Beautiful People | wlw

Nineteen: Gossip

Jay threw her a wink. "Of course. That's the game, isn't it? Did you think I introduced you to Bea because I like you?"

Vera snorted out a laugh. "Are you saying you don't like me?"

"You know I like you, y'all don't need to fish for compliments." Jay snapped the clasps shut on his makeup case. "It's hard for us outsiders. We gotta look out for each other, you know?"

"Yeah, we do," Lily muttered from the other side of the room.

Jay narrowed his eyes at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

"Why don't you get the car, honey." He turned away with a dismissive flick of his pearly nails.

Letting out a loud huff, Lily threw her hair over her shoulder and shoved out through the doors. Jay pushed out a long, melodramatic sigh.

"I think I made a mistake with that one, Vee."

"Yeah, what's going on with you two?" Vera asked, glancing at her notifications before she slung her purse over her shoulder. She probably shouldn't have bothered. She couldn't keep up with her mentions anymore.

"Okay, first of all, none of this is my fault. I told her I wasn't looking for anything serious. But I'm pretty sure she caught feelings."

"Wait." Vera stared at him, mouth hanging open a little. "You and Lily?"

"It's just casual," Jay said grumpily. "Or it was supposed to be, anyway."

"Okay, wow. I definitely thought you were..."

Jay raised both eyebrows. "You thought I was what?"

"Well." Vera's face warmed. "I mean, I thought you were gay."

Jay laughed as he shrugged into his denim jacket, dozens of enamel pins along the shoulders catching the light. "Aren't you bi? What are you doing making assumptions about people's sexuality?"

Vera made a face and held the door open for him, hot air washing over her. Summer had swamped the city when she wasn't paying attention, dry, breathless heat that made her want to shave her already-short hair right down to her scalp. "You're right. Sorry for assuming. I've just never met such a flamboyant guy who wasn't gay."

"Gender expression and sexual orientation are not the same thing, girl."

"I know, I'm a shallow bitch, I'm sorry." She bit her lip as she locked the door. "Just so I'm sure I'm not making more assumptions-- you're not straight, though?"

"Naw, I'm obviously queer as hell." Jay examined his nails. "My dating standards might be higher than Mount Everest, but a hot person is a hot person no matter their gender."

"Okay, but I feel that." Vera tapped her heel against the curb and looked down the street for Lily and the car. "Are you sure this situation isn't at all your fault, though? Wasn't it kind of a bad idea to hook up with Lily in the first place, since she, y'know, works for you?"

"You're calling me out for that when you went for Sharise and made every U-Haul lesbian look bad with your efficiency?"

"We're roommates."

"Of course. Totally platonic. Did you or did you not wake up in mama Sharise's bed this morning?"

Vera adjusted her pleated skirt primly and didn't answer that. He was already grinning at her, so he didn't need to know that despite having set up her stuff in the second bedroom when she moved in a week ago, Vera had slept in Sharise's bed four out of the past seven nights. And he didn't need to know that waking up every day to find the most beautiful woman she had ever met in her bed or in the kitchen making coffee made her happier than she'd been in a long, long time. And he definitely didn't need to know that she had started daydreaming about Sharise's clothes, filling her notebooks with brand-new designs inspired by those curves and great legs and Sharise's taste in color and home decor.

"You're supposed to be telling me what's up with you and Lily."

Jay rolled his eyes skyward. "We agreed it would be no-strings-attached, one-hundred-percent-no-feelings casual sex. Then, last night, she asked me out to dinner. Do you consider dinner casual?"

Vera thought about that first date with Sharise and how ridiculous it was that she'd tried to convince herself it wasn't a date. "Not really."

"Exactly. So now she's mad at me because I didn't want to do dinner and I reminded her that she agreed to not make this anything more than sex."

Vera winced in sympathy. "Are you sure she didn't mean it as like, friends? Or colleagues?"

"You're reaching." Jay shifted his makeup case under his arm and pouted. "Now I have to somehow manage this like I'm a functioning adult. At least I haven't messed things up as badly as Carmen and Marina. I still can't believe Marina just told you she made a pass at Carmen. I mean, they weren't subtle, and a lot of us had our suspicions, but she's not exactly publicly out."

Vera's delicately musical ringtone interrupted her response as Lily pulled up to the curb with the car. It was a private number, not the designer she'd been expecting to hear back from. Awkwardly juggling purse and phone, she answered with a frown.

"Bitch, I need you here now," Carmen said on the other end of the line, as though she called Vera up to order her around every day.

Heart dropping, Vera glanced at Jay with wide eyes. Somehow she kept her voice steady. "Is something wrong? I wasn't expecting to talk to you until Friday and I haven't finished--"

"Do you really expect me to explain myself? Just get your skinny ass over here right now." Carmen hung up before she could reply, exactly like Vera always did when she was annoyed at Ivy and didn't want to let her have the last word.

She swallowed hard. Her hands were shaking.

"You good, girl?" Jay asked, leaning on the open car door. "You look like you just got some really bad news."

"I'm okay." She stitched on a smile and pulled up an app to call a ride. "I've got a fashion emergency to deal with. I'll see you guys later."

Jay looked skeptical, but all he said was, "Good luck."

Vera stared at the app for a heavy moment, at Carmen's address in the destination, before she accepted.

This was it. Somehow, even though she'd only dressed Marina once and it hadn't even been a front -page style, Carmen had found out, and now she was about to be fired. She wasn't ready.

At least she'd already signed the contract with Andre.