Page 56 of Bad Influence
‘And look at you! So chic.’ I grabbed the end of the mustard-yellow feather boa flung casually around their neck, and admired the brown houndstooth suit Blair was wearing with nothing underneath. On their feet were a pair of iconic Gucci fur loafers.
‘I’m calling this look “country house meets Harry Styles with a touch of Dame Edna Everage”.’ I smiled.
‘Who?’ they said.
‘Never mind.’
‘Don’t let the clothes wear you, remember, babes!’ they replied, smiling.
I went to give them a hug, but on lifting my arms I noticed how tight and achy they felt.
‘You okay?’
‘Jimi had me on his Pilates torture machine earlier and itseems to have done something to arm muscles I didn’t know I had.’ I rubbed my right upper arm with my left palm.
‘Where is your handsome date?’
‘What?’ I felt my cheeks flush, assuming Blair was suggesting Jimi.
‘Rob. Your boyfriend?’ they clarified. ‘I was half-thinking you might sneak him in tonight. I want to see if he’s as hot as he looks on Instagram.’
‘Oh.’ My shoulders relaxed. ‘Partners are strictly NFI, remember? Anyway, who’s here?’
I scanned the room. Lights had been dimmed and there was a smattering of people I didn’t recognise in small groups. Some background electronic music was playing. Then I noticed Jimi was behind the decks. Well, when I say decks, I mean he was standing behind a small table in the corner of the room on which there was an open laptop, and the distinguishing DJ feature was some large headphones around his neck. He looked up for a second and smiled. I felt something leap in my stomach.
‘They’re all Julie-Ann’s clients,’ Blair continued. ‘Mandy is easily the most famous, so this was a hot ticket for most of them. See her over there?’
They nodded subtly to our right, towards a woman deep in conversation with Mandy, who looked incredible in the gold dress.
‘The one wearing the gloves?’ I asked.
‘Why do you think she’s wearing them?’
‘She’s cold?’
‘Wrong. She’s got the most expensive hands in Britain,probably the world. She’s called Kate Santini, she’s a hand model – doesn’t take her gloves off for less than twenty grand an hour. Seriously. She was the hand in the new Ryan Gosling coffee commercials. She told me she had him in the palm of her hand.’ They laughed. ‘Short life span, that career though.’ They elbowed me in the ribs.
‘You’re on fire this evening, Blair,’ I said sardonically. ‘I’ve got to hand it to you.’
And we both giggled at our crap jokes.
‘Mandy looks good, doesn’t she,’ I commented, looking across at her holding court with the hand model. Julie-Ann had now joined them, with two striking young women who looked like identical twins. Mandy shone like a real-life, polished Oscar statuette, the dress hugging her curves. Her hair was tonged, glossy and perfect, her skin glowing. She looked like the superstar she was.
‘She’s radiant!’ Blair commented.
‘Everyone is so beautiful,’ I gasped. ‘I think I need a drink to cope. Any idea where the cocktails are?’
We were just about to leave the room to find out, when I felt a gentle yet firm arm around my back. It was Julie-Ann guiding me over to the opposite side of the room.
‘Come and mingle,’ she said. ‘Everyone loves meeting the stylist.’
‘They do?’
She led me over to where Jose was talking to a woman with blond hair scraped back into a high ponytail, her lips pink and pillowy. She was introduced as Aneka, by way of Julie whispering loudly into the back of my neck. ‘Ageingmodel. Used to be massive, on the cover of all the foreignVogues– except US and UK,obviously– reinventing herself as a life coach.’
‘Oh darling, I’ve been supporting a friend who has been crying for the past week,’ said the woman to Julie-Ann, as Jose took his cue to quietly disappear.
‘What about?’
