There is no such thing as too many clothes, shoes or accessories. They are what I live for besides Steven and being famous. Sarah and I were walking down Rodeo Drive with a couple of bags apiece already and the shopping excursion had just begun. To have money is a thrill of a lifetime and I never want to go back to not having it. Growing up I never needed for anything but I sure did want for a lot that we couldn�t afford. My father was a city bus driver and my mother an elementary school teacher so there were no expensive clothes and the latest toys for me. Even after my modeling career started at the age of eight my parents put the money away for college. Once I was able to get away from them and begin to make more money than I knew existed I was hooked on what money could get you in life, and not just tangible things. I never want to go back to a life where someone doesn�t give me a twenty thousand dollar dress because it looks good on me or send me a diamond bracelet because since I started modeling their clothes their sales numbers went up. And if all failed and it wasn�t given to me I could by it myself without even considering the price. If someone couldn�t do the same I had no use for them. That�s why I didn�t want to marry another model. Undoubtedly my financial worth would be greater than theirs. Male models make ten times less than their female counterpart and I�m not going to be the bigger bread maker in any relationship I�m in. That�s something young girls don�t know, you don�t marry the stars, you marry the men behind the stars; they�re the ones with the big bank accounts.
�Here we go.� I looked up to see we were at Bijan. It had to be the most expensive store in the country; no doubt it was the most expensive in the city.
�Did you make an appointment?� She smiled and nodded,
�Of course. What am I? Some hick off the turnip truck? I know how this works doll.� Bijan was so exclusive and so expensive you had to make an appointment to shop there. We�re talking about a place where you could spend $125 on a pair of socks. This is why I didn�t own a pair of jeans. If I tried to enter any of the boutiques I liked to patronize they would call the cops on me. You have to be dressed up just to shop; you have to look like you have money. Jennifer Love Hewitt was almost thrown out of Valentino because she was dressed too casual.
�What do you need out of here? Whom are you shopping for?� She smiled,
�My uncle. His birthday is coming up.� I nodded; I might as well find something for Steven while I was in here. The store clerk buzzed us in and smiled,
�Sarah Lockeby.� She looked over at me,
�And Brehan Locke, so very nice to have you both here. Come right in. Could I get you anything? Pellegrino? Maybe a little chardonnay?� I shook my head as I walked off,
�I�ll let you know.� Ass kissing was unbelievable on Rodeo Drive but if you spend a few thousands on three items the least they could do is put on some knees pads. Walking around the store looking at all the clothes made me more anxious than ever to marry Steven. Buying my husband clothes and gifts, I couldn�t wait. Sarah walked over to me with a Pellegrino in her hand and smiled,
�Steven?� I nodded,
�Yeah. You like this suit.� It was a dark navy blue suit with pinstripes. She nodded,
�It looks fabulous and rich.� I laughed,
�And sexy.� I couldn�t wait to see him in so I could get him out of it. He was back in New York and I couldn�t wait for this week to be over so I could get back to him now that everything, including that misunderstanding with the watch, was over and taken care of for good.
Sarah bought her uncle the suit she wanted him to wear to his birthday party, another suit just because, shoes, and shirts by the time she threw in a few things for her brother she had spent $100,000 dollars. I was much more frugal and after buying Steven a suit, tie, shirt and a pair of shoes my total came out to a paltry $28,782.29. We headed back to her car and we threw the bags in the back seat with our other evidence of the high life. Of course, the first thing we both did was look in the mirror as we hopped in her Bentley and we were off.
�Do you have your dress for the gala?� I shook my head,
�No, I meet with the designer tomorrow.� Sarah�s mother, Paige Stoakley, is a former model and breast cancer survivor. The Stoakley Foundation was founded to raise money for breast cancer awareness and research. I adore Paige and when Sarah asked me to emcee the bachelor and bachelorette auction I didn�t hesitate to accept.
�Is that before or after we hit the day spa?� Sarah and I always went to the spa together. It was just a thing we did,
�Before�but after I do the photoshoot for W magazine. Are you doing anything while I�m here?� She frowned at me,
�Besides the charity event that has taken over my life for the last three months? No, just interviews and stuff.� I laughed,
�Didn�t mean to make light of your efforts.� She nodded,
�I know. So, tell me about this guy. What�s his name again?� I pulled out my cell phone as I answered her,
�Nick.� As I dialed his number I remembered he called and left a message that I never did get around to returning. Guess karma was kicking in and that�s why I�m getting his voice mail now. Whatever, I�m not leaving a message. I�ll see him tomorrow anyway,
�They have a concert, we can stop by before they start.� She pulled into a grocery store parking lot,
�Where are we going?� She smiled,
�I�m going to run in and get a magazine. I want to see him beforehand. If I don�t like what I see I�m not going with you to hang out with him.� I can�t believe she doubts me,
�Hello, I wouldn�t hook you up with a dog Sare. I�m beginning to take your lack of faith in my choice in men personal.� She rolled her eyes and closed the door as she made her way into the door. I flipped the radio and settled on Don Henley�s Boys of Summer. As I sat back with my eyes closed I couldn�t help but think more and more than Sarah and Nick would be cute together. She was successful, young, 20 like me, and absolutely gorgeous. Nick was going to thank me when he saw her.
My eyes opened when I heard the door open and I looked over at her as she pulled out what had to be like ten magazines,
�What the hell?� She laughed,
�I didn�t know what magazines they were going to be in so I got a lot of them.� She threw them in my lap as she named them,
�People, US, Entertainment Weekly, In Touch, Bop, Teen Beat, J-14, Popstars. They have to be in one of these.� I nodded and flipped through one of the kid magazines with Britney, O-Town, NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys on the cover. I didn�t like the picture of him on the cover so I opened it up to a picture of them while they were standing outside with Matt Lauer. Nick was looking really good,
�Here he is.� She smiled and nodded,
�He does look like a kid Brehan but I can work with that.� I nodded my head and smirked,
�I bet you can.�
Chapter 62
Stranger Than Fiction
Stories
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