Read Online Craving Perfect by Liz Fichera - Free Book Online

tee. If only I knew where Callie worked.
    My voice hitched a little. “What do you think I should wear?”
    Alexandra didn’t respond right away. She was too busy breathing loud enough for me to hear. Finally, she said, “Wear what you always wear.”
    And that would be what, exactly?
    I guessed something black would be appropriate, judging by the amount of it in the closet. Alexandra was probably a runway model and god knows what Callie did for a living. I presumed it had nothing to do with food. From the looks of her, she couldn’t eat more than twice a week.
    Sighing, I reached for a short black skirt, a white silk blouse and a black jacket. Tennis shoes were out of the question so I found a box marked “Medium, black pumps” in the shoe closet and hoped I didn’t look too much like a movie theater usher.
    After slipping into my skirt and blouse, I began to dry my hair as Alexandra’s eyes darted impatiently from me to her wristwatch.
    “Come on, Callie. We are beyond late. And don’t worry about your hair. Just pull it back. They’ll take care of you in Make-Up.”
    “Make-Up?” I gulped back the words like I’d just swallowed gum.
    “Yeah, Make-Up.” Alexandra’s porcelain brow wrinkled. “As in the Make-Up Department?”
    “Oh…right…”
    “Callie, are you sure you don’t need to see a doctor or anything? You’re acting pretty funky.”
    “No, I’ll be fine.” I looked around for a purse and found a black clutch near a chair by the bed, a bed I’d never slept in. “Ready,” I said.
    I took one final look at my reflection in the full-length mirror next to the closet. Even though my hair was damp and I had no idea where my outfit fit on the appropriate fashion scale, I truly believed that I looked all sorts of hot. Gorgeous, even. In fact, I was pretty certain that Callie Collins would look stunning in a paper bag. I should have hated her but she—I—was starting to grow on me, despite the unending perfection.
    “Just enjoy yourself while you can,” I muttered under my breath.
    “What?” Alexandra asked over my shoulder in my reflection.
    I walked to the front door. Alexandra followed.
    “Nothing.” I closed the door behind us. My stomach growled. “Feel like a stopping for a coffee and a pastry before work? My treat?” I assumed Callie’s purse held cash of some kind.
    Alexandra grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop and turn. “Are you high?” Her eyes bulged.
    “No, but I’m hungry.” I shrugged off her arm and continued to the elevator. “Anyway, I was hoping to stop at the Desert Java on the way to…work.”
    “The Desert what?”
    “The Desert Java. It’s just off University.” I sniffed casually, looking across at the elevator buttons. “It’s a cute little place and they have the best—”
    Alexandra interrupted. “We don’t have time.” She jammed her thumb against the first floor button. “Besides, there’s a Starbucks just outside the office. I’ll get you a coffee there.”
    “Do they have good pastries?” My mouth watered just thinking about the raspberry scone in the back of my refrigerator, waiting. After the strange morning I’d had, I certainly deserved it.
    “Okay, now you’re reall y freaking me out.” She glared at me as if I just suggested we split a fifty-pound box of chocolate truffles and a pitcher of vanilla milk shakes. “Coffee is one thing, but pastries? Since when do you eat pastries?”
    I didn’t answer her. I couldn’t. Clearly just hearing the word pastries added to Alexandra’s daily calorie count.
    After a short drive, Alexandra pulled her white Lexus in front of the KSUN Channel 2 studios just off Central Avenue in downtown Phoenix. My armpits were already moist and it had nothing to do with wearing a black jacket and pantyhose on an eighty-degree day.
    “Why are you pulling in here?” I wasn’t sure I could handle the answer.
    Alexandra didn’t reply and simply shook her head like an irritated parent. I was