. “I’m actually walking through the airport as we speak, heading to grab a cab home. Why?”

“Well…I haven’t had a chance to tell you, but I landed a job on this big-budget movie, and I’m the wardrobe mistress—”

“Really? Congrats! That’s great, Ava!”

Wardrobe mistress is a promotion for Ava, who was a wardrobe assistant like me. She’s been in the business longer than I have though, so I can’t envy her promotion.

“Well…the thing is, I was wondering if you would want to come and work with me.”

“When?” I have a job lined up in wardrobe on a small Broadway play after my weeklong break, but if it’s after that, then I can do it.

“Well…tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” I yell in surprise.

“Yeah, I know it’s short notice—”

“No kidding. Hang on, am I an add-on? Did someone drop out, and you need me to fill in?”

Silence.

I can practically hear her wince.

“Ava?”

“It’s not as bad as you’re making it sound. I knew you were already working up in Nashville on Rollers, so I hired Millie Reed—”

“Millie Reed?”

“I know you don’t like her—”

“She screwed Michael.”

“After you dumped him.”

“I know, but that’s not the point. She was supposed to be a friend. You know, girl code and all that.”

“You two were never friends; you just worked together.” She laughs. “I remember what you said the first day after you worked with her. You said she was useless.”

“She is useless. She’s a crap seamstress. She sewed all the buttons on a shirt the wrong way—rookie mistake.”

“Well, she was available—”

“She always is.”

“And you weren’t,” Ava continues seamlessly. “I would have asked you first; you know that. But, with the timing, I knew you wouldn’t be able to do it, so I asked Millie, and…”

“What happened?”

“I’m not sure. I just got a call this morning from Vaughn’s manager, telling me to fire her. Apparently, she was incompetent.”

“She probably tried to screw him, too,” I mutter. “Hang on, Vaughn? As in—”

“Vaughn West. Oh, yes.”

“Oh my God,” I breathe.

Vaughn West.

Vaughn. West.

I can’t say I’m not excited at hearing that name. I’ve worked with a lot of celebrities, but Vaughn West is a whole different caliber of celebrity. Aside from being off-the-charts hot—dark blond hair, hazel-brown eyes, and a body made for sex…let’s just say that Vaughn has starred in a lot of my late-night fantasies. I might have a teeny-tiny crush on him.

But not only is he gorgeous, he’s also a great actor. To be able to see him in action would be amazing.

“What’s he like?” I have to ask.

“Gorgeous, of course. I’ve only met him twice, and each time was brief, but he seems like a nice guy.”