nipples, trying to hide her shock. She didn’t want to come off as some little naive kid.
‘Here, my angel.’ Their hostess gestured to a corner table, mercifully dark, with a bottle of champagne already chilling on it. She sat down and realized that one wall of the VIP room was a pane of tinted glass. They could see the crowd dancing and sweating below, but none of
them could see in. It was weird. Lira slid into the booth.
‘Thank you,’ she muttered.
Alessandra ignored her and kissed Rupert on the cheeks. ‘I see you later, baby, OK?’
‘Rupert.’ A young girl bounced up to their table, wearing a white crocheted minidress and no knickers, from what Lira could see of her bony ass. ‘Baby, baby, it’s been too long. At least a—’
‘Poppy, hi.’ Rupert cut her off, shaking her hand. The girl looked disconcerted. ‘Have you met Lita Morales? She’s with Models Six.’
‘I’m with Ford,’ Poppy said, looking at Lita coldly. ‘Are you a friend of Rupert’s?’
Lita felt a sudden wave of jealousy crash right through her. She hated this skinny white girl with the platinum dye job, dressed like a total slut. The old hag was bad enough, but this bitch had to be even younger than she was. Jailbait with a crush on IKupert. In Soundview, the girls didn’t sit around and let other women make an open play for their men.
‘No, I’m not his friend, I’m his girlfriend,’ she snapped. ‘Nice to meet you, OK, Poppy, but could we get a little privacy? We’re trying to have a romantic evening here.’
She ignored the soap star maneuvering the dolly bird front and centre on his lap. Poppy looked at Rupert, enraged, but all he did, Lita was glad to see, was shrug.
‘Run along, Poppy. I’ll see you soon.’
45
Tears formed in the corner of her eyes. ‘You fucking bastard, Rupert,’ she wailed.
‘We don’t want any scenes,’ he said coolly, but he glanced over at the security guard. Both girls saw it, and Poppy straightened up.
‘I’m going,’ she said. She looked at Lita. ‘You poor bitch.’ Then she
flounced off, the crochet rising dangerously high on her bare ass. ‘Who was that?’ Lita demanded.
Rupert shook his head, gently. ‘I’m sorry you had to see that, darling. She’s a girl from another agency who’s been after me for quite some time. I let her down as gently as I could, but whenever she sees me around she propositions me.’
‘Oh,’ Lita said, feeling foolish.
Rupert reached up and gently traced a fingertip on her cheek. ‘I loved how you handled that, though. Especially the part about you
being my girlfriend. I was thinking I’d have to talk you into that.’ Lita smiled.
‘We’re going to be so good together,’ he said. ‘You’ll see.’
46
Chapter 7
Lita didn’t even remember losing her virginity. Not much of it, anyway. Her life with Rupert was a whirl of activity, ad glamour and pure, glorious romance. The Costa campaign bowed to heady sales, and Lita was in demand. Rupert seemed to be on hand with every job she booked - Tasty Tuna, the Mama Assunta Spaghetti Sauce and Nestl4 coconut milk. Bill glowered, but he had to suffer his presence. Benson Bailey was still a big client and, besides, he couldn’t afford to upset Lita. The dollars were flowing into her account like a waterfall crashing into a pool. Bill noticed that his client no longer saved every dime or even
demanded an accounting of her rates. She was too busy for that. Lira Morales was head over heels in love.
Rupert took her everywhere. He introduced her as his girlfriend, his love, his soulmate. They went to Upper East Side dinner parties, and nobody condescended to her even once. In fact, all the bankers’ wives and doctors’ fianc4es wanted to be her best friend. They took her shopping, they took her out for manicures. They fawned on her, and Lira loved it.
It was heady, because she knew what they were thinking. They were utterly transparent. They wanted to be buddies