I got one of the biggest shock at the breakfast table the next morning.
I was told, no, more like ordered to accompany the Jenson family to an event. A launch party.
Apparently, the Jenson group of industries were going to release their new product, a car what-was-its-name, at the launch party.
Mr. Jenson had droned about the two front seat car which came in a slew of colors providing buyers with unlimited color options and many other accessories. The car cost a whopping three point four million dollars and it was the latest model in the country.
I had stared at him for a full minute after his description of the car, which I could care less about. Internally, I was freaking out.
I’d have to go out in public! I couldn’t do that! That would surely expose my secret and I’d be dead. Great. Now I sounded like a freaking vampire afraid to go out in the public. Sunlight would’ve been much better.
“So be ready around eight, alright? We’ll take your friend with us too.” Mr. Jenson said, flipping through a page in today’s newspaper while I just sat there with a half chewed piece of pancake in my mouth.
“Ew, close your mouth,” Olivia grumbled as she popped out of nowhere. “Good morning, Mr. Jenson.”
I closed my mouth, only then aware that it was open when Olivia pointed it out.
“Good morning, Olivia. And haven’t I told you to call me Alistair?”
“You have, but I can never get used to calling you Alistair. So please let me just stick to Mr. Jenson,” she said, smiling sheepishly as she dabbled her pancake in syrup.
“Okay.” Mr. Jenson smiled. “Oh, and you’re coming with us to the launch party. That is, if you don’t have any prior commitments.”
“Um… what launch party?” She asked, eyeing me questioningly while placing a piece of pancake in her mouth.
“The car launch party scheduled for tonight. We all are going.” I informed her and her reaction was identical to mine. She stared at me with her mouth hung open, allowing me a disgusting view of the chewed up pancake in her mouth.
“Ew close your mouth,” I mimicked her and she obeyed.
We didn’t say anything for the rest of the breakfast, mainly because Mr. Jenson was there the whole time, reading the newspaper and occasionally checking his phone.
Olivia had her head in her hands for a while before she finally recovered anf ate her breakfast silently.
I couldn’t go out in public. If it attracts the paparazzi’s attention, the news would spread all over the world. If the real Juliet was alive, it wouldn’t be long until she got to know about it. And if she decided to return, we’d be screwed. If she didn’t, we’d still be screwed. Just a little less. I’d have to be in an act forever until I die. I wouldn’t be living my life. I would be living someone else’s life.
After breakfast, we made up some excuse about looking at dresses and quickly skipped to my room.
“We should’ve ran away yesterday! I told you we should’ve! But you’re so fucking selfish and a gold digger! We’re in this situation because of you!? Why couldn’t you have just listened to me when we still had a chance to leave?! Why did you have to push our luck?” I seethed. I was so mad right now, I could stab someone and not feel guilty at all, most probably Olivia.
“Shut up, Juliet. Someone will hear you!” She hissed back at me.
“You think I care?” I scoffed. “They’ll get to know everything eventually! We’ll most probably got to prison for this. All because of you. You and your selfish motives.”
“Juliet, just calm down and listen to me. We can sort this out together. Just-”
“We can’t, Olivia. We just can’t. We got ourselves in this deep shit because of you. And – oh my God, we should’ve left long ago.”
“Don’t act like this was all because of me, Juliet-”
“My name is Julie! You’re literally trying to turn me into Juliet!”
Olivia stepped towards me and grabbed my arm. “Listen, Julie. I want you to shut the fuck up. We haven’t been caught. And we won’t be, if you just listen to me.”
I laughed humorlessly. “What makes you think I’ll listen to you? Because I listened to you, we’re in this situation right now. Trust me, if I wouldn’t have been so stupid and just done what was right, we’d be okay right now. Listening to you is like asking for trouble.”
Olivia ran a frustrated hand through her hair. “I know you’re totally freaking out right now, and that you’re scared. But nothing has gone wrong. Everything’s perfectly fine. But if you continue on like this, someone would get to know about this. We don’t want that right now.” Olivia said slowly, as if she were explaining things to a mentally retarded person.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. But I couldn’t. I was seeing red. I wasn’t sure who I was mad at. At myself, Olivia or just this situation we were in right now. I was hyperventilating and my hands were shaking. I was scared.
Olivia sighed. “You’ll find me in the library when you’ve calmed down and are ready to talk things out with me.”
Without another word, she got up and left.
I drew my knees to my chest and cried. I didn’t even want to cry. But I did. So much that I didn’t have any more tears to shed. I was scared. I wanted to be as far away from this as possible.
***
The event was at eight. I had remain cooped up in my room for the majority of the day.
Olivia was not present at lunch. When I asked Samara, she told me that Olivia said she’d have a late lunch and had spent the entire day in the library.
Charlotte asked me what I had decided to wear to the event and seeing me struggle to answer, had informed me that a woman named Miranda would come around four in the afternoon to get me ready. Apparently, she had been my personal stylist for about eight years now.
“Mom?” I asked, biting down on my lip.
“Would I be alright at the event?”
She gave me an understanding smile. “You’ll be fine, Juliet. Trust me.”
Even thought she didn’t really know why I was scared and nervous to go, her little assurance actually did manage to soothe some of my nerves.
“Rachael and Antonio are flying down here for the event. They’re bringing along Audrey and Robert so you’ll get to meet them at the event,” Charlotte said after some time, effectively killing any kind of relaxation she brought to me after telling me I’d be fine.
“Oh, great. I’m so excited to meet them.” I said sarcastically but thankfully she didn’t catch the sarcasm in my voice.
***
I ran as fast I could. As fast as my legs, which had been denied any form of exercise for a couple of weeks because of my lethargic self, could possibly manage.
My life depended on this. I had to get there before the clock struck four! I had a little over fifteen minutes. I could make it!
I ran up the last flight of stairs and threw myself at the library door. Yanking it open, I startled Olivia for a moment before she composed herself.
“What do you want?” She asked sulkily as she turned away from me on the swivel chair and continued reading whatever book she had in her hands.
“Olivia! Miranda will be here in fifteen minutes!” I screeched. That caused her look up at me.
“Miranda who?”
“My personal stylist for eight years.”
“Oh, great.” She rolled her eyes. “More drama.”
“What am I going to do? What if something wrong happens?”
“You’re doing it again. Stop freaking out. It’s not the end of the world.”
“But it might very well be the end of my life!”
“Stop with the dramatics already, Julie. I’m tired of this.”
“Okay! Okay, I’m calm. I’m absolutely okay. Just tell me what to do.”
“It sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself of that.”
She put the book on the table and stood up. Walking over to me, she placed a hand over my shoulder and guided me out of the library and to my room. I silently walked to my room with her a few steps behind.
“We’re all going to the event. I’m aware there will be a lot of paparazzi in and around the place. But we can manage this without being noticed. First, the event is a big one. Many important personalities from the movie and music industry as well as prominent industrialists will be present. What are the chances that you’ll be noticed in that big of a crowd? Furthermore, if we find a big group, we can blend in with them and stay at the back of the crowd. Second, we’ll make you look different than how Julie usually looks. I’ve been through a lot of her public appearances and interviews. There’s a running theme in all her appearances. She likes bold and heavy makeup and elegant dresses. She rarely lets her hair down. And we’re going to do the exact opposite. We’ll keep the makeup light, hair loose on your back and the dress simple. Nothing too eye-catching. You should probably wear a black dress so as to blend in. Many women turn up at these events dressed in black so there’s no chance you’ll be recognized.”
After hearing this, I felt a little relieved. Olivia had a plan after all. I was afraid she would not care about it and leave me to fend for myself. She could always tell the Jenson’s that she couldn’t make it. But I would have to be present at the event. It wasn’t a choice anymore. More like a command.
“Okay. I think we’ll be fine.”
“We’ll be. Don’t worry.”
Just then, there was a knock on the door which nearly made me jump out of my skin.
“That must be Miranda.”
When I opened the door, a woman stepped in. She smiled at me and I returned an awkward one.
“Miranda?” I asked.
“Juliet, it’s nice to meet you again. It has been quite a while.” She said, extending her hand to me. I shook it.
“Nice to see you too. This is my friend, Olivia.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Olivia said, shaking hands with her.
“The pleasure’s all mine. I’m Miranda Allen, Juliet’s personal stylist.”
“So are we like… going to start now?” Olivia questioned awkwardly.
“Well yes, we’ll have to in order to get you two ready by eight.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll call my girls and then we can get started. Let’s move to the parlor.”
I didn’t even know this mansion had a private parlor. We moved to the parlor where there were a bunch of girls setting up beauty equipment.
“So, I’ll start with Olivia. Can you please tell me how you would like me to keep your look like?”
“Um… I’m not exactly sure. I just want it simple, nothing too eye-catching. And the dress must be black.”
“Okay, and what about you, Juliet?”
“Oh, the same for me, please.”
“That’s odd. Your preferred look is quite opposite of what you want right now.”
I shrugged. “That’s what I want.”
***
Three and a half hour later, we were all ready. Miranda had done an amazing job with both of our looks. She did exactly what we wanted.
Olivia wore a simple, backless gown with black stilettoes. Her hair was done up in a messy bun with loose tendrils of her hair fanning her face. She looked gorgeous. She had put on simple black studs. Her makeup was a bit on the heavy side but it looked fabulous on her.
I had worn a black halter dress with cutouts on the sides allowing me to flaunt the side of my waist. It had a slit which reached up to my thigh. I paired it up with silver stilettoes. My makeup was minimalistic and my hair was let loose with the ends curled.
We were all done at around seven thirty. We thanked Miranda for her awesome work. After she left, we descended down from the parlor.