Chapter 9
9
I was booked four days later.
The call awakened me twice in the middle of the night: once when the phone rang and again when the message notification bleeped a couple of minutes later, right when I’d managed to fall back to sleep. Now that I was awake, I listened to the voicemail, sitting up with a jolt when I heard Marlena’s voice. I imagined 3 a.m. was a normal business hour to a vampire, so I made a quick mental note to put my phone on vibrate at future bedtimes. I figured I’d probably need to adjust a few more aspects of my schedule, if I was going to work for vampires. Midnight might become my new noon.
I’d been scheduled to decoy for a vampire named Robert Bramson that evening. He was some big-deal business tycoon, but I was still unsure what line of work he was in even after Marlena mentioned it. He had one of those long, confusing job titles that made it difficult to decipher what he did on a day-to-day basis—the sort of job that makes you say, “Oh, how interesting” after a person gives you their business card, even if it might be the most boring job in existence.
Bramson Enterprises hosted a formal gala every year, which was my assignment for the evening. It was a “mixed-race” affair, which in the vampire domain meant that both humans and vampires would be in attendance. The event itself would have sounded a lot more exciting had Marlena not prefaced her voicemail by saying what a bore it was going to be.
She also informed me that I’d need to wear an evening gown for the event, news that made my heart sink. Like most women who lived in the real world, I didn’t have a closet full of ball gowns at my disposal. The reality was that I didn’t even have one , unless my pink tulle prom dress from high school counted, which I imagined didn’t for the occasion.
To my immense relief, Marlena added that Dignitary had a closet full of loaner clothing for decoys to use. I only needed to drive over at my earliest convenience to pick one out. She ended the voicemail by stating that she’d leave the front door unlocked in anticipation of my arrival. There would be an envelope filled with instructions waiting on for me on the entryway table.
So, that was that. My first night out with a vampire. Marlena had been blasé about the assignment, but I was feeling jumbled about the whole thing, half panicked and half excited. What made the situation even more nerve-wracking was that I couldn’t share the news with anyone.
Not that Liz and I were being friendly, anyway. Neither of us brought up the other night, as if it had never happened, but we were both plainly still upset over it. Things were still tense around the apartment. She was continuing to avoid me and had been spending most of her time at David’s. When she did bother to come home, it was only to do a load of laundry and pick up changes of clothes.
Last time we spoke, our conversation was awkward. She was insulted that I didn’t— couldn’t —tell her more about my new job, which I’d said was along the lines of being a personal assistant to various wealthy people. Michael and Marlena had given me a thousand-dollar advance on my paycheck, which added to Liz’s suspicion. I told her to trust me, but she was having none of that. She hinted that I was participating in illegal activities, and then put an end to our discussion by telling me to be careful in a tone loaded with condescension. While it was obvious that I was hiding something major (I’d always had a hard time keeping secrets from Liz), she didn’t have to act as if she thought I was selling drugs to schoolchildren.
With my outing with the hot shot immortal swiftly approaching, I chucked on a pair of jeans, slapped on some lip gloss, and tied my hair back into a messy bun. No need to get dolled up for the trip to Dignitary. Nobody would be awake for my arrival, with it being daylight.
As Marlena had promised, the front door was unlocked. It felt intrusive, letting myself into somebody else’s house when they were sleeping on the premises, or whatever it was vampires did during the day. Maybe it was more like hibernating? I felt better when I found the envelope she’d left for me on the table. Inside were directions to Robert’s home, additional details about the gala, and a note about borrowing clothes from the Dignitary closet; decoys were required to sign out all items and return everything within three days of use. Marlena had also picked out a gown she thought would look nice on me, which she’d left on the rack closest to the door.
The “closet” was bigger than my whole apartment. The walls were lined with rack upon rack of beautiful designer fashion: couture gowns, tuxedos, casual (but still elegant) dresses, skirts, sweaters, slacks, jewelry, shoes, and handbags. There was enough of it to stock an entire boutique.
I located the dress Marlena had chosen, zipped inside a garment bag with a Post-it marked with my name. A horribly possibility occurred to me, that she’d picked some ugly bridesmaid’s dress for me to wear out of sheer spite, but I needn’t have worried. As much as Marlena rubbed me the wrong way, I had to hand it to her for her taste in clothing. Made of midnight blue silk, with intricate beading along the strapless sweetheart neckline, this was one gorgeous dress.
Crossing my fingers that it would fit, I swiftly undressed. I stepped into the gown, being careful not to step on its train or warp the soft boning along the waistline, and executed a reach that was more like a yoga pose. Finally, I managed to get the zipper up. I stood in front of the mirror, feeling as fabulous as a bride on her wedding day. Perfect at every seam, as if it had been made with my precise measurements in mind.
Something hard poked into my ribs. I reached down into the dress and partially extracted a price tag, wincing as I saw $1950—guess that meant no red wine that evening, or eating, or sweating . . . or breathing. Marlena wouldn’t be too happy if I stained a brand-new dress—an expensive brand-new dress, I thought nervously.
I nearly fainted, however, when I pulled the tag all the way out and its true price of $19,500 was revealed. It was the most expensive thing I’d ever had on my body. And it was by my favorite clothing label ever, Seraphim Blythe, not that I could afford anything she made. I’d noticed earlier that many of the clothes were by the designer, so maybe she was Marlena’s favorite, too.
I admired my reflection in the mirror, caressing the dress like it was a living thing. “I may not own you, gorgeous, but you’re mine tonight,” I cooed, perfectly aware of how nutty I sounded conversing with a ball gown. But if a girl couldn’t be nuts while wearing clothing this luxurious, when could she be?
I jumped at a knock on the door. “Is there anybody in here? Hello?”
I opened the door and peered out, feeling like a complete idiot for having been caught talking to a dress. A gorgeous Indian woman around thirty waved at me and smiled. She was petite, with a strong jawline, amber-colored eyes, and dewy caramel skin. For a moment I wondered if she was a vampire, but then I remembered the time.
“Hello! I’m Erika-with-a- K Singh.”
“I’m Olivia Taylor.” The gown whisperer.
“Wow. That’s a great dress!” She flipped her glossy black hair off her shoulders, not a spilt end in sight. I’d have to hate her, if she didn’t seem so nice. “You look amazing .”
“Thanks,” I grinned. “I feel amazing.”
“You must be the new girl. I’m a decoy, too.”
“Tonight will be my first night on the job, actually.”
“How cool! You’re going to have blast. Are you nervous?”
I held up my wobbly hand for Erika to see. “You could say that.”
“Oh my gosh, don’t be! I was so nervous when I started, you know, because vampires can break our bones in half between two fingers, but everybody was so cool that I almost felt guilty for getting paid. Vampires really aren’t as scary as you think.”
“Whew! You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that.” I wiped imaginary sweat off my forehead. “Are they really that strong?”
“Crazy-strong. Like, can pick a car up and toss it across the street kind of strong.”
I grimaced.
“Oh, don’t worry. They’d never hurt one of us. Michael would kill them if they did.”
Was that supposed to be reassuring? “That’s good to know,” I said dryly.
“So, who are you going out with?”
“Some big CEO named Robert Bramsin or Bramwell—something like that.”
“Robert Bramson ?” she asked with amazement.
“That’s it! Bramson. Wait, did you just cringe?”
She giggled. “Okay, maybe you have a little to be nervous about. I decoyed for him at a charity dinner once. He’s kind of . . . uptight.”
“Uptight?”
“Not chatty, you know? He’s awfully private about his personal life. He’s gone out with a few girls here and they’ve all had similar encounters. He hasn’t requested a decoy in months, though. How nice of Marlena to partner you with him for your first time out,” she said with sourness.
“It was probably her way of throwing me into the deep end—see what I’m made of.” It was the most diplomatic thing I could think to say about Marlena.
“No doubt!” She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair again, a little ball of infectious energy. “I don’t want to stress you out before your date, but I got the vibe that Robert isn’t into the whole humans and vampires mixing thing. Some vampires like us more than others. When I decoyed for Robert, it was almost as if he tolerated my presence begrudgingly, like humans are a necessary evil of doing business.”
“It’s funny you say that. I’m going to a gala his company is throwing,” I said.
“There you have it.” She tapped a French manicured finger on her nose.
“Great.”
Erika flapped her hands at me. “Whatever about Robert! You’ll have a great time. It would be hard not to in that dress. And if it makes you feel any better, Robert is hot with a capital H.” She fanned her face dramatically.
This surprised me. “Really? I expected him to be some dour old man with white hair. That’s how I always picture these big CEOs.” I’d been meaning to Google him, but somehow the day had gotten away from me. I’d also figured that I probably wouldn’t have found much on him, anyway, given how private vampires were.
Erika cackled. “Oh, honey, not even close! You’ll see.”
I started to probe for more details—hey, I appreciated a beautiful man as much as the next girl—but then I remembered Marlena’s stern warning against romancing the clients. That would suck (no pun intended), getting fired right when I’d managed to finally find a job.
Erika looked around the closet, scrutinizing the dresses. “This place is amazing, isn’t it? The clothes, the vampires, the places we get to go, the things we get to see? Never in a million years would have I imagined having this life. The money isn’t all that bad, either, right?” She grinned at me with an eyebrow arched.
“What did you do before this?”
“I was a bookstore clerk, barely making ends meet. I lived paycheck to paycheck, had about thirty cents in the bank by the end of each pay period. I drove a fifteen-year-old Toyota that died if you let it idle too long—I prayed for it not to break down at every stoplight! Now I drive a brand-new Mercedes, pay all my bills early each month, and I just closed on my first home. It’s not a mansion like this place, but it’s mine and I love it.”
“Wow,” I said, happy for her but a little envious. Poor as I was, it was hard to envision such prosperous lights at the end of my broke-ass tunnel. “I actually thought Dignitary might be a scam because of how much they paid. Well, not so much a scam as an escort service.”
“Me too!” she laughed. “Michael is great, though, about as solid as they come. He treats the decoys like family.”
“He’s great.”
Casually, she asked, “And Marlena, what do you think of her?”
“What do you think of Marlena?” I deflected.
“I think she’s a nasty piece of work. Trust me when I tell you this, Olivia, you do not want to cross her.”
I nodded, hoping a hidden camera wasn’t recording our gossiping.
She said, “I don’t know how Michael puts up with her constant henpecking. She must give one mean blowjob!”
“No! Michael and Marlena are hooking up? I thought Michael was batting for the other team!”
“I have my theories. But they must be, right? How else could he stand to be around her?”
I snickered.
“Marlena’s so self-righteous,” she went on. “She’s never said as much, but I can tell that she loathes new vampires.”
“New vampires?”
“Guess you don’t know much vampire slang yet. Give it a couple of weeks. You’ll start to sound like one of them!” Erika fluttered her tiny hands in the air. “I’ll try to explain this the clearest way that I can. You know how in human society, there’s old money and new money, and those with old money sometimes look down on the nouveau riche ?”
“Sure.” I was so familiar with the notion that I could have taught a class called Dewhurst Snobbery 101. The whole old and new money bias was a social absurdity I’d never understood. Who cared how long a person had been wealthy? Rich was rich, as far as I was concerned. No business on earth would ever turn currency away simply because it was too young.
“It’s the same in vampire society, except their version of affluence is age.”
I frowned. “I’m not getting the correlation.”
She thought a moment. “Okay, so you know how old money detests new money for being flashy?”
“You mean how they have fifteen cars and McMansions with lion statues on the lawn, or wear head-to-toe designer logos on social media to tell the world how rich they are?” I said with a snort. “That sort of thing?”
“Exactly! Well, it’s the same with these guys. The old ones behave in a more refined manner, since being a vamp is no longer a novelty to them. The new ones, though, flaunt it.”
“How?”
“You know, they show their fangs and hiss. Some of them are like sulkier versions of goths, which you wouldn’t think would be possible. They melodramatically weep about missing the sun, whine about being hungry. They’re like parodies of themselves, of real vampires. Old vampires talk about them like they’re hormonal teenagers.”
I felt a grin spread across my face. “I can’t wait to start decoying. Vampires sound so interesting!”
“They are. We’re very lucky,” she said, studying me. She’d been looking at me strangely since I’d opened my mouth.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face?” I rubbed at my chin.
“Was I? Sorry. No, it’s just that you remind me of Penelope, the last girl who worked here. I can’t figure out exactly what it is about you that makes me think of her—your hair or eyes, maybe? You two could be sisters.” She shook her head. “I think it’s more the way you speak. You sound just like her.”
“The one who went missing?”
Erika nodded. “She was such a nice girl.”
“Were you close?”
“Very. I miss her tons. She’d just fallen in love with a vampire named Lewis, so her disappearance was especially tragic. She’d never had much luck with romance until she met him. He loved her as much as she loved him, maybe even more. They even talked about eloping.”
“That’s so sad.”
“It is. Don’t tell Michael I said this, but I know she’s dead. I don’t have any proof, but I can feel it. Penelope would have never skipped town on her friends and Lewis like that. And Penelope was a fighter. She’d never run away from any problem, no matter how big it was.”
“Did she have problems?” I quickly added, “I hope I’m not prying.”
“No, it’s okay.” She paused, as if considering how much she wanted to share. “Penelope mentioned feeling like she was being spied on, like someone was maybe stalking her. She kept getting hang-up calls in the middle of the night from a restricted number, and she’d come home from decoying a few times and thought her apartment had been rearranged. It was little things—paperwork moved around, lights left on, doors opened—stuff that made her think that she was imagining things.”
“Did she go to the police?”
“I asked her the same thing. Penelope said that she didn’t have any real proof and didn’t want to come off like a crazy person. She was a very proud person, but she did have a point. She couldn’t file a police report for feeling creeped out.”
“I guess not.”
“Also, there was the whole decoying for vampires thing. She was afraid the police would find out what she did if they started sniffing around.”
“Why didn’t she move in with her boyfriend?”
“Penelope was old-fashioned. She wouldn’t even consider moving in with him unless she was engaged.” Erika sighed unhappily. “It is what it is, right?”
I didn’t know what to say, so I opted for a slight change of topic. “I didn’t think we could date vampires—we’re not allowed to, I mean.”
“Let me guess. Marlena?” She rolled her eyes.
“She made her feelings on the subject very clear to me,” I said, rolling my eyes in return.
“What she doesn’t know won’t kill her!” Erika giggled. “Michael couldn’t care less who we date, and at the end of the day, he is the real owner of Dignitary. He’s the one who does all the work. Marlena is only along for the ride because she’s financially invested in the company.”
“I didn’t know that.” I was learning all kinds of juicy gossip, wasn’t I?
Erika smirked. “Marlena only says we can’t date our clients, not all vampires in general. Penelope’s boyfriend used Dignitary before, but she never decoyed for him personally. Technicalities are a marvelous thing, don’t you think? Of course, Marlena hated Penelope for it. She said it was tacky and unprofessional.”
“That’s what she told me during my interview—the tacky and unprofessional part.” It made me feel better knowing that I wasn’t the only decoy Marlena had said that too. “Have you ever?”
“What? Dated a vampire?”
I nodded.
“I did once, a long time ago. It wasn’t for me. I’m too much of a day person. Also, my parents are very traditional. I’d give my poor dad a heart attack if I brought a vampire home. He had a problem with my last boyfriend because he was Japanese.” She laughed. “Plus, I’m a total foodie. There’s nothing I love more than stuffing myself silly on a delicious meal. When Shaun—that’s the vampire I dated—and I would go to restaurants, I’d be chowing down while he sat across the table, watching me in silence. I felt like a zoo animal. So awkward!”
“That would be weird,” I agreed.
Erika took her phone out of her purse and checked the time. “Yikes! I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got to take care of some things before I start work.” She grabbed a dress down from the rack, signed it out, and gave me a hug. “It was nice meeting you, Olivia.”
“It was nice to meet you, too, Erika. We’ll probably run into each other again.” I hoped we would. I really liked her bright, positive energy, a sunflower incarnate. I could use a friend like her in my life, especially with things being the way they were with Liz. I was beginning to question if we’d ever recover from our fight.
“I’m sure we will. Okay, I’ll see you around. Bye!”
I stayed in the closet for a few minutes after Erika had gone, reflecting on all that she’d revealed. I got undressed and changed into the outfit I’d arrived in, which now felt itchy and cheap compared to the designer frocks that surrounded me. I tucked the gown safely back into its bag, then I drove home in a daze of bewilderment, anxious about the night ahead.