“What, you’re already sleeping? Fuck that.” Vivi laughed and rolled over, getting out of bed. Her companion, Simon, was pretending to snore with his arm draped over his eyes. He was playing hooky, skipping his sex rehab therapy session only to fuel his addiction with Vivi. She could hear his cell phone ringing non-stop. She bent over, picking up the pair of pants that were playing the theme song from his old TV show.
“Wait, bend over again…” Simon said, peeking out from under his arm. Vivi threw the pants at him, listening for the satisfying thump as his phone hit him on the forehead.
He yawned and turned on the television, and ended on a channel that was playing one of her movies. “Why do they keep giving you guns in your movies?”
“Maybe cuz it’s sexy?”
“I would not trust you with a potato gun.”
Vivi laughed and slipped back into her panties.
“You’re sleepy, I have things to do, people to see. ” She said, sticking her tongue out at him.
“More boys to fuck.” He said, rolling over and pulling the sheets over his head.
“Excuse me?” Vivi stopped dead on her way to the bathroom. “Since when did my sex life outside of you concern you?”
“Since you fucked at least three guys the other night. Myself included.”
“And yet I have the same question for you. Why does it concern you?”
“I’m worried about you. And I think they know. About you. About us.”
Vivi felt her stomach get very cold. An iceball had taken up residence in her belly. And it didn’t feel like it was going to melt anytime soon.
“They can’t… I mean, how…?” She sunk to the floor, sitting on her knees. As she got closer to the floor, the rushing noise in her head was getting louder.
“I think they were listening in on our phone calls, you know, like they do.” He muttered, rolling over and getting out of bed. He slipped down beside her, and held her. She didn’t respond, just sat there, still and quiet while her mind raced.
“You should go before it gets worse.” She finally said, shrugging him off her. This had to stop. She would be punished, and she couldn’t risk her sister’s life like that. If their orders were disobeyed, the punishment wouldn’t be direct, the ones who mattered most would be affected.
“I can’t leave you like this. I do care about you , you know.” Simon whispered, propping himself against the bed.
“I’ll be fine. I’m going to get a shower, and you had better be gone when I get out. It’ll make this easier.” She got up from the floor, and didn’t look back at Simon as she made her way to the bathroom, lest she be turned into a pillar of salt.
The apartment was quiet without Simon, Vivi thought. She’d gotten out of her bath, and he was gone. Every trace of him had been just about scrubbed from the condo. She wanted to cry, but she was too numb for emotion at that moment.
She didn’t remember turning the television on, but she heard the sound coming from the speakers. There was an entertainment news program on, talking about a possible pregnancy for Page and Kaden, and commentary on her sister’s latest music video.
“Is Vivienne Karina headed for rehab? The details after a few words from our sponsors.” The voice of the newscaster saying her name snapped Vivi out of her funk.
Her phone immediately began to ring. It was Lexy.
“VIVIENNE WHAT’S THIS I HEAR ABOUT REHAB?”
“I have no idea, I only just heard about it. Sookie’s probably having a seizure over it.” Vivi muttered, hoping it was true.
“I saw you on the tabloids today, walking right into Garrett. It said something about you drunkenly stumbling into the poor guy.”
“He deserved it, the asshole. I saw him and that supermodel at the gym the other day. He was all over her.”
“OH MY GOD, really? What happened?”
“I don’t even know, I was just getting out of yoga. He went into a bathroom. Right after SHE did! I bet they fucked.” Vivi whispered into her cellphone. “That’s my move!” She added.
“I know, right? And at the gym no less. You could turn them in you know.” Lexy said, sounding distracted.
“And if I did that, then neither of us would have a chance. Whatever. They deserve each other. She’s not even pretty.”
“You need girl time. I have the night off, I’ll bring pizza and ice cream, and wine, and we can be catty bitches together.”
“Thanks, baby sister.”
Just the fact that Lexy would attempt to clear out her schedule to be with her meant a lot to Vivi. They’d get super drunk, and try to do each other’s nails, and tear the interloper apart, piece by vapid piece. It would be fun to be catty for a change.
It wasn’t until late that Lexy showed up. Vivi had even put her pajamas on and was in the process of brushing her teeth. She had even gotten over feeling upset that her sister hadn’t shown up.
Of course, she showed up, dressed to the nines, with gourmet pizza and gourmet ice cream and expensive champagne.
“Okay, seriously Lexy. I’m surprised you even bothered to show up.” Vivi muttered, holding the door open for her sister. Lexy waltzed into the room in her high heels, humming one of her songs.
“I’ll make the coffee.” Vivi said, rubbing her eyes sleepily. It was so like Lexy, to show up in the middle of the night.
Her sister had set up shop in the living room, and kicked her massive heels off into a corner, and was picking bobby pins out of her hair.
“Do you have any detangler?”
“I just… I don’t even…I…” Vivi had no words. “Why?”
“For my hair you goof.”
Viv shook her head, and handed her sister a cup of coffee, which she sucked down in one big swig.
“Did you even taste that?”
“Not really, I don’t really need it. My manager gave me some caffeine pills, so I’ll be up all night.”
Vivi raised an eyebrow. “And since when do you take anything your manager gives you?”
“Since they’re putting me on tour and making me record at the same time.”
“Ouch, little sis. Want me to come with you for a part of the tour?”
“Oh, god no. You have your filming, and your rehab mess to clean up; you don’t wanna come and join the craziness.” Lexy shook her head and pat the space on the couch next to her. “Don’t make me eat all this pizza and ice cream. You can leave the champagne.”
“Oh please, I need this. I need to rant about the troll that’s fucking Garrett.”
“Her or him?” Lexy asked, laughing loudly as she popped the cork off the champagne. The cork flew off into the opposite wall, cracking Vivi’s TV. After a few drinks, neither of them would care.
Vivi woke up the next morning, sleeping half on the couch, half off the couch. Lexy was nowhere to be seen. There were noises coming from the bathroom, the sound of rushing water and humming came through the door. Viv could also hear scratching noises.
“Lex? You in there?” Vivi knocked on the door, before turning the handle to go in. The door stopped just a few inches in, and Viv poked her head through the gap.
Lexy was furiously scraping up white powder off the counter and into a baggie. A razor and piece of straw sat nearby. She looked up when Vivi cleared her throat.
“And you were going to tell me about this when?” She asked, as her sister sat on the toilet, looking like she was caught stealing the last slice of cake.
Lexy just shook her head, cradling it in her hands. She seemed so small, tiny. “I don’t know. My manager just… handed me a bag before my last show, said I was looking tired and that this would perk me up. And it worked. It gave me so much energy, and it helped with the creative process. Song writing became so much easier.”
“You’ve been snorting coke for that long? Lexy, baby sister, why?” Vivi leaned against the doorframe, slowly sinking to the floor. Her hangover wasn’t helping matters much.
“It’s such a rush. It really is. I feel like flying, like I could conquer the world in one fell swoop. It was amazing.” The look on Lexy’s face was devastating and joyous at the same time. She seemed so happy, dreamy even, when she talked about the drugs.
“You need to stop, please.” Vivi was almost begging. She never begged.
“Coming from you Miss Rehab, I don’t think so. I’m not addicted, and I won’t be. I only use it when I need a little pick me up. I’ll be okay, I promise.” Lexy flashed a big, bright smile at her sister, and reached a hand out to pull her from the floor.
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