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“Mm, no, not really. No one faults you, of course,” Chloe murmurs as she grabs one of the orange makeup sponges and sprays something sweet-smelling onto it. “That must have been terrifying. If it were me, I would have passed away on the spot.”
I chuckle. It’s the first time I’ve managed to crack a smile since the incident. “I mean, I almost did. I slipped, fell, and barely missed my temple.”
“You’re lucky he didn’t kill you!” Chloe says as she grabs a bottle of foundation, then gets to work putting a layer of “skin” on my face.
“The cops said he wasn’t dangerous,” I say. “Just overzealous and wanted me to sign … everything. He brought a bag full of memorabilia.”
Chloe takes a step back and narrows her dark green eyes at me. “Not dangerous? Babe, he broke into your dressing room. He could have hurt you. I don’t care what the police are saying. You should sue that security company.”
I roll my eyes. “No offense, Chloe, but suing them isn’t going to fix the issue.”
“No, but maybe it’ll send a message that they need to step up their game so it doesn’t happen to anyone else. Did Margot book you that therapy session yet?”
Therapy. Margot spoke with my agent and they both agreed that it’s probably best for me to talk to someone about what happened. Unfortunately, everyone is booked solid until next year. In every galaxy.
I shake my head. “Mm-mm. Booked up. Besides, I’m fine. It wasn’t a big deal.”
And it wasn’t. It’s not like the guy was armed. Just a harmless fan trying to get an autograph.
Chloe squinches her mouth to the side and makes a suspicious humming sound that I know all too well. It’s the sound she always makes when she thinks I’m lying to myself. And who knows, maybe I am. But I just want to forget it ever happened, and I can’t do that if people keep pestering me about it.
“Did you eat yet?” she asks as she turns around to grab her water bottle from the counter. “Because there’s a sushi place up the street, only a five-minute flight away. We could take a jammer and be back before eleven.”
I wince. “I’d love to, really, but I can’t. I’m on a diet.”
Chloe’s eyes grow two sizes larger. “Are you serious? You only had three plasma packets today. And don’t even try to lie about that, because I saw them in the trash.”
Busted. “Yeah, but they keep me going. I mean, who needs food when you have the plasma, right?”
Chloe swipes some cherry-red lipstick across her lips while staring at herself in the mirror, then tosses her long black hair behind her shoulders. “I think you’re going to burn yourself out if you keep going like this. You need something to eat. A burger. Some fries. Fuck, I don’t know.” She turns around and stares down at me. As a Terran female, she’s taller than the average super model and ten times more beautiful. Descended from an ancient race of elves from the planet Nymfarr, they definitely won the genetic lottery and don’t even need Weave tech to make them look good. She wouldn’t understand how much work goes into maintaining my appearance. Doesn’t understand how badly I want that burger and fries, but I can’t give in to temptation.
Chloe grabs her makeup bag and rifles through it. “And you’re paler than paper. Do I need to discuss this with Margot again?”
I shake my head, averting my eyes. Someone always has something to say about my body, which isn’t anything new for me. Not in this line of work. That’s not the issue. The issue is that I know she’s right but I don’t know what to do about it. Any of it.
Smiling up at Chloe I shrug. “I’ll get some sun,” I lie. “And I’ll eat something, too.”
I won’t. But Chloe doesn’t need to know that.
* * *
With all my shows wrapped up on Terra for this leg of the tour, Margot and the rest of my team decided we should head out now instead of the following morning. Beat the morning rush or something. Zeddie is the fastest pilot I know, so it doesn’t even really matter. We’ve never been late, but I’m also not one to argue when Margot tells me to do something. We all get on the hover bus and settle in for the long haul.
By the time we enter the airspace of Latrixia, the second largest city on the planet Sar Nouveau, I’m already half-asleep. Groggily, I lift my wrist and press the button on the side of the silver wrist watch-like device that houses my Terminal550.
“Time,” I murmur into it. Numbers flash in front of my eyes and hover in the air for several seconds before disappearing.
It’s two in the morning, and I haven’t managed to sleep yet. Not unless dozing with my cheek smashed against the cold glass window counts. We fly past a few other cars and buses, but at this hour, traffic is all but dead. The last city I performed in was Baltimore, which was fine, but the skyline looked nothing like this. Latrixia is a riot of neon billboards all fighting for attention as they flicker ads for everything under the sun. From casinos to hotels to soda brands to sneakers, the ads swirl through the sky as they try to seek out eyeballs to place themselves in front of.
“Great,” Margot mutters beside me. “This planet is going to be obnoxious, I can just tell.”
I frown at her. “Don’t be like that. It could be interesting. I think it looks pretty.”
“It’s tacky,” she says, rolling her eyes. “But they’re paying us well, so I can’t complain that much.”
Zeddie’s voice crackles over the intercom on my seat handle. “Ladies. We are preparing to land at the Hotel Du’Mystique. Just … don’t get up and walk around or use the bathroom, okay?”
Margot cracks a small smile, and I snicker as the bus swoops down low over the buildings in the center’s center. It’s hard not to plaster my nose to the glass like a little kid, but this planet is amazing. Aside from the lights, which are awesome, there are clubs on practically every rooftop. My kind of people, these Latrixians.
