Page 63 of Laila Manning
“Oh my God,” Elora clapped excitedly before sighing and staring at me like a blushing bride on her wedding day in a small country chapel.
“Stop it.” I turned back to the mirror, ignoring her and Carly both as the stylist pulled the skirt of the dress out in a dramatic fan, letting it billow out around my legs.
The legs that were only actually covered by the fabric when I stood completely still and straight. Heaven forbid I moved my hips in one direction or the other without causing the wild and daring slit to open up completely to the revealing spot directly under my right hip bone.
Right next to my hoo-ha.
“How do you feel?” Carly asked cautiously from her spot behind me, more in check than she had been in my apartment earlier after seeing the myriads of emotions that had assaulted me all afternoon.
“Like a stripper.” I groaned, “No offense.”
“None taken,” She shrugged nonchalantly. “I never wore that much fabric on stage.”
“Me neither.” I whispered, taking in my reflection as I blocked out all those nights, walking the stage for men to view me before they purchased.
“Give us a few.” Elora shooed the stylist and the glam team out, closing the ornate double doors behind them, enclosing us in her lavish dressing room alone. “What’s on your mind?”
I shook my head as my hands slid down the beaded bodice covering my stomach. “Unfamiliarity.” I swallowed and flicked a glance at the two women, who had quickly become the only friends I had in theworld. “I don’t recognize that girl.” I nodded to my reflection in the mirror.
“Who does she look like?” Carly asked, standing at my side, watching me close.
“Like a goddess.” I shook my head. “See why I’m failing to find the similarities?”
“You know who she looks like to me?” Elora asked, taking her place on my other side.
“Hmm?” I hummed speculatively.
“Like a butterfly who just broke free from that small, confined space that held her down while she grew her wings.”
“Ach,” I scoffed.
“She’s right.” Carly gently took my hand in hers and stared at me in the mirror, waiting for me to gaze back at her. “This is who you were meant to be all along, Laila.” She smiled sadly, tightening her hand in mine. “It just took you far longer than you needed to be able to stretch those wings and feel that freedom.”
“I don’t know her.” I stared back at the dark-lined brown eyes that used to look so plain and lifeless before today. Now, they looked fierce.
Strong.
“That’s okay.” Carly reassured me. “We all have to find ourselves once we finally have the strength to walk away from what we used to know.”
“It was like that when I reconnected with Ryker.” Ellie smiled wistfully. “I was just a kid the last time I knew him, and life wasnotkind to me between then and when we ran back into each other.”
Carly scoffed, bugging her eyes out. “That’s putting it lightly.” She said and then paused. “You know, you both kind of had similar shitty introductions to the real world, if you think about it.”
“How so?” I asked, not believing that the Queen of Shadeport ever really struggled like I did, but at the same time, she had darkness in her eyes now and then that seemed familiar.
Elora chuckled humorlessly. “Well, it started when my dad, who was my very best friend, was assassinated and died in my arms in the middle of his own turf.” My stomach cramped at the information and the dead look in her eyes as she said it. “And then my drug-addicted mother stole me away from Ryker and any bit of stability I had left in the wake of my father’s death. Only so she could steal the money he sent her for my care to spend on drugs and men.” She raised her eyebrows as I turned to face her. “Oh, and then there was the time she locked me in a motel room and had a line of men outside, paying her for a go with me when I was sixteen. One even paid an extra few bucks to take my virginity.”
“Jesus.” I hissed. “I had no idea.”
She shrugged her shoulders and then stiffened her spine. “I was luckier than you were, Laila, because I escaped before any of them touched me.” She said firmly, “But then I was homeless and starving, working a dozen dead-end jobs, just trying to survive.”
“And that’s when I found her.” Carly smiled sadly at her, pulling her into her arms. “And I nursed this little birdy back to health and kept her fed when she’d let me until she found Ryker again.”
“Now look at me.” Elora winked at her best friend. “The Queen. Married to the dark and dangerous King, with a perfect little prince.”
“It’s like a fairytale.” I smiled dreamily at her as she took my hand and squeezed.
“The specifics may be different, but there are a lot of similarities to our lives. Which means you can get your happily ever after too. Even if you don’t think so.”
