Chapter 29 #2
“He wants me.” Elena says it smugly, but I have noticed what she hasn’t; the other girls are slowly moving around her, encircling her.
The twins hover behind the stools next to her, flanking her, while Fiona and Piper are directly behind her on either side.
Only Viv stays where she is, on the other end of the counter, staring at Elena.
“Don’t be stupid,” Viv says. “I’m trying to help you. What, he wants you to come to Miami and be his full-time assistant? You know what that means, right? You’re basically his prostitute.”
“Don’t pretend like you give a shit about me,” Elena says, raising her voice a little. “You’re jealous because he traded up.”
“This conversation does not pass the Bechdel test,” I mutter, bringing the video closer to my face.
“You don’t understand,” Viv cries, frustration weaving through her tone.
“I’m doing this because I care about you!
He’s using you! Trey and I are…close. He likes to make me jealous; it’s all a game to him.
But listen Elena, Trey and I are in business together.
He needs me. You’re the flavor of the week.
He’s going to discard you the first chance he gets. ”
“Oh, please.”
“It’s true,” Fiona says from behind Elena.
“You think you’re the first Empress Queen he’s done this with?” Rachel asks Elena softly.
For the first time, Elena’s composure slips. She glances at Rachel, apparently trusting her word more than Viv’s. “You?”
“All of us,” Piper says. “It’s what he does.”
There’s a lead pipe in my throat. All the saliva in my mouth has dried up.
I think about the weird vibes I got from Trey when he invited himself into my room the other night.
He doesn’t see the “queens” as employees—he sees them as girlfriends.
Toys. There for his entertainment, either making him money or making him come.
“The difference is that the rest of us didn’t fall for his bullshit,” Ashley interjects, bringing my attention back to the video. “He told you the deal, didn’t he? He doesn’t do ‘commitment.’”
“He’s poly,” Elena protests. “I’m a sex and love influencer, I know about these things! There’s nothing wrong with not being monogamous. He’s been very honest with me.”
“For God’s sake, he’s not polyamorous,” Viv exclaims. “He’s married.”
Elena’s brows shoot up. “No…no, he’s not. He never mentioned—”
“Because he’s not doing some ethical non-monogamy thing,” Viv insists. “He’s cheating. All the time. Because he likes to have options and he gets bored easily, but he likes having a wife to take care of him the few times a year he is home.”
“I don’t believe this,” Elena says, shaking her head, smiling again now. “I mean, he’s famous. I’d know if he was married.”
“He keeps it very hush-hush,” Viv says, a sneer in her voice that might be more for Trey than Elena. “Obviously. He doesn’t want it to get in the way of his ‘fun.’ I don’t know why she stays. She must really love him. Or really love his money.”
Elena shakes her head, brows knitting. “I’m not stupid. This isn’t really about Trey. This is about you, Viv. You saw I matched you in followers. And now I’m fucking your man. You want me to stay here under your thumb. Like the rest of these little girls.”
“Watch it,” Fiona growls.
“You’re her minions, you get that, right?” Elena snaps, turning to Fiona. “She tells us what to eat, she tells us what to post, she controls everything.”
“We’re a family,” Viv snarls. “You can’t leave family! Or did you forget everything we went through together?”
“I didn’t forget,” Elena replies, and she gets to her feet. “I moved on. And you should too.”
Viv’s body language is tense and spring-loaded. When Elena pushes back from her stool, Viv nods to Piper and Fiona. They surge forward, grab Elena’s shoulders, and slam her back down into her seat.
“Hey, what the fuck?”
“We’re not done here,” Viv says, a concerning layer of calm flattening her affect. “You can’t leave.”
Elena tries to rise to her feet again, but Piper and Fiona hold her down. “What is this, Viv? Is Trey worth it?”
“Of course not. But my job is,” Viv says.
Then she shakes her head. “Honestly, Elena, you’re right.
It’s not about him. It’s about you.” She chucks her chin at Rachel and Ashley and the twins move the other stools out of the way.
“You’re my best friend, Elena. Please. Don’t leave Empress.
We love you.” There’s a softness in her voice now as she appeals to the other girl.
But Elena is working herself up. “Get the fuck off me, Fee! What the hell?”
Viv is still trying to reach her. “Elena, please. You’re my sister. Remember New York?”
“You’re not my sister! You’re not my best friend,” Elena snarls. “If you were, you wouldn’t do this. If it’s a mistake to go off with Trey, fine, but let me make it myself. It’s my life to live!”
“You’ve been with me from the beginning!” Viv is shouting now. “You can’t leave me!”
“I’m sick of this!” Elena yells back, straining against Fiona and Piper. “I hate how we live; don’t you get that? The obsession with likes, the followers, the constant need to create new and better content, the fakeness of it all! I can’t… I need to get out! You don’t understand.”
“Of course I understand!” Viv thunders. “So why do you get to be the one to leave? Again?”
Elena falls silent for a second as she and I come to the same conclusion. It’s not about Trey or Elena quitting, not really. It’s about someone else getting to escape the life Viv has built up around herself without realizing it was locking her away. A glitzy, fancy prison.
“Come with me,” Elena whispers. She’s leaning forward, straining to get to Viv now. “To hell with Trey and his job offer. Leave with me, and we’ll start over!”
But Viv shakes her head. “You know I can’t. This is all… It’s all I know how to do. It’s the only thing I’m good at. I don’t remember how to be anything else. This is my life. And it’s your life too.”
“No.” Elena turns her face away from her. “I’m leaving, Vivienne. And you can accept that or you cannot, but you can’t stop me.”
“Like hell,” Viv spits. She moves toward Elena and before the other girl can react, slaps her across the face.
Fiona, shock written on her expression, lets go of Elena’s shoulder. Overbalanced by the force of Piper’s strong hands on only one shoulder now and reeling from Viv’s slap, Elena topples to the side and falls out of frame, to the floor behind the island counter.
“Get up!” Viv shrieks. She looks at Piper. “Get her up and hold her!”
Piper reaches down and manhandles Elena back into view, but Piper’s face is slashed with confusion. She pulls Elena to her feet, but Elena wrenches her arm away and charges at Viv, crashing into her and sending the pair of them stumbling backward, into the fridge.
It’s a sloppy fight—Viv has one hand twisted in Elena’s hair, the other is smacking the back of her head; Elena is pushing against Viv, thumping her fists against her opponent’s chest. It might have only been that—a stupid catfight—except Elena’s hands creep up until suddenly they’re fastened around Viv’s neck.
The two of them thrash until they slam into the counter closest to the windows, near the sink. Elena’s face is wild; her fingers are pressing into Viv’s throat, and Viv is making gasping, clicking noises.
“Get off her!” Fiona yells.
Piper runs over, fastening one arm around Elena’s waist, attempting to yank her off Viv. Rachel and Ashley hurry over too, trying to figure out how to break the women up.
Together, the twins and Piper manage to pull Elena off Viv, holding her steady as Viv gulps air back into her lungs.
“You bitch,” she coughs.
It happens so quickly. Elena whips her head back and smashes it into Piper’s nose and lip, which immediately start gushing blood everywhere. Piper releases Elena, as does Rachel, who reaches to check on a bleeding Piper.
At the same time, Ashley staggers backward, into the counter, accidentally swiping down the knife block near the sink, scattering a deadly rainfall of blades all over the floor. Elena moves quickly; she swoops down, grabs one, and rises back up in one movement.
Maybe she wasn’t going to do anything with the knife.
Maybe she wanted protection—and no wonder; she had five girls attacking her.
Whatever the reason, it creates a chain reaction from the others.
It’s like none of them are thinking, they’re simply responding to a promised threat.
Viv dives for a butcher knife, pointing it at Elena; Fiona bends to pick up a smaller knife, looking confused, panicked.
Rachel is screaming. Ashley is on the ground, only her head visible in the frame, perhaps looking for her own weapon.
In the same instant, Piper, still bleeding, blinded by pain and anger, runs up behind Elena and pushes her forward, directly into Viv’s knife.
There’s a sucking sound as Viv automatically wrenches her hand back, eyes wide. Viv stumbles backward, looking down at the red drops that sprinkle to the floor from the blade.
Elena screams the room into silence.
She drops her own knife and claps both hands against her abdomen, her scream petering off into something that sounds more like a high-pitched whine.
“What did you do?” Viv asks Piper, aghast.
“No,” Piper breathes, and she glances directly at the phone. Realization washes over her face. She’s recording this. And she just directly facilitated a stabbing. “No, it was an accident, I didn’t mean—”
Elena’s face is waxy. She doesn’t appear to be listening to the other girls, who are now starting to freak out. Stabbing Elena definitely doesn’t seem like it was part of the plan. Rough her up? Sure. But slamming her into a butcher knife chest-first? No.
“We have to call for help!” Rachel shrieks.
“Call 911!” Ashley echoes her twin.