THE

LIES THAT WOMEN TELL

By

Diana Sinclaire

 THE LIES THAT WOMEN TELL

CHAPTER ONE

“The pressure on women to be perfect is just unbelievable,” Kylie Caldwell

said, taking a blush pink, bandage dress from the rack. “I just read an article
about natural makeup and would you believe me if I told you that it requires
almost as many products as looking dolled up!”
“Welcome to the twenty-first century, honey,” Victoria Khan said, she was
sitting on one of the chaises in the boutique, her shopping bags piled next to
her. “Artificial is the new natural, or didn’t you know that.”
“I blame the men,” Lana Lopez, huffed as she stepped out of a near-by
changing room. She jerked the thin strap of her black dress.
“Of course you do, sweetie,” Robin Lee gave a smug smile as she twirled in
the calf-length, peach ballerina-style dress, “That’s why you don’t have one.”
She stopped twirling long enough to glance at Lana who was still trying to fix
the dress. She smacked Lana’s hands, “Stop before you tear a dress you
haven’t even paid for.”
Lana sighed as she trudged back to the changing room, “I don’t even know
why I try.”
“She needs to embrace her femininity,” Kylie said.
“Actually, I agree with Lana,” Deedee Dunn turned her back to Robin so she
could zip up the shimmery, yellow gown she was wearing. She was the host of
a popular radio show. “I’ve talked with a lot of women and behind their crazy
obsessions to look perfect is the need to please men…”
“…who are never satisfied with anything,” Lana finished her sentence, having
changed back to her black pant suit.
Deedee nodded, “They wear tonnes of makeup, get surgical enhancements
they can’t afford, wear clothes that make Delilah proud, pretend they enjoy
things they hate, say things they don’t really mean to flatter.”
“And if they can’t afford professional surgical enhancement, they DIY, did
anyone read that article?” Lana said.
“I think you’re confusing media with men,” Robin said from the changing
room.
“Yes, it’s the women’s magazines but then we love to take the bait.” Kylie
shook her head, her recently colored golden brown curls bouncing. She called
the sales assistant to wrap the dress up for her. “And even when we know we
can’t keep up, we refuse to quit. Women love to complicate their lives with
standards they can’t keep up with.”
“Yes, we’re always trying to look like Barbie dolls because that is the standard
of beauty that we aspire to, and then we blame the men because it’s
convenient,” Robin gave Lana a pointed look. “Sometimes I think that we girls
just love to be martyrs.”
Deedee raised an eyebrow, “You are skating on very thin ice. Thousands of
women are dying because of the pressure to look a certain way. The media
should be more responsible, the men too. They should be our keepers.”
“I’m just saying that whether we like it or not we also have a personal
responsibility. Yes, the media also has a responsibility but if they aren’t doing
their part, do yours. No one forces you to buy a magazine, if it condemns you
for being human, throw it out.” Kylie said.
“Either way,” Victoria put her hands up to silence everyone, “Just be happy
that more men can appreciate the artificial look. That means everyone has the
chance to be pretty now.”
“Speaking of artificial look, did you see Vera Wilson’s new lips?” Deedee
laughed
Lana laughed, “She looks like she made out with a bee,”
“Well, it’s better than Emily Watts. Have you seen how she draws her lipstick
on way outside of her lip line?” Robin laughed.
“She should be glad she’s married, she would not be getting dates for that
one,” Kylie wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. “She looks like a clown.
Somebody needs to tell her.”
“Why?” Victoria said, “If that makes her feel better about herself who are we
to make her feel bad about it?”
“Is that why you complemented her on it?” Lana asked Victoria seriously.
Deedee crossed her arms, “you know she’s gonna hate you when she finds out
the truth, right?”
“Yeah and why did you even feel the need to lie to her?” Kylie asked, sitting
down next to Victoria and putting on silver strappy heels.
“One question at a time, please!” Victoria massaged her temples. “I
complemented her because I could tell it made her feel great and I didn’t tell
her the truth because it would hurt her feelings and I can’t have her mad at me,
she’s the principal at my daughter’s school.”
“So you were just flattering her? You know that’s lying don’t?” robin raised an
eyebrow.
Victoria lowered her dark sunglasses from her head to her eyes and sniffed,
“Only God can judge me, and shame on you!”
***
“Rani,” Victoria whispered to her five-year old daughter, she motioned for her
to come as Vera Wilson rang the doorbell impatiently once more.
“Yes, mummy.” the child said, bouncing over to where her mother was in the
kitchen. Her dark corkscrew curls which were tied with pink ribbon into
pigtails bouncing along. She was carrying a Barbie doll in one hand.
Victoria put a finger to her lips.
“Open the door and tell Mrs Wilson that I’m not home, okay?” Victoria
whispered, she waved a chocolate chip cookie, “I’ll give you this when you
come back.”
Rani nodded, her lips pulling into a smile. Victoria heard her open the door.
“Hello, Rani.” Vera smiled at the child, “Can you get me your mommy
please?”
Though Victoria couldn’t see her daughter she knew that Rani shook her head
and then she almost fainted at the girl’s words, “Mommy said I should tell you
that she’s not home.”
Victoria sped out of the kitchen, “Rani! That was for the time I went to the
store,” she plastered on a big smile and clutched the child’s shoulders, “Kids!”
she said to Vera with a laugh. “They never pay attention to anything you say.
What can I do for you?”
“I’m so sorry to bother you but I need some red wine for a recipe I’m making.
We’re having dinner with some friends and I can’t run out to get a bottle. I’m
dreadfully behind schedule,” Vera said with a smile of her own.
Victoria was doubtful, there were hardly ever any visitors to the Wilson’s
house and she’d heard the rumours about Vera’s drinking habits. Actually, now
that she thought about it, Vera looked way too relaxed and happy. Normally,
being a principal, she was uptight and high-strung. “Sure, just a minute.”
The moment she closed the door after Vera left Victoria turned furious eyes
onto her seemingly oblivious daughter.
“Can I have my cookie mommy?” Rani put her hand out, big brown eyes set
on her mother.
“After that catastrophe? You made me look like a liar. No cookie,” Victoria
said, hands on her waist.
“But I did what you said, mommy.” Rani ran to keep up with her mom who
was headed to the kitchen. “A promise is a promise.”
Victoria had always taught rani to keep her promises and often told her that it
was important to be a person of your word, “Just beautiful! You’re going to
use my words on me?” she grabbed a chopping board and some vegetables,
and grumbled to herself, “‘Have children’ my mother said, ‘they’ll bring joy to
your life’ and this is what I get.”
“You’re not teaching our child how to lie, are you?” Sean, her husband said
from behind her.
She jumped. He stood leaning on the door casually, his black, wavy hair
tousled and his tie hung loosely around his neck.
“How can you say that?” she took a cookie out and handed it to her daughter,
“You go,” she couldn’t win this argument with her daughter lurking around.
Rani skipped out of the room after thanking her mother.
“I heard her talking to Vera.” He folded his arm, thick, black eyebrows drawn
together.
“Then you heard me tell Vera that that was something I told Rani to say when
I went to the store earlier?” Victoria’s face was expressionless. At that
moment, she thanked God that she had dark skin because she could feel her
face get hot.
“Yes, but you didn’t go to the store, did you?”
Victoria said calmly, “I did. I went to buy a croissant at the bakery.”
He raised an eyebrow, “I thought you were on a low carb diet,”
“Okay, fine. Make fun of me for falling off my diet plan. You’re just like your
mother making fun of me because I’m fat,” Victoria huffed, eyes teary.
Sean covered the distance between them in two long strides and hugged her,
“Oh, honey. I’m sorry and my mother never called you fat. She was
complementing you.”
“She said I wore the baby fat well and Rani is five years old,” Victoria said in
a small voice. She released a deep sigh, realising that she had escaped what
could have been ugly. She didn’t even know why she lied and Sean believed
her most likely because he always said she was the sweetest woman he had
ever met. He thought she was incapable of hurting a fly, never mind lying. All
she had been trying to do was avoid Vera and then the whole thing spiralled
out of control. She blamed Rani for that, if she had just followed her
instructions. But then her husband would have heard and world war III would
have started for sure. No, things had turned out fine. She didn’t want Sean to
think that she was a bad mother teaching her child to lie and all. This would be
the last time lied to him…no, the second last time. She still needed to lie to
him one last time and then never again.
***
Kylie stepped out of the taxi having paid and tipped the driver. She was
careful as she walked up to the restaurant, her four-inch, glossy, black
Louboutins clicking on the pavement. She looked at her reflection as she
approached the glass doors, plumping her recently colored caramel hair. She
had had a hair appointment earlier so she felt really good. Tasha, her stylist
had given her luscious, bouncy curls, apparently nothing said ‘Bombshell’ like
voluminous hair. She had tried hard to keep her makeup and dress simple. She
hoped her knee-length; black pencil dress and beige trench coat didn’t give her
away. She pushed the door open. She had never been to the restaurant before
but she liked it immediately, something about it felt cosy and welcoming. It
had a classy appearance with its minimalist décor and but with a touch of an
‘at home’, warm feel. Most minimalist places she had been to, she felt had a
‘too bare’ feel kind of like a hospital and she didn’t like it. It was by far the
nicest place that she and Rich had a date. His name was also the only ‘rich’
thing about him, not that she minded. He must have saved up a lot to bring her
there or maybe he would make her pay, she hoped not. She had been seeing
him for six months now and she was sure he was ‘the one’.
She smiled at the hostess who greeted her then proceeded to show her to the
table where Rich was already waiting.
“Hi, sweetie,” Kylie greeted as he stood up, kissed her lightly and then held
her chair for her to sit. She thanked him, “Are you all dressed up for me? You
look so nice,”
He was dressed in a crisp, white shirt tucked into slim fitting, black jeans with
a skinny back tie, a black, fitted blazer and black boots. He smiled at her
compliment, “Always for you,”
That touched her. Usually, Rich disliked ties or looking cleaned up. He was a
fan of looking beat up and grunge, in fact his usual attire was overalls when he
was working and jeans and t-shirts when he wasn’t. He even wore those to
church.
“So, what’s the occasion?” Kylie asked. A waiter came over to give them
some menus.
“You’ll see in time,” rich said flipping open his menu. They ordered and then
talked about work and life for a bit.
“Do you have plans for this weekend?” rich’s green eyes twinkled, “I want
you to come out with me to meet my family.”
Kylie’s eyes widened, “Really? Of course, I’ll go” Rich’s parents lived in
Texas and they would have to fly there. she wanted to ask him how he was
paying for the trip, she knew he had a lot of responsibilities and usually didn’t
have enough left over. It was one of the things she actually loved about him,
his sense of responsibility. Her father had once told her that any man worth his
weight in gold would provide for his family no matter what. But she was too
excited, if she was meeting his family, then that meant that their relationship
was serious, right?
He looked at her seriously, “You’ve met my uncle, friends and soon you’ll be
meeting my family. So when do I get the chance to meet your friends and
family?”
Kylie hesitated. All the time that they had been dating she had avoided telling
him too many details about her family. She had purposely omitted details
about her job and tried to not look too high maintenance. When he had asked
her what she did, she was vague saying she worked for a certain organization;
she omitted the fact that she was the Marketing Manager for her company. It
also helped that Rich didn’t follow any business news or events. Her family
was another issue. They lived in Beverly Hills, her dad was a plastic surgeon
and her mother was a movie director. She knew that if she told Rich, it might
scare him away and that wouldn’t be the first time. Also, she didn’t want him
to feel intimidated by her family’s wealth. But the other side of the coin was
she was embarrassed to introduce him to her friends and family because he
was just a mechanic. They wouldn’t understand or see what she saw in him.
“I promise, when we get back from Texas, you’ll meet them.” She would need
to make a plan. Maybe she could hire some people to pose as her friends. She
was surprised at that thought. Kylie was not a dishonest person but now trying
to protect herself and Rich, she was going against her values. No, she would
find a way around it when the time came. The waiter came back to take their
order before she could continue and she made sure to change the subject when
he left. Dinner was lovely and then they took a stroll along the pavement and
went down to the beach. It was a beautiful, breezy night out. Kylie took off her
heels and carried them in one hand; the other was looped around Rich’s waist.
Suddenly he stopped and faced her, his arms snaking about her waist. He
brought his forehead to her and looked into her eyes.
“You know that I love you right?”
Kylie smiled and nodded, “And I love you,”
Rich nodded, “I want to love and take care of you forever,” he slipped his
hand into his pocket and produced a velvet box. He dropped to his knees,
opening the box, “Will you be mine forever? Kylie Caldwell, will you marry
me?”
***
Robin stared at her scale; the numbers on it broke her heart yet again. She got
off the scale and trudged to her bedroom, falling onto her bed. No matter what
she tried, she just couldn’t seem to get back to her high school weight. She had
been a track runner at school and she had been very skinny while eating a lot
of food. She was usually the envy of her female family members back in
South Korea because of her five foot eight height and super-skinny frame. But
then she had graduated high school, left home and went to college. She hadn’t
even gained the freshmen fifteen, it was more like thirty. When she had
returned home, her parents had been shocked, her mother had gone to great
lengths to teach her how to cook Korean food and had told her that she
couldn’t just live on junk food.so when she had returned to college, she had
taken up running in the morning and also improved her diet. She managed to
lose twenty of those pounds before the next holidays. That year when she had
gone back to Korea, she was about the same size as her female family
members. She should have just counted her blessings but she was unsatisfied.
She wanted her former status as the skinniest. She had maintained that granted
with difficulty, all throughout college. Then she had joined the work force.
The stressful nature of her job coupled with the late hours meant that she had
no time to exercise or cook healthy, time consuming meals. Then she had
started to pile on the pounds again. This time she had gone up fifty pounds and
she had been so depressed. Then someone had suggested going low carb,
which had worked but then she had started binging quite regularly. A woman
she had worked with had told her that she dealt with hers by throwing up after.
That had been the beginning of a downward spiral into bulimic tendencies.
She had lost the weight and had gotten her pre-college figure back, earning the
coveted title of being ‘naturally skinny’. These days however the binges were
out of control. Where they used to be once every two weeks, nowadays they
were almost a daily occurrence. She was gaining weight again. She needed a
plan.
***
“I want to do a show around issues that are unique to women for the next two
weeks, but in particular, I want to concentrate on the pressure we have to be
perfect.” Deedee said. She was having lunch in her show’s producer’s office.
“I like it…so far, but go on.” Sonia Lee-Weiss, her radio show’s producer said.
Deedee put her chopsticks down, “I want to equip my listeners with tool to
help them have a better quality of life, you know, happier. I want to tackle our
people-pleaser tendencies and how it ties in with the perfection thing. It’s
something my friends and I were discussing.”
“Great,” Sonia’s eyes lit up, pointing the chopsticks a Deedee, “maybe you
can do a show with them and discuss it with them. It would feel like a talk
with girlfriends, listener’s love that.”
“It was more of a debate, actually.” Deedee picked up a piece of sweet and
sour chicken, “But I’ll ask them and also have a professional give us their
point of view.”
Alison Browne, Deedee’s assistant, appeared at the door, “Miss Dunn, you
have a visitor.”
Deedee got up, “We’ll finish this up later.”
She had been expecting Gary, the guy she had gone on a date with last night.
He had promised to pop in on his way out of the city. Instead she walked into
her office to meet someone she had hoped had stayed in her past.
Martina Evans swivelled around in her chair to face her, a smile on her face,
“Hello, Dorothy. Long-time no see.”

CHAPTER TWO

“I see some new bling, and I’m not just talking about the glow you have going
on,” Victoria said as Kylie joined their table at Fresco. It was their favorite
restaurant, quite exclusive and they served the best food. It was not uncommon
to see a famous face eating there.
Kylie put out her hand, “I got engaged!”
The ladies let out squeals, congratulatory comments, and hugs and fawned
over her ring. It was beautiful, the most valuable thing that Rich owned. It had
been given to him by his paternal grandmother being her favorite grandchild.
It was an emerald ring, medium sized and classically cut. Kylie was honoured
to wear it, honoured to be the future Mrs Taylor. She told them how he had
proposed and how she was meeting his family on the weekend.
“Are we your friends or what?” Lana said, “Why haven’t we met your man?”
There was a murmur of agreement.
“Yes, I didn’t even realize it was serious,” robin said with a pout, “You’re
holding out on us.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Victoria asked. “I know enough to know that when
a woman isn’t parading her man, something’s wrong.
“Is he ugly? Fat? Bald?” when Kylie said ‘no’ to all those descriptions,
Deedee frowned, “Is he married? If he is, I’ll knock you out.”
“No, he’s none of those things. “Kylie sipped her cranberry juice.
“So when do we meet him?” Lana asked.
Kylie was annoyed, “You’ll meet him, soon enough,”
“No, that’s too vague. We want a date, “Deedee said getting her personal
planner out.
Kylie thought she read way too many books on goal setting and all that stuff.
“Fine, how about at Deedee’s dinner party next Friday?” Kylie suggested half
wondering what she was getting herself into.
“It’s a date,” Deedee said, making a note.
“So, “Robin leaned in, “What does he look like?”
Kylie shifted uncomfortably, she didn’t want to talk about him and create
anticipation. “He’s tall, handsome with dark hair and grey eyes.”
Victoria had her hand on her cheek, her elbow on the table, “Where does he
work?”
Kylie blurted out before she could stop herself, “He owns a car repair
business,”
“Oh, a businessman,” Deedee said, “Maybe we can talk business sometime.”
Kylie hoped not, “Enough about that.” She waved her hands, “Lana how’s the
promotion thing going?” she knew Lana wouldn’t change the subject back to
Rich being a feminist and all.
“It’s going great, I really think I’m going to be an official interior designer for
Catherine Stone,” Lana’s face lit up and she chatted on about the bright future
ahead.
At least someone was looking forward to their future. Even though Kylie had
just gotten engaged and she should be celebrating, she was dreading what was
to come.
***
Lana tapped her foot under the table, trying to look as calm as possible given
the circumstances. She was about to get feedback from her superiors. She
picked lint from her black slacks, but of course, there wasn’t any. Gertie
Glover sat on her right looking totally calm. Lana envied Gertie so much, she
was everything Lana wasn’t. She came from the right family, with the right
education and connections. She was young, beautiful and gifted, exuding so
much calm confidence and such elegance. Lana was sure she would do great
things in the interior design industry.
“You’ve both done so well in the past year. We’re so pleased with your
outstanding work,” Catherine Stone, the president of the company said,
peeking over her black rimmed glasses, “having said that, only one of you can
be promoted to the position of interior decorator and that will be Lana Lopez.”
Lana let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She felt like a weight
had been lifted off her shoulders. She was finally in the club officially. “Thank
you, President Stone. Thank you so much.”
Catherin smiled, “You deserve it, but now the real work begins.” She turned to
Gertie, “Gertie, would you please excuse us?”
“Of course,” she smiled and then turned to Lana with the same smile which
lacked any warmth, “Congratulations, I wish you all the best.” And then she
stood up and left with that dignity that Lana envied so much.
Catherine pushed a file towards Lana, “That’s your first assignment, or I
should say assignments. You’re going to have to work very hard. We are
confident that you’ll exceed our expectations because your work has been
outstanding so far. You will be on contract and you’ll sign a longer contract
with us in three months. However in the event that we are unimpressed, you
will be demoted back to your old job.”
“I understand,” Lana nodded.
“Everything you need to know on top of what you already know is in that
file,” Catherine laced her fingers together, “Any questions?”
Lana shook her head, “No,”
As she walked out of the president’s office, she felt strange. Everything she
had ever dreamed of had just come true. She was now officially an interior
decorator, yet it was so anticlimactic and she had no idea why.
***
Victoria stood sideways looking at her reflection in the mirror. She pinched the
extra skin that was on the lower part of her abdomen, the tell-tale sign that she
had carried Rani. For five years now she had wanted to get her tummy
tightened and now she was almost there. Over the last year, she had managed
to save up the money and tonight, she would get the remainder. She had
already made the appointment with a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon and he
would perform it. It was perfect because Sean was going to New York for a
two weeks so she would be able to recover at least for a while. Then after he
came back, she would fake having her period and cramps for two weeks since
it took at least four weeks to recover from a tummy tuck. When she had first
mentioned surgery, he had forbidden her to get it saying it was too expensive
and she looked fine. Victoria wasn’t fooled though; she wasn’t getting any
younger at thirty-seven. Also, she had seen many a married woman let herself
go after marriage and she was not about to let that happen. When Sean had
married her, she had been on the shelf for longer than she had wanted to be
there. She was also not blind to the fact that Sean worked with attractive
women, particularly his pretty secretary. So she always made sure that looking
good was a priority for her. She walked away from the mirror and dressed in a
red, halter dress with black sling backs. She curled her black hair loosely, and
applied some light foundation, Smokey eye makeup and nude lipstick. She
could hear Sean’s car pull into the driveway. She left their bedroom to check
on Rani who was lying on her bed drawing, having bathed earlier. She was
dressed in a pink dress; her hair which was normally in pigtails was in a
ballerina bun.
“There’s my pretty ballerina.”
“You really think so, mommy?” rani sat up on her bed. When Victoria nodded,
she said, “I want to ask daddy to go to ballet class with Mia.”
Mia Reyes was rani’s best friend from school.
“Not tonight, baby. We’ll ask him when he comes back from new York.”
Victoria knew that if rani asked tonight, there was no way she would get what
she wanted. She had waited way too long for this.
“Why not?” she pouted.
“Because tonight is all about your daddy, you know, to do special things…for
him,” Victoria explained. “And besides, when he comes back from New York,
he’ll have lots of money.”
Rani’s eyes sparkled, “Will he bring presents?”
“Of course, but you have to remember to make tonight about him, okay?”
She was reluctant, “Okay,”
Victoria smiled, “That’s my girl. Well, daddy’s home,” Victoria said giving her
a hand for her to hold. They walked together down the stairs and opened the
door as Sean approached.
“Hi, honey.” Victoria gave him a big smile, and then leaned in to give him a
kiss.
He smiled and twirled her, “You look beautiful.” He picked up Rani and kissed
her too, “Both my girls look beautiful. Are you going somewhere or is it just
my lucky day?”
Victoria laughed, “It’s your lucky day,”
She closed the door and ushered him into the living room.
“Sit down, honey. Put your feet up, I’m sure you’re tired.” She brought the
table closer for him, “Rani Come and help mommy get dinner ready, okay?”
She pouted, “Can’t I just stay here with daddy?”
Victoria put her hands on her waist and gave her ‘the look’. ‘The look’ is
something all mothers are famous for. It means “Don’t make me repeat
myself, because if I do, they’ll be trouble,” and it worked like a charm.
Rani slid off her father and followed her mother into the kitchen.
“Can I have a cookie?” she asked when they got there.
Victoria smiled, “You can have two,” she placed two cookies on a plate.
Normally, she didn’t allow Rani to eat cookies before dinner but tonight, she
needed things to go smoothly and that meant Rani had to be on her side.
She poured a drink for Sean and served it to him on a tray. She was sure the
poor guy suspected that something was up today. Some twenty minutes later,
she served dinner. She had actually made a three course meal, which she
hadn’t done in a very, very long time. It wasn’t long before Rani was feeling
sleepy. Victoria and Sean carried her up, helped her brush her teeth and then
put her in bed where she said her prayers and fell asleep.
“Honey, you remember what I told you about Kylie?” Victoria said, they were
sitting in the lounge drinking hot chocolate and talking, which was one of their
favorite things to do. It was warm and cosy so she decided to bring up the
subject.
Sean sipped his hot chocolate, “Yes, she lost her job and is struggling.”
Victoria raised her head from his shoulder to look up at him, “She needs help
again.”
“Didn’t you help her a month ago?” he frowned as though trying to recall.
She rubbed his shoulders and looked at him imploringly, “I did. Actually, you
did. But she’s really in bad shape. You know that I have to help her, right? She
was the first person who befriended me when we first moved to L.A.” she
pressed, “And it’s the last time, she starting a new job next month.”
Sean breathed out deeply, “How much?”
Victoria mentioned a huge sum of money.
He raked his hands through his short hair, “I’ll have it tomorrow before I leave
for New York,”
Victoria threw her arms around him nearly toppling him over, “Thank you,
thank you. She’s going to be so relieved.” She kissed him.
He brushed her hair back and gazed softly into her eyes, “I must have married
the kindest woman in the world. Your loyalty amazes me.”
Her stomach twisted violently. Were those butterflies or just plain guilt? She
had no chance to find out because Sean’s lips found hers.
***
“Can you try zipping it up again?” Robin said, sucking her tummy in harder.
“Rob, you need a bigger size, maybe two sizes bigger. The space between the
zippers is too big,” Kylie said, sweaty from exerting energy.
“No, no. I’m a size four,” Robin said, “You know what? I don’t like this dress
anyway.” She went back into the changing room and put on her clothes. She
ignored the fact that the waistband was now cutting off her circulation or that
the shirt was so tight the buttons were nearly popping.
“That dress looks great on you, all you need to do is choose one that a little bit
bigger.” Kylie said, “Dr Kapoor’s wedding is this weekend.”
Robin exited the changing room, “I’ll make a plan.”
Robin and Kylie left the store and parted ways, each headed towards her work
place. Robin decided to stop by a bakery to pick up some chocolate muffins to
have with her afternoon tea. She also really needed a pick-me-up today
because she was feeling pretty low after the whole dress dilemma.
“Four large chocolate cupcakes please, “Robin ordered, she felt like the
woman serving's stare was bit judgemental. Maybe she thought she was fat, so
she added, “I’m not really going to eat all those cupcakes. I’ll give one to the
receptionist, my secretary and my boss.”
The two hundred and fifty pound woman gave her a bored stare, “Good for
you. Saint Peter must be very proud. Cream or no cream?”
Robin’s smile disappeared, “Cream, vanilla cream.”
She dug around her purse for her wallet and then paid for the cupcakes.
“Robin Lee?” a voice behind her called.
She turned to see who it was, “Peggy Sue Keller!” they hugged and air kissed.
“Congratulations!” robin nodded towards her bulging tummy. Robin and the
girls had all attended her wedding six months ago.
“Thank you, the pregnancy made me discover this place.” Peggy Sue said,
“Their baked goods are to die for. But I’m sure you already know that, look at
all the weight you’ve put on.”
Robin’s jaw dropped, “You may be pregnant but that is no excuse to be rude,
you know. I’ll have you know I am taking medication for a disease and it is
making me bloat a bit.” Her need to defend herself from people’s judgement of
her was so strong that the lie escaped before she could stop herself.
“Your cupcakes, ma’am” the woman at the counter handed her the paper bag
which she snatched.
Peggy sue looked horrified like robin had never seen her in her life, “Oh,
Robin. I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”
Robin needed to make sure that Peggy Sue didn’t spread the lie, so she said,
“You’re the only one who knows. Don’t tell anyone, I don’t want anyone else
to know.”
“Of course, my lips are sealed.” She used her finger and thumb to ‘zip’ her
lips.
***
“Shouldn’t you be a little more excited?” robin said, she flipped her long hair
back and leaned forward, “After all, you got what you wanted, right?”
Lana attempted to smile, “I am.” then added, “Really,” when the four didn’t
appear to buy it. “It’s just…it didn’t feel like I thought it would. I used to think
that it would feel…I don’t know…exciting, but instead it was so
anticlimactic.”
“I know what you mean,” Deedee sipped her cappuccino, “when the ride is
more exciting than the destination.”
“Or just the fact that the way you imagined it and the way it actually happened
don’t match up,” kylie picked a cherry off her cheese cake.
“I know, right?” Victoria nodded in agreement, she fished for a bottle of pills
in her purse. “Success doesn’t always feel like success.”
Lana shook her head, “I don’t know. I just feel like I wasted my life, you
know?”
“I know what you mean,” Robin said, “When I started out as a fashion buyer
for such a large company, I thought I had arrived but the reality was as you put
it, anticlimactic. And the worst part is that everyone else thinks you have it
made.”
“I thought you liked your job, rob.” Deedee was shocked.
Robin shrugged, breaking off a piece of her muffin, “I’m outta love.”
“Lana, don’t you like your job?” Victoria asked, digging through her purse and
fishing out some tablets.
“I enjoy the design process and I enjoyed being a designer’s assistant,” Lana’s
face was thoughtful, “Naturally, I thought that when I got to be an interior
designer I would enjoy it. Aside from the fact that I’m not as excited as I
should be, I’m also under a lot of stress. be fulfilled and excited but I’m not
and I don’t understand.”
“Not as excited? Please! You are not excited at all.” Deedee said.
“well, it’s obvious. Lana needs to find your true passion.” Kylie said. “You
too, Robin.”
“How are they going to find their passions? They have full time jobs and
hardly a moment to spare?” Victoria asked.
“Easy. Quit your jobs and do some soul searching.” Kylie said with a shrug.
“I don’t know about Rob, but I have bills to pay. I can’t quit my job! “Lana’s
eyes were round, “And even if I didn’t have bills to pay, I have a three month
contract as an interior designer.”
Deedee shook her head, “You don’t have to quit your job. You just need to
carve out some time to discover what you love.” She gave a pointed look to
Kylie, “Start there and don’t make any hasty decisions.”
Robin laughed at Kylie, “You are such a rich girl. Not everyone can just quit
their job at the drop of a hat.”
Kylie made a face at her.
Lana thought back to when she had decided she wanted to be an interior
designer. It was the year that she had visited her aunt Dora.
“Don’t settle like your mother,” aunt Dora had said, blowing out smoke
through her mouth, “A brilliant mind and what does she do? She gets married
and decides to be a housewife.”
Lana had always admired her aunt Dora. She represented everything that Lana
had lacked growing up and had wanted badly. Aunt Dora had been glamorous.
She had looked great all the time, like a famous actress. She had money, status
and lovers who worshipped the ground she walked on and couldn’t get
enough. Her mother on the other hand had married a salesman and though he
worked hard, they were lower middle class. Her mother was homely and
nurturing which didn’t always translate to glamour. Many times Lana and her
siblings had to do without. All the same, Lana had been glad that her mother
was a housewife because it meant she was always home for her children, but a
part of her wanted no part of that kind of homely life. That year she had
visited her aunt Dora and there she had decided that she would focus on a
suitable career. Since she had a good eye for design and enjoyed interior
design shows and magazines, she had decided to try for that. She had worked
two years back home in San Antonio with Mrs Baxter who was an interior
designer; her aunt had pulled those strings for her. when she had turned
twenty-three, she had moved to L.A and had worked a while at a restaurant
before getting the job at Catherine Stone Interiors. Now that she thought about
it, that was the year that she had broken up with Marcos Diaz because he had
been talking marriage. All she could think of at that time was ending up like
her mother. She wondered what had happened to him and how far they would
be if she hadn’t had her epiphany that he was holding her back. For the life of
her, she couldn’t remember what she had truly loved as a child that could
translate to a career but she would find out.
***
“So, it’s a party for some of the people I’m acquainted with. I promised that I
would bring my fiancée along but we can’t stay for long,” kylie fixed Rich’s
tie, making sure it was in position. She had fussed over his appearance and had
even given him etiquette lessons.
“Why not?” rich raised a brow.
“You know rich people!” she waved a hand, “They invite you to stuff but
really they want to suss you out. To see if you’re a leech, you know, and take
advantage of their kindness. It’s all a test, really.”
“So how long are we talking?”
“Ten minutes tops, just enough to have a glass of champagne then we can go,”
kylie whipped out her compact mirror to make sure that she looked made up
but not too high maintenance. The night hadn’t even started but she was
already exhausted. She wanted the night to go really well, that meant that Rich
would be satisfied that he stepped into her world and also her friends would be
satisfied that they had met her fiancée. She hated to admit, but now thinking
about it, it seemed that lying had just made her life difficult than easy as she
had imagined it would. Now she almost dreaded being around her friends
because they asked questions she didn’t want to answer, and after tonight, she
was sure he would too. Maybe telling the truth would have been easier;
anyway, it was too late for that.
“So all this dressing up was for nothing? I thought we were meeting your
friends,” Rich sounded irritated.
Kylie rubbed his back, “They are the closest thing to friends I’ve got. I guess
this shows just how poor I am when it comes to friends,” she cast her eyes
down, hoping he would take the bait.
He sighed deeply and grabbed her hand, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to rub it in.
sometimes I forget that you don’t have many friends.”
She kissed him lightly on the lips as the cab driver announced that they had
arrived to their destination. Rich paid and tipped the driver then opened the car
door for kylie. They rang the doorbell.
“Just follow my lead, okay?” kylie wiped her palms on her dress.
“Relax,” Rich said.
“I’m sorry, it’s just…I need for this to go well,” she wasn’t lying about that.
He kissed her cheek, “I’ll be on my best behaviour.”
The door swung open and they were greeted by an elegantly dressed Deedee,
every inch the perfect hostess in a candy pink dress with a full skirt and an
apron over it.
Kylie and Deedee exchanged hugs and kisses in greeting.
“You must be Rich,” Deedee said, putting her hand out.
He took her hand and shook it, “Yes, ma’am. and you must be Deedee,” when
she nodded he said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Rich handed her a bottle of wine, which had been bought by Kylie for them to
bring as a gift to the hostess.
“Oh, how thoughtful of you. thank you.” She walked with him, “I hope later
we can talk about wines since you’re an expert. I’m clueless.”
Kylie interrupted them, remembering that she had told her friends wild tales
about Rich including the fact that he was a wine connoisseur. “I see the rest of
the girls. I better go introduce Rich.”
“I’ll go and store the wine,” Deedee said before disappearing to the kitchen.
Kylie greeted and introduced Rich to the guests who were mainly Deedee's
friends and acquaintances, and then she led him over to her friends. She
greeted them and then introduced Rich.
“We’re so glad to finally meet you,” Robin said, “We were starting to think
that you were a figment of Kylie’s imagination.”
“Yes and any friend of Kylies is a friend of ours,” Lana said. Kylie wanted to
say he wasn’t a friend, he was her fiancé but then she didn’t want to be petty.
“Thank you,” Rich smiled.
“So, you’re in the car repair business?” Victoria asked, to which Rich nodded.
“What exactly do you do?”
Rich was about to answer when kylie interrupted, “Let’s not talk business.
We’re all here to relax and enjoy a party, right?”
There was a murmur of agreement. Deedee came back and united the whole
group by starting a conversation that everyone was eager to be part of. While
the conversation gained momentum, the doorbell rang and Deedee slipped
away.
A woman came over; kylie assumed she was the one who Deedee had just
gone to open the door to. Kylie frowned, she knew everyone else in the room
except the woman. Maybe she had been a last minute addition like Rich but
she knew that Deedee would have told them. The woman went to stand next to
Rich and smiled, “Hello, I’m Martina Evans, and you are…?” she held out her
hand.
He smiled, “Rich, nice to meet you, Martina. Are you a friend of Deedee’s?”
“Something like that,” she smiled.
Kylie did not like how she seemed to be cosing up to her fiancée and she was
about to interrupt them when Deedee came to the rescue. There seemed to be a
healthy amount of tension between the two women. Kylie wondered what was
going on and intended to find out, but for now she would just count her
blessings.
“We have to make our escape now,” kylie whispered to Rich. Then she went
over to Deedee, rich following behind her. “Unfortunately, we have to go
now.” She spoke so that only Deedee heard.
“So soon? you haven’t even eaten dinner.”
“Yes, like I said, Rich is a businessman and he’s busy, busy, busy.” She
whispered so that Rich couldn’t hear her. she was really pushing it and she
knew it, but as long as she was lying she would do it well.
Deedee addressed Rich, “well, it was lovely to meet you. I hope that next time
we’ll get a chance to talk business, I would love to know your secret to such
success.”
Rich frowned for a moment, but then he smiled and expressed the same
sentiment. Then they said goodbye to the rest of the guests, who were also sad
to see them leave. For kylie, leaving the party was a relief at least she didn’t
have to police Rich to make sure that her cover wasn’t blown.
***
“I hope you’re happy, you ruined my night and that of my guests,” Deedee
snapped, loading plates into the dishwasher.
“Oh, come on Dorothy. That’s no way to talk to an old friend.” Martina sat,
long, tan legs crossed on the island.
“You’re black mailing me. Rest assured, we are not friends.” Deedee narrowed
her eyes.
Martina shrugged, “I need the money. You have a secret. You give me them
money. I keep your secret. Everyone’s happy.” She sipped her wine, “This
wine is so good.”
Deedee snatched the glass out of her hand, “All my guests are gone, you’re
still here and you’re not even a guest. You need to go.”
Martina slid off the island, landing on her black, strappy stilettos, “Fine, just
have my money in a week's time.” She walked to the door and took her red
coat off the coat rack, she turned to Deedee, “That guy, Rich, what can you tell
me about him?”
“I can tell you that he’s off limits so lay off,” Deedee’s hazel eyes flashed.
“You’re cute.” Martina laughed and walked out the door, “Goodnight,
Dorothy.”
The nerve of that girl! She thought angrily.
Deedee slammed the door. She walked back to the kitchen and made herself a
nice cup of hot chocolate. She shook her blonde hair out of the high ponytail
she had worn it in and thought about her situation. She opened the cupboard
and took her favorite mug. She hadn’t enjoyed the night since Martina came,
and that had affected her hosting. She just kept thinking of what would happen
if Martina told her secret. She would probably lose her friends and her career,
the dearest things to her. when she had come to Los Angeles, she had
reinvented herself into a California surfer girl, complete with beach blonde
hair and a tan. Even Sonia had agreed that she needed to change her name
because nobody named their child that anymore. If her parents were still alive
she’d have asked why they’d given her such an uncool name.

CHAPTER THREE

There was a knock at the door. Robin looked at the clock on her bedside table.
It was a Saturday and 08:09 am. Saturdays were her ‘me-time’ day, which
meant that she never woke up before noon, unless she had somewhere to be.
Her weekend last week had been disturbed by Sandra’s wedding and she
didn’t want to give this one up too. She wondered who could possibly be
bothering her at this hour. She groggily got up and put on a floral dressing
gown; she gathered her long dark hair and put it into a high messy bun.
“Who is it?” her normally cheerful voice was irate even to her.
“It’s us,” a group of muffled voices that sounded like her friends’ voices
chorused.
Robin opened the door, and sure enough Victoria, Deedee, kylie and Lana
were at the door carrying some packages and looking sympathetic. “What did
I miss?”
Victoria just grabbed her and hugged her tight, “I’m so sorry.”
“About what?” she asked as the other three followed suit with the hugs.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Lana asked.
“Tell you what?” robin took a seat on her couch. She yawned, she needed to
eat something.
“That you’re dying,” Deedee was nearly in tears.
“What?” robin laughed? She thought she might be still sleepy and therefore
had misheard.
“Peggy Sue told me everything,” Victoria said, “And I’m still mad at you for
telling her first but that can wait.”
Robin slapped her forehead. Stupid, stupid Peggy Sue. She should have known
she would use this story to gloat to Victoria about something she didn’t know
about her very own friend. Victoria and Peggy Sue had a feud since high
school because the latter had stolen the former’s best friend who had told
Peggy Sue some things that she hadn’t told Victoria. Victoria was still a little
sore on that.
Kylie launched herself on robin, “Oh Rob, I’m so sorry. I thought you were in
denial about your weight gain but now I know it’s just your medication.”
“Yeah, we were actually planning an intervention to get you to admit that you
were gaining weight,” Lana said looking sorry, “but now it seems so trivial
with your life hanging in the balance.”
So they thought she was fat, robin thought, it served them right to worry. Why
were people all up in her business about this anyway? But now she knew that
people were only allowed to be fat only when it was related to their health.
“Is it really fatal? Are you going to die?” Deedee asked.
Robin hesitated, “No, I’m not going to die. Peggy Sue exaggerated. It’s not
that serious.” She felt terrible for lying especially about being sick but the
alternative was worse.
“Oh, that’s good news!” Victoria said
“What is the sickness exactly?” Kylie frowned.
Victoria nodded, “Yes, Peggy Sue didn’t tell me.”
Robin rattled of the name of a disease she’d heard from a medical
documentary she had been forced to watch recently when she hadn’t been able
to get up and get the remote control due to all the food that she had been
holding.
“It sounds serious,” Kylie said.
Lana nodded, “So why didn’t you tell us? Why did you tell Peggy sue first?”
“Yes, I thought we were friends,” Deedee’s voice was soft.
“I didn’t want to worry you guys. As for Peggy Sue, she pretty much forced
me to tell her,” robin shrugged a shoulder, “You know how she is.”
“Indeed,” Victoria wasn’t pleased.
“Anyways, when we thought you were dying, we decided to buy gifts.” Kylie
said standing up to open the packages. She took out a pair of pyjamas,
“Luxurious pyjamas to bring you a bit of comfort.”
Lana took out her gift, “A teddy for those times when you need a hug and
none of us are close by to give you one.”
Robin took the adorable, huggable teddy and hugged it, “Oh, how cute.”
“Better than a man, right?” Lana grinned, wiggling her eye brows.
Robin rolled her eyes. Robin was a romantic who couldn’t find time to date
due to her demanding job while Lana chose not to date and seemed to be
against it because of some advice that her aunt had given her. “Get over it,
Lana. Seriously.”
Lana pouted, “What? Aunt Dora was right. Men are nothing but trouble and if
you wish to build a great career, avoid them. If you must have them, use them.
Because they sure will use you.”
“That is the worst advice ever,” Robin said, “Are you still upset about that
whole fiasco with Phil?” Phil was a guy Lana had gone on a few dates with
when she had started working at Catherine Stone Interiors and she had been so
excited about him. he was ambitious and didn’t mind that she was except she
found out that he was married. he claimed he was separated…as if that would
help the situation.
Lana stuck her tongue out at Robin.
“It’s good to know that some things don’t change,” Victoria commented,
“here’s my gift, a month’s worth of dinner’s from Fern’s home cooked meals
to make sure you’re well fed.”
Fern’s home cooked meals was a company run by one of their acquaintances,
that made homemade favourites and delivered them but robin knew that
getting their service was quite difficult because they only served a few clients.
Their focus was on quality of food and not quantity of clients, “How did you
get this?”
“I pulled some major strings. Let’s just say I owe Fern a whole lot.” Victoria
said “But since you aren’t dying, maybe I should just keep this.”
All four women threw a cushion at Victoria causing her to burst into giggles.
“And I got you this book to inspire you even on your lowest days. It has
healing testimonies and affirmations; it even has a place to journal your
thoughts. Cool, right?” Deedee said
Robin open her arms for a group hug, “Thank you all so much. But next time,
don’t wait until you hear I’m dying to be this nice, okay?”
“So ungrateful,” Kylie shook her head.
“So you’re sure you’re not seriously ill?” Deedee asked
“Positive. But I am taking medication.” Robin said.
“Okay, good.” Deedee hugged Robin.
“What’s that?” robin pointed to an unopened bag.
“That, my friend, is breakfast.” Victoria said taking the bag.
“You just sit back and relax while we work,” Deedee said.
“Well, since y’all have got that under control, I’ll just sit here and keep robin
company,” Lana stretched out on the sofa, hands behind her head. She disliked
any kind off housework or rather she was useless at it.
The cloth and apron flew from the direction of kitchen hit her face and she
caught the whisk right before it hit her in the stomach. The message the three
women were sending was pretty clear to Lana.
***
Lana massaged her temples. The headache had come on her hard but not
unexpectedly. The client she had just consulted with was, for lack of a better
word, a headache. She had been quite difficult and set in her ways, even when
it was clear they wouldn’t work. She didn’t know how many times she had
wanted to scream and tell Mrs Marcille that she was just an interior designer
and not a miracle worker.
“Knock, knock.” Gertie stood at the door, a knuckle braced on the door, she
looked elegant as always in navy blue A-line dress and zebra print heels. “May
I come in?”
Lana smile, wondering what this was about. As far as she remembered, there
wasn’t a day when Gertie had ever gone out of her way to talk to her let alone
pay her a visit. “Sure, have a sit.”
Gertie crossed her legs and fixed her skirt, “How’s the job going?”
“Very well, thank you.” Lana smiled, “May I help you with anything?”
Gertie nodded, “Hmm…well, I’ve always been curious about you.”
Lana frowned, “Why?”
“You don’t’ fit in here and yet here you are.” Gertie said in a matter-of-fact
manner, “So, I decided to do a little digging. Does the name Rochelle School
of Design ring a bell?”
Lana’s heart slammed into her chest, she couldn’t have found out, could she?
She decided to play it cool, “Of course, it’s where I studied interior design.”
Gertie laughed, “So it’s true, then, that fibbers stick to their story, even when
they’ve been caught.”
“And it would appear that you’re a sore loser,” Lana smiled.
She scoffed, “I never lose, especially not to a nobody like you.” Gertie’s
countenance became serious and she leaned forward, her elbow on her knee,
“I’m not the one, dear girl, who padded her resume. And how nobody ever
followed up on you, I’ll never know.”
“And let me guess, you decided to do them a favor, right?” when Lana had
come to Los Angeles she had known that chances of her being hired were slim
because she hadn’t had a formal education. Her parents had delivered the
heart-breaking news that they just could not afford to take her to college. they
were still raising her four brothers and sisters who were all younger than her;
in fact the boy who came after her was ten years younger than her. the simple
solution had been to lie on her resume, in her defence she hadn’t really
thought they would follow up. “How?”
“I did a little digging and imagine my surprise when I happened upon your file
and found out that not only didn’t it contain a copy of your qualification but
also that only your Mrs Baxter had been called for verification. So I called
Rochelle and apparently, you’re not on their database.” Gertie looked smug.
“The problem with you country girls is that you just aren’t as savvy as city
girls. See I would have never made such a foolish mistake.”
Lana smiled, “And yet a country girl with no professional qualification beat
you for a job that you are qualified for.”
Gertie’s faced morphed into something downright evil right there. And now
Lana could see her for what she truly was.
“So, let’s cut to the chase. what do you want from me?” Lana already knew
but she would give Gertie the benefit of the doubt, just like her mammy said
she should.
“It’s simple; you will step down and recommend me,”
“And if I don’t cooperate?” Lana challenged. She couldn’t just pull out, she
was on probation but then she also knew that most likely Gertie didn’t care
about that.
“I know you aren’t that stupid but I’ll humor you.” Gertie laughed, “I’ll
expose you. Not only will you be fired but you’ll never work anywhere in the
state of California.” She stood up, “You have three days to do this.” And with
that she sashayed out the door.
Lana sighed and keened back on her chair. What had she done and how would
she fix it?
***
Kylie sighed with pleasure as she sunk her feet into a stunning pair of heels.
Electric blue with a gold zip detailing at the back, suede, pointy toe with a
platform and five inches of heaven. She had to have them. She stood up and
walked around in them and felt ten feet tall. And she knew in that instant that
that was why God made high heels. She wondered briefly if Heaven’s streets
of gold were ever graced by a fabulous pair of heels.
“Kylie?” the person interrupting her thoughts sounded unsure.
She turned around and then smiled, “Sean, hi.”
“Fancy meeting you here,” he said somewhat grimly.
“I know, right?” kylie smiled brightly, “I never knew men needed retail
therapy.” She nodded at the tan, leather shoes he was carrying.
“Is that what it is?” Sean lowered his voice, “I hope you’re not taking
advantage of my wife’s kindness and mooching money off her to buy shoes.”
Kylie’s face heated up and she was about to let it rip on Sean when someone
called him.
He gave her a hard stare, his jaw twitching, “I have to go but we will continue
this conversation.”
Just what the in the heck had Victoria told her husband about her?
***
“Why does Sean think I’m mooching money off of you?” kylie had just
walked into the restaurant and hadn’t bothered to sit down. Her face was
flushed and stony.
“What are you talking about?” Victoria said looking up from the menu.
“Don’t waste my time. You know exactly what I’m talking about.” Kylie said
she told Victoria about the confrontation Sean, “So what the heck is going
on?”
Victoria’s eyes widened as she realized that her lies had caught up with her.
Robin, Deedee and Lana walked over to them, they had been smiling but now
they sensed the tension.
“What’s going on?”
“Please, sit down and I’ll tell you,” Victoria gestured to the chairs. They
obliged, even Kylie.
She told them the whole story. “You have to believe me when I say that I
didn’t think I would get caught.”
“Nobody ever does,” Lana said, and Robin elbowed her.
“Well, then. You know what to do. You go and tell your husband that you’ve
been lying to him and clear my name,” Kylie said and then she stood, “I have
to go.”
“I can’t. I could lose him,” Victoria said after Kylie left, “You understand,
don’t you?”
Robin hugged her, “Of course we do.”
Lana and Deedee joined the hug.
“Maybe I can convince Kylie to cover for me once she’s cooled off,” Victoria
said weakly.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right, Vicky,” Lana said
“Yes, and what about Kylie? Your husband thinks she’s a leech.” Robin added.
Deedee nodded, “And your husband doesn’t need for you to keep telling him
more lies. Come clean and live free.”
“Fine, I get it!” Victoria held her hands up.
It was easy for them to say. They had nothing to lose but then again, she had
made her bed and now she had to lay in it.

CHAPTER FOUR

“Remember after I had Rani and I asked you to have my stomach stapled?”
Victoria wringed her fingers under her husband’s watchful stare. She could see
that he could sense that something was wrong given Deedee’s presence.
He nodded, “Is that what this is about? Because the answer is still no. I
thought you were over this,”
“No, no. just listen and don’t say anything until I finish.” She breathed in,
“Even after you reassured me, I continued to feel insecure about my stomach;
it just never was the same after I had Rani. Then I started saving a little of my
allowance over the years but I made little progress. Your sister approached me
after her husband was fired, she needed some money for rent, remember?” he
nodded then she continued, “then you gave me money to give them. So I
hatched a plan. I still felt ugly because of my stomach and I became obsessed
with having it stapled. I hadn’t worn a bikini in years and no matter how may
crunches I did, my tummy refused to tighten. I told you that Kylie had lost her
job and needed financial help. I lied.” The tears poured down Victoria’s cheeks
as her husband’s face hardened, “I used that money to finally get my stomach
tightened.”
“When?” his voice was so low she almost missed it.
Victoria dabbed her eyes with the Kleenex Deedee gave her, “When you went
to New York and when you came back, I lied about being on my period too so
that I could recover from the procedure.”
Sean turned his back to her and he was quiet for a long time.
“Say something…please,” Victoria stood up, she wanted to embrace him and
tell him she was sorry but then he turned and pinned her with his stare.
“I hope it was worth it,” he walked past her.
She followed him, “No, Sean. Please don’t go. Let’s talk about this.” She
grabbed his arm which he jerked out of her grasp. He opened the door and
slammed it in her face. She slid down the length of the door and cried. What in
the world would she do?
***
Kylie slammed the door to her apartment. She was absolutely furious. How
could Victoria, who was her friend, lie about her like that?
The same way you lied about them to Rich, the voice in her head answered.
“I am not in the mood to entertain you, believe me” kylie dropped her purse on
a chair and wrestled her blazer off.
“I certainly hope not, not when I’ve gone out of my way to come and see
you,” she nearly passed out thinking that was still the voice in her head only to
figure out that it sounded strangely like her mother’s voice.
“Mom!” Kylie whirled around, hand clutched to her chest to find her mother
seated, bronze legs crossed on her couch. Kylie realized that the hand on her
chest was her left so she slipped it behind her and took off the ring, dropping it
in the bag with the shoes.
Tracey Caldwell uncrossed her legs and placed the Glamour magazine she was
reading on the coffee table. She stood up to hug and kiss her daughter,
“You’ve been avoiding me, so I decided to pay you a visit.”
It was true but kylie wasn’t about to admit it, “I’m not, I’ve just been busy.”
The truth was she was caught up in the whole Rich drama, she didn’t even
know how to tell her parents that she was engaged.
Tracey settled her motherly gaze on her daughter, “Kylie, you’re my daughter.
I know you like the back of my hand and I know when you’re avoiding me.”
“How did you get in, anyways?” Kylie didn’t like where the conversation was
going.
“And I also know when you’re changing the subject, but I’ll play along just
for fun. Call it the director in me.” Tracey smiled, taking a seat yet again. “You
left your extra key at our house the last time you were there.”
Kylie had always admired the way her mother could be calm even in the midst
of not-so-calm circumstances, like she was right now.
Tracey continued, “Your father sends his regards. He would have preferred to
come but he’s schedule is a bit tight these days.”
Kylie smiled, “I really should come and visit more often. I miss dad, I missed
both of you.”
“You always were a daddy’s girl,” Tracey said softly.
“True, but I’m also a momma’s girl.” Kylie argued, she sat down rather
ungracefully and unhooked one her nude pumps.
“Debatable. I brought some groceries, thought we cook dinner together,”
Tracey stood up and started walking towards the kitchen. Kylie’s apartment
was open plan so she could still see her mother. “How about it, kiddo?”
There was a knock on the door.
“Hold that thought,” kylie stood up and hobbled towards the door before
taking the other heel off her foot. She swung the door open.
“Rich! What are you doing here?” was her surprised response to his presence.
“I need to talk to you,” was his grim response, “Can I come in for a minute?”
Kylie hesitated and attempted to close the door a bit.
“Do you have company?” Rich pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Yes, actually.” She needed to buy sometime so that she could think about
how she could get out of her predicament. “What is it that you want to talk to
me about?”
He released a breath, “Okay, you want to talk about it out here? Fine! I’m tired
of you stringing me along anyway.”
“What are you talking-?”
“That girl, Martina something? She came looking for me at work. Imagine her
surprise when she found out that I’m just a lowly mechanic and not the owner
of a chain of car repair businesses across America,” he was trying hard not to
yell at her.
Kylie’s throat dried, “Rich, it’s not what you think. It’s just that those people-”
“Oh, and imagine my surprise when she told me that ‘those people’ are
actually your friends.” Rich put his hands on his hips and shook his head, “So,
what else have you been lying about, huh? Is this apartment really paid for by
your company? Are your parents really in Italy on holiday?”
“I know that one of her parents most definitely isn’t in Italy,” Tracey appeared
at the door and put her hand out to Rich, “I always taught Kylie to tell the truth
but you know kids. Tracey Caldwell, her mother and you are?”
Rich looked at his greased hand and attempted to wipe it on his jeans before
taking Tracey’s delicate one, “Rich Taylor, her fiancé.” He saw Tracey’s
shocked facial expression and then his eyes fell on her ring finger. He gave her
a hard stare, “But maybe you didn’t know that,” his eyes didn’t leave hers.
“Oh, dear,” Tracey said, “Maybe I should leave you kids to talk. It was nice to
meet you Rich, hopefully we’ll meet again.”
Rich’s eyes left Kylie’s then and with a sad voice said, “I doubt it, ma’am.”
Tracey’s eyes widened, meeting her daughter’s own wide-eyed stare before
disappearing inside and shutting the door.
“Rich, I can explain. I-I just-” she started.
“You just what?” he bellowed.
“I can’t think when you’re yelling at me,” Kylie wailed.
He calmed down, “Okay, explain.”
She wringed he hands, “When we met I just didn’t want you to think I was
high maintenance so I pretended not to be rich.”
“Well, you must think I’m really dumb, huh?” he scoffed, “You wear
Louboutins, do your hair at that expensive place and you had never travelled
economy class until we went to my folks.”
Kylie bit her lip. Maybe she hadn’t given him enough credit.
“Okay, why did you lie to your friends and why did you lie about your
parents?”
“I’ve never dated a guy who wasn’t from the same social circles that I am part
of, and my friends had expectations and I felt I needed to meet them,” she
shrugged, “As for my parents, I thought they’d be disappointed too.”
“So, you were embarrassed of me because I’m not rich enough.” he stated it
“Was any of it real? Or was it all just a game to you? No, don’t answer. We’re
through.” With that he walked away, not even looking back when she called
out to him. she would have chased him if she wasn’t so shocked that he had
indeed just walked out of her life.
***
“Before you go, Dr kapoor. How is Robin doing?” Lana asked as the woman
stood up. They had just wrapped up their consultation.
Sandra Kapoor-Naidoo hooked her purse on her elbow and frowned, “How do
you mean? I haven’t seen Robin in months, save for my wedding.”
Lana was taken aback, “She hasn’t come to you for any illness?”
“No, she’s in perfect health as far as I know. Is something wrong?” Dr Kapoor
pressed.
Lana gave an awkward laugh, she did feel stupid anyhow for believing
Robin’s wild tales, “I must have misheard her, sorry.”
Dr Kapoor smiled and nodded, “Well, I better go. See you next Monday.”
Lana felt her skin heat up; she had suspected that Robin hadn’t been
completely truthful after she had told them that she was due for an injection
yesterday at lunch time. Only today when Lana had called her secretary, she
had told her that robin had been in the office all day, and not only yesterday
but the whole week. Apparently, the secretary had no clue that robin was sick
either and that in itself was strange. She had decided that she would ask Dr
kapoor some questions and now she had her answer. Robin was lying. She
texted the others to inform them and the four of them decided to confront her.
***
The phone call that she received on a Thursday afternoon from her cousin,
Sunny Lee, was a welcome relief for robin. She had been buried neck-deep in
work all day. As usual, she had deadlines to meet and she had additional stress
in keeping up with her little lie. Ever since she had started that, she had been
more burdened than usual. Keeping secrets from those close to her turned out
to be way too much work; she didn’t know how people hid affairs. The lie had
made her world so small.
“Of course, I’ll be your bridesmaid,” Robin was saying to her cousin who had
just told her of her engagement and proceeded to ask her to be her bridesmaid.
her secretary, Rhea Macready walked in suddenly and started doing weird sign
language. Robin covered the mouth piece on the phone and mouthed a ‘what’
to her.
rhea explained, “I tried to call but of course, you’re engaged. Miss Caldwell,
Mrs Khan, Miss Lopez and Miss Dunn are outside and they want to see you
immediately. I tried to tell them that you were busy but they won’t hear of it.”
Robin sighed, “Let them in.”
“Sorry about that. You were saying?” robin said in the Korean language.
“I wanted to know what size to order for your dress,” Sunny said in the same
language.
The words slid off her tongue, “Size four, of course.”
The four women entered her office, looking quite sour robin thought. Kylie
and Lana sat on the two chairs and Victoria and Deedee stood behind them.
“I don’t know how you do it; you’ve maintained your high school figure.
Everyone I know, myself included is a bit bigger,” sunny said obviously
envious, “How do you do it? It would be nice to lose a bit of weight before my
wedding.”
“I’ll tell you some other time. Some people just walked into my office, I have
to go.” They said their goodbyes and then she hung up.
Robin smiled at her friends, “To what do I owe this visit?”
“How did your appointment with Dr Kapoor go yesterday?” Deedee asked
with a strained smile.
Robin smiled, “It went well. I’m getting better all the time.”
“Really?” Lana’s face was grave, “Because she swears she hasn’t seen you in
months.”
Robin laughed, “Did I say Dr kapoor? I meant another doctor.”
“Don’t lie to us Robin,” Victoria snapped.
Robin lifted her hands up in surrender, “Okay, okay fine. I lied and I’m sorry.”
“How could you lie about something like that? We were so concerned about
you,” Kylie said.
“Do you know how guilty we felt about neglecting you?” Lana asked
“Oh, and I also did a bit of research and it turns out your illness is a disease
found in cattle.” Deedee said.
“Yes, I lied and I’m sorry. I’m a terrible person,” robin sighed, she was glad
they had found out it felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. “I
didn’t mean to lie. I met Peggy Sue at the bakery and she made a comment
about my weight and it just came out. I didn’t know that she was going to tell
you. I just wanted her to shut up.”
“Why didn’t you tell us that morning?” Victoria asked.
Robin shrugged, “You guys have never come to my house before then and you
had never been as kind and caring towards me as you were that day. I guess I
just wanted to enjoy it a bit.”
“Boy, this is a bigger issue than I thought.” Deedee said, “First Victoria, then
Kylie and now you.”
Robin gave her a blank stare, “What?”
“Lying.” Deedee said, then she informed her about Kylie’s lies which had led
to her breakup.
“Oh, Kylie. I’m so sorry,” Robin hugged her, “And I liked Rich, regardless.”
Kylie shrugged, “Wish I’d known sooner.”
“You know, so many other women deal with having to lie or omit information
for one reason or the other.” Deedee said, “Would you girls be willing to talk
about it on my show?”
“I don’t know about that,” Victoria shook her head.
“I’ll think about it,” robin said.
“And I’ll just pass.” Kylie said.
“I’m with Kylie, besides I haven’t lied about anything.”
***
Lana wiped her palms on her polka dot pencil skirt; she had been attempting to
be more feminine. It seemed to her that every time she was in this office, she
was nervous but this time it was for an entirely different reason.
“What was so urgent that it couldn’t wait, Miss Lopez?” Catherine wasn’t too
pleased.
Lana let out a breath, “There’s something I need to tell you and unfortunately,
I can’t delay much further. I never actually attended Rochelle School of
Design, I lied on my resume.”
There was silence for a long minute, “Surely, you know what that means,
don’t you?”
Lana nodded; in fact she was counting on it. She had decided that getting fired
would give her the opportunity to explore her passions. She had some money
saved up for the next few months but beyond that she didn’t know. She was
sad that she would have to tell her parents that she wouldn’t be able to send
them money for a few months but it was worth it to have a clear conscience.
“I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to deceive you; I just really needed the job at
that time.”
“What has changed now? Did you suddenly come into wealth? Marry a
millionaire?” Catherine’s previously sarcastic facial expression sobered,
“someone’s black mailing you.” It was a statement.
“I’ll clear out my office.” Lana stood up.
“It’s Gertrude, isn’t it?” Catherine was smug as the realization dawned on her,
“Well, my chance has finally come to be rid of the girl and it’s all thanks to
you. I hate liars but because you’ve freed me, I will return the favor. I will not
report you to the authorities and I’ll get rid of your old resume. You can hand
me the truthful one on your way out and we’ll be even. Good day, miss
Lopez.”
“Thank you so much, president stone,” and then she dashed out before the
woman changed her mind. She had been given a second chance and she would
make it count.
***
“I have a confession to make,” Deedee looked at her four friends. She had
called them to her house for lunch and the confession. Deedee could see
everyone perk up. She hoped that this wouldn’t mean rejection and the loss of
a beautiful friendship. “I lied to you girls. My name is not Deedee; my real
name is Dorothy Dunn. I hate my real name so I decided to use Deedee since
my name and surname start with the letter ‘d’. I’m not a born and bred
California surfer girl. I’m originally from Iowa.”
“Oh, dear lord. No more lies please,” Lana groaned. “I can’t believe the people
I consider friends could lie to me like this.”
“Well, Lana, haven’t you told a lie that you felt was necessary in your life?”
Stacy Ulrich’s voice was gentle and her eyes kind. According to Deedee she
was there to bring some wisdom.
“I seem to remember you confessing that you lied on your resume actually,
isn’t that right Mother Theresa?” Victoria said.
Lana’s face reddened, “Okay, I did. But my lie wasn’t that bad.”
Stacy spoke, “I find it interesting that you would say that because even though
you didn’t lie to your friends, you did lie to your boss.”
“It’s not the same,” Lana defended
“How do you figure?” Stacy asked and when Lana was stumped, continued,
“It would appear to me that Lana is a victim of perhaps the worst type of lie-
lying to one’s self. You’re self-deceived because you think that somehow you
were justified in doing what you did but they aren’t. Am I right?” Stacy gave a
reassuring smile.
Lana nodded somewhat grudgingly.
So Stacy continued, “You see I’ve found that people judge themselves based
on their intentions which are always good but they judge others based on their
actions. Lana, why did you lie on your resume?”
“Because I wouldn’t have gotten the job if I hadn’t and I was in a desperate
situation.” Lana said.
“I think you’ll find that every one of these women were, just like you,
desperate when they lied…like you, they felt like they had no choice. So we’ll
start over here with Victoria and work our way down.” Stacy turned to
Victoria with an encouraging smile, “Why did you lie to your husband?”
Victoria looked at her folded hands, “I had a child five years ago and my body
was never the same again. I had this saggy layer of skin that refused to
disappear no matter how many Pilates classes I took. I was insecure, I refused
to be naked in front of my husband and I haven’t worn a bikini in five years.
My body image was shambles and I just wanted to like what I saw in the
mirror again.”
Stacy moved her gaze to Kylie.
“I lied because I was afraid my friends wouldn’t see what I saw in Rich if I
told them the truth, and I lied to him because I didn’t want him to feel
threatened by my friends and I.” she continued, “I also thought my parents
would disapprove of him and I just wanted to protect him from that.”
Stacy asked Robin.
“I’ve always been the tall, skinny one, that was my identity and now it was
changing to the tall, fat one. Most Asian girls are tiny compared to girls of
other races and weight gain felt like failure. I figured making excuses was
better than admitting that I had failed.”
And finally her gaze settled on Deedee.
“I was afraid I wouldn’t be liked as much as the California girls and that I
would have to work twice as hard to prove that a farm girl from Iowa could be
just as fun as a California girl.”
Throughout this time, Stacy had been taking notes, “So from what you have
said I have concluded that Lana lied because she needed a job and she had no
choice, Victoria was insecure and also had no choice, kylie wanted to protect
her boyfriend and was afraid of being rejected by her friends, Robin was afraid
of admitting failure and being judged for it, and Deedee was afraid of being
rejected.” She put the notepad down, “People lie because they are afraid. All
your reasons for lying are understandable and the motivations came from a
good place. Now, I don’t agree with the way you went about it but I
understand, and that whole exercise was done to make each of you understand
each other.”
She continued, “From all this, I think it’s safe to summarise that though you
spend a lot of time together, you don’t have much in the way of friendship
because the masks haven’t come off yet. You all need to be confident enough
in your friendship to be honest and real with one another. Tell the truth in love.
One more exercise before we go, I want each of you to choose one person in
the group and confess to a white lie you have told in the past. We’ll start with
Deedee.”
Deedee faced Lana, “Tyler didn’t get back together with his ex. I didn’t want
to hurt your feelings then but he said you were a little bossy.”
“Try a lot. You told him what to order.” Robin said.
“And it coincides with what Phil would order.” Victoria said.
When she saw Lana’s facial expression, kylie said, “Yes, she told us.”
“So you guys talk about me? “Lana was shocked.
“Of course, all the time.” Deedee laughed, when Lana gave her a murderous
look, she added, “But mostly good things.”
Lana faced Robin, “Remember the last piece of chicken quiche at Tara’s
dinner party that you were supposed to take home?”
Robin nodded, “Tara’s dog ate it. The wrapper was in his basket.”
Lana shook her head, “I ate it in the bathroom and planted the foil. I’m sorry.”
Robin looked at Kylie, “I hate your cherry surprise cake.”
“You said it was your favorite cake ever!” but robin only shrugged and
muttered a ‘sorry’. Kylie exhaled and faced Victoria, “I lied about your brown,
vintage dress. The color looks terrible on you. In fact, these three thought you
looked sick on the day you wore it.”
“Couldn’t you have told me sooner? I wore it to Bailey’s wedding and pictures
are forever!” Victoria was upset. “Deedee, I’m the one who let slip to Dolly
that you dated her ex-boyfriend. I’m sorry.”
“What? She nearly killed me for that one and all we did was hold hands.”
Deedee said.
“Didn’t that feel great? Honesty allows for greater intimacy. Okay, ladies,
have we learned our lesson?” Stacy asked with her trademark smile.
There was a unanimous, “Yes.”
“Do we forgive each other for the white lies and the green lies?” Stacy asked.
There were some noncommittal sounds from the women. “Well, I won’t force
you to,” there was a collective sigh of relief around the room, “But forgiveness
frees you from further emotional pain and allows you to move on, without it,
you’ll forever be stuck in the past, allowing all that bitterness to fester,
trapping you in a prison.”
The groan, again, was collective with Kylie saying, “I knew it was too good to
be true.”
Stacy stood up, a big smile on her face, “Go on, give each other a hug. It’s
healing.”
All five women stood up and hugged and they promised each other not to lie
to each other again.
“If you do a show, I think it would be a hit,” Stacy said
Deedee nodded, “I think so too. What do you say?”
“I say let’s do it.” Kylie said and the other women agreed.
“Well,” Stacy said more to herself than anyone else, turning to put her
notebook and pen in her purse, “I believe my work here is done. I’ll see you
on the show.”
***
“Well, do you have my money?” Martina swung on the Deedee’s office chair.
“how did you get in my house?” Deedee crossed her arms. She hoped Martina
hadn’t broken into her house.
“I told your helper I was an old friend from Iowa.” She stopped swinging and
crossed her legs, “do you have my money?”
“No.”
Martina laughed, “It sounded like you said ‘no’.”
“I did, you won’t get a penny.” Deedee smiled triumphantly.
Martina stood up and took her purse, “well, you know what this means don’t
you? I’m selling your story to the papers.”
Deedee laughed, “you always were kind of slow. I confessed everything today
on my radio show. I guess those people you owe will come after you, after
all.”
Martina stood with her mouth wide open in disbelief.
“that’s for ruining kylie’s relationship,” Deedee pushed past her, “and shut the
door on your way out.”
***
“Can I take your order ladies?” Lana stood with a notebook and pen. She was
dressed in a black dress with a pink apron draped over it.
“Good to see you wearing a dress, looking good.” robin smiled, “So, how’s
your first day at work?”
Lana took a seat, “Great, I’m glad I have enough time to explore my passions.
So, how did things go for all of you?” on Deedee’s show, Stacy, who they
found out was a counsellor, had suggested that they make amends. “And hurry
up; I only have a five minute chat break.”
“They have chat breaks here?” Kylie raised an eyebrow.
Lana shrugged, “I can’t help it if my manager likes me. Well? How did it go?”
“My husband was very upset, not only was I lying to him but also teaching our
daughter to lie,” Victoria said, “We talked for a long, long time. The good
news is that he forgave me; the bad news is he’s really lost his faith in me. I
don’t blame him, though. So we’re going to counselling at church and I’ve
agreed to try for another baby after we sort things out.”
Robin squeezed her hand, “That’s great news, Vic. So, the tummy tuck?”
“Was a waste because I’m still going to have more babies but at least I enjoyed
it for a while. Plus, my husband said he didn’t know I felt that strongly about
my tummy. So maybe after I’m done having kids, he’ll pay for it.” Victoria
said with a twinkle in her eyes.
Lana nodded, “Good for you. Don’t be mad at me, but are you changing your
stance on having another baby just to appease him?”
Kylie rolled her eyes, “Not the feminist thing again. There is nothing wrong
with her wanting to please her husband.”
“Yes, and love sometimes means sacrifice.” Robin said.
Victoria smiled, “I actually want another child. Call it a change of heart but
after the whole thing, I decided that I’m aging anyway. I’ll do what I can to
slow it down, but I won’t let it stop me from living. It can’t be avoided, looks
are temporal but kids and family, that’s forever.”
“That’s great, Vic. And very commendable, my mom was the same way and
thank God for that.” Lana squeezed Victoria’s hand.
“I think I’m about to pass out. Surely, I’m hallucinating.” Robin fanned
herself.
Lana smacked her hand, “Shut up,”
“Life certainly is full of surprises, Lana supporting the traditional female
role.” Deedee marvelled, taking the last seat, “Sorry I’m late girls, I got
delayed in a meeting. Apparently, after my confession on the show we did, my
radio show’s ratings have doubled and now my show’s going national.”
Deedee practically squealed, the other four women joining in her excitement
and congratulating her. “The listeners loved you guys and the show we did
help a lot of women. The response was so positive that my bosses and I would
love to have you do another show with me.”
There was a murmur of agreement as the women expressed that they had fun
and were glad that it helped a lot of women. They also agreed to do another
show.
“What about you, Kylie?” robin faced her friend.
“The good news is, my parents are totally fine with me being with Rich, so
long as he loves me. the bad news? Rich told me he forgives me but he just
cannot be in a relationship with me. He asked to be transferred to Florida. ”
Kylie said. The women consoled her, or tried to, “I’ll be fine, at least I won’t
pretend with the next guy and I have a story to tell my kids.”
“That’s the spirit,” Robin high-fived her.
“And you, Miss Robin?” Victoria said, “You’re glowing, what gives?”
Robin smiled, “I’m in counselling at church for the bulimia and the
surrounding issues. And I actually found out that I’m normal weight for my
height, so I decided to embrace rather than fight. I shopped for a whole new
wardrobe. I’m also working on managing my stressful job, learning to
prioritize rest, cooking at home more and taking care of myself.”
Deedee squeezed her hand, “Good for you,”
“Hey, what happened to Martina?” robin asked.
“probably long gone from here,” Deedee said and then told them the story.
“poor thing,” kylie said.
“Poor thing? You feel sorry for her?” Victoria sounded unconvinced.
Kylie shrugged, “Well, I’m feeling more compassionate after realizing how we
humans behave especially when backed into a corner.”
“Agreed,” Lana said.
Deedee raised her water glass, “Well, ladies, here’s to a bright future ahead of
us.”
“To new beginnings,” Victoria said
Lana added, “To discovering passion,”
“To freedom,” robin also raised her glass.
“And to friendship. May it never end.” Kylie smiled.
THE END.

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