Page 37 of Night's Fall
Monique, by the by, was a human, though she had some witch blood in her, along with some fae.Thismade her a wee bit magical and was one of the reasons why she was such a sought-after aesthetician.
She was also mocha-skinned, willowy, had aNubiannose, round violet eyes that denoted the bit o’ fae in her, and a head of thick, wild black curls.
And yes,Ienvied all of that about her.
Mon, too, came from money, but again, those humans expected their young to make their own way.AndMonique, likeGayle, was all over it.
“Tell us again about how interested he was in your books,”Caturged. “I’dheard that about him.He’sa collector of vintage things.Itisso megayou two share that in common.”
“Right?”Moniqueasked. “Andthe cooking thing.”Sheturned back to me. “Whocooks anymore?Youdo.AndIcannotbelievethe prince does too.Andhe suggested you do it together.”
“WhatIlike, outside theCaptainJacques’ssitch,”Gaylebegan, “was how into theGladegown he was.Imean, he probably didn’t care, but he asked about it, at length.Howmany males give that first crap about what your passion is?They’llgo on and on about some pit ball game or ring ice match, and how fab it was they landed that huge account they’d worked so hard to get, but do they care about what you’re into?No.”
It was the next evening, and obviously, the one before,I’dfilled in the gals about my lunch withAleksei, which did not end with the consumption of our chicken oars, but with him asking to take a tour of my loft.
And yes, he seemed really interested in all of it.
But in a little under half an hour, a craft was being sent to take me to meetMadamGarwahsoIcould attend my first royal protocol lesson.
In other words,Ihad other things on my mind.
Yeah.
I’d decided to go with this.
In for a credit, in for the entire line.
They were supposed to be helping me pick an outfit, because, afterIspent an hour withMadamGarwahteaching me how to curtsy,Alekseiwas picking me up to take me to dinner and then theRoyalCatalogues(as per the commIgot fromAllainconfirming the plansAlekseisuggested).
As such, important matters were at hand.
Thus,Iwhirled on their ’grams and reminded them, “Stayon target, females.Thisis a critical decision.”
“Go back to the mask, program it to cleanse your natural, night, semi-casual in pinks and have it change it to night, semi-drama, in browns and wear that chocolate jumpsuit,”Moniqueadvised.
I made a face.
Cat explained my face. “Jumpsuitsare super out,Mon.”
“The cleavage that one gives will never be out,Catla,”Monretorted.
Cat shook her head. “Changethe face to blacks and grays, and go with the silver, faux leather pencil skirt and gray mesh top with your shiny chrome high-heeled boots.”
“She doesn’t want to look like a bot,”Moniqueretorted.
Cat scowled atMonique.
Gayle chimed in. “Thesheer blushy top with the medallions sewn in, and that flirty, flowery skirt that hugs your ass and thighs but has that little flippy thing at the hem.Thestrappy red sandals.Andthe pink satin trench coat.It’sgirlie, like you.Thetop is long sleeved, so it works for coming autumn, but we’re still in summer, so it works for that too.Andit goes with your face’s current color palette and your hair being down, which looks awesome by the way.Whatsetting did you use for that?”
“Night, casual, elegant, windswept, sophisticated, stylish, dinner date,”Ishared, poking the control panel with my finger, trying to find my sheer blushy top, becauseIwas thinkingGaylewas onto something.
“HolyLilith.Andthe mane-mate didn’t short circuit?Inever put that many settings in,”Catremarked.
“Oh, queen, you have to load ’em up,”Moniqueeducated. “Themore challenges you give them, the more the algorithm works for you, if you don’t put it back on and change it right away.”
“Really?”Catasked.
“Totally,”Moniquereplied.
