Page 5 of Forked (Frenched 2)
“But—“
“I’ll take care of everything here. You be on your way now.” I did everything but put my foot on her butt and shove her out the door.
She smiled. “You’re right. Sorry.” Lifting her hand in farewell, she disappeared into the hallway and might actually have cleared earshot if Angelina spoke at a normal volume.
“It’s next weekend. Saturday, August fourth. It has to be then because of the TV people. I’m gonna be on a reality show.”
I could practically hear brakes screeching in the
hallway. Glancing at the door, I expected to see Mia pop back into the frame and brace herself against it, her eyes wild with panic. I held my breath.
No Mia.
But my phone pinged with a text.
NO NO NO NO NO
“Wow.” Swiping my phone off the desk and into my lap so Angelina wouldn’t see it, I turned off the sound and cleared my throat. “That is short notice. And what’s this about TV people? You’re on a reality show?”
“I’m not exactly on it yet. But I’m being considered for this show called Italian-American Princesses. They’re looking for girls to star in the premiere season, see. So I applied, and they think I might be the perfect fit. Some producers are coming to scout the location and meet me and everything, and I figure what better way to show them my star potential than to throw myself a big party? Right?”
“Right.” While she was talking, my phone buzzed in my lap, three times with only a second in between.
TV PEOPLE???
DON’T DO IT!
NOT ENOUGH TIME!
“Look, I can pay extra or whatever,” said Angelina. “I already sent the invitations. And I know exactly what I want, so all’s you have to do is arrange it.” She made it sound like she’d already done all the hard work, and I’d just have to make a couple calls. In reality I’d have to bust my ass to pull off an event that big in such a short time because I was guessing her list of exactly-what-I-want was long, specific, and ridiculous.
Which meant expensive.
Bring it on, princess.
My phone continued to blow up with texts from Mia as I broached the subject of cost. “Angelina, I’d like to help you, but parties this big can get expensive. What’s your budget?”
5 REASONS YOU SHOULD NOT TAKE ON THIS PARTY
She pursed her frosty pink lips. “I don’t care what it costs. The important thing is to make a good impression. A big impression. Unforgettable, you know?”
1. HER TWITTER HANDLE IS @SPOILEDROTTENBITCH
“Unforgettable, yes. OK, well, ballpark it. What are you comfortable spending?”
“I dunno.” She shrugged. “Fifty thousand maybe? A hundred? I got no idea what this shit costs but my dad said he’d pay for whatever I wanted.”
2. CREEPY LONG FRENCH MANICURED TOENAILS + FROSTY PINK LIPS WITH DARK LINER = BAD TASTE.
I blinked at her. Twice. Had I heard right? Fifty to a hundred grand? For an engagement party? Visions of myself mixing up cocktails in my cat-pee-free dream house danced in my head. “Uh, for that kind of money, you can have more than big.”
She smiled and snapped her gum again. “Good because I want ginormous. But it has to be perfect.”
3. SHE CARRIES AN ANIMAL IN A PURSE. IT WEARS A CROWN.
“Ginormous it is.” As long as she didn’t expect me to don a tiara, I didn’t give a crap what she put on her dog’s head.
“Ginormous and perfect.” Her voice was slightly sharper. “You’ll get all the things I want, right?”
