Page 27 of Doll Face

“Doll Face, what’s wrong?”

“I had the worst day at work. Everything is going wrong, and I don’t know what I’m going to do. I just want to see you,” I admit.

“I’m so sorry. Do you want me to meet you somewhere later?”

“Or now?” I sob. There’s a long pause while I cry.

“Hold on,” she says, and I can hear some faint yelling.

“If you can’t see me it’s okay.” I blow my nose and wipe my eyes.

“No, if you need me I’m there.” She pauses again. “I-I have to—”

The line goes silent. I almost think she’s hung up on me but the call is still going.

“Hello?” I say a few times but she doesn’t respond. I wait a few minutes and almost think about hanging up, but I want to know what she was going to say.

“I’m on my way, Doll Face,” she finally says. I breathe a sigh of relief and hail a cab to my apartment.

On the way, I cry in the back of the cab. I cry so hard the cab driver asks if I’m okay and if I need to stop anywhere but I insist he takes me home. We get to my apartment fifteen minutes later, and I’m grateful to see Kenzie standing outside with the doorman.

“Oh, Kenzie!” I run into her arms and she holds me tightly.

“Barbie, are you okay?” She holds my face in her hands and looks at me with panic in her eyes.

“Let’s talk inside,” I insist.

She leads me inside, and in the elevator, I collapse against her. I feel like all the stress of the day has hit me, hard. Kenzie doesn’t speak and neither do I. I just need to feel her close to me. I’m not ready to say what’s wrong yet, and I know she respects that.

“I love you,” she murmurs into my hair and kisses the top of my head.

“I love you, too.” We head into the penthouse and she holds my hand tightly.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks quietly.

“N-not yet,” I admit. “Is that okay?”

“Of course.” She nods. “Why don’t I run you a bath and maybe after that we can talk about it? I need to get this makeup off me.” She’s wearing a ton more makeup than usual but that’s probably from the shoot she was at. I don’t ask how she left early—or maybe it was already over. I don’t have the energy to think about it much right now. My mind is on replay from the day I had.

“Okay.” She gets up and heads to the bathroom. I hear the bath water running. I start to strip down while she gets the bath ready. Suddenly, she’s walking past me toward the kitchen, and I look at her, unsure what she’s doing. I hear her looking for something but I don’t ask what it is; I know she’ll ask if she needs help.

I walk into the bathroom and step into the bathtub. She laid out a pink towel and a bath bomb for me. I’m about to ask her to come in and join me when she comes back. She’s holding a glass of rosé and some roses she got me before our date.

“What are you doing with those?” I ask.

“I was thinking you could have a relaxing bath, just trust me,” she says, and I nod. I sink into the hot water, and I’m instantly more relaxed than I was a few minutes ago.

Kenzie puts the pink bath bomb in the water, watching it explode, and then starts picking the rose petals off the roses and sprinkle them into the water with me. I’m smelling the scent of fresh roses, and I close my eyes, leaning into the water. All of the stress from the day seems to melt away, and I finally relax a bit. Just knowing Kenzie is there is enough to make me feel better.

“You are beautiful,” she whispers.

“Thank you, Kenzie.” I smile, not opening my eyes.

“I’m so fucking lucky,” she murmurs.

“I’m the lucky one, you literally came running the moment I needed it,” I say back. “That means so much more than you know,” I say, looking at her.

She leans forward to press her lips to mine, and I relax even more.

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