Page 65 of Fixation of the Mind

Lifting my head up, I only caught a flash of him at the door. He was wearing a wig and a face mask, but those eyes didn't lie when they winked at me before he left. What the fuck?

***

I didn’t tell Cin about Rion. I couldn't. She would flip, and it would ruin our whole day. What I did do was replay that session in my head. I got a smug sense of satisfaction from knowing he’d heard her gush about the Maxima family. That must have been why he pinched me. Served him right for coming when it was ladies only.

After our massages, we stopped off at a blow dry bar, getting our hair set for tonight. Cin complained that hers was always so straight it couldn't keep a curl, but mine came out in big movie-style glam curls that I didn't even know were possible. After that, Cin and I raced to the nail salon for our last appointment.

“So… I heard he got you a dress. Do you know what it looks like?” Cin sat next to me, getting daggers for nails, while I was going for regular gel length.

“Nope. The only thing he would tell me is that it's silver.” Thinking back to Ravi’s words from the night before, I added, “Oh, and my shoes are red stilettos.”

The lady shaping my nails piped up. “What about doing silver nails with red flowers? I have a great flower technique.”

“Oh yes! You have to do that! Make sure they’re roses!” Cin jumped up and down in her chair, and the lady working on sharpening her one-inch nails glared at her.

“Okay. Let's do it.” I smiled at my nail tech.

Excited, Cin told me about her green dress. It was a thin-strapped silk halter with a slit that went all the way up to her hip. My eyes bugged out of my face, and I asked her how she was going to be able to walk in that thing without showing her underwear.

“What underwear?” she’d asked with a smirk. We busted up in a fit of giggles, and I had to admit this was the most normal I had felt in a long time—talking about dresses, boys, and being pampered.

For a brief moment, I wished Vivian could be here. If she was, she and Cin would gang up on me and probably take me to some sex shop to embarrass the shit out of me while buying me a treasure trove of things I would never use.

My thoughts went back to Rion and the vibrator I would’ve never purchased myself. I had to amend that thought now. I couldn’t say I would never use something like that again, especially if it was with the guys.

We moved to the chairs to get our toes done, and Cin regaled me with stories of what it was like in her youth. She shared innocent stories about her and Luca getting Elio in trouble. How Elio’s mother ended up giving him to Maria before disappearing. Elio was a love child from Cin’s uncle and his high school sweetheart, but he died young, and the woman couldn't cope. She ended up being a drug addict and couldn't take care of Elio. When Maria found out he had a gift for explosives, she took him in and paid off the mom to disappear.

It was a sad story that only made me feel for Elio. What was it like to know your mother and have her leave you? I didn’t know what was worse, never knowing your parents or knowing and them still giving you up.

“Fuck, I’m starving. We should’ve done lunch between the massage and nails, but I wanted to make sure we accomplished what we needed to get done before dinglefritz tried to take you back.” She glanced at me, her eyes assessing my reaction.

Knowing that she needed it, I grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. “I would’ve snuck out to be with you today. Nothing and no one was going to stop me.”

She squealed, jumping over to my chair to give me a hug. The lady doing her nails yelled in another language, but it was most definitely a curse word. I pushed her back to her chair while apologizing on Cin’s behalf.

Once we were done, we stayed in the front of the shop, waiting for our toes to dry so we could put our shoes on. “So, did your mom say anything about me being on the council?”

She got silent, looking at the ground, and I berated myself for asking that. Stupid. Stupid, Layrin. How could you try to mix Fodeus shit with your friendship?! I was ready to tell her to forget what I’d said, but she grabbed my hand, a serious look in her eyes.

“I only know that she’s excited about it. She’s wanted to shake things up on the council for a while, trying to make it easier for my brother Milo when he takes her place, but that’s all I know. If I hear anything else, I promise to tell you, Lay. I want you to trust me. I know our friendship is going to bleed into business, and I'm fine as long as we’re honest with each other. I don't want us to lie to each other, ever.”

Squeezing her hand back, I smiled widely. “I, Layrin Rose, promise to always be on Cinzia Ricci’s side and will never betray you. I will tell you what I can, when I can, and never put your life in danger… if I can help it.”

She laughed at that last part, repeating my words to me.

A pact had been made, right here in this nail salon. It was official. I had made my first true ally in Foedus.

“Now that we got that out of the way, can we go eat? If we don't get something soon, I'm going to put that oath to the test.”

Laughter bubbled out of me, the free and innocent kind, something I hadn’t known I would ever feel again. “Let’s get out of here.”

“This place looks too fancy.” Everything on the menu was like thirty to fifty dollars a plate. A peek through the outside window showed me white tablecloths and fabric napkins. Yep, it was a fancy place.

Shaking my head, I backed away, but Cin wasn't having any of it. She grabbed my hand and yanked me forward. “Don’t worry about it. I'm paying.”

Grimacing, I tugged backward, my stomach growing tight. I didn't want her to pay. I wasn't a mooch, even when I was poor, and I wasn't about to start being one now. Thinking about my purse, I knew I had the black card Rion had given me as part of their fake scholarship. I needed to start feeling less guilty about spending their money. Standing straight, I tugged her to look at me. “I’m paying, and that's final.”

Glaring down at her, I was waiting for her to agree with me, to feel pity for me, but instead she hooked her arm through mine. “Sure. Sure. Of course.” I knew that was too easy. She was going to try to find a way to pay, but little did she know, I could be sneaky too.

---