a proper night out before we leave LA. One where no one ends up on the front page of Perez Hilton.’
‘Hmm, yeah,’ she said vaguely. ‘It’s just … I was kinda hoping we could do dinner tonight, just me and you. I really need to talk to you.’
‘I know, I feel like I haven’t seen you properly in ages.’ I sniffed my black Kerrigan dress. Nope, couldn’t get another wear out of that. ‘Why don’t we have a goodbye LA drink before dinner. I’m sure Alex won’t miss us for an hour. I don’t suppose you have anything I could borrow to wear, do you, stylist extraordinaire?’
‘I’ll bring you something.’ I could hear a smile in her voice but she still didn’t sound too chipper. ‘What time’s dinner?’
‘Uh, eight?’ I looked at the clock. It was only just after one. ‘Jenny, are you OK?’
‘Let’s just talk later, OK?’ The line was breaking up. ‘I’ll come by your room at six? We’ll get you all hot and then grab that drink.’
‘And you promise not to beat James to death?’
‘I do.’
‘And Alex?’
‘Maybe.’
‘Jenny.’
‘OK, I’ll behave,’ she relented. ‘I just wish we could just do dinner on our own.’
‘You can bring Daphne if she’s about?’ I bargained, even if the thought of adding Daphne to the mix didn’t exactly fill me with joy. I hadn’t seen her since she vanished with a stranger on our big night out at Bar Marmont, and I didn’t feel as though she had been missing me.
‘Yeah, I don’t think so,’ Jenny let me off. ‘Let’s just get that drink.’
‘Well, if you change your mind, Blake is going for a “more the merrier” vibe.’ I took off my flip-flops and dropped them in the travel bag. ‘He wants me to invite Joe.’
‘Oh shit, what did you say?’ she asked. ‘Don’t think I’ve forgotten about that ass-hat. I can beat him to death, right?’
‘I’m sort of relying on not seeing him between now and tomorrow.’ I wandered over to the bed and considered a nap. ‘But if we ever come back to LA, you have my full permission to kick him hard in his face. More than once.’
‘Awesome,’ Jenny cackled. ‘See you at six.’
As Jenny rang off, I heard the door click open.
‘Hey, you done in there or should I go away?’ Alex called through the door.
I smiled. ‘I’m done, you can come in.’
He opened the door fully and held up a plastic bag. ‘Good, I’m all shopped out.’
‘That’s pathetic.’ I took the bag from him and flipped through the CDs. I hadn’t heard of any of the bands but I was sure they were all very cool. ‘You call one carrier bag shopped out. Jenny would laugh in your face.’
‘Jenny laughs in my face all the time.’ He took the CDs from me and placed them on the bedside table. ‘What are the plans for this afternoon, Scoop?’
‘Hmm, I think I have a very important nap to take,’ I said, falling back onto the bed and taking his hands in mine. His pale New York skin had turned pink in the sun. Too cute. ‘You?’
‘I could get behind a nap.’ Alex climbed over me, leaving one leg thrown over mine. ‘But I’m not that tired.’
‘I don’t know what to tell you,’ I said, relaxing back against him. It wasn’t just his face that had caught the sun; he was warm all over. ‘I’m knackered.’
‘You’d better let me do all the work, huh?’ I felt his lips on the back of my neck and closed my eyes. We did have a few hours to kill and it would be a terrible waste of a hotel room if we didn’t, wouldn’t it? As Alex’s hands slid around my waist, I could only think that we should fall out all the time.
‘Knock-knock, the fashion fairy is here,’ Jenny declared, sailing into my room without actually knocking. ‘Oh jeez, I’m supposed to be pissed with you, Brooklyn, could you at least put your pants on?’
I opened my eyes to see Alex sitting at my laptop in his boxers. Bless.
‘OK Lopez,’ he said, grabbing his jeans from the floor. ‘But she’s in my T-shirt so I’m gonna have to take whatever you’ve got in that bag.’
‘Ooh, is that for me?’ I was suddenly very awake. Jenny was holding a very large, stiff bag from – oh, be still my beating heart – Marc Jacobs.
‘It is unless anyone asks, then it’s for Tessa DiArmo.’ With a flourish, Jenny produced a stunning vibrant purple silk shirtdress. ‘What do you think?’
‘Jenny, it’s beautiful,’ I breathed, bounding across the room to get closer to the pretty, pretty dress. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so amazing.’
‘Uh, boyfriend in the room?’ Alex coughed from the table.
‘I know, I’m amazing and, besides, I wanted you to look awesome for your last night with the paps.’ Jenny hung the dress on the front of the wardrobe. ‘So shower fast, wear your Louboutins and get your ass upstairs to the bar. You’ve got thirty minutes.’
Forty minutes later, I was wearing the most expensive outfit that had ever graced my body, the highest heels I’d ever attempted to walk in, and mismatched underwear, as usual. Hopefully Jenny wouldn’t check; she would be so disappointed. I also hoped she’d let me off with the extra ten minutes I’d spent on my smoky-gold eye make-up since it matched the ensemble.
‘You look amazing,’ Alex said, adjusting the delicate gold belt around my waist. ‘Like you forgot your pants and you don’t even care.’
‘I’m wearing my pants,’ I said, confused. Was it too short? Could you see my arse?
‘Language barrier.’ He tugged lightly at the hemline. ‘I meant trousers.’
‘Fashion barrier,’ I said, slapping his fingers. ‘It’s supposed to look like this. See you downstairs later.’ A quick kiss and I was gone. The dress needed to be out where everyone could see it.
Stepping onto the balcony felt different, knowing that it would be the last time I’d see the view, judge the lingering sunbathers. And knowing that I was wearing a fifteen-hundred-dollar dress instead of Jenny’s bikini and a post-wax rash felt pretty good too. Jenny was already at one of the tables, gazing out at the hills and sipping on what looked like her second mojito. For God’s sake, I was only ten minutes late.
‘You started without me?’ I pulled out a chair and sat down very carefully. As much as I loved the dress, I knew it was going to have to go back tomorrow. Sob.
‘You’re late,’ Jenny passed a full glass over to me. ‘But you’re hot. Damn, I’m good.’
‘You are. You’re looking pretty good yourself,’ I agreed, leaning across the table so as not to spill even a drop of condensation on my dress and getting an eyeful of Jenny’s amazing cleavage in her deeply slashed scarlet dress. ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’d been styling for years. All that spending my money has been totally worth it. Are you going to try and do it when we get back? Because the free clothes would be amazing.’
‘Yeah,’ she looked at her nails. ‘Drink your drink.’
‘Oh no.’ I tried not to look at my nails. Damn it, chipped to buggery. I was destined never to be completely put together. ‘I’m not getting wasted tonight. I very much enjoyed