Page 76 of Hollywood Undercover
Ducking out of the office, she shuffled up to her bedroom. She threw open the closet and took a whiff. A heavy smoke smell lingered on everything inside. Fortunately, nothing was destroyed. She grabbed the backpack and threw in her wallet, tablet, new phone and laptop before turning to thecloset.
“I hope it’s something a good washing can take care of,” she said aloud. “Let’s see what I cando.”
She tugged out an armload of clothes to supplement her wardrobe while at Bash’s house. In one corner of the closet, she came across a dress that must have been missed when she had initially cleared out thespace.
“Hey, how did you gethere?”
She held it up, turning it side to side in the waning evening light, and let out a wistfulsigh.
I haven’t been in girl clothes in over amonth.
God, how I miss shapely clothes and brightcolors.
The last time she had worn this particular dress was sometime in high school, probably at a footballgame.
“I wonder if it still fits me,” shemused.
The sleeveless lavender shift dress was gauzy, ultra-short and leggy, with a high waistline that screamed two thousand and seven. Alexandra couldn’t resist dropping the suspenders from her shoulders, unbuttoning the shirt and shimmying out of her pants. She slipped the dress over her head and let it fall down hertorso.
Gleefully racing over to the sooty mirror, her eyes widened at the effective transformation. The person staring back at her wasn’t quite Lexxi Rock, but it was close. She wasn’t styled to perfection, dressed up in designer digs, or sporting impossibly high heels, but looked younger, freer. There was no makeup to hide the almost invisible freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her hair was a tousled mess, but she found itcute.
She grinned at her reflection and burst out laughing. Lifting up her heel, she looked at the black Chuck Taylor’s paired with the lavender dress in themirror.
“Hey, the shoes are a nicetouch.”
Out of nowhere, there was a loud thump downstairs. She spun around to face the bedroom door. Standing still, she strained to hear what it might be. The house remained absolutely silent, so she chalked it up to the old place settling. She turned back to her reflection with a dismissiveshrug.
“Note to self,” she whispered. “I have to make this one of my new looks when I get back toLA.”
Alexandra heard a door close, and distant footsteps that began to slowly clomp up the stairs. There was definitely someone in the house. Her eyes darted around her bedroom in search of a weapon, just in case it wasn’t the cleanup crew. It could be anyone. It was no secret in the neighborhood that the house would be vacant. She wasn’t about to be caught unprepared by a potential burglar. She grabbed the dusty baseball bat forgotten in a corner and hefted it to her shoulder, ready toswing.
