AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maddie turns to me and says in a soft tone, “There was a little disagreement last night about makeup.”
“Oh.” I smile gently, but then color bursts into Stephi’s cheeks and I understand. The argument was between father and daughter. Sean has never been okay with Stephi growing up. He still thinks of her wearing cute dresses and pigtails.
“Oh!” I cry out. “Oh no, Stephi, please tell me he didn’t use that God awful P word.” Sean refers to all young girls who wear too much makeup as prostitutes. Stephi nods. “He’s such a brute! There’s a reason people study this at college, you know. We should make him come in here and try doing this for himself.” Stephi snickers and I smile at Maddie to let her know I can handle it from here. I’d rather not be alone with a teenager who hates me, but Maddie has other things to do as the mother of the bride. “I’m sure you already know it’s not easy creating a work of art in your own reflection, Stephi.”
“All right, ladies.” Maddie grins back at me as she hangs our dresses up on the door to the ensuite. “I’ll leave you to it.”
The door closes.
I swallow against the knot of tension building in my throat and turn to face her. We’re alone.
Adrenaline surges through my blood. My hand trembles as I lift the blush and a brush from the dresser. I’ve never been so terrified in my life. I don’t know if Sean’s told her, what he's told her, or how she’s taken it. I never normally tread on eggshells around anyone, but Stephi is the one person who can ruin my relationship with Sean. I send her a quick smile. It isn’t returned.
“I know what I’m doing.” Stephi shrugs, putting her white heels beside my flat ballet slippers. “I don’t need your help.”
“Okay,” I murmur, turning back to the mirror. If the kid is going to play hard ball, then I’ll draw upon some of Krystal’s confidence to fire the ball back in her court. “But you’re not leaving this room without my approval.”
Yeah, that’s right Stephi, gawk at me all you want.
“It’s Julia’s wedding and you’re not ruining it to spite me.”
“You know something,” Stephi mutters, picking up the foundation I was using. “I don’t like you.”
“You’re just one more person on a long list of people who don’t like me, Stephanie.” I reach for the little pot of primer on the dresser. “Use this on your T-zone before you put your foundation on and”—I pick through the deluxe makeup kit that the hotel’s concierge sourced for me when I arrived. There isn’t a shade or product missing from my favorite brand’s entire range. Which is good. But seriously? How much makeup did they think I’d need for three days?—“use this foundation instead, the other’s too dark for your skin tone.”
To my surprise, Stephi accepts the makeup and follows my guidance. “Don’t you want me to like you?” she asks.
Yes, of course I do. What a stupid question! I have no idea what I did to make Stephi hate me so much. She was seven when I left New York.
“Why would I want you to like me, Stephanie?” I shrug, applying a thin line of eyeliner to my eyes. “I don’t like you, either.”
Stephi glares at me in return.
“And just so you know,” I continue as I turn away from the mirror, “the first time you call me a bitch, Stephi. I’m going to correct you. I’m a super-bitch.” I study Stephi’s face and her haphazard foundation application carefully. “And that’s on a good day.”
“Just wait until I tell my dad about this!”
I reach out to Stephi’s face and blend away the lines of makeup. The girl knows exactly how much power she holds over her dad and even though I’m trembling inside, I force out a laugh. “Are you trying to threaten me? What do you think Sean is going to do?”
“He said he was going to put me before you.”
“Because I told him to, and I’ll stand by him no matter what he does for you.” Stephi’s self-righteous demeanor falters. “Little girl, you won’t get rid of me that easily.”
“Even if he never sees you again because that’s what I want.”
“Fine.” I shrug off Stephi as though I’ve lost interest in her. “You do that.” I go back to applying my makeup. “You manipulate your dad if that’s what you want to do, because that’s how you’re supposed to treat the people you love, isn’t it Stephi?”
“Don’t you dare lecture me on how I should treat my dad!” The extra decibel draws my attention away from my lip color and straight to Stephi’s raging silver eyes. “Why don’t you go take a good long look in the mirror before you emotionally blackmail anyone? You’re the one who's hurt him the most.”
She snatches the darkest eye shadow she can find, which I instantly remove from her hands and replace it with a pallet of neutrals. I rattle off instructions on how to put it on before I snap at her, “My relationship with your father is none of your concern.”
“Of course it’s my business. He’s my dad!”
Stephi makes another grab for the darker eyeshadow, and I snatch the color from her and replace it with the neutral colors I gave her originally. I keep the dark pallet in my hand as I fold my arms over my chest. “Why would Julia want Krystal Valentina wannabes at her wedding when all she has to do is ask and she’d be there in person?”
“You know you’re a bitch, right?” Stephi narrows her eyes and as I open my mouth to correct her, she adds, “Yeah, yeah, super-bitch on a good day or whatever you said.” She rolls her eyes and turns to the face mirror again. To my surprise she applies the eye color. “Do you think I don’t see how you treat him like a doormat?” Stephi drops her hands away from her face and turns to me. “You almost had an affair with him. How can you hurt him like this?”
A million arguments form on my tongue. Each one defending my actions, denying the accusation. How could I have hurt Sean when I didn’t do anything wrong, but then the most important word registered: almost.
