Chapter 51: | masquerade party part 1-2

Nixon stops us. "Calm down, let's see what happens." JC sides with Nixon. "We can leave after we see what's up." "Not if we're split up!" Penelope interrupts. "Riz, you trust this finance guy?" Phoenix looks Riz in the eyes. Riz laughs nervously. "I've known him personally for over ten years. We've done a ton of business together. He's solid. A good dude." Mia looks at me. "Riz trusts it. Let's see." The crowd quickly assembles as instructed. Our group is the last to move. We're standing in the center of room, still trying to decide what to do. Everyone on both sides of the room has their eyes on us. I hesitate. "OK." I'm last to separate from Phoenix. Mia, Penelope and I huddle close together on the right side of the room. They're just as frazzled as I am. Some kinda party this is. This is no party, these fools are about to murder us! Get out! Now! "I brought pepper spray," Mia whispers. "And I have hot sauce in my clutch. Anybody tries anything, I'm dousing 'em!" Penelope holds her clutch for dear life. A ghastly thin, blonde woman in a red dress takes over the ladies' group. A half mask, bright red lipstick and vacant smile occupy her bony face. She opens the door and leads us down a dark corridor. I hear the first few women gasp as they walk past the threshold. Oh God! I'm last in line, but from here I can see there's not much light or space in this corridor. It's more like an entrance to catacombs. The women walking into it can literally reach out and touch both sides of the wall, it's that narrow. A menacing cloud of claustrophobia hangs over my head as the line gets shorter and I approach the entrance. I glance back at Phoenix one last time before leaving the room. I want to run. I hear myself wince. I feel like a lamb being led to slaughter. My whole body clenches as the door behind me slams shut. We walk in a single file line for a short while then stop. We've reached a door on the other side of the corridor. The woman in red does a special knock and at last the door is unlocked. "Wait here, ladies. It'll be just a minute." Her voice reverberates throughout the tight space. She opens the door and walks through, closing it behind her, leaving us in the long, dark hallway. "What's up with all the secrecy? These people are freaking me out," I whisper to Mia and Penelope. "Girl, I don't know but my heart is about to leap out of my chest." Mia holds her bosom. "Me too! I'm so scared right now." Penelope struggles in the small space to turn and face us. "You see the look on that lady in red? Psycho!" Mia's eyes are huge. "I know!" We hold hands as we wait. I can feel their breath on my face as we look from one to the other. Suddenly the door at the other end of the corridor opens and light floods in. The woman in red welcomes us all in. We hear oohs and aahs as the women in the front of the line step into the next room. What are they seeing? Finally, it's our turn to walk through. I turn to my girls. "Give me the pepper spray, I'll go first." Mia sneaks it to me just in time. The woman in red takes my hand, as if she's me helping down from a coach and horse. "Welcome, darling," she greets me eerily. "Thank you?" When I look around, I am floored. The oohs and aahs make sense now. Tension leaves my body and I relax. The space is huge. The size of a small warehouse and decorated in warm hues of gold and cream and amber, this room is magnificent. Beautiful hardwood floors echo the sound of heels clicking. There are fifty or so vanity stations that line the perimeter of the entire room. Each station features a mirror lined in tiny lights, a comfortable plush chair and cream shag rug. Women are already sitting in chairs chatting away as if they're at a beauty salon. "And you are?" the woman in red asks me. Distracted by the glamour of everything I see, I stammer, "I'm . . . uh . . . Aria . . . uh . . . Davenport." "Aria, what a pretty name. Well, Ms. Davenport, this is Natasha, your assistant. She'll help you choose your selections." "Hello, Aria." "Selections?" Her accent tells me Russia is her native country. "First time? I explain everything." Natasha leads me further into the huge room. I still don't trust it. Dressed in an all-black jumpsuit and heels, with a fiery red bob that's shorter in back and comes to two razor sharp points in front, she's striking. Her red lipstick adds a dazzling finishing touch to her bold look. I look back at Mia and Penelope. Mia is meeting her assistant. This place is so strange. "I'd like to stay close to my girls. Over there." I point to Mia and Penelope. "Fair enough." Natasha gets the attention of their two assistants. "They're together." Both assistants nod and follow Natasha, keeping Mia and Penelope close. "This is how it works. You come in, socialize, have drink, unwind. You come here, we get you ready for real party." "There's a real party?" "Yes. Real party. That's all I'm allowed to tell. Now my job is to get you ready. I make you look beautiful and feel sexy. Yes? We have everything you need, right here." She presents the room like it's a gift. We walk past racks and racks of eye-catching lingerie. It's all very orderly, organized by color groups ranging in every size. There are jewels and shoes and makeup and wigs and masquerade masks. This is a staging room, they're getting us ready for a performance? "Care for drink as you get ready?" Natasha asks. Wanting to stay alert, I refuse. As do Mia and Penelope. A lovely blonde girl walks by holding a silver tray. "Would you like a line?" She offers us each a fresh tiny clear straw as she brings the tray down to eye level. On it are several lines of white powder. Some have already been cleared. "No, thank you." We all say at once. A few stations over, two masked women take puffs from a vaporizer and giggle uncontrollably. Across the room a Brazilian bombshell carries another silver tray. This one has tiny little cards with labels and rows of different colored pills. A busty brunette looks at the tray excitedly as her hand hovers over one type of pill, then she changes her mind and hovers over another, before finally settling on a third. "Good choice," the waitress tells her. The woman downs the pill with a glass of champagne. Suddenly, I notice that many of the women in the room aren't dressed. Some are sitting in chairs or walking around naked, some are naked while getting makeup applied or their hair styled and still others are standing naked near the racks of lingerie with their assistants choosing different sets to try on. Not sure why this seems abnormal, but no one tries to cover up, no one is ashamed of their body. It feels like a sisterhood of women. We're all here to have fun, without judgment. They're all shamelessly sharing their most private parts with everyone in the room. There are no barriers for privacy and no one seems to mind. It's kind of liberating. Just to test the waters, I unzip my dress and let it fall to the ground. No one bats an eye. No one even seems to notice. I step away from my dress and give it to Natasha for safe keeping. Standing bare breasted in just my mask, thong and stilettos, we walk to the racks of lingerie. Natasha begins making selections and placing them against my body. Weirdly, it all feels natural. . . .