Relenting, Cyn unlocked the door, much to the drag queen’s delight.
“You are the living end, girl,” she practically squealed, hobbling into the store on broken heels.
“Tell me about it,” Cyn murmured, closing the door behind MeShell’s back. Cyn locked the door firmly and pulled down the shade again. She didn’t want to chance any more lost souls begging for entrance. “Just don’t go telling anybody I let you in after hours.”
“Girl, please. You know discreet is my middle name.” MeShell fluffed her blonde wig and batted her sea green contact-lensed eyes Cyn’s way. A six-foot-two drag queen who was almost so black she looked blue, with fuchsia pink lipstick and matching eye shadow was not Cyn’s idea of discretion, but hey, whatever made her boat float.
Trying to find her hidden smile, Cyn thought of good things. Fuck raindrops on roses, she needed lime in tequila to cheer her up. “So which pair were you eyeing?”
“As if you have to ask.” MeShell struck a pose, with her hands held highly in the air and shimmied her hips. The silver sequined after-five dress shimmered in the light. “The six-inch silver stilettos, baby.”
“I’m not sure if I have them in a size thirteen, MeShell.” The drag queen community had always been a big supporter of independent stores like Cyn’s, so she made it a habit to carry larger sizes for such occasions. The lively nightlife of San Francisco had helped 6
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keep her family’s shoe store in the game for three generations, despite the Bill Gates super malls of the world.
“I’m a size ten.” She snapped her finger over her head. “Thank you.”
“Girl, please.” Cyn cocked her head to the side and tried her best to hold back her laughter. Even on her bad day she could tell a person’s shoe size from a block away.
“Those are gun boats and you know it.”
“Stop it.”
“You stop it. Have a seat while I go check the backroom, and keep your grubby little paws out my stocking sampler box.”
“Please. As if I’d take your old raggedy pantyhose.”
“Whatever, I meant what I said,” Cyn tossed over her shoulder as she slipped into the stockroom. Thankfully, everything was organized and it only took her a minute or so to find the shoes. “Here you go. Let’s try them on.”
“Girl. Girl. Girl.” Before Cyn could sit all the way down on the stool in front of MeShell, the woman had her shoes off and feet stretched out. “Put them on. Put them on.”
“Step it down a notch.” Exhausted or not, Cyn couldn’t help but be infected by MeShell’s enthusiasm as she helped her slip on the shoes. The size thirteens fit, as she knew they would. Damn she was good. “Well, what do you think?”
“I think they look divine.” MeShell stood and began to sashay around the room. “I look fierce, don’t I? Go ahead, don’t be afraid to tell the truth.”
Laughing, Cyn stood. “Too fierce, girl.”
“Don’t I know it.”
“Let’s ring you up and get you on your way. I don’t want you to miss your party.”
The phone rang as she begun to total up the purchase. “One sec,” Cyn said to MeShell, as she picked up the phone. “Hello.”
“What are we doing tonight?”
Cyn smiled, feeling the first sense of real pleasure since the whole damn day had begun. But Miller Tate had the ability to cheer her up without even trying. It was a gift www.samhainpublishing.com 7
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only a best friend possessed, and he was the best. “I don’t know what we’re doing tonight, but I know what I’m doing, and it involves a bed, cotton sheets, and a headscarf.”
“As stimulating as that sounds, I’m afraid I’m going to have to break your heart, because you are going out tonight. Even if I have to pull your fine behind kicking and screaming all the way.”
“I so don’t think so.” Was no one above listening? She just wanted to sleep.
“I don’t hear you. As your best friend, it is my duty to save you from yourself and the two evil flying monkeys you have waiting for you back at your place.”
Cyn smiled at Miller‘s apt description of the demonic duo. She was worn-out, but she knew, as Miller did, if she went home, she’d just end up regretting it.
“So where are we going?” Please say movies. Please say movies. Please say movies.
“To a party.”
Damn it! At least at the movies, Cyn could have drifted off to sleep, but there seemed as if there was no chance of that happening now.
“Whose party?”
“DelRay’s new club is opening tonight, and guess who is on the guest list?”
“DelRay’s?”
“You’re going to DelRay’s too?” MeShell asked, butting into the conversation.
“That’s where I’m heading. Who are you talking to?”
“Miller.”
MeShell grimaced at the same time Miller asked, “To whom are you talking?”
“MeShell.”
Miller’s snort of annoyance made Cyn bite back a smile. Miller and MeShell might both be batting for the same team, but that didn’t mean they liked one another. “What does shim want?”
“MeShell is going to the same party.”
“Maybe we’re going to the movies after all.”
Now he was talking. “Did anything come out this week worth seeing?”
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“Movies? Oh no.” MeShell reached across the counter and snatched the phone from Cyn’s hands. “Listen, Miller. This is the party to end all parties and my girl is not going to miss it.”
Cyn just shook her head and let them battle it out as she swiped the credit card. By the time the transaction was through, MeShell was handing her back the phone.
“Did the two of you get things settled?”
“Yes,” Miller muttered. “I’ll be by in an hour to pick you up. Don’t worry about clothes. I’ll pick out your outfit when I get there.”
“I do know how to dress.”
“Really, since when? Later.” Miller hung up the phone before Cyn could get another word out, much to her amusement. With
