Just For The Cameras

chapter 10 ~ happy halloween!

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***

"Payton, stop looking out of the window. I'm going to mess up your make-up if you keep moving." Anna groaned and threw her hands up in despair.

"I'm sorry." I replied. "But the view is just too beautiful to not look at it without pause. I've never been to New York City before and I have to fix the view on my mind before we leave. What if I'll never come here again?" I sighed and kept looking at the city while the sun slowly vanished behind the skyscrapers and seemed to disappear in the Hudson River.

"You sure will go here again soon. So look at me now, we don't have all day to get this done. Cruella will return any second." She said with a laugh and I joined in when she was comparing Alexa to Cruella De Vil.

But she was right, just ten minutes later the devil herself strutted into the room, right when Anna was finished with my hair.

"Payton, I have your dress with me." She said and held up my dress that was embellished with bright red sequins.

"Thanks." I replied while taking the dress from her hands. "Are you still going to change into your costume or are you going as yourself?"

She glared at me. Well, going as herself would definitely make her win the award for the best costume of the evening. Witch, bitch and devil are popular Halloween costumes and she would represent all three at the same time.

"I'm not coming with you. I have something better to do."

Meaning she wasn't invited.

"What a pity! I'm sure we would have had lots of fun together." I replied before disappearing in the bathroom.

***

When I stepped into the hotel's lobby, the chandelier's light was refracted in the black and red sequins of my dress and my headband and made both sparkle slightly. I brushed a strand of hair, which was stuck to my bright red lipstick, out of my face before searching the room for Nathan who was supposed to be waiting here for me.

The lobby was full of people who were wearing all kinds of costumes. Some were dressed as witches, some as princesses, some as superheroes and some were wearing something that was simply indefinable. It was the usual picture one got to see every Halloween.

"Payton?" Someone suddenly said and I spun around to see who it was.

"Finally." I replied when I saw Nathan's face. "I almost thought you would ditch me."

"How could I? There's no way I'd be able to do that." He laughed, hinting at the contract we had.

"That's true." I agreed and had to laugh as well.

"So what are we going as? Just so I know what to tell the people who ask."

While asking this he was eyeing my outfit. His eyes were following the pattern of red and black sequins that were attached to the transparent, red dress that I was wearing above a black underdress. He was looking at my black gloves that went up till my elbows, at the black stole I had around my shoulders and then at my headband that was taking up the sequins of the dress.

"According to Anna we are going as a couple from the 1920s." I interrupted his stares and made him look at my face again.

"So women used to wear dead animals around their necks back then?" He asked, referring to my stole.

"It's called a stole and it's not real. I would never wear real animals."

"Are you going to wear that more often in the future?" He questioned with a skeptical expression on his face.