Empire High Betrayal(51)

I laughed. “This is surreal, isn’t it?”

“It’s freaking amazing is what it is!” Kennedy grabbed my arm. “I mean…makeovers?! At Odegaard? That’s not even a thing! This isn’t real life!”

I laughed.

“And I’ve heard rumors about the Caldwell annual Halloween party. It’s supposed to be epic. They go all out. Apparently last year there were even fire dancers.”

I wasn’t sure how fire dancers related to Halloween at all. But the Caldwell mansion was perfectly suited for a Halloween party. There definitely wasn’t much decorating they needed to do. That’s why I mainly hung out in the warm and cozy kitchen and Matt’s room. I barely even went in the guestroom I was supposed to be sleeping in. I just went in every now and then and pushed around the sheets.

“Girls, what are you waiting for?” Mrs. Caldwell said and waved us inside. The woman she’d been chatting with had disappeared through another set of doors.

I forced myself not to spin around. The air even smelled fancy inside, kind of like how when you walked into a department store and got sprayed by one of the perfume sellers. Only…nothing like that at all. Because it didn’t even look like a store. There were marble walls and a chandelier. It was more like the entrance of a five-star hotel than a boutique.

Where are we? Kennedy was right. This wasn’t real life.

I heard someone squeal and turned to see Justin walking over to us.

“Ladies!” he said. “I saw that you were on the schedule tonight so I took the overtime hours. You’re so welcome.”

“Ah, Justin!” Kennedy said and gave him a hug. “I didn’t know you worked at Odegaard.”

“I know Odegaard backward and forward. I’m Diane Cartwright’s personal assistant. And tonight I’m yours.” He winked at her. “Great to see you again, Brooklyn.” He gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “And Lori. You look fabulous as always.” He grabbed her hand and kissed it.

“Thank you, Justin,” she said with a laugh. “I didn’t realize you knew Brooklyn and Kennedy.”

“Please. I know almost every woman on the Upper East side. How did the three of you become friends?”

Mrs. Caldwell put her hand on my shoulder. “You’re looking at my future daughter in law.”

“No.” Justin gasped and then grabbed my hand. “Yes! I knew I’d be planning your wedding soon. Wow, what a ring.” He fanned himself with his freehand.

I laughed. “It’s pretty, isn’t it?”

“Pretty doesn’t cut it. That must be at least 2 carats. Tell me you’ve picked a date for the wedding. I need to pencil you in as soon as possible. I want yours to be my first wedding as an official wedding planner.”

“I mean…we don’t know when it’ll even be.” God, he looks so excited. “But I did promise you…”

“If you weren’t engaged, I’d kiss you right now. Lori, she’s a keeper. I’ve never met such a sweet girl in this city.”

Mrs. Caldwell smiled. “Yes. I can tell why my son loves her so much.”

I so badly wanted her to like me. Matt always said she already loved me. And she was always perfectly lovely. But I was pretty sure if I came home from school one day and told my mom that a boy was moving in and that we were engaged, she would have freaked out. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. But Mrs. Caldwell was still smiling. I wonder how old she was when she got engaged to Mr. Caldwell.

“I’ll pencil you in for every Saturday in the fall for the next few years,” Justin said. “Fall weddings are the best. Trust me. And speaking of events…what’s the theme of this year’s Halloween party, Lori?”

“Characters from old movies,” Mrs. Caldwell said. “The classics.”

Kennedy looked so excited. “Can I be Jasmine from Aladdin?”

Mrs. Caldwell laughed. “I meant like from the 50s or 60s…” her voice trailed off. “Oh, my. I’m feeling my age around you two. I guess something from the 90s does work as an old movie for you,” she said with a laugh. “Jasmine it is!”

Kennedy smiled.

“And what would you like to be?” Mrs. Caldwell asked me.

I pressed my lips together. I wanted something conservative enough to work around Matt’s parents. But also sexy for Matt. And now only Disney princesses were swirling around in my head. “I don’t know,” I said with a laugh. “What do you think I should go as?”

“What about the girl from Clueless?” Kennedy asked. “Not because you’re like her. Just because of the blonde thing. And you already have a school uniform to wear.”

“Kennedy, that defeats the purpose of shopping,” Justin said. “Neither of you are leaving here without a perfectly tailored Halloween costume.”

She laughed. “Right. Sorry, I’m used to working with what I have.”

“Tonight we splurge,” he said and looped his arm through hers. “Follow me, ladies.”

He led us through a set of doors and into a giant room that looked like it would be more suitable for wedding dress shopping than anything else. But it was filled with fancy clothes instead of wedding dresses.

We wove through the clothes and mannequins to one of the changing areas. All of them were empty. I guess Mrs. Caldwell really did rent out the whole place.