Page 81 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10
The girl with the curling iron took a step towards us. "Hi, I'm Judy, and I'll be doing your hair. Cindy will do your makeup. We're gonna make sure you look amazing."
"Hi, thanks," I said. "Is it okay if I shower first? I got all sweaty during the rehearsal."
Judy smiled. "Of course. There's a bathroom right through there." She gestured to a door on the opposite side of the room. "I put a few products in there for you to use."
"There's a towel and robe waiting in there for you," added Cindy.
"Okay, great. Thanks," I said.At least I'm getting pampered before humiliating myself in front of millions of people.
"Did you want me to wait until Annie gets back?" I asked Kristen.
"Kristen hopped over to the makeup chair and sat down. "That's okay. I'm comfy here. You should go shower. This is your big day now."
She was taking her injury surprisingly well. I thought she had been so excited to perform, but now that she couldn't, she didn't seem the least bit upset. In fact, she didn't even really seem to be in that much pain.Oh my God, is she faking her injury just to get me to perform? She was the one who demanded I be her understudy.
"Are you sure your ankle isn't feeling any better?" I asked.
Kristen lowered her foot to the ground and winced. "Ow, damn."
Okay, definitely not faking.I guess it was wishful thinking that she'd be faking and actually be able to perform.
"Go, take your shower," said Kristen. "The sooner you shower the sooner Cindy and Judy can start working their magic."
"Thanks for being so supportive. I know you really wanted to do this dance."
"As long as we win gold and wipe that smug look off Gabriela's face, I don't give a damn which one of us is out there."
I gave Kristen a smile and walked into the bathroom. As promised, a fluffy towel and robe were hanging up on the wall and the shelf in the shower was lined with bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and lotion that had super expensive sounding brand names. I turned the water on, stripped off my sweaty clothes, and stepped inside.
When I was a kid, showering was one of my favorite parts of my daily routine. I remember waking up on cold winter mornings. The sun would still be hidden below the horizon. I'd be so cold when I got out of bed, but I'd run right into the bathroom and take a nice, hot shower. And for those fifteen minutes, I was warm and at peace. Whatever tests I had coming up, whatever boy problems or drama with my friends, none of it mattered while I was in the shower. All that I would focus on was the sound of the water hitting the tiles. There were times when I wished I could just stay in the shower forever.
This was one of those times.
I took extra long rubbing the shampoo in, then I told myself that I should let the conditioner sit for a little longer before rinsing it. I even soaped myself up twice. But it was all just prolonging the inevitable. Eventually, the shower came to an end.
I turned the water off and stepped out. The steam from the shower had filled the entire room, so the air was pretty warm.Maybe I should crack a window. Or escape.
The thought lingered in my mind as I walked over the window and opened it. I was on the ground floor. I could easily just hop out and catch an Uber to somewhere far away from here. It was so very tempting, but I couldn't stand the thought of letting Gabriela win. I had to at least try to beat that bitch.
I guess this is really happening. I'm going to do a strip dance in front of the entire world.
Going For Gold - Chapter 33
Sunday
Bryce
I didn't know how early Tim had left for the arena that morning, but when I got to the locker room, it became clear he had been there for hours. He had folded each backup dancer's outfit in front of their locker and left a hand written note of encouragement on top.
"Hey, Bryce," said a voice behind me.
I turned around and nearly screamed. Tim was dressed from head to toe in a super tight American flag morph suit. I couldn't see any of him, just his silhouette covered in an American flag.
"What do you think?" he asked. The tone of his voice told me he was probably grinning like an idiot under the morph suit.
"I think it's creepy as hell. Why didn't you just pick some normal pants and a button down or something?"
"All the backup dancers being silhouettes will shine a spotlight on Kristen's beauty. I think they turned out awesome."
