Leaving L.A. by Rexanne Becnel

Author:Rexanne Becnel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

Who was that woman in the mirror?

At least as a brunette the haircut didn’t look quite so bad. With no makeup on, or jewelry, and only a pair of dark sunglasses, I didn’t look remotely like myself.

“What do you think?” I asked Alice.

“Well…you don’t look like you, and that’s what you want, right?”

“What are you saying? That I look hideous?”

“No. Not at all. You couldn’t look hideous if you tried.”

“Why, Alice, I do declare.” I pressed one hand dramatically to my heart. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You couldn’t look hideous. But some of your outfits are tacky beyond belief.”

It was such a smart-aleck quip, not what I expected from her, that I laughed before I could stop myself. “You ain’t seen nothing yet, babe. I have this leopard-print and pink-lace outfit with a black leather bustier and matching stiletto ankle boots that makes men drop dead in their tracks and women snarl and grow claws.”

She covered her eyes in mock terror. “Spare me. Please!”

I grinned at her and miracle of miracles, she grinned back. “You know, I’m not quite as awful as everyone thinks,” I told her. “And just maybe you’re not quite as good. Don’t frown,” I added when her eyebrows drew together. “I’m kind of glad you have a secret, selfish side. All that saccharine goodness was wearing on my nerves.”

She managed a sour smile. “Well, thanks. I guess.”

An awkward silence fell between us. She shifted as if to leave, and I said, “How about we cut your hair, too?”

“Like yours?” she gasped.

“I knew you hated it!”

“No. I mean, it’s just not me.” She tucked a strand of hair that had come loose behind her ear.

“I didn’t mean to cut it as drastically as I did mine. I just thought…I don’t know. Something a little jazzier. Something that would play up your eyes. And highlights wouldn’t hurt either. Professionally done, of course.”

Her gaze cut to her reflection in the bathroom mirror, then met mine. “Maybe,” she said.

“I bet Carl would like it.”

“Maybe,” she repeated. But there was more doubt on her face than before.

What was it with her and Carl? There was like this weird ambivalence between them. It seemed to me they needed either to piss or get off the pot. But I kept my thoughts to myself. And, anyway, who was I to advise anyone else on her love life? If I wasn’t wasting my time with some rock-and-roll fool, I was dancing around some celebrity-chasing newshound.

But not anymore. From celebrities to celibacy. That was my new mantra. As I went off to my lonely bedroom and Alice down to hers, I decided it was as good a plan as any.

I woke up with an entirely different agenda.

Actually, I woke up fine, except for the first shocking moment when I stumbled bleary-eyed into the bathroom and spied my new self. “What the hell?” I muttered, stumbling backward against the wall. Still, the hair was okay, a part of my plan.

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