Please, let tonight be the night, Lauren prayed into the gold-lined bathroom mirror as she dabbed a smudge of lipstick off of her teeth. The dress she was wearing was the same one she wore on her previous date with Trevor, but she'd convinced a seamstress friend to take it apart and make it look new. She winced as a hastily-sewn seam dug into her back. All the expenses and favors to keep up appearances were piling up, and if Trevor didn’t come through, she was screwed. Trevor has to be the one.
Lauren forced herself not to focus on the lines that had recently appeared around her eyes and mouth. Thirty-eight had not been as kind as thirty-five, and the last three years since Nikolai had died had taken a toll she couldn't afford to show on her face. She padded on some more concealer. It wou
