Page 103 of The Princess and the Paparazzi
Naomi peers skeptically from Rafe to me. “What’s with these sad faces?” She pours boiling-hot water from the kettle into the French press and pushes down the plunger. “You two were a regular pair of lovebirds two days ago in California. Aren’t you even going to kiss hello?”
Rafe closes his eyes and sighs, mournfully.
“Well?” Naomi looks at me expectantly.
“Uh … sure,” I say and walk over to Rafe, holding my arms out. “So happy to see you again, sweetie.”
He stands to deliver a perfunctory hug, and I kiss his cheek and pat his back. We are both leaning forward, as if to ensure as few body parts as possible are touching.
Naomi doesn’t look like she’s buying it. She rolls her eyes.
“Well, I better get a move on,” I say, breezily reaching out for the keys. “I’ve got some errands to do in town today before we start rehearsals again.”
“Aren’t you going to take your camera?” Naomi intercepts me, shoving a big, ol’ digital camera at me. “You left it at the hotel.”
“Oh, this old thing? Of course,” I say. “Silly me.”
“What’s old about it? Rafe said he just bought it for you for the trip?” Naomi’s arms are folded in a challenge. “And I would really love it if you could edit the photos before I go. I’d like copies of them for me to show my friends back home. Especially the ones of my fairy godmother ensemble.”
Naomi dressed up as a fairy godmother? This I have to see. I turn on the camera, flipping through and poring over the images on the LCD screen.
I click past pictures of Orly and Rafe on the monorail, and towel monkeys in their hotel room.
“Right,” I say, smiling, holding up a photo of Naomi in a light-blue dress with a bright-pink scarf. She looks beneficent, standing beside Orly, holding a churro like it’s a magic wand.
Damn, they all look like they had so much fun without me.
Quickly, I skip to the next photo in the queue. It’s one of Rafe with Orly on his shoulders. It’s similar to the one that was posted online, but this one is a close-up, so there is much more detail. This must be a really good camera. I can practically see every stubble pore on his face. Rafe looks so happy and relaxed, staring directly into the camera and smiling the hugest and goofiest grin. I’ve never seen him look that freaking happy. He’s got his sunglasses on, kind of pushed down a little, and he’s holding on to Orly’s feet. She’s got her little face all squinched up, hands in his hair. I zoom in a little closer on the screen to get a better look at his face, and that’s when I see Kenna. Reflected perfectly in his sunglasses, holding the camera and smiling theexact same goofy grinback at him while she is taking the shot.
It’s such a pure and unfiltered expression of love, there is no mistaking it. I’d try to arrange my own features into something similar, but I’m certain I couldn’t do it. Some things can’t be faked.
“Oh my God,” I say, looking up from the camera and over at Rafe. “Oh myGod. Oh. My. God.”
Rafe is inlove. Like, for real Disney movie in love.With my little sister.
“What is it?” Naomi looks concerned. She comes around the counter to look at the camera screen and freezes when she sees it, too. “Oh. Oh my,” she says, and lays a hand on her heart.
“Can you believe this?” I ask, scratching my nose like I’m trying to hold back a sneeze and not like it’s starting to run because it always does that when I am about to cry.
“I mean, if I hadn’t seen it happening firsthand, with my own eyes, I would never have believed it.” Naomi shakes her head, apparently agreeing with me, although I’m not sure what she’s agreeing to.
“I mean, this kind of changes everything,” I say.
“Absolutely,” Naomi concurs. “You really can’t fake that kind of thing, can you,Lie Lie?” She taps the screen and winks at me. “They say a picture is worth a thousand words.”
Holy shit. She knows.I lunge toward the blue bowl, but Naomi smugly slides it away from me.
“For Christ’s sake, what are the two of you looking at?” Rafe asks.
Naomi does the honors, flipping the camera around.
“We’re looking at this photo of you and that girl you’ve been trying to pass off as Lorelei all week. The one whom you’re in love with.”
Precisely at this moment, a fairy princess Barbie comes sailing through the air and smacks me on the ass.
“HUNGEEEEE!” Orly yells, ducking back behind the chair when she sees my expression.
Meanwhile, Princess, the wonder mutt, helpfully dives after the Barbie, fetching and dropping it at my feet before resuming her post, ankle-side, at hump station zero.I didn’t even know female dogs were humpers.
