Page 1 of The Boss

ChapterOne

Bethany Walker stuck her tongue out at her reflection as she twirled in front of the mirror. “Do I look geeky enough?”

Her cousin Lana smirked. “I officially pronounce you a bona fide nerd.”

Beth turned away from the mirror and glanced over her shoulder to check the back view. “I do look like a nerd, don’t I?”

Lana, queen of the nerds and loving it, pushed her tortoiseshell glasses further up her nose as her serious gaze traveled from the tips of Beth’s low-heeled black pumps to the top of her strawberry blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun.

“You look exactly how a proper tour guide should.” Lana made a dorky tick in the air gesture. “You’ll be a great stand-in for me at the museum, no worries.”

Beth screwed up her nose as she smoothed the stiff cotton of her ultra plain white blouse. “How could you wear such hideous clothes?”

Lana quirked an eyebrow and picked up Beth’s discarded apple green midriff top and cut-off denim shorts from the floor. “I could ask you the same question.”

“Touché, Cuz. Touché.” Beth grinned, eternally grateful for the close relationship she shared with her cousin.

From the first moment Lana stood up to her, a mousy six year old that refused to back down when the boisterous, pushy pain in the butt Beth used to be had tried to wrestle a doll out of her hands, their friendship had been cemented.

No-one ever stood up to Beth Walker; not her pushover parents, her preschool friends, or the teachers who doted on the pretty little girl with an off the scale IQ.

How soon that all changed.

“Anything else you want me to cram before I do this? Any last minute pep talk? Instructions? Ways to bore the entire city of Melbourne senseless as they troop through the museum?”

The corners of Lana’s mouth twitched. “There is one more thing.”

“What?”

She didn’t like the gleam in her cousin’s eye, the one that screamed she wasn’t done turning a swan into an ugly duckling just yet.

“Here.” Lana opened the top drawer of her dresser and reached into the back. “You need to wear these to complete the look.”

Beth’s heart sank as she saw the ugliest pair of glasses she’d ever laid eyes on resting on her cousin’s outstretched palm.

Shaking her head, she held up her hands in protest. “Uh-uh. No way. Haven’t I done enough? You’ve dressed me, prepped me, turned me into another you. You can’t make me wear those.”

Lana laughed. “Relax. I’m kidding. Though I hear these are the latest fashion statement for all the cool tour guides this year.”

“I bet.”

Beth rolled her eyes, grimacing at the ugly, black rimmed glasses, ignoring the faintest ring of ‘four eyes, four eyes’ in her ears.

If she’d hated being a brain as a kid, she’d hated wearing glasses more, and the memories had lasted way too long; until she’d gotten a part-time job at sixteen and earned enough money to buy contacts.

Her dad had no idea why she’d started leaving for school an extra fifteen minutes in the mornings so she could slip into the bathroom to pop her ‘eyes’ in before the other kids arrived. Not that he would’ve cared if he did notice.

As for the old saying, ‘guys don’t make passes at girls who wore glasses’ it had been all too true in her case and she’d set about correcting that impression the second those contacts slipped in. She’d transformed from shy geek to flirty femme fatale and hadn’t looked back.

Besides, it was easier to be bubbly and have people focused on her extroverted personality than pity her. She may not have had the perfect childhood but pity was the last thing she’d wanted or needed. Only Lana saw through her flirty front and loved her anyway.

“You sure you won’t wear the glasses? It would complete your new look.” Lana stood back, folded her arms and admired her handiwork, while Beth’s ugly shoes pinched and the uglier clothes chafed.

“You’re pushing your luck, you know that, right?”

“And you’re pushing for time. Time for you to hit the road.” Lana tapped her watch as a ripple of pain contorted her face.

“Hey, you need to sit. That ankle isn’t going to heal if you don’t take it easy. And as much as I appreciate you wangling this job for me for the next few months, you’re the one who should be traipsing around that mausoleum, not me.”

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