Page 6 of Glitz & Goals

Chapter Two

Vivian

My little sister, Vanessa, peers at me through the computer screen. Usually, I’d video call her on my watch, but my hands are alittlebusy at the moment.

“Damn,” she says, sounding impressed. “That might be your best costume yet.”

“Not if I can’t get it fixed in time,” I grumble, jamming pins willy-nilly into the fabric. “And it’s interfering with the safety harness, which makes it completelyworthlessunless I can come up with a workaround.”

“You’ve got it,” Vanessa says, with all the confidence of someone whose current path to success is dependent on a college rubric rather than the manic whims of a total nutball.

I’m a freelance costume designer, and my business got ahugeboost after my work withCirque du Soleillast year. I was able to design some off-the-wall costumes around a desert theme and really let my freak flag fly. The good news? Tons of offers, both large and small, including commissions from around the globe, ranging from one-off LARP costumes for cons to ongoing design for performers around the Vegas area. I even got a movie deal, although it was with an indie studio, and I’m not convinced it’ll ever be released after all the drama that went down between the director and the screenwriter.

The bad news? Somehow, I’ve ended up working for Dante Giovanetti on his “Bring Back the Magic” Campaign. Based on the shit he’s pulling with my dad and brother for his hockey machinations, he wants all the magic, all the time.

Which is why I’m currently wearing a mermaid tail, zip-up mer-top, and shell-studded wig, while trying to solve a design flaw mere days before the act opens.

Fuck my life.

“Is this the only one that’s an issue?” Vanessa reaches off-screen for what appears to be a gallon of iced coffee and takes a long slurp of her drink.

“I’ve been on-site for the rehearsals, and I’ve had to make changes here and there. But this one…” I try to twist around to see my back in the mirror and end up shuffling in a circle like a dog chasing its tail. “It’s like one of those outfits that you need a crane to get out of just to pee. And I’m short on hands.”

“Is Mom there?” Vanessa asks.

I sigh. “Mom helped me get into it before she left for the store, but it’s just me now. Hey, can you take a screenshot and send it to me?” I position my back to the camera in what I hope is the right angle.

Vanessa obliges, which I appreciate, except that the shot ends up being a mostly useless image of my mer-butt.

“Dammit,” I mumble. Maybe I should call someone for help. Sage LeClerc is usually pretty handy in a crisis, and she lives on this block. Maybe I can call her for assistance?

My watch, which I took off before the mermaid debacle, chimes to alert me to a call. I reach for where it lies on my worktable, forgetting that my legs are strapped together in a rubber sheath, and nearly wipe out. Vanessa tries to cover a laugh as I catch myself on the edge of the worktable with a very unladylike series of exclamations. I motion for her to be quiet while answering the call.

Dad’s harried face appears on the screen. “Viv? Kiddo? Any chance you can do me ahugefavor?” My blue hair doesn’t even faze him.

“Sure,” I say, because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for that man. “What’s up?”

“It’s the first day with the new head coach, and I forgot my tablet with all of my stats, strategies, and everything. I’m going to look like a total idiot if I don’t have it.” He rubs one hand down the side of his face. “I need it right now. Maybe you can tell Mom…?”

“She already went to work,” I say. “But I can grab it. Any idea where you left it?”

“In my bag by the front door.” Dad rubs his forehead. “He’s gonna think I’m going senile. Judging from his lethal glare, I’m pretty sure he already dislikes me, and being unprepared isn’t going to win me any favors.”

I catch Vanessa’s eyes through the computer screen, and we lift our eyebrows. Dad’s not usually nervous about his image, and he’s not the kind of guy most people instantly dislike. Weird.

“I’ll be there ASAP,” I tell him. He blurts a few thank-yous before hanging up.

“Sounds like the new coach is an asshole,” Vanessa announces. “Not very magical at all.” She loves our dad, but my relationship with him is… different. More complicated and, in some ways, deeper. My younger siblings always had Mom in the picture, but there was a time when it was just me and Dad, since my biological mom and dad were killed in a tragic car accident. Even though I was too young at the time to remember most of the details, I can’t forget thefeeling.I grew up knowing I had an uncle who turned into a dad who’d do anything for me. Getting him a tablet to help him save face in front of some crabby new boss is nothing.

“Looks like I’ve got to go,” I tell her. “Let me know how your exam goes?”

Vanessa grimaces. “Ugh, don’t remind me. Time to drink a vat of student commons coffee and cram my brain full of general electives garbage.” She signs off, too.

I make one more effort to escape my shimmering shackles, but it’s no good. I’ll have to ask for Dad’s help with the damn zipper. I stuff a change of clothes into a duffle bag and descend the stairs on my butt since I can’t separate my feet. I summon an Uber with a few clicks through the app. On the way out the door, I grab the bag Dad accidentally abandoned and confirm that his tablet’s inside. It takes me so long to make it to the end of the driveway that the Uber beats me there.

The driver, a man in his forties with an uneven spray-tan, gives me a once over as I hop into the back seat. “Not a word,” I tell him. “Not one word.”

He snorts and sets the destination. “This is Vegas. You can’t shock me, Ariel.”

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