CHAPTER FOUR
1229 Words
CHAPTER FOUR
Aggie stood in front of the mirror, turning this way and that with a slight frown on her face.
“What on earth is wrong?” asked Coco, looking a little worried.
“It just doesn’t look like me,” Aggie breathed as she took in the reflection of the pretty young woman staring back at her. Her long, straight locks had been blow-dried and moussed, adding rather a lot more volume; her flat chest was flat no longer, the Wonderbra working absolute wonders; her long legs looking even longer than usual, even though she’d insisted on buying low kitten heels as opposed to Coco’s five-inch pair beside her. But it was her face that had shocked her the most. She’d watched Coco with a critical eye, making sure she hadn’t gone overboard with excessive makeup. She was surprised that she hadn’t. Just a little well-applied smokey eye shadow, liner and mascara, a touch of blusher, and some pink lipstick and Aggie could barely recognise herself.
Coco smiled. “You really do look beautiful, Aggie. You see, it can be done with just a little help.”
Aggie nodded in agreement.
“Are you sorry you doubted me now?”
Again, she nodded.
“Will you have a go at doing it yourself next time?” Coco asked.
Another nod.
“I still can’t believe it’s taken you a decade to let me go near your face with my makeup. You didn’t trust me at all before, did you?” she asked as she proceeded to put on her own black and white striped heels that she’d bought that afternoon.
“Not really,” Aggie smiled, still looking at herself in the mirror, as she pulled at the blouse. “It was the way you did your own makeup when we were thirteen that frightened me. I mean, that green eyeliner and purple mascara scared the life out of me.”
Coco cringed before laughing out loud. “Oh my God I know…but that was such a long time ago, babe. Hadn’t you noticed that my makeup skills have improved just a little bit since then?”
“Yeah I guess,” Aggie chuckled.
“Those jeans look amazing on you. Your bum looks to die for. I’d kill for those long legs of yours.”
“They look okay, I guess,” Aggie added. “Coco, you might be little but you’re perfectly formed. Just like Kylie.”
Coco grinned, “And I got the gold hot pants to prove it,” she shrieked. “I still can’t believe you bought me that pair for Christmas.”
“I couldn’t resist. See, I’m not always a prude.”
Coco raised her eyebrows, “Buying a pair of gold hot pants does not make you any less of a prude, Aggie. Besides, you ordered them online. It’s not like you went in to the shop to get ‘em,” she laughed. “Anyway, you ready?”
Aggie took one more look at herself before grabbing her new red leather satchel and headed for the door.
“Let’s paint this town red, baby!” Coco squealed as the hotel room door slammed behind them. “Where shall we go first?”
“Why don’t we just start here?” Aggie suggested. After all, they were staying in one of the most fabulous hotels on the strip.
“Champagne cocktails?” Coco suggested as they linked arms and headed for the elevator.
oOo
A beautiful older lady sang soft jazz songs as a younger man played the piano beside her while hundreds of people mingled around the hotel lobby. A number of them were gambling on the multitude of slot machines scattered throughout the massive area.
Coco and Aggie sat people-watching, enjoying their second champagne cocktails beside the bar, enjoying the ambiance of the scene before them.
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Coco whispered, leaning forward so Aggie could hear her.
“I know. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Aggie replied.
Coco gave her a strange look before Aggie realised her friend had been talking about a couple sitting at the bar.
“Oh, I thought you meant the hotel.”
“No silly,” Coco added. “I was talking about the weird couple over there. Just bizarre. Do you think he’s supposed to look like Elvis?”
“Yeah maybe,” Aggie said. “Although I’m not sure which Elvis he’s going for.”
“Young Elvis or old Elvis?” asked Coco.
Aggie nodded. “But what about her?”
“I’ve no idea. There are no words. God I love people-watching.”
A commotion further down the hotel lobby caught their attention.
“What the heck is going on over there?” asked Coco.
“It sounded like women screaming. Do you think everything’s okay? God, I hope it’s not a terrorist attack or something.”
“In Vegas?” Coco asked. “I’m sure everything’s fine. It’s probably nothing.”
But when more screams began to echo throughout the lobby, Aggie’s heart began to beat a little faster.
“I’ll go and have a look. Stop worrying. These places are flooded with security. If there was anything to worry about, we’d have been evacuated by now. Stay here. I’ll be right back.
Aggie sat back in her chair and gripped her champagne cocktail with both hands. She hoped Coco was right. She didn’t want to die. Not in Vegas. She shivered.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?” asked the lady singer who was taking a quick break.
“Yes, thank you. I was just a bit worried about the commotion over there.”
The woman turned her head and smiled. “Nothing to worry about, my dear. It’s just the arrival of a celebrity. Happens at least twice a week. Considering the screams, I’m assuming it’s a famous bloke or something.”
“You’re English?” Aggie asked.
The woman raised her eyebrows and smiled. “Yorkshire born and bred. But the Moors couldn’t keep me from the bright lights of the big city,” she winked as she headed back to the piano where the pianist had already begun playing her next song.
Aggie smiled at the sound of “I Say A Little Prayer for You.”
Feeling quite a bit more relaxed, Aggie leaned back into her chair again and scanned the crowd for some sign of Coco. Some twenty minutes later, she sauntered out of the throng of people with a smile on her face. She lifted her hand in a wave toward her best friend.
“Everything’s fine,” she said, slightly out of breath as she sat down.
“I know, I heard it was just the arrival of a celebrity or something?” Aggie replied.
“Not just any celebrity though,” Coco added.
“You know him?”
“You could say that,” Coco teased.
“Who was it?”
Coco was quiet for a moment before she leaned forward and opened her purse, folding a small paper napkin and shoving it in. “Someone who wrote his private number down for me.”
Aggie laughed and leaned back again. “You’re a man-magnet, you are! But who was it?”
“You’ll never guess.”
“I know, which is why you should just tell me already,” Aggie smiled as the Yorkshire singer began singing “You’re Too Good To Be True.”
“She’s really good, isn’t she?” Coco said.
“She’s actually from Yorkshire. I spoke to her while you were mingling with celebs. Who. Was. It?”
Giggling, Coco leaned forward and whispered into Aggie’s ear.
“Sorry, I couldn’t quite hear. It sounded like you said Johnnie Blackburn?”
Coco blushed and sat back whilst taking a long sip of the cocktail.
Aggie’s eyes rounded and she coughed. “For real?”
Coco nodded, “For real.”
“Oh my God,” Aggie said, grinning from ear to ear. “And he gave you his number?”
Coco took a moment to nod again. “Yep. He invited me out for a drink.”
“So what are you doing here with me?” Aggie almost shrieked.
“I couldn’t leave you alone. What do you think I am?”
“Coco, we’re talking about Johnnie Blackburn here. You’ve fancied the pants off him for the past three years. Now’s your chance. You should go. I don’t mind. Really I don’t.”
“Well I do and I wouldn’t dream of leaving my best mate, not even for Johnnie Blackburn. Not for anyone.”
“Coco, you are the best pal a woman could ever dream of. Thank you.”
“Well, you owe me,” Coco laughed. “Big time.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“Come on, let’s go clubbing. I need to find some eye candy to take my mind of Johnnie b****y Blackburn.”
“At least you have his number. Maybe you could call him after the holiday?”
“I don’t think so. Perhaps it’s better to keep the memory as it is…that way I’ll never be disappointed.”
“Wow, Coco, you sound so wise. What on earth has happened to you?”
“My sensible best friend, that’s what,” she joked. “Now come on, let’s have some fun. We’ve only got a few days left. We need to generate our own memories.”
- Writer
