Payback and a Bottle of Merlot: Like Sisters Series Book One (22 page)

“Hey girl, what’s up?” Vic asked, while she was getting the makeup colors together to use on Sasha.

“I’m going to come over earlier. If Sasha recognizes me right away, oh well. It’s been a few months though. She might think I look familiar, but even if she realizes where she saw me, she still won’t know who I am until I tell her. I’ll do the photo shoot just as we planned, and after I get some great shots, we’ll tell her why she’s really at the salon.”

“Okay, hon, we’ll just go for it and see what happens. It will be what it will be, right?”

“That’s right. Let’s make today fun. No worries, okay?”

“Yep, no worries. I’ll see you soon, bye.”

“Bye, Vic, love you.” Mia hung up and took a deep breath.
It will be what it will be. That’s exactly right
. She smiled, picked out a fun outfit to wear, and stepped into the hot, blissful shower.

***

“You guys, there’s a cab pulling up to the salon,” Karen said, anxiously.

The three of them peered out the side window to see a beautiful, dark haired woman step out, pay the driver and come up the sidewalk.

“That’s her!” Tina squealed nervously, while chewing on her cuticles.

“Well, no duh,” Vic said, “Who else would it be? Breathe, Tina, for God’s sake. We’ll get through this just fine. Put on some music or something.”

“Yeah… good idea. Damn, she’s even more gorgeous than I thought,” Tina said, as she raced to the back room to turn on the MP3 player.

“Really? Just don’t let Mia hear you say that. She’s heard it too many times from my big mouth,” Vic reminded her.

Karen busied herself with the white tablecloth holding the appetizers and beverages, making sure it was smooth and straight.

The door opened and Sasha Renaud entered, floating in like a butterfly with a number of outfits under her arm.

They stood like zombies, brain dead for a second, until the English language came back to Vic.

She took the lead and welcomed Sasha to Hair Brained salon. “Hello, you must be Sasha Renaud. Welcome to our salon. I’m Victoria, and this is Tina and Karen. Congratulations on being a finalist for
Today’s Glamour
inaugural cover. Throughout the day you’ll be getting a free makeover which includes makeup, a mani-pedi and several hairstyle selections to choose from. The photographer will be here shortly for your photo shoot, lasting an hour. I’ll take those outfits for now. Please help yourself to our complimentary appetizers and beverages. Make yourself comfortable, we’ll get started shortly.”

Sasha said hello, forced a smile, and strolled over to the table. She chose a Mimosa in a beautiful crystal flute, over wine, and sipped it as she walked around the salon.

“May I call you Sasha?” Tina inquired.

“Of course, that’s my name after all,” she responded, dryly.

Tina muttered something inaudible under her breath, smiled, and asked Sasha to sit in the chair at the hair washing station. Her hair was washed, trimmed and put in rollers. Vic asked her to choose the makeup colors she preferred, and began her artistic magic, with the flair only Vic could pull off. Tina began the manicure after Sasha picked a ruby red color from an array of choices. Karen kept the drinks coming.

“Do you live in Manhattan, Sasha?” Karen asked, trying to get a conversation flowing.

Sasha wasn’t drinking enough to loosen up yet. “Of course, where else would a model live?”

“Right… We’re going to need some fun facts about you, in case you win the competition. Are you single? Is there a hunky guy in your life? Where have you traveled? How long have you been a model? These are the things we’ll need to include in your bio, if you don’t mind. Please, let me get you another Mimosa before you begin.” Karen took the half full glass from Sasha’s hand and replaced it with another.

Tina turned the music up a few clicks. The girls were doing their best to lighten the atmosphere in the salon, and it was beginning to work. By the time Sasha had downed her third Mimosa she was getting quite chatty.

“Well, I do have a man in my life,” she began, as Vic applied the false eyelashes over Sasha’s own.

“Really? Tell us about him,” Karen said, with an optimistic wink to Vic and Tina.

Just as Sasha was about to spill her life story, the front door swung open and Mia sashayed in.

“Oh, the photographer Jasmine is here. She’ll be doing your photo shoot today. Let’s get your hair blown out so she can begin, shall we?”

Sasha was too preoccupied with her hair and makeup to give Mia a decent look. A halfhearted nod was her way of acknowledging Mia’s presence. By her lack of interest, it was obvious that Sasha was well on her way to becoming inebriated. Mia was instantly irritated by her, but began snapping picture after picture anyway as Sasha’s hairstyles and outfits changed. When Sasha returned to the bright aqua swivel chair for another hairstyle change, she recalled where she left off earlier. Enthusiastically, she began describing her fabulously sexy boyfriend, Jack Barnes, with a slight slur in her voice.

“We were in the Cayman Islands recently. My wonderful Jack surprised me with a week at the Ritz-Carlton on Seven Mile Beach. It was pure decadence, I mean we hardly got out of bed. Constant room service. I’ve never been so pampered,” she said, with a flamboyant laugh and a hiccup.

“That’s it,” Mia sneered, as she began crying from pent up anger. “I’ve had enough of this charade.” She flung her camera across the table where the now dried up appetizers sat, untouched.

Sasha stared at her in disbelief, wondering what in the world this crazy photographer was crying about. There was something oddly familiar about her.

“I’ve seen you before, somewhere,” Sasha said, with a suspicious tone. She rose from the styling chair, pushing Vic out of the way in the process. She teetered a bit, but marched over to where Mia was pacing like a caged tiger. “Who are you, and what’s your problem? You were crying the first time I saw you. Now I remember. You were at Grand Central in the ladies room. You were bawling your head off for some damn reason. So again, who are you?” Sasha corrected her wobble. “I’m waiting.”

“You’re waiting? You stupid bitch! I’ve been waiting more than two years for my husband to show up for our marriage. You want to know who I am? I’ll tell you who the hell I am. I’m Jack Barnes’ wife, that’s who I am. And, see Karen over there? She was Jack Barnes’ wife before me. So that’s who we are. Any more questions, you husband stealer?”

“You’re out of your mind. Get this crazy woman away from me before I call the police. Jack has been with me for almost seven years. I think I would know if he was married or not.” Sasha was furious, huffing, and gulping down her fifth Mimosa.

“Obviously, you don’t know shit. And go ahead, call the police. Every policeman in this town is my friend. Jack is familiar with them too because he lives here, you dumbass.”

“Mia, shouldn’t you take it down a notch?” Tina pleaded. She was sure in a matter of seconds, fists would fly and supplies in the salon would break.

“Fine. Karen, you talk to her. You have seniority anyway,” Mia hissed.

“Shit… okay, I’ll do it. Sasha, please sit down. We have a lot to tell you. Vic, take that damn Mimosa away from her. Tina, make a pot of strong coffee. She needs to be stone cold sober if she’s going to comprehend what we have to say.”

Tina made coffee and handed Sasha a cup of the black brew.

“I don’t drink black coffee. I want a lo-fat Caramel Machiatto.”

“You’re drinking it. This isn’t a gourmet coffee shop. Now take the damn cup,” Mia growled, an inch from Sasha’s face.

“Fine, but I’m not going to enjoy it.”

“Okay everyone, please. Sasha, you actually need to pay attention to what we’re about to tell you. It’s going to affect your life just like it has ours. It’s very important and serious. Just hear us out and don’t interrupt.” Karen did her best to remain calm and speak in a low toned, soothing voice. “Jack is a two-timing jerk. For some reason he’s been married to either me, or Mia, since he met you. Maybe it’s an ego thing or a career tactic, I don’t know.”

“Who is Mia? I’m really confused right now,” Sasha mumbled.

“I’m Mia. Jasmine is a fake name. I’m legally Mia Barnes, the wife of Jack Barnes, and have been for over two years. Jack is playing you, Sasha, just like he’s played me and Karen all this time. Why haven’t you ever questioned him? Why don’t you know more about his life?”

“I thought I did. He said he lives with his brother and it’s a complicated situation. I’m busy too, you know. Being a beautiful model is hard to maintain. I have to keep up my looks and hair. And there’s my parents.”

“What do they have to do with anything?” Vic asked, dumbfounded.

“I miss them. They live in France, so I’m gone a lot. Jack understands.”

“Jack doesn’t understand shit,” Mia snickered. “You’re making his life easier because you’re busy all the time. Has Jack ever asked you to marry him?”

“Well no, but marriage is so old fashioned.”

“Whatever… stop making excuses for him. Jack is married for one reason, and it’s to advance his career. By looking like the wholesome ‘family man’ he can advance in the business. That
is
that type of industry he’s in, you know. Family values, kids, etcetera, etcetera. It makes him look settled and honest, which is actually a load of crap. But then there’s you. You’re his plaything and have been for years. You look good on his arm, as long as you never run into his bosses and colleagues. There’s no way he would ever let them meet you, because they all know he’s married. I’m sorry to say it, Sasha, but you’re just his hot looking piece of ass.”

“How dare he treat me like that. Is this true, or did some other envious model set me up?”

“It’s true, and I’m sorry I got angry with you. You’re a victim too. I’ve known about his cheating for months. Then, I found out he was cheating even when he was married to Karen. We have to get even with him. Jack can’t get away with this any longer,” Mia said, now trying to convince Sasha to see things her way. “Here’s proof, just in case you need more convincing. Karen, bring the photo albums over here, please.”

Mia opened both wedding albums and watched as Sasha flipped through the pages, shocked and speechless. She touched Jack’s face through the clear plastic album sleeve as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“May I have more coffee, please? I’m so embarrassed,” she said, as Tina handed her a fresh, steaming cup. “I don’t deserve this, but neither do you, Mia. Aren’t you going to divorce him?”

“Of course I am, but he needs to pay first, or he’ll keep doing the same thing over and over to other women. We need to take him down in front of his co-workers. They have to see what a slime-ball Jack Barnes really is. His career is the only thing that matters to him. We can help him tarnish his own image and I know the perfect time to do it. But first, you have to allow us to use some photos I took of you and Jack. I made sure your face was masked in all the pictures. There’s one thing that’s crystal clear. Jack Barnes is fooling around with someone other than his wife. We have to use these photos or we’ll never be able to pull this off. Let me show you what I’ve got.” Mia opened her backpack and pulled out a manila envelope.

“Not the dreaded manila envelope,” Sasha said, as she blew her nose.

“I’m afraid so.”

“You were following Jack and me? For how long?”

“It wasn’t long, just a few times. As soon as I got the pictures that would incriminate Jack, I stopped. That’s the truth,” Mia said.

“I can attest to that,” Karen agreed. “I was with her.”

“Me too, at another time,” Vic piped in, proudly.

“God… I’m so humiliated. Okay, let me see.”

Mia opened the envelope and pulled out ten large, glossy photos of Jack and Sasha in an array of intimate poses.

“Why didn’t I suspect anything after all these years? How stupid can I be?”

“You had your own career, and family to visit. You were preoccupied. Don’t blame yourself. Here, have some foie gras,” Karen said.

“We have ten days until Jack’s promotion party. That’s the night he’s going down,” Mia said, with an affirmative nod.

“Sasha, you’ve got two choices. You can stand up to Jack and join forces with us, or you can continue to be the other woman for life. You’ll get no respect from him, but he will expect sex from you. You’ll never feel like you mean much to him because he’ll keep you hidden from his colleagues and friends, if he has any. So what do you say?” Mia asked.

“I say okay… reluctantly, because it’s so hard to believe. My question is, how am I going to avoid him for the next ten days? If I see him, I’ll blow it and confront him.”

“Leave him a voice mail saying you went to France. Tell him you’re sorry, but there wasn’t time to say goodbye in person. There was one seat left on the flight you needed to take.”

“I guess that would work, but what if he sees me somewhere? His office isn’t far from my apartment.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Vic said.

“You even know where I live?”

“Affirmative. We know everything about you, Sasha. Keep that in mind,” Vic sneered.

“Okay, I guess I’m in.”

“Meanwhile, you can stay with Karen,” Vic said.

“What? I didn’t invite her to stay with me. She can stay with Tina,” Karen growled.

“Fine, you can stay with me, but mind your manners and don’t do anything stupid. We can get really scary when we’re pissed off,” Tina said sternly. “Now let’s have some wine.”

Chapter Twenty Nine

It was just after one o’clock when Tina and Sasha arrived at her apartment in Manhattan to grab some clothing for the next ten days. Sasha dropped a note in the mailbox for the postman to stop her mail delivery until July 19, and left a short voice mail for Jack.

As she relaxed behind the wheel on the drive back to Tarrytown, Tina turned up the volume on the radio, opened the driver’s side window and inhaled the fresh, clean air. The sun warmed her skin.

“My hair!” Sasha wailed.

“Seriously? Get a grip. The window is staying down. Put your hair in a ponytail if you’re so worried about it.”

“Sorry. It looks like I’m going to be bored out of my mind for a while, right? I mean living in a small, drab, old people’s town has got to drive you crazy, doesn’t it?”