Chapter 10: Another Trick?

Sophie put the cigarette back unwillingly and said, “Oh, did I tell you about the casting next week? It’s for an art class, and they’re looking for a model for figure drawing. I recommended you for it, so I gave them your number.”

Scarlett muttered with some sausage still in her mouth, “Can I? I am not a professional model, though.”

Sophie gazed into her eyes and said, “Don’t you want to make money? Just go!”

Scarlett finished her sausage and nodded. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. As always. You’re right, I guess I’ll go and see what happens.”

Sophie took out her cell phone and made several calls, “Hmm, okay. Yeah, tell me everything. What? Where are they? Alright, alright, calm down. Okay, give me a second. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Yeah yeah, I’ll be there right away.”

Sophie hung up the phone. In a moment, she turned to Scarlett. “You, come with me. Let’s go.”

***

It was beginning to get dark by the time Sophie and Scarlett were in their cab, driving up meandering hillside roads.

“Where are we anyway? I’ve never been here before.” Scarlett said curiously.

“This is one of Mr. Sandler’s many private estates in the country. This is all private property.”

At last, they arrived. Sophie pulled out fifty bucks from her purse and handed the money to the driver.

“How amazingly grand is this private land! And look at that, is that some palace?” Scarlett turned around to try to see the whole place, but she couldn't see where the estate began or ended in the dark.

Suddenly, Scarlett heard the roar of the engine. She thought of something but dismissed the idea at once. “Oh, no way. It can’t be. You’re being silly.” She scolded herself.

As she managed to get outside of her head, she found that Sophie was already walking ahead of her. Scarlett sprinted for a few seconds to catch up to her.

“How do we get in, though?” As soon as Scarlett caught up with Sophie, she saw two rows of men in black suits standing in front of the magnificent gate.

As both of them expected, when they arrived at the gate, one of the men in black stopped them from entering the palace. Sophie took her phone out, said a few words into it, and then handed it to the guard.

The man scanned the screen with his eyes for a moment– like his eyes were some kind of security device. Then he motioned to them, indicating that they were good to pass through.

All the other security guards followed suit– it was perfectly choreographed and even a little bit comical, Scarlett thought.

Sophie thanked him quickly, and then pulling Scarlett along with her, she hurried inside.

They walked a long way through the big yard. Along the way, Scarlett couldn’t help but admire this palace-like building. It was so grand– it looked like it was right out of a movie. It extended so far horizontally that one could not even capture all of it in one glance. Painted in white, the building appeared iridescent. Depending on the light, it looked blue one moment and then greened the next. It appeared to be a different color each time one looked at it.

This was the first time Scarlett had been to such a luxurious, private estate, so she was somewhat disconcerted. Since she was not too familiar with Sophie's social circle, she had absolutely no idea what kind of world Sophie would lead her to.

Not long after they passed through the grand lobby and had walked further inside, they saw a crowd full of people cheering. Scarlett was not ready to encounter a group of strangers, so she paused for a moment. Without waiting for Scarlett, Sophie rolled up her sleeves and pushed her way towards the crowd.

“Don't be impulsive!” Scarlett yelled at Sophie’s back. She was afraid that Sophie would do something insane, so she had no choice but to run after her.

Scarlett tried to push her way through the crowd, but she failed because there were so many people. “Move! I’m trying to get past, make way!” Scarlett roared, and the men in her way quickly looked around to locate the source of the voice. Scarlett snaked through the crowd.

Finally getting out of the crowd, Scarlett was right under the dazzling spotlight, so she squinted her eyes to find a few girls dressed as if they had been sunbathing on the beach or something. They were scantily dressed.

Because she was busy looking at the sight of the almost naked women and wasn’t concentrating on what was happening around, she suddenly found herself directly facing a tall girl, her face right in her chest.

“Be careful, girl. You have to be careful where you’re sticking your face. What do you think you're doing?”

"Sorry, sorry, I'm short-sighted.” Scarlett blushed and apologized.

Unexpectedly, the tall girl wasn’t all that angry. She reached out her hand and grabbed one of Scarlett’s breasts.

“What a busty girl!” The tall girl said, winking at Scarlett suggestively. Scarlett wasn’t sure how to respond to the gesture.

“Scarlett! Here!” Scarlett heard Sophie’s voice and ran, looking for Sophie somewhere in the crowd. She was still worried that Sophie might do something crazy, so she sped up and tried to catch up to her as quickly as possible.

“Sophie, calm down!” As soon as Scarlett spotted Sophie, she rushed over to her and grabbed her arm for fear that she would gravely injure Jeff's new love and maybe even draw blood. She could be impulsive and overly aggressive like that.

“What are you doing?” Sophie looked at her, puzzled. Scarlett finally took a look at the two people standing in front of her. Jeff Richards was wearing a striped, dark blue suit and holding Sophie around her waist. Sophie snuggled in Richards’s arms at times, and there was no sign that they had any quarrels or conflicts before. “Another trick?” She rubbed her nose and felt like a fool. What was going on?