Page 14 of Breaking the Limits

I stand there stunned for a minute. How the hell did she do that? I swear sometimes she’s a mind reader or witch or something!, “Both. Unless that box contains Botox injections and hair dye it was a waste of money.”

Kenndrix laughs. “Botox and hair dye? Really Kynlee? We’re not that old.”

“You want to tell that to my sprouting gray hairs and appearing crow’s feet wrinkles,” I say, falling back onto the couch with a huff.

Kenndrix follows me and reaches for my hand. “Look, I think I know what the problem is. You’re happy Kyn and it terrifies you. A part of you feels like you don’t deserve it and you’re waiting for it to explode-- but it’s not.”

“Are you sure that you aren’t majoring in therapy?”

“I’m sure,” Kenndrix replies. “I just know you. I also know that if anyone deserves some happiness without any strings attached it’s you. Look, open your present, get all dolled up and let’s go out to eat and do a little shopping before your short shift at work.”

I lean forward and open the yellow and white polka dot wrapped present. Inside I see a ton of makeup, a pair of super blingy heels and one of the sexiest yellow dresses I have ever seen. “You like it!” Kenndrix exclaims, after studying my face, “Oh good! It’s for tonight!”

I’m rendered speechless which is an odd occurrence for me. Kenndrix stands up, pulls me to my feet and ushers me toward the bedroom. I stand in front of the closet for a moment contemplating what to wear and where my life is headed. I’ve been in Los Angeles for almost a year and a half. In all of the time I’ve never really had much success when it comes to my modeling career. I’m still working as a waitress at Wild Wild Wes’, I really thought I’d be farther ahead by now. I share this tiny apartment with Ace, who I love more than I should, but I can’t help feeling like I am missing something.

Finally, I decide that I need to get out of whatever funk this is. I grab a pair of skin tight black leggings and a thin white long sleeve shirt that has buttons until reaches your bellybutton. I slip on a black lace tank underneath my top. Letting my hair fall in its natural waves, I add a lot of eyeliner and mascara before grabbing my black pumps.

When I step out of the bedroom Kenndrix attempts to let out a low whistle but fails miserably. She’s always trying to whistlebut she can never get it to work. We both start laughing. “You look hot!” she tells me, as she loops her arm through mine and we head to the car.

“That makes two of us,” I tell her with a wink.

****

Kenndrix and I ended up grabbing some lunch at one of my favorite restaurants before sneaking in a movie. I pull into the parking lot of work just in time for my shift. I hurry inside and clock in. As soon as I step behind the bar I notice the hard to miss bouquet of red roses and my favorites, yellow chrysanthemums. I don’t even have to look at the card to know they’re from Ace.

Making my way over to them I pull out the card. “To my angel, happy birthday! I hope the day is as beautiful as you are. –Ace”. I lean forward and smell the flowers before slipping the card in my back pocket. I’m half way through my shift when the work crew all gathers around the end of the bar. Sasha brings out a brownie with a sparkling candle on it and they all sing happy birthday, very off key. I laugh and make a wish. When I return to the floor I’m shocked to see Enzo and some friends sitting in my section. Last, I had heard he was off becoming a big rock star. I hadn’t seen him since he quit his job here.

I make my way over and to my surprise he jumps up from his seat and pulls me into his arms. “Kynlee it’s so good to see you and apparently I should say happy birthday. Although, I think they should have let me sing for you,” he says making a horrified face at the memory of the crew’s tone-deaf singing.

Laughing, I slap his arm lightly. “It’s so good to see a rock star. How’s life?”

Enzo holds out his arms as if taking in a view, “I’m king of the world as it seems you’ve heard? I’m the lead singer of RoyalEternity, we got signed to a major record label and we just got our shooting schedule for our first video.”

A pang of jealous gnaws at my gut, but I plaster on my smile. “Congratulations! That’s awesome.”

He shrugs. “Yeah, what about you? How’s the modeling?”

“Oh, you know it’s there. I haven’t had a lot of time for it,” I say nonchalantly. After that he and the rest of the band place their orders. I’m gathering my flowers, getting ready to leave when I feel a hand on my shoulder, turning around I see Enzo standing there. “Oh, if you need anything else Jessica will get it for you. I’m about to leave, I have plans tonight.”

Enzo plays with a petal of one of the roses. “With Ace?” I give him an eye roll because I already know how he feels about Ace, he made sure to tell me before he left to become the big rock star he thinks he is now. He shakes his head as if he was shaking a thought away. “Anyway, I wanted to give you this,” he extends his hand out with a business card in it, “That’s our manger and he’s great. Plus, we could really use a hot girl for our new video and you know who I think would be perfect for it?”

“Enzo…” I say in a warning tone.

He holds his hands up, “It’s a job offer Kynlee, nothing else. Besides I’m very happy in my relationship right now, but I would like to help out a friend. Just think about it and if you decide you interested call Marc.”

I nod and watch Enzo rejoin his band at the table. As I make my way to the car I can’t but feel like maybe this was the piece that I’ve been missing. Maybe this is how I can finally get my break. Maybe this is the answer I’ve been looking for. Then I remember that Ace and Enzo aren’t exactly fans of one another, how am I supposed to convince Ace this isn’t a big deal?

****

Ace

I had spent the good part of the day running around. First thing this morning I had went by Axell’s house and picked up Jovi and dropped him off at school. I couldn’t stand the idea of him riding the bus. Anytime, anyone said, “just let him ride the bus,” I’d instantly get the flashbacks of my bus trips from hell. My bus rides were never too good unless one of my brothers were on the same bus, but I didn’t usually get too lucky with that considering our age difference. So, anytime I could pick up Jovi and drop him off at school…in style might I add, I did.

From there I went to the body shop to help out until my tattoo appointment at eleven. The body shop had been swamped and it was time to head over to Inkredible before I know it. There were no vehicles in the parking lot so I had managed to beat my client. As I unlock the door and walk in I stop to admire the shop. This shop wouldn’t have been possible without Kynlee. She had pushed me into this because she knew it was my dream. Kynlee had stayed up for hours researching the best kind of business loans to apply for then she went on to help with the applications. Once we got the building she and I spent hours fixing and decorating the building.

Looking around now, I still felt the need to pinch myself. Admiring all our hard work as I take in my surroundings. Everything is very dark and gothic looking. We painted one of the walls with the black chalkboard paint and added a few framed black and white sketches to, “show off my talent” then took chalk and added other designs. We hung some lights and added a black leather couch with a black and crimson colored rug in front. I managed to make some tables out of discarded hubcaps and Kynlee found some gothic looking candelabras that she painted black and splattered with crimson paint.

On the other side of the shop we had split the wall, the top half was covered in black and gray designed wallpaper that met gray molding, the bottom half of the wall was paintedsolid black. We had found an older couch at a garage sale and reupholstered it with a crimson colored leather (well pleather actually). We had also found a couple of black chairs that looked like they had come from an old movie set and a black coffee table with a glass top. Kynlee had decided to raid the Halloween décor sales and ended up buying some black and bloody skull heads to sit around as well as a skull and cross bones that she hung above the couch then framed with some old beaten up pieces of wood that she had painted gray. The last thing we had done was hang the lights on that side.

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