Platinum (All That Glitters #3)(74)

You’re doing exactly what you want to be doing and the thing you love most in the world. Millions of people would kill to be in your shoes right now. Enjoy it!

You’re right. I love you.

Love you too. Gotta go. Meeting with Teena.

Knock ’em dead.

Trihn stuffed her phone back into her purse and then entered Teena’s office.

“Ah, Trihn. Good to see you. Congratulations again with the fashion show. I knew that you had it in you.”

“Thank you. I can’t believe this is real life.”

Teena smiled. “It’s a huge accomplishment at such a young age, but I don’t think that is anything new to you.”

Trihn shrugged. She’d had her fair share of adventures, but this, she felt she had truly earned.

“In any case, we need to get you out to New York as soon as possible.”

“We do? I thought the fashion show wasn’t until July.”

“That’s true, but you’re going to need to be there sometime soon to make sure everything is set for your trip. I have a whole list of things that you’ll have to accomplish out there, and once we settle on a date, I can book you a flight and hotel and then finalize your itinerary.”

“Oh, okay,” she said, deflating.

She was about to tell her family that she couldn’t come home without Damon, and now, it sounded like she couldn’t wait to do this stuff. There was no way she was going to be able to push this back to the start of July when Damon would be in town for the NYC show.

“Is that a problem?”

“No, not at all. I can make it work.”

“I didn’t think it would be an issue. You’re from there, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Wonderful. Will you still require a hotel in Manhattan then?”

Trihn nodded without hesitation. “Yes. I don’t have anyone I can stay with in Manhattan.”

Her parents lived in Brooklyn, and there was no way in hell she was going to stay with Lydia.

“Excellent. As soon as you pick a date, we’ll get this all cleared away.”

Trihn left Teena’s office, feeling let down. She was excited—and nervous, stressed, overwhelmed—to do the work for the fashion show in New York. But she’d thought she could do all the work from here. She was not looking forward to being in New York and dealing with Lydia’s upcoming nuptials.

Trihn raised her chin and reached for the confidence that Damon had instilled in her. She was not going to be a pawn in Lydia and Preston’s game.

Trihn would go to New York for work, and that was it.





A FEW WEEKS LATER, Trihn stepped off the plane at JFK Airport in New York City. She twisted her neck and felt a pop, releasing the tension from the six-hour flight into the city. It wasn’t a flight she relished taking and even less so knowing that Damon was so far away, playing a show in Orlando that night.

It was still crazy to think that he was out on the road, touring the country, when only a couple of months ago, he’d been fired from his job as a DJ and started working at Posse. Not to mention, “We Never Met” had debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number two, had been sitting at the number one spot for the last two weeks, and the music video—which she had finally watched and hadn’t been as bad as she’d thought—had around seventy-five million views. The full album had skyrocketed straight to number one, and Trihn had no clue when it was ever going to move.

She hurried down the terminal, ready to be out of this airport. She always preferred LaGuardia, but the nonstop flights to JFK were better. And she hadn’t had any control over her flight since the school provided it.

She wheeled her hardside spinner suitcase through the airport and then out to the baggage claim. Her dad was supposed to be here, so she wouldn’t have to drop seventy-five dollars on a cab to the city. But when she scanned the line of people, she didn’t see him.

She was just pulling her phone out to give him a call when she heard her name.

“Trihn, over here!”

Trihn followed the sound of the voice and sighed heavily when she saw who it was.

Lydia stood off to the side in wide-leg cotton pants and a crocheted bra top. Her blonde hair was parted down the middle and hung nearly to her waist. She had on a headband to complete her ensemble. She couldn’t have looked more different from the rocker-grunge style that Trihn always sported.

Trihn wheeled her suitcase over and stopped in front of her sister. “I thought Dad was coming to pick me up.”

“I volunteered when I found out you were coming into town.” Lydia pulled her into a hug that Trihn reluctantly returned. “I’ve really missed you.”

“I was home for New Year’s.”

“That was almost five months ago,” Lydia said. “I used to see you every day.”

Trihn wanted to say, Whose fault is that? But she held her tongue and just shrugged. “Yeah. We should go.”

“Oh, right, sure. Do you have more luggage? Did you check a bag?”

“Nope. Just this one. It’s a short trip.”

Lydia’s face fell, but she quickly recovered. “Oh. Well, we’ll make the most of it then!”

Trihn saw Lydia glance down at her ring and waited for it to happen. Any minute now, Lydia was going to thrust that thing in Trihn’s face and want her sister to be happy for her. But to her surprise, Lydia just took the suitcase out of Trihn’s hand and started walking out to the parking lot.