Page 9 of Before the Encore

The stench of the spicy crisps reached her, and she wrinkled her nose. How could anyone eat such highly processed rubbish this early in the morning?

Madison took a step closer, munching on a handful. “Oh. It’s you.” She aimed a crooked grin in her direction. “I didn’t recognise you in your marvellous disguise.”

Anger sparked in her belly. She didn’t have time for this today.

She adjusted the cap on her head. “Where are the others?”

Madison scooped another handful of snacks into her mouth before answering. “I assume they’re meeting us there.”

Assume? “Why don’t you know?” She shook her head. “How can you not know?”

“My phone died.” Crunch, crunch. Then a shrug. “I know the name of the studio. I was gonna get a cab.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes. “You can’t just hail a cab from here. It doesn’t work like that.” She rubbed her temples. “God. You really don’t know anything. Why are you not being supervised 24/7 like a toddler?”

“I was…busy.”

Her gaze passed over Madison’s black jeans. The white cotton vest. The jacket slung over her shoulder. The carbon copy of yesterday’s outfit. With sharp clarity, she realised they were the same clothes as yesterday.

“Is that…lipstick on your neck?” she asked incredulously.

Madison bent her chin, trying to see. When that didn’t work, she used her reflection in the car window. “Oh, damn. Yeah.”

Bonnie chewed at her lip, simmering. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Thank you.” A smirk tugged at her mouth.

Bonnie wanted to punch it off.

“You can’t just float around doing whatever you want,” she seethed. “This is important. You have responsibilities. You have to take this seriously.”

“I do take this seriously.”

“Do you hear yourself?”

“Do you?” She laughed. “You sound one decibel away from blowing a blood vessel.”

Shit. She was causing a bit of a scene. A few passersby lingered in the street, watching with amusement. Someone in the 7-Eleven car park held up their phone. They should go. Bonnie couldn’t let Madison’s behaviour make her late. Her reputation mattered.

“Fuck sake,” she muttered. “Come on. Before someone recognises me.” She tugged Madison’s arm and commandeered her into the car.

“Feisty. I like that.”

The door slammed. “Will you please shut up?”

“Polite too. A deadly combination.” Madison’s eyes widened as she took in the interior of the car. “Holy shit. It’s like a private lounge in here.” She let out a low whistle as she ran her finger over the diamond pattern stitched into the pale leather.

Bonnie ignored her, placing her hands under her thighs so she wouldn’t be tempted to wring Madison’s throat. Her monthly horoscope warned her about this. But exercising patience with ‘expected changes on the horizon’ didn’t clue her into exactly how challenging and infuriating they’d be.

Outside, the traffic crawled forward, and sunlight cast streaks through the sunroof. Beneath the rustle of the chip bag, a low buzzing itched at her skull. She glanced towards the sound, finding the source—music playing through Madison’s earphones from a silver iPod clipped onto her jeans. Bonnie didn’t care enough to ask why she still owned one.

“Do you want a crisp?” Madison offered her the bag of radioactive blue corn chips.

Bonnie answered her with a glare that could cut steel.

Madison shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

Crunch, crunch, crunch.