‘I heard you with him. You … you called him …loverboy.’
Claire groaned and rolled her eyes, and the lack of shame in her expression made Libby suddenly furious. She yanked her hands away and made to stand up, but Tara’s freakishly strong hands on her shoulders kept her in place.
‘Ugh! Please don’t tell me you’ve been getting yourself all worked up over nothing.’
‘Nothing! How dare y – ’
‘Listen, you silly sod – ’
‘I will not listen, you – ’ Libby fought to stand but was yanked back again by a now furious looking Claire.
‘I’m a lesbian!’ Claire shouted, and the entire changing room fell silent.
‘But … but …’ Libby trailed off and sank down into the chair.
‘I’ve been in love with you for four bloody years,’ Claire muttered, her hold on Libby loosening as her cheeks heated slowly. Libby hadn’t seen Claire blush the whole time she’d known her.
‘Wh … what?’
‘Look, I challenge anyone, gay or straight, not to fall in love with you after spending any time with you. You’re just too beautiful and quirky and … well, you’re just too freaking lovable. Seeing as I was a goner the first time I ever did your make-up, and given the fact it was obvious how straight you were, I thought it would be easier if I pretended to love meat and two veg rather than lady-gardens.’ The silence stretched as everyone stared at the two of them.
‘Get back to work you lazy bitches,’ Claire snapped after a few seconds. ‘I’m not the weirdo around here. If anything it’s you lot that’s strange: fancying hairy, testosterone-fuelled, smelly, stubborn things with unattractive dangly bits.’ She made a face and a few stifled giggles were quickly suppressed. ‘Anyway,’ she sniffed, ‘I’ve got a girlfriend now and we’re looking into Norwegian sperm together, so don’t think I’ll come panting after any of you tarts any time soon.’
‘What’s wrong with English sperm?’ asked Tara, hands on her hips. ‘I made a perfectly good baby with English sperm.’
Claire made an eek face at Libby behind Tara’s back, and despite her confusion Libby had to cough to stifle her own giggle – Tara’s babywascute, although that was a straight-out miracle since her partner Dave was decidedlynot.
‘So now you know,’ Claire said, drawing Libby’s attention back to the problem in hand, ‘and there’s no way I would be calling your bloke “loverboy” in any capacity other than to take the piss out of him.’
‘But … but …’ Libby trailed off and rubbed her temple, feeling a serious case of information overload, ‘why the varp were you with him then? It doesn’t make any sense.’
Claire’s face softened before she dropped her head into her hands and sighed. ‘See, that’s why I fell in love with your stupid nerdy arse,’ she said into Libby’s lap. ‘You don’t even realise you’re doing it anymore.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Varp is not a swear word in this universe, Libby.’
‘I know that, it’s from Alderaan.’
‘Jesus,’ Claire breathed, before she lifted her head and looked back at Libby. ‘Okay, babe, please trust me. I was with Dr Sexy for a very good reason, not to bonk his brains out. I. do. Not. Like. Penises. Okay?’
‘Um … okay,’ Libby said slowly.
‘Now, tonight is a bit different,’ Claire told her, pulling back so she could open up her make-up case. ‘And you’re just going to have to trust me about that too. Close your eyes.’
Libby’s mind was whirling as Claire went to work on her face. But she knew better than to move, having had years of experience being poked or tweezed when she ruined Claire’s concentration whilst in the Torture Chair. After twenty minutes Libby was turned towards the mirror.
‘Open your eyes, honey,’ Claire said softly. Libby’s eyelids fluttered open; they connected with the image in the mirror and she froze.
It was safe to say that Libby was not adept at applying make up herself. So apart from when Claire put it on her for work (a look that was firmly in the ‘Drama!’ category), she had rarely seen what she might look like any other way. After a long moment she leaned forward to the mirror, her hand coming up to her face but not daring to actually touch the skin. Her lips were a pale, shimmering nude colour. Her skin seemed to glow and her cheekbones were subtly defined. Instead of heavy dark make-up around her eyes she had lighter eye-shadow, more blended eyeliner, and mascara to thicken her lashes. The overall effect was absolutely stunning. Libby had no idea that she could look like this. She gripped Claire’s hand.
‘Why … ?’
‘Like I said, the routine is a little different tonight,’ Claire told her, standing behind Libby and putting both hands on her shoulders. Some of the other women came to stand around her chair, and Libby’s eyebrows shot up into her hairline as she took in their appearance. They were all wearing dresses in different shades of grey. The material was soft and layered, with a torn effect around the short full skirt. It was not dissimilar to something Libby would have worn for a modern dance routine back in the day. None of them were wearing heels and they all had long leggings under the dresses.Leggings!
‘Is it some sort of fetish night or something?’ Libby asked, and the women just smiled.
‘Hmmm, something like that,’ Claire muttered, reaching behind her to pull another outfit off the rack and dumping it on Libby’s lap. It was similar to the other dresses but a much lighter shade – almost white. Memories of gym and dance competitions came flooding back to Libby as she fingered the material. ‘We’re switching it up a little as well,’ Claire continued, ‘going for more of the new routines you taught us; and this time it’ll be you starting off on the stage. Just you. Like when we make you dance in practice.’
