“Is that ice?” I ask, wondering what he’s doing with it.
“Heroine,” he replies, pulling out a funnelled tube and a lighter.
As I watch him heat the foil, the crystal starts to smoke. Using the funnel, he breathes in the vapour like he’s inhaling from a bong.
“You try,” he says handing it to me.
I have a bit of trouble holding everything together, so he holds the lighter and the foil and I just hold the funnel. The burning crystal gives off a strange smell of chemicals mixed with caramel. It’s sickly sweet, but not terribly offensive.
Taking turns, we continue until the crystal is nothing more than a brown splodge on the foil.
It doesn’t take long before the buzz starts to affect me. Suddenly I’m deliriously happy, and the world is once again a wonderful place.
Moving over to the couch, we collapse down next to each other and just enjoy the high.
“You don’t even know my name,” he says to me.
“Yes I do. It’s a hard name to forget,” I tell him, my mouth moving sluggishly around the words.
“Braden,” he says in reply.
“I know. I told you I know.”
He finds this really funny and chuckles to himself.
I think that maybe I say something else, but I’m not sure that I do. My eyes open and close slowly. I’m just so… blissful.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Stop drawing me!” I complain, when I notice Braden sketching me as I sit on the bench top, shaving my legs into the sink.
“I’m an artist, sweetheart. I see beauty, and I draw it. Simple as that,” Braden says from his position on the couch that also doubles as my bed.
“Me shaving my legs is beautiful?” I laugh, as I continue my quest of hair removal.
“Well, yeah. In a way. It’s the light. The angle you’re sitting on. And you of course. I like drawing you.”
“Hmmm,” is all I say in reply.
“Just why are you doing that there anyway? You know there’s a bathroom down the hall.”
“Yes. But that weird girl from number twenty-eight is in there. She sings all the time and asks me super happy questions. She kind of freaks me out.”
“Which girl? Oh Valerie? Geez Paige, she’s completely harmless. I’m sure she’s just trying to be friendly.”
“I feel like she’s trying to force me to join her super-happy-hyper-girl cult.” I shudder, bouncy girls really do freak me out.
“Sweetheart, it’s not a cult. It’s called cheerleading. She loves that shit.”
“Well fine for her. But she needs to leave me out of it,” I tell him, as I rinse off my legs and start applying some lotion.
“Fair enough,” he concedes, focusing intently on his drawing and rubbing at the page with his finger to smudge the pencil.
“How many pictures do you have of me in there anyway?” I ask, as I slide off the bench.
“I don’t know,” he shrugs. “A few.”
I move over to him and lean on the back of the couch to look over his shoulder. “Exactly how many is ‘a few’?”
He just shrugs his shoulder again and closes his book so I can’t see, sliding his pencil behind his ear as he moves to stand up. He never lets me see what he’s drawing.
Reaching over the back of the couch, I snatch the sketch pad out of his hands. “Oh no. You’re not getting out of it that easy. I’ve been here for weeks and you’re always drawing in that thing. I want to see it.”
“Give it back Paige,” he warns.
Immediately, I start moving around the studio, dodging him as I start leafing through the pages.
“Close it Paige! That’s private!”
“Wow, Braden. You’re really good,” I admit. There are drawings of everything in here, from people, to animals, trees and vehicles. Basically, whatever has caught his eye, has been recorded in such vivid detail that it actually looks real.
I’m so focused on the drawings that I forget to move out of his way. Although, my reactions are quick enough that I tighten my grip on the pages as he pulls on the binding.
“Give it back.”
“No. I’m looking. Let go Braden. You’re going to make me tear it,” I tell him calmly. He narrows his eye at me and releases his hand. Grinning triumphantly, I continue to leaf through his drawings.
The visual arts diary he uses is one of those thick bound ones with a hard black cover. More than half of it is filled with his sketches.
Slowly I flick through all the pages, marvelling at his work. “You can tell when I moved in,” I smile, glancing up at him.
Suddenly, there are pages and pages of me. Sitting watching television, brushing my hair… “You drew me sleeping?” I ask, turning the book to him and tapping on the paper.
“I like drawing you. So sue me,” he says, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking surly.
“Well… you’re very talented,” I compliment him, as I shut the book and hand it back to his eager hands.
“You’re not weirded out?” he asks, taking it back and folding his arms over it protectively.
“Why would I be? I’ve seen you drawing me. I just wanted to see them.”
“They don’t mean I’m obsessed with you or anything,” he assures me.
“I know,” I smile. Moving towards him and giving him a light kiss on the cheek. “You just think I’m beautiful.”
“You’re damn right I do,” he grins back. “Now get that gorgeous arse of yours out there and get me some more stock. I have a delivery to make this afternoon, and we might as well get all the money we can.”
Once a week, Braden goes out on his own to take all the IDs I’ve managed to get my hands on, to whoever it is he sells them to. Our income level varies from week to week, but it’s more money than I’ve ever had. More than enough to get by and procure some entertainment for ourselves on the side.
During the week, we stay clean because we need to focus. Braden is studying art and design at uni as well as working a few nights at Planetary, and I have purses that require my attention. I need to have my wits about me, or I’ll be caught. That’s the last thing I want.
“Get moving woman!” he calls out to me as I’m preparing to leave. Saluting him, I finish collecting my things, so I’m almost ready.
“You want to run interference for me?” I ask as I lace up my shoes. Sometimes Braden comes out with me and distracts my targets with a question about directions, the time, or whatever else he can come up with.
“Sure. I’ll help you for a while. Then I can go and get our money.”
“Good, I want to go shopping for something new to wear this weekend.”
“Me too. I want to look irresistible this weekend. Did you see that guy I was talking to last Saturday? He said he’d be at Compound this weekend. So that’s where we’re going,” he sing songs.
“Yes. I did see that guy. And then I saw him go home with his girlfriend. I think you’re barking up the wrong tree with that one,” I laugh.
“No. I could tell. Just watch what happens,” he grins, standing at the door, ready to leave.
Weekends are our party time. It’s when we really let loose and enjoy the fruits of our labour. I haven’t completely given up my old ways though. As much as I thought I was sick of sleeping with random guys, I still have a libido. Except now I go home with guys that I actually want – I can afford to be choosy.
Braden’s not as bad at picking up as he originally made out to be, although he’s better at picking up women than men. From the looks of it, I think he’s attracted to straight men which is obviously where his problem finding a man arises from. Sometimes he scores though, and that’s when he’s happiest.
We have a rule that we don’t bring people back to the studio, because it’s not fair to the other person. We always go home with the guy or girl. The studio is just for us.
Before he met me, Braden was only into ‘chasing the dragon’, as he likes to call it, and speed, which he calls ‘g
o-ie’ – it’s like he can’t call a spade a spade. But I’ve convinced him that coke is far superior to his ‘go-ie’, and after trying it with me, he’s inclined to agree.
Now we have a ritual. When we get ready to go out, we set up our lines and snort them just before we leave so we’re feeling wonderful, by the time we get to the clubs or parties. When we get back to the apartment we smoke heroine to come down. It’s a beautiful combination. I even find myself leaving the beds of the men I go home with so I can get back for a smoke. I’m having trouble coming down without it.
Chapter Twenty-Five
It’s the weekend again, and we’ve been invited to a party. Braden has taken me shopping to pick the right outfit. He doesn’t think that anything I own is sexy enough. Flicking fiercely through the clothes racks, he scrutinises dresses before shaking his head and putting them back.
I hold up a gorgeous looking, royal blue mini dress with a tiny ruffle around the hem that makes it look fun and flirty. “How about this one?”
“No. That’s no good,” he frowns, as he goes back to his rummaging. “You need to look gorgeous – absolutely ravishing.
“It’s important that we’re really fun and friendly because the people who supply us will be there. They supply our cash and they supply our ‘fun’. We can’t disappoint. Here,” he says, holding up a tiny red sparkling dress. I take it and hold it against my body and admire it in the mirror. It looks like the clothing version of Dorothy’s ruby slippers. I love it.
“It’s perfect,” I tell his smiling face. “So, about this party - I wasn’t aware that our buyer and supplier were the same people. What else they’re into?”
“Oh, they’re into this and that. It doesn’t really have much to do with me,” he says, taking the dress back from my hands. His eyes dart around, and he appears slightly agitated for a moment, before he heads purposefully toward another department. “Now we need shoes.”
When we reach the register, he insists on paying, which is really unusual for Braden. He’s not really into random acts of kindness. But I’ll take what I can get.
I have to admit that I look amazing in the dress. I barely have an ounce of fat on me these days, but I still have all my curves, and my hair is almost halfway down my back.
As we get ready for the party, Braden reiterates the importance of meeting our ‘bosses’. “Sweetheart, I need you to make a good impression. Reggie has been asking to meet you and if he doesn’t like you, I’ll be in big trouble.”
“Why does he want to meet me?”
“Well, I let it slip that I’m not the sticky fingered wonder that gets him his merchandise, and he doesn’t like that I wasn’t honest with him. He was very insistent that he needed to meet you.”
Braden seems nervous, he’s not his usual confident self, and he won’t hold my gaze for more than a couple of seconds. It causes me to feel really worried about tonight.
My heart starts to thud double time in my chest and I’m only too happy to sniff some powdered courage before we catch a cab to Double Bay to meet this ‘Reggie’.
“Holy fucking shit,” I breathe as the cab pulls into the circular drive of the largest house I’ve ever seen. “You actually know someone who lives here?”
“I don’t know. Our boss just told me there was a party and to bring you here,” Braden tells me quickly. I think I stop breathing for a moment as nerves swirl through my stomach. Braden squeezes my hand. “It’ll be fun, relax.”
We pay the cabbie and get out at the security gate. Braden presses the intercom. It beeps a couple of times before it’s answered by a gruff voice, demanding to know who we are.
Once our identities are confirmed, we’re allowed to move through the gate. We walk up the pathway leading to the front door arm in arm. I pause for a moment, pulling on Braden’s arm.
“I think I need another hit. I’m too nervous.” I reach in my purse to search for the little snuff bottle I have, to top myself up throughout the night.
“Wait until we get inside,” he says, putting his hand over mine and halting my movement. “I swear to you, there will be the purest shit you have ever tried inside. You’ll be flying all night.”
My nerves turn to excitement as I wonder what a pure high would be like. I hang my bag back over my shoulder, and we continue up the path.
The driveway is littered with parked cars, and we can hear music and laughter going on inside as we approach the door.
“Are we late?” I ask, as Braden raises his hand to knock.
The door opens immediately, and a man with dark, stylishly messy hair, opens his arms wide and welcomes us enthusiastically. He appears to be well into his thirties and has straight, perfectly even teeth, and bronzed skin.
“Come in,” he booms, taking my hand and bringing it to his mouth. “Braden, I can see why you were hiding her,” he says, his eyes locked with mine as he presses his lips to my knuckles.
“Can you blame me?” Braden laughs uneasily. I can hear a slight tinge of nervousness in his voice as he starts to introduce us. “Paige, this is Reggie. Reggie, meet Paige.”
I nod and smile, but I find him unsettling. There’s something about the way he’s looking at me, and then at Braden, that makes me concerned. It’s like they know something that I don’t. He tucks my hand in the crook of his arm and walks me inside. Braden makes sure to keep pace with us.
“This is quite a party,” I comment, trying to make casual conversation, as I look around at all the people gathered in the large foyer and living area.
The house is very modern in styling and lit for the party as though it’s a night club. Everything is either white, chrome or mirrored, and the lights that flash are a red or a purple. It all feels very surreal as it is. But when a strobe light goes off and causes the room to look as though it’s moving in slow motion, it’s even more so.
Reggie walks us toward a bar and tells us to choose anything we’d like, before excusing himself to go and mingle. As he speaks to us, his hand lingers a little too long on my skin, and a cold chill skitters its way up my spine. So I’m grateful when he’s gone.
Looking around the party, I see that there aren’t many people holding drinks. But they’re all on something.
“What’ll it be?” the bar tender asks.
Braden has been to these things in the past, so he answers before I have a chance to open my mouth.
“Coke,” he says, holding two fingers up to let him know it’s for both of us.
The barman hands us a dish that has everything we need on top of it. “First one’s free,” he tells us. His voice flat and impassive. He’s obviously been saying the same thing all night.
We move to the side, and I lean into Braden. “What is this?”
“A tasting party.”
“Tasting party?”
“Yep. Pick your drug, but don’t mix it. ODs aren’t tolerated.”
“What do they do if you OD?”
“I have no idea. I just know that no one ever sees you again.”
“Holy shit,” I breathe. I’m starting to feel as though I’m in this a little too deep. I had been looking at what we were doing as a bit of petty theft. I had no idea we were involved with major dealers. This is all a bit above my experience level.
“Relax. Reggie seems to like you. Just have a good time, and we’ll be fine.”
I nod, but I’m not sure that I can relax.
“Do you want a downer instead?”
“No. Coke’s fine.”
“Well, sniff up sweetheart. Let the party begin.”
The high hit me faster than our usual stuff does. It’s almost as good as the first time I did it, back when I was with Jeff.
“Oh wow,” I say to Braden, who’s watching me, nodding and smiling.
“It’s great right?”
“Amazing,” I say rolling my head around as I’m sent soaring.
As I move through the crowd, I feel so much lighter on my feet. Braden introduces me to a few people he knows but
ultimately, we end up dancing alone.
Due to my high, every move of my hips is erotic, and I feel like I can have anyone and anything. Braden’s hands are moving over my body, every touch feels amazing as my senses come to life.
His hand wanders down my thigh and up under my dress. He clutches as my buttocks and pulls me up against him. We’re pressed as close as we can, swaying as one as we stare into each other’s eyes. His eyes drop to my mouth, and I can’t help but lick them. I want him to kiss me.
The moment our lips brush, Reggie appears at our side, pulling on Braden’s shoulder to separate us. He glares at him, then indicates that he wants me to follow him. Without waiting, he places his arm around my waist and pulls me beside him. I grab hold of Braden’s hand, so I don’t lose him. I don’t know that I want to be alone with Reggie.
We enter another room. It’s some sort of an office, and is in stark contrast to the rest of the house. This room has more of an old world feel to it, with a large wooden desk and plush carpeting. I feel my heeled feet sink into the pile and wish for a moment that I could take my shoes off, to feel the thickness between my toes.
Reggie sits us all on a couch that’s such a dark red that it almost appears black.
“Braden tells me that you are the one who’s procuring all the IDs.”
“I am,” I confirm.
“You seem to be very good at what you do Paige. But, I wasn’t aware you were working for me. I need to approve all of the people that work for me. You see, this is quite an embarrassing situation. Braden has changed his role within my organisation without actually consulting me. It wasn’t until I started asking questions about the increase in stolen IDs, that I found out what he was doing - and of course about you. Braden made quite an error bringing you on without consulting me.”
“He did?”
Braden sits on the side chair with his elbows resting on his knees as he leans forward and watches us carefully. He looks uncomfortable. Anxious. I feel the same way.
“I have to be honest. You wouldn’t be my first choice for what you’re doing. You’re far too… striking. Too memorable. I’m surprised no one has spotted or reported you yet.”
Phoenix: The Beauty in Between (A Beautiful Series Companion Novel) Page 11
