Beneath the Glitter: A Novel (Sophia and Ava London) (12 page)

“And no injuries? Limitations on motion?”

“You mean like can I lift and carry a dog? Or get on my hands and knees to play with a rabbit?”

Estelle blinked. “Sure. Something like that.”

“Yes.” Ava nodded vigorously. “Absolutely.”

When she’d led Ava to a large room lined on either side with cages that held cats, Ava had pictured herself spending the afternoon frolicking with them, making sure they got attention and positive interactions.

“Boys and girls, meet Ava. Ava, meet the residents of the Beverly Wilshire,” Estelle said, naming one of Los Angeles’ fanciest hotels.

Several of the cats meowed. “Beverly Wilshire?” Ava asked.

“We like to give our guests a feeling of class,” Estelle explained. She nodded to a locker in the corner. “You’ll find what you need in there. You can either take them out and put them in the crib”—she pointed to a cage with no top that sat in the corner—“while you do it, or you can work around them.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure I understand. What am I doing exactly?”

“Cleaning the cages. Not the most glamorous job but the most necessary. They can’t do it themselves. It’ll remind you of how lucky you are to have thumbs.”

Ava wasn’t sure how cleaning the cages made her appreciate her thumbs, especially once she’d been at it for over an hour. They were filthy beneath the layer of kitty litter and the bars looked like they hadn’t been touched in years. There were some hard to reach corners and no brushes small enough. Still, she thought she was making good progress and getting the hang of it.

Until Dalton arrived.

He was in jeans again, and a T-shirt and glasses again, but today his T-shirt said C
HEWBACCA IS MY
H
OMEBOY
. Could he be any more of a geek?

He didn’t say hi or how are you or anything a normal person would say, just came in and stood watching her.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked finally.

“I told you. I care about animals. I want to make a contribution to society, do my part to—”

He rolled his eyes. “I asked why you were doing this, not for a public service announcement.”

“Fine. If you don’t like my reasons, why are you doing it?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“You just asked me,” she pointed out.

“You’re right, I shouldn’t have. I’m not the kind of guy you want to have anything to do with. And you are certainly not the kind of girl I want to have anything to do with.”

“Why, because I’m not in treatment for rage issues?”

“Good one.” He glanced around him then, as though noticing the room for the first time. “How long have you been here making your
contribution
?”

“Two hours,” she told him brightly. She wasn’t going to let him think for a second she wasn’t enjoying it.

“And you’ve done how many cages?”

“Four. So I’ll be done with the whole room by the end of my shift.”

He peered into the cages, then back at her.

“What? Did I do something wrong? Is there a wrong way to clean?”

“Yes and no.” He frowned. “You know there are three other rooms like this, right? And that you’re supposed to do all of them?”

Ava rocked back on her heels. “What? No. That’s not possible. No one said anything about anyplace except the Beverly Wilshire.”

“There’s the Hollywood Roosevelt, the Chateau Marmont, and Bonaventure.” He ticked off the names of some of LA’s other swanky hotels. “It’s only supposed to take you an hour to do each room.”

“How is that possible?”

“For starters, most people don’t polish the cages. Especially not the outsides. And—” He glanced inside and did a double take. “Did you rake the kitty litter?”

“I wanted it to look inviting.”

He stared at her and shook his head some more.

“Why are you looking at me that way? What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing,” he said. His tone was unexpected and unreadable. “Nothing is wrong with you.” He headed for the door, talking to her over his shoulder. “I’ll take the other three wings if you finish here.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not asking, I’m just doing it. Next time you’ll know.” He walked out the door leaving her “thanks” hanging in the air after him.

Not polishing every bar cut down on the cleaning time, and Ava had to admit the cats seemed just as happy with the unraked litter as the raked. She finished with ten minutes to spare and went to see if Dalton needed any help. The other three wings all looked pristine, but there was no sign of him. Walking by Estelle’s office Ava asked if she had seen him and was told he’d left half an hour earlier.

Of course he had, Ava thought. Why would she have expected him to say good-bye?

Sophia wasn’t home when Ava got there so she sat on the sofa to text Liam and wait for—

She woke up an hour later with her phone poking into the small of her back, sandwiched between Popcorn and the kitten, at the sound of Sophia’s key in the door.

“Hey, how was your day?” Sophia asked as she bounced into the house. “Mine was terrific.”

“That’s great,” Ava said, meaning it but also a little jealous. “What did you do?” Ava started thumbing through her messages.

“Lily and I were out all day taking pictures.”

Ava stopped looking at her messages. “You and Lily?” she repeated, now a little more jealous.

“Yeah. It was amazing. I think we got some great shots.” She grinned and crossed her fingers. “At least I hope so.”

“What did you take pictures of?”

Sophia grinned even more. “You’ll have to wait and see!”

“But Lily knows.”

“Of course. She was there.” Sophia disappeared to hang up the jacket she’d been wearing and came back in wearing a cardigan. “I was thinking we could order takeout. Unless you want to cook?”

Ava looked up from her phone. “Liam says we should order from Coffee Shop.”

“Really? What does Liam say we should order?”

Ava started typing and Sophia reached out and took the phone from her hands. “I was kidding.”

“Yeah, I knew that,” Ava said, reaching for the phone which Sophia was holding just out of her grasp. “I was writing something else. To someone else.”

Sophia touched the screen on Ava’s phone and read: “‘What should we or—’”

“Give me that!” Ava said, grabbing for it. Sophia shook her head. “No more texts tonight. We’re going to have a nice family dinner.”

“I hope you’re including Mr.
TV
in that family.”

“Of course.”

When they’d depleted their
DVR
and finished dinner Sophia yawned and said, “Not it. That means it’s your turn to do the dishes.”

“Just because you say that doesn’t make it true. I’m pretty sure it’s your turn. Besides, I’m exhausted from all my good deeds.”

“Okay, let’s compromise. I’ll get up and get the Oreos. But we have to agree to abide by its decision.”

“Done.”

It was a topic of heated debate in their family who had invented Pull the Oreo—most historians (anyone that mattered) sided with Mama, who had just the right kind of practical wisdom to be its inventor, but there were a few (Popcorn, Ava) who thought its emphasis on chocolate suggested their dad—but it had become the default way to decide otherwise intractable London family issues from “who has to take out the trash” to “who gets the last piece of Grandma’s berry berry double crumble pie” and everything in between.

Ava and Sophia assumed the official positions for Pull the Oreo—each one holding one side of the cookie in her fingertips—and counted in unison. “Three … Two … One … Pull!”

“Rats.” Ava flopped back onto the couch with the losing—noncreamy—side.

Sophia ate her half, murmuring about how delicious the creamy center was, which was one of the rights of the winner. But watching Ava listlessly nibbling the edge of her plain cookie took some of the sweetness out of the triumph. “It looks like volunteer work is really tiring.”

“You have no idea,” Ava said. “I spent five hours cleaning cages.”

“Aha. That’s what that smell is.” Sophia sighed and brushed crumbs from her hands. “Well, since you spent your day helping others, I’ll do the dishes to help you. But only this once.”

“Really?” Ava sat up, suddenly much more energetic. “Thank you thank you thank you!”

She leaned in to give her a kiss but Sophia quickly turned her face away. “I’ll take your gratitude from afar until you’ve showered. Twice. Go now.
Please
.”

While Sophia was distracted by not breathing, Ava stealthily swiped her phone back and padded happily into bed.

LonDOs

Volunteering for a good cause

Taking pictures on real film

Oreos

The Vampire Diaries

Mac and cheese takeout from Coffee Shop

MAC long-wear eye shadow in “All That Glitters”

Sophia humming “My Favorite Things” in the bath

I See London Legs Ahoy Meet-n-Greet at the Beverly Center tomorrow!

LonDON’Ts

Sitting on the couch in the same clothes you wore all day at the pet shelter

Sisters who won’t rub your feet when you spent all day volunteering for the good of the world

Sisters who don’t shower after spending all day volunteering for the good of the world

Sisters who keep secrets

Sisters who can’t go more than seventeen seconds without saying the words “Liam Carlson”

Someone white and fluffy sticking his head into mac and cheese takeout (That means you, SIR SHEDS A LOT)

Boys who say there’s nothing wrong with you like it means there’s something wrong with you

Almost getting arrested for creating a public nuisance with your camera

(Where?!? And how “almost” is almost?)

(You’ll see…)

11

male call

“Popcorn woke up starving and told me he must have pancakes,” Ava said, poking her head around the door of Sophia’s room as soon as she heard her alarm go off. “I’m just waiting for the ingredients to be delivered from Yummy. Should I save some pancakes for you?”

“Mmwfmemwmfmwmffmffmf,”
Sophia said, her face pressed into her pillow.

“What’s that? Popcorn can’t talk? You think I’m the one craving pancakes? Get out of here! Or actually, get out of bed. It’s almost nine and we have to be at the Beverly Center by ten thirty for Legs Ahoy.”

“Mumfpffoofjmufphhhfummufff.”

“No problem, you’re welcome. And yes I totally remembered to order more coffee for you.”

Sophia’s hand came up in a sign of thanks.

“But don’t forget to get up.”

Sophia’s hand came up again, this time waving Ava out.

Ava was in their cheery yellow kitchen signing the receipt for the Yummy.com delivery girl when she heard the girl gasp, and saw her reach out with one hand to steady herself on the white café table. Alarmed, Ava looked up and said, “Are you okay?”

The delivery girl opened her mouth as if to speak but all that came out was
“ohemgeeohemgeeohemgee”
in a low panting moan and she’d suddenly gone very red in the face.

Ava panicked. “Sophia. Come quick. She’s having seizures.”

The girl shook her head. “No, I’m fine. It’s just—you.” She let go of the table to point at Ava. “You’re the new cutie!”

“Are you sure you’re okay? You’re not making sense.”

“Positive.” The delivery girl was fumbling in her pocket as Sophia rushed into the kitchen, still holding her electric toothbrush, demanding, “What is it? What’s going on?”

“Look,” the delivery girl said, holding up her phone. The screen was open to a well-known celebrity gossip site, which had as its front page story, “New Love for Liam! Carlson Gets Cozy with New Cutie over the Weekend.” Complete with a photo of Ava and Liam from Hunter’s party.

The delivery girl glanced from the photo to Ava. “That’s totally you, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Ava squealed, delighted. “It is. Sophia, I’m—”

Sophia took the phone, held it up close to her face like she was scrutinizing it. She frowned. “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure it is you.” She looked meaningfully at Ava. “Not sure at all. And I wouldn’t want that getting around in case it isn’t and someone gets upset. Would you?”

Ava didn’t understand what was going on but Sophia’s tone and look told Ava that the right answer to the question was the one she gave, which was, “No, I would not.”

“You know how people will try to sue you for the smallest thing,” Sophia was going on, apparently to Ava but it was clear that her message wasn’t lost on the delivery girl either. “Even if you only mention it in a text to a friend, the way things blow up now…”

“Right,” Ava said, but without complete conviction.

Sophia smiled brightly at the delivery girl and led her out of the kitchen. “Sorry we gave you such a scare. I hope you’re okay.”

The delivery girl appeared totally perplexed. “I—I think I am. Okay, then. Uh, bye,” she was saying as Sophia shut the door.

“What was that about? What’s wrong with being Liam Carlson’s cutie?” Ava demanded when Sophia came back to the kitchen.

Sophia’s eyebrows went up. “Well, cutie, for one thing it could be the start of a big embarrassing story.” Sophia sighed. “And what about Liam? Have you heard from him yet? What does he think?”

“I’m sure he’s fine with it,” Ava said, realizing that actually she hadn’t heard from Liam all morning. Which was a little strange. Although it was still early. “He’s used to stuff like this.”

“Yes, but do we really want to get sucked into a big dramatic tabloid drama?”

“Why? Because I’m dating a movie star? How could that be bad press?”

“We’ve worked really hard to keep our personal life and our professional lives separate, and Liam and Whitney Frost are a tabloid staple. She practically told me that her entire breakup with Liam was all about the press. I think you need to consider that before getting in any deeper.”

“Why would you believe anything she says? She hates us. And what am I supposed to do? Walk away from a guy who I’m really, really into because it
might
generate bad press?”