Page 52 of Mistaken Prejudice

We were deep into step five, or was it four? I lost count a while back when he used a toner to balance the pH of my skin. For the record, Miles said I had flawless skin but mentioned that even flawless needed maintenance.

“What’s that?” I asked as Miles used his finger pads to moisturize the skin under my eyes. He positioned himself better on my lap as he applied the cream.

“It’s an eye cream to prevent dark circles under your eyes.” He stopped to grab some gold pads from beside me. “The skin around our eyes is very thin and gentle, so it’s the first to show signs of stress and aging.” He peeled the silicone from the golden pads before gently pressing them under my eyes. “We need to keep these patches on for ten minutes,” he explained while pressing the same pads under his eyes. “They are infused with gold and minerals. It will lift and firm our skin and will basically make it glow.”

“Gold?” I laughed as I rose to my elbows.

“We deserve the best.” He leaned forward and kissed my lips before he flopped off of me and moved to grab his phone.

“Okay, we have two hours before we need to leave for the show,” he mentioned after he checked the time.

The show we were attending tonight was the reason we’d all come here for. It belonged to one of the biggest fashion houses in the world, Ranieri, owned by Vito Ranieri. Even I’d heard of him. Elliot had been their leading model for almost twenty years, and tonight, he would open and close the show. From what Miles told me, Elliot designed the new collection with Vito, so it was a big moment for his career as a designer.

Following Miles, I rolled over and snapped my phone from the charger. I had several unread messages in our group chat, so I opened them. The first few messages were from Jess, who attached several photos featuring them at the camping site. All of them were shot from weird-ass angles. They made zero sense: Half a bottle of soda with a bare foot and a chips bag, a tent floating in the lake, an attempted selfie of Jess that showed mostly his nostrils, Diesel taking a piss dressed in a skirt, and several pictures of the guys sleeping while Jess flashed them with a flashlight. Despite the mess, one thing was clear. They had fun, and I missed it.

I scrolled down the chat and read some of the messages the guys sent.

Chief: You are quite the talent, Jessie.

Jess: RIGHT?! I WILL POST THEM.

Levi: Caps lock, Kotik.

Jess: *Monkey emoji* Oopsyyyyy! LOL.

*Diesel left the group*

*Chief added Diesel to the group*

Diesel: wtf?

Chief: Be friendly.

Jess: Yes, be friendly.

Diesel: I’m sitting right next to you. Why do we need to chat?!

Levi: Because Jess wanted Chica to be a part of the conversation, so he suggested we text.

I laughed as I read the exchange and noticed it was sent only minutes ago. It was evening here, so it was around noon back home. Not wasting any time, I started typing back.

Me: Awww. Thx for thinking about me, Jess!

Jess: CHICA! I MISS YOU SO MUCH * Pig emoji* *Octopus emoji* *Cactus Emoji* *Pink House emoji*

Me: I miss you too, Jess. Are you having fun?

Jess: YES. CHIEF ALLOWED ME TO COOK HOTDOGS LAST NIGHT.

Diesel: And in case you wondered, he burned them all.

Chief: Stop being so grumpy. They were slightly roasted.

*Diesel attached a photo*

The photo showed an object that looked like coals.

Diesel: Slightly?