Page 73 of Broken Bonds

“Are you ready?”

“Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” I reply. “By the way, can we stop by an ATM? I would feel much more comfortable doing it.de I’m on a budget.”

“No problem, my friend.” Then she turns to the man who is driving the brand-new luxury SUV. “Joe, you heard Mrs. Kral.”

Alexandra talks nonstop as the driver moves swiftly through the madness of rush hour traffic in the city. “I’ve arranged to go to a sample store downtown, and my stylist friend will meet us there. She’s going to help us develop this new version of you. Then we have an appointment at a hair salon in Santa Monica, with the same person who regularly does my hair and he’s a wizard with hair.”

“You have everything figured out,” I say with a smile.

“I do this for a living.” Her lips tug up, proud of what she does. “This is the world I move in, my little grasshopper, I have to be the best to stay on top.”

Her energy is contagious, and one thing is obvious to me. Empowered women, empower other women. I want to surround myself with more people like her and I want Valerie to meet her too. She’d like her very much. I should call and invite her to stay in the city for a few days, but I think it’s a little early to have someone else joining us at our home, even if it’s for a short time.

And I don’t want to limit my time with Lionel, we have barely gotten used to the idea and we both have to work.

Maybe Lionel sells millions of dollars an hour and I—on a good day—just a few hundred. But not once has he made me feel less important. On the contrary, he has put his company’s resources at my disposal because he wants to see me succeed.

“We’re here,” she announces when we enter a garage. Then two security men guide us to an elevator and from there through a maze of corridors to a room with white walls and a concrete floor where a short-hair girl dressed in jeans, black booties, and a white button-down shirt greets us with a smile.

“Alex, how nice to see you.” She turns to my friend first, then turns to look at me with curious eyes. “And you must be Stella. Welcome to the Los Angeles Fashion District, we’re going to have a lot of fun this morning, I’m June.”

Next, she guides us to a bubblegum pink velvet sofa in front of a triptych of full-length mirrors and beyond what appears to be racks full of clothing. At a glance, there is everything from evening dresses to jeans and a selection of tops and midi dresses.

I take the list from my handbag that I started yesterday afternoon before Lionel returned home. According to the research I did on Pinterest, what I need is a capsule wardrobe, basic garments that can be combined with each other, changing accessories to create many looks on a budget.

“You don’t have to worry about the budget, Mrs. Krall,” she says, and the shock is shown on my face. “Everything is taken care of.”

“What?” I can barely breathe. Silly me, with Alexandra’s help Lionel organized this for me. The man hasn’t been shy about spoiling me rotten.

“You’re a traitor.” My finger is pointing at her, but when a Cheshire Cat smile pulls up her mouth, I can’t help but smile too. There is no case, why should I fight it?

“Shall we start? There is no time to waste.” Lily knows how to do her job. I was afraid that she would try to dress me as someone I’m not, but she has followed my style and passed me clothes that suit my figure well and my taste.

My phone rings and I hope to see Lionel’s name appear, instead it’s Valerie’s name that flashes on the screen.

“I’ve become Cinderella,” I squeal as my eyes remain glued to the mirror, I can hardly believe that girl is me.

Instead of a fairy godmother and a legion of mice, the spell was cast by a dark-haired girl who uses the phone in her hands as a magic wand. Now, I just hope that unlike the story, it doesn’t disappear at the sound of the last chime of the clock.

“Don’t tell me that your husband got you a princess job at Disneyland,” she growls. I already imagine her through clenched teeth thinking of a thousand and one ways to finish off Lionel. “I already said that such a radical change was too much, the lion loses his hair…”

That makes me laugh. “Turn on FaceTime so you can see me.”

I see the icon appear on my screen and I press the little button so that she sees the same thing as I do in the mirror.

“Holy crap,” I hear her scream. “Tell me who the hell are you and what have you done with my best friend.”

“She has met a few people on the west coast,” Alexandra intervenes before I can reply. “Hi Valerie, I’m Alex. I hope to meet you very soon.”

Valerie’s face appears on my screen, she has her eyes wide open, like she just saw a ghost, or several, in any case.

“Alex,” she says after recovering. “You get Stella to buy that dress she’s wearing, we’ll be friends forever.”

Alexandra smiles, before answering. “Consider it a done deal.”

Valerie’s call couldn’t have come at a worse time. Between her and Alexandra, they made me try on each of the clothes that Lily had selected for me. In the end, I very carefully only buy what I need. Including some intimate apparel, shoes, bags, and other accessories.

“Speaking of friends.” Alexandra’s animated words fill the elevator, we’re done with the clothes, now we’re going to do something with the mop hanging from my head. “Two of my best friends from the east are going to come for the party. I have a girl’s day planed at the spa to get pampered for the party. Do you want to join us?”

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