Page 22 of She Found Me

“Not possible.” I sigh. “You girls can go. I’ll just go back to the hotel.”

The bathroom door then opens, and three women about our age walk in.

“Oh, my goodness. Mia, you look absolutely amazing! I love your dress.”

One of the girls flings her arms around me, giving me a hug. I’ll never get used to the fact that because people know me from the fashion world, they think that they know me enough to touch me, when in fact I don’t know them from Adam.

Sensing my uneasiness, she pulls back. “I’m sorry. My name is Alice, and this is Brooke.” She points at her blonde friend. “And this quiet one is Arianna,” she adds, gesturing to the only dark-haired one of the trio. “We work for Beauty Brand magazine, and we are doing a piece on your event.”

“We are so grateful to be here. We love the goody bags. I’ve been trying out the products already, and this lip gloss is just divine,” Brooke chirps in while applying more gloss to her lips in the mirror.

“It’s lovely to meet you girls. I’m so pleased you are enjoying it,” I reply.

“Wow, you speak really good English. Like, I can’t even tell you are Italian,” says Alice.

Marisa laughs. “Another one of Mia’s many talents. Her being fluent in many languages and able to mimic accents has been very useful over the years.”

I smile and shake my head at Marisa, remembering all the times I used said talents as a teenager.

We have a good chat with them, and they tell us about a new club they are going to after the launch party.

“I’ve got VIP passes. You should all come. Plus we are celebrating tonight.” Alice puts her arm around Arianna and continues. “Arianna has finally left her controlling, psycho of a husband.”

Arianna smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. She hasn’t said a word since she entered the bathroom.

“Unfortunately, that won’t be possible for me, but you girls go,” I suggest to Marisa and Lucia.

“I’ve got an idea,” Marisa excitedly announces.

“What?” Lucia demands. “Please let it be a good one.”

“Yes, yes, this will definitely work.” Marisa eyes up our three new friends with her hands on her hips.

“Well, go on, then,” I insist.

“We swap clothes!” Marisa exclaims.

Shaking my head, I disagree. “Nope, never going to work.”

“Sure it will.” Lucia starts taking one of blonde girls’ hair down. “See, if we put their hair down, Brooke and Alice can pass for us and Arianna for you.”

“Oh my goodness, yes! Let’s do it,” Brooke agrees.

“Do we get to keep your clothes, though?” Alices asks hopefully.

Looking at the girls, there’s no way the guards will fall for it. Yes, the girls have a similar build to us, and their hair is a similar colour, but they look nothing like us. Arianna is very plain looking and much shorter than me.

“Have you always lived in the UK, Arianna?” I ask, her olive complexion and dark eyes reminding me of my own.

“Since I was very young. But my father was Italian, and my mother was English. I seem to have gotten all my father’s genes.”

“Da quale parte d'Italia veniva?” What part of Italy was he from? I ask, thinking this may be a sign and considering the crazy idea.

“I’m sorry, I don’t speak Italian. My parents both died when I was a baby.” Arianna smiles, but I can see the pain behind it.

I don’t question her any further. I just put my arm around her, giving her a little squeeze while offering my condolences.

“Please, Mia, let’s just try it,” Marisa interrupts.

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