The rooftop party beat bright in the deepening Venetian night. Tables huddled against the walls and railings, pushed aside to make room for a dance floor, and guests filled the cleared space with giddy laughter and questionable dance moves. Splashing echoed from the pool, where a dozen people in designer bathing suits batted around a giant inflatable ball in a game approximating volleyball. Candles on the tables flickered a dim light over smiling faces and handshakes sealing deals that would put names into the credits of some upcoming film.
No matter how messy the situation on the yacht earlier, Carmen's afterparty was undoubtedly a success.
In a sheltered space where they had retreated from the dancing to catch their breath and let sweat cool against night-kissed skin, Vera leaned close to Sharise under the throbbing music and said, "Have I told you that you look absolutely stunning tonight?"
"You may have mentioned it once or twice." A smile caught in the corners of brown eyes.
"Sorry. It's distracting, how gorgeous you are. I can totally relate to Fatima Bhatia never giving up on asking you to model for her."
Sharise chuckled, warm as a bubbling bath. "I suppose you do have that in common."
"I still can't believe you didn't tell me that you know her so well."
"It never seemed relevant. Besides, you would have been insufferable if I had."
"You know what, I can't even argue with that." Vera grinned up at her. "Think you'll go to the Paris show?"
"I know you'd like to."
"That's not–" Vera waved her hands around. "I mean, yeah, of course. I would love to go to a Bhatia show at Fashion Week. But I don't want you to feel like you have to go just because I want to. Would it be fun for you? You still seem to have a lot of friends in the business. And I know you still care about fashion. Your wardrobe is immaculate."
"Thank you." A shout from the pool drew her attention. She smoothed a palm over her hip as she watched the striped ball bounce between outflung fingertips. "It would be fun to go to Paris. But after Venice, we have Toronto. And the film's reception has been fantastic. We need to start thinking about Carmen's Academy Award campaign."
"The Oscars aren't until next spring."
"She's going to have to hustle. Everyone knows her, but no one is out here saying it's her time. Not after all the teen romances."
"Don't you get vacation?" Vera asked, only half-joking.
In the pool, Carmen shrieked with laughter.
Sharise pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers. "I was hoping this trip would feel more like a vacation," she admitted.
"Oh my god, same." Vera huffed out a breath. But she realized as she said it that it wasn't quite true. The anxiety she'd been carrying like a second skin seemed to have peeled off. There was something about the cool night air and the lingering headiness of the wine and the sheer giddy thrill of dancing close with Sharise that had swept it all away. Carmen's performative friendliness with Marina didn't hurt, either. It was so over the top that Vera thought it might actually be real.
Everything was going to work out. She could finally think about what was next. Next for her career— and for her relationship. After all, hadn't she made a deal with Jay?
She set her hand against Sharise's wrist. "If you could fly anywhere in the world, right now, where would you go?"
Sharise frowned thoughtfully. "Right now? I don't know."
"There must be somewhere you want to see."
"Maybe New Zealand." She laughed. "I've never been there. And it would be fun to see those caves with the glowworms."
"Glowworms? I thought those were a fake movie thing."
So Sharise showed her some pictures her aunt had taken at Waitomo Caves in New Zealand, then some of the Grand Canyon. Before they knew it, they'd spent ten minutes looking at photos of beautiful and unique places around the world and were talking about booking flights somewhere their responsibilities couldn't reach them.
But Sharise sighed wistfully. "It's fun to think about. But I can't right now. Carmen's relying on me."
Her braids lay twisted untidily over her shoulder, wrinkling her fine lace top. Vera reached up and with gentle fingers began to straighten them, one at a time.
"You deserve a break."
A soft smile curved her lips. "I'll be sure to tell Carmen to slow down her schedule so I can have one."
"I'll tell her for you."
The music slowed from frenetic to a sensual rhythm, heavy as a heartbeat. They'd both caught their breath. Sharise glanced at the dancefloor, where people were pairing off for a slow dance.
Vera moved closer, until she could feel the heat of Sharise's body warming the cool night air, and slipped a hand into the contour of her waist.
"A slow one this time?"
Sharise pulled her close.
Secluded here away from the main dancefloor, Vera let herself relax into Sharise's embrace as they swayed to the music. Their pulses met in a subdued cadence, wrist and throat and belly. Small smiles surfaced on their lips.
"If you could do anything in the world," Vera said, to distract herself from wanting to say again how beautiful Sharise looked tonight. "Like, if your mom hadn't been such a bitch about modeling, and acting hadn't treated you like shit, and if you'd never met Carmen – If you had a totally clean slate, what would you be doing right now?"
"Anything?"
Gaze reaching out over the city beyond the rooftop, the skyline so different from Los Angeles with its smog and its hustle, Sharise took her time answering.
"I liked acting."
"Really? I thought you said you hated it."
Sharise shook her head slightly. "There were terrible parts. But the work itself- getting to inhabit someone else's world for a while. There's nothing like it. I miss it, sometimes."
Awed at this admission that Sharise did, in fact, enjoy things for her own sake sometimes, Vera asked, "If you could play any character ever, who would it be?"
With a sheepish laugh, Sharise adjusted her hands against Vera's back, settled one in that delicate place at the base of her spine. "None in particular."
"No dream role? Isn't that something all actors have?"
"Shakespeare wasn't exactly writing roles with me in mind. And neither was anyone else." Eyes drifting up to the stars, she pursed her full lips. "It would be fun to star in something romantic. That one character who is seen as the ultimate in desirability."
"I would love to see that." Vera could already picture it: Sharise in the sexy film of the summer, the kind of movie too steamy to watch with your parents. The kind of role that would certify an actor as a sex symbol. Leaning close against Sharise's neck, she said, "You are the ultimate in desirability, you know."
Eyes crinkling with her smile, Sharise looked down at her. "Are you trying to get an invitation down to my room?"
Vera held a hand to her chest as though offended. "Wow, I must be really off my game if you think I'd be that indirect. If I was trying to get an invitation down to your room I would ask if you wanted to get out of here."
A chuckle tumbled from Sharise's lips. "My mistake."
Vera realized suddenly that the slow song had ended, giving way to a more upbeat, heel-tapping tune. They slowed, stopped. They didn't let each other go.
Sharise brushed her fingertips against the soft hair at Vera's temple, sending shivers through her cooling skin. Dark lashes dipped low over her eyes. "You know, if we stay here any longer, Cora might come back needing more help."
"It's true. We don't want that, do we?"
"I could use a break."
"So..." Vera drew the word out, grinning wickedly up at Sharise. "Do you want to get out of here?"
Her slow smile was a promise. "I do."
Vera took her hand and led her toward the exit. Sharise didn't even look again at the pool to make sure Carmen was okay. (She was - perched on the tiled edge with Marina beside her, she was directing two teams of swimmers in a competition like a cross between synchronized swimming and a very splashy dance-off. She looked like she was having a ball).
Vera would get to see Sharise in a swimsuit another day. Maybe on a sandy beach somewhere hot.
* * *
In Sharise's hotel room, filmy curtains fluttered at the open window. Flicking the light switch illuminated only a small brass lamp in the corner, its faint glow spilling over a tall-backed chair laid out with a yellow jumpsuit and perfectly paired accessories.
"Already planning for tomorrow? I must be a good influence on you." Vera brushed her knuckles over the fine cotton as Sharise shut the door behind them.
"I did make breakfast plans with someone for far too early in the morning," Sharise reminded her.
"Breakfast plans?" Vera pretended to be shocked. "With a girl?"
Chuckling, Sharise kicked off her shoes and sank her toes into the luxurious rug spread over the tiles. "With a girl. You might even call it a date."
"Should I be jealous?" Vera teased.
"Mm. Probably."
Vera watched her cross to the ornate dresser and unhook her earrings. There was an uncommon softness about her tonight. Diaphanous shadows flowing over her dark skin, she looked like she belonged here in this baroque hotel room, with its flourishes and gilt and that sumptuous claw-foot tub standing free beyond the palatial bed covered in fifty million teeny tiny pillows. The clear alpine scent she was wearing tonight lingered in the air.
The jumpsuit laid out on the chair was new, or at least one Vera had never seen her wear before; daffodil-yellow, it had silk roses along the shoulders that complemented the floral pattern stamped into the white purse beside it. Somehow, between the biggest film premiere of Carmen's career and running damage control on the yacht party scandal, Sharise had found time to think about their date the next day and even to plan her outfit for it.
A sweet sort of ache rose up in her.
Vera tiptoed over and slipped her arms around Sharise's waist. Peering over her shoulder, she grinned at them both in the mirror. "You know, I have a breakfast date, too."
"What a coincidence." She nestled the earrings into a plush cushioned case.
"Right? And this girl I'm going on a date with, she's amazing."
"Sounds like you got pretty lucky." Snapping the case shut, Sharise turned in the embrace, her palms dancing up Vera's arms.
"You're right." Vera tilted her chin up, the tips of their noses brushing. "I got so fucking lucky. See, this girl–"
A flutter of nerves tangled up her next words. She reached up, Sharise's cheek soft and warm and steady under the slight tremble in her palm.
She wasn't afraid, not exactly. This was what she wanted: Sharise, in her arms, smiling, teasing. The way Sharise's breath quickened, the way her lashes fluttered - nothing in her life, since coming to Hollywood or before it, could compare to the way her heart started to race when Sharise looked at her like that.
She wanted this forever.
"This woman, she means a lot to me."
"Yeah?"
Pressing up on her toes, she left a light kiss on Sharise's lips. "Yeah. And I see a future with her, if that's what she wants."
For a moment there was nothing but their breathing and the pull of their gazes, brown eyes and black. Then Sharise let her fingertips trail down Vera's back, soft as a wish. "A future like vacations and moving in officially and maybe a fluffy white cat?"
Vera found she was smiling, a big foolish grin. "Whatever you want, angel. I don't want to rush you. But I want you to know that I'm serious about this. About us. I love you."
The softest, slowest smile curved Sharise's lips.
Suddenly bursting with giddiness and nerves, Vera tugged her down onto the plush bed, scattering tiny pillows everywhere.
"How dare you manhandle me." Grabbing one fluffy pillow, Sharise bopped her over the head with it. Vera whapped her with a velvet tube-shaped pillow in retaliation. Sharise's laughter was almost a giggle.
The next thing they knew, itty bitty pillows were flying in every direction. It was a full-on pillow fight. Feathers escaped. Stuffing slipped the seams. There might have been some tickling involved.
Vera was almost crying with laughter by the time she collapsed, beaten, onto the luxurious area rug. Sharise fell down beside her, smiling so big Vera suddenly wondered if she'd ever really seen her smile before. She had to lean over and kiss her.
Light filtered through thin curtains, rippling across the ceiling in time with the soft wash of the tide far below. Thousands of pillows heaped around them, and the thick rug was as comfortable as any bed. They kissed again, then again. They tugged at clothing, fumbled buttons until hot skin met cool night air, was covered again by fingers and palms.
Pushing up on her elbow, Vera looked down at Sharise, admiring; stunned all over again, like every time, by how gorgeous she was. The soft curve of her hip, the sweet dip of her navel, the perfect angle where her shoulder met her neck in that spot where the touch of lips would make her gasp.
"I love you," she said again, liking the way it felt on her tongue and liking even more the way Sharise's eyes shone at hearing it.
Vera leaned down, quick breath meeting a moment before their lips. Sharise reached up and drew her deeper. Kissed her hard enough to make the future look like it was right there waiting for them.